Geological Sciences Department Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria.
Online published on 11 December, 2012.
Gully erosion in Anambra state, South East Nigeria has continued to pose a challenge to Geoscientist and other environmental scientist. The menace has taken its toll on the socioeconomic wellbeing of the people living in the affected area and the country at large, such that lands used for aesthetic, agricultural and industrial purposes, ancestral homes, crops, livestock and other infrastructure are everyday lost to the hazard at alarming rate. Field studies showed that the environmental hazard has remained active over the years, defying control measures put in place by government, communities and individuals – no thanks to the peculiar geologic, geotechnical, hydrogeologic, hydrogeochemical, climatic and anthropogenic factors at play in the area. This paper reviews the causes and effects of gully erosion in Anambra State in particular and South East Nigeria in general. It also proposes specific and multidisciplinary approach to gully erosion control that will stand the test of time.
Gully erosion, Environmental hazard, Climate, Geology, Nigeria