Don Urges FG To Reduce Environmental Problems

A don has urged the Federal Government to shift emphasis from large to small scale water schemes to reduce the effects of environmental problems in urban areas.

Prof. Emmanuel Ezenwaji of the department of Geography and Meteorology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, made the call in a lecture he delivered at a three-day workshop in Awka.

The workshop, with the theme Urban Water Supply and Environmental Sustainability in Nigeria, was organised by the Environmental Development Initiative for Africa (EDIA).

Ezenwaji, in the lecture titled “Development of a New Urban Water Supply Agenda for Environmental Sustainability in Nigeria”, noted that large water schemes had not been able to achieve the desired goal of providing water for Nigerians.

He said that it had instead, triggered the worst ecological problems around the locality of the scheme.

According to him, water supply both in quantitative and qualitative has remained the greatest problem facing urban dwellers in Nigeria.

“Most of Nigeria’s urban large scale water supply schemes are planned, designed and executed without Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) necessary to ascertain the effects of the scheme on the environment,” he said.

He expressed regret that the big Gurara Water Supply project in Kaduna might be affected by environmental problems, especially, gully erosion at the headwork.

He explained that the disruption of any of the micro schemes by gully erosion or any other environmental hazard would not affect the entire urban area, but only the area where it served.

The lecturer therefore, called for an integrated approach to urban water management to maintain an effective, efficient, safe service delivery.

“Each state should develop a plan for the harnessing of rainwater to reduce the environmental problems of flooding and creation of unnecessary wetlands and swamps within the urban areas in the near future,” he noted.

According to him, it will improve environmental sustainability and enhance the capacity of urban areas to supply the needed amounts of water to the populace.

Earlier, Mr Ikechukwu Abana, the chairman of EDIA, said that the workshop would, among other things help to create awareness on harmful effects of degraded environment.

He said part of EDIA’s objectives was to embark on research and publish scholarly findings to solve environmental problems.