By Kazeem Akintunde
In the last few days, news and pictures from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, have been heart-rendering due to the large-scale destruction recorded in the town as a result of flooding as well as the socio-economic impact of the flood on the hapless residents who are just breathing a sigh of relief from the onslaught of the terrorist group, – Boko Haram.
There are tales of mothers and children still missing, while in some cases, entire families have been wiped out. Even many survivors are now battling with hunger and deprivation as they are left with absolutely nothing.
Most residents of Maiduguri are yet to come to terms with what happened in their community in the early hours of last Tuesday. Most of them were already in bed when flood water started gushing into their homes from nowhere. There was no rain on that day, and not even on the previous day, so, many were left wondering where the flood came from.
A resident of the town, Bala Saidu and his household were roused from sleep from the commotion caused by the flood. But before they could process what was amiss, their home was already flooded. They tried frantically to salvage what they could of their properties, but were forced to abandon everything when the level of the flood water rose dangerously. They had to take refuge on the rooftop of their home. That was where they lived for 48 hours without food or water. But they survived, and are happy to be alive. Some are not as lucky.
When the flood water came, it did not discriminate between the rich or the poor, as the Palace of the Shehu of Borno, the State Secretariat, the Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, and most parts of the state went under water. As at the last count, over 40 people have been confirmed dead, and a staggering figure of close to a million people displaced.
With human beings reeling from the effect of the flood water, 80 percent of the animals at the Sanda Kyarimi Park Zoo died, as there was no one to rescue them. Some of the animals were also displaced and pushed by strong flood currents into flooded homes and streets. The inmates at the Maiduguri Correctional Facility took to their heels when one of the walls of the facility caved in. Prison guards also had a dialogue with their legs when the flood water got to them. Now, 281 prisoners, many of whom are members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect have all disappeared into thin air. Bala Adamu, Spokesperson of the Nigeria Correctional Service, Borno Command, has assured that a manhunt is on for the escapees. As of Saturday last week, seven of the inmates have been recaptured. Already, several institutions and government agencies have shut down, with the University of Maiduguri closed until further notice. Homes are still submerged, schools shut down, and businesses crippled.
This year alone, floods have killed at least 229 people in Nigeria, displaced around 386,239 more, and affected 94,491 houses in parts of the country, mainly in the Northern region. At least 125,805 hectares of farmland have also been affected.
The flood in Maiduguri has been termed as the worst natural disaster to hit the state in the last 30 years. Although natural disasters can strike at any time, precautionary measures that have been put in place before they strike as well as steps taken immediately they occur should count as to whether we are ready as a nation to tackle such natural occurrences and provide relief to those who may be affected. The devastating Maiduguri flood was caused by the overflow of the Ngadda River. Although the Alau Dam was constructed to take water to avert such a disaster, the volume of the water was too much for the Dam and when one of its dykes gave way, the effect was the devastation witnessed in Maiduguri last week.
This is not the first time that the Alau Dam, which was constructed in 1986 with a maximum storage capacity of 112-million-cubic meter of water for irrigation and domestic use in Maiduguri, would cave in. The construction of the Dam was to serve as a relief to residents of the six northern states of Kebbi, Kaduna, Sokoto, Kwara, Plateau, Borno and Parts of Cameroon from incessant flooding whenever there was a rise in water levels in Lake Chad and the Ngadda River.
On September 13, 1994, about 400,000 persons in Maiduguri were displaced by flood caused by the collapse of the Alau Dam. In response to the incident, the Sani Abacha-led military government sent a delegation to the areas to assess the level of impact, while pledging food and other support to the state. The Borno state government on their part released N1 million to aid the flood victims.
However, in spite of yearly budget provision for Dams rehabilitation and maintenance, Alau Dam has again caved in, rendering more than a million people homeless.
Recently, the sum of N171 million was recorded as spent by the federal government for the rehabilitation of the dam. The N171 million payment was made between June 2023, few weeks after the Tinubu-administration came on board, and July, 2024, just few weeks before the Dam collapsed. In actual fact, the last tranche of money recorded to have been spent was N26 million, disbursed on July 29, 2024, for the rehabilitation of the Dam. So, was this rehabilitation carried out and up to speed with specifications?
In the last 12 years, a total of N762 million has been budgeted for maintenance works on the Dam. Yet, the dam still lets loose. Already, it has been discovered that the dykes of the dam were washed off by excessive water that flooded Maiduguri. Dykes to the uninitiated are instruments used to regulate the flow of water in preventing any destruction to people’s lives and property.
Due to our poor maintenance culture, we now have a major disaster on our hands and our response as a nation has been very poor. For more than three days, many residents of Maiduguri were trapped on roof tops with no means of rescue to safety. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), a government institution charged with emergency management, has no single functional helicopter that could be used for search and rescue operations in Maiduguri. A senior staff of the agency was bold to say on national television that the only helicopter owned by the agency was with the Nigeria Police for maintenance works. He also claimed that the agency is collaborating with other security agencies, particularly the Air Force, in the rescue of those trapped. Meanwhile, cranes and caterpillars were used to ferry people to safety.
For most residents of Borno State, the last few years have been hell on earth due to the activities of the Boko Haram sect and other insurgent groups in their communities. With the proactive and purposeful governance provided by Governor Babagana Zulum, many residents, who have been turned into refugees in their own country and housed in camps set up by the state government, were allowed to return home as relative peace has returned in most parts of the state. Early this year, some of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps were closed, but those camps have now been reopened as flooding hit the state.
Already, nine camps provide temporary accommodation for most of the displaced people, who are reported to be over half a million residents. Many of these are complaining of hunger and lack of pipe borne water to drink. The situation is so bad that whenever it is time to share food to eat, it usually leads to another crisis, as the surging crowd becomes unmanageable, even as some residents of Maiduguri who are not staying at the IDPs camps always find their way to the centres to get food to eat as a result of the brutal economic hardship in the land. A stampede caused by a large number of people scrambling for food was reported last week, which led to the death of two people.
Some members of the civilian JTF in charge of managing the camps have also been accused of diverting food for their friends and families, while some have been alleged to be reselling the food for as much as N500 to the deprived and hungry. There has also been allegation of rape in one of the camps, allegedly by a member of the civilian JTF. While those camps house the less privileged, some top civil servants, Judges, and rich politicians who are also victims of the flooding are taking shelter with friends and family in other parts of the town not affected by the flood, while some are now permanent residents in five-star hotels in the city.
The number one priority of the federal government and the state government is how to get the much-needed aid to the affected residents of Maiduguri as soon as possible. Vice President Kashim Shettima, who was physically present in Maiduguri to commiserate with the people disclosed that N3 billion has been approved for all states in the federation to manage natural disasters occasioned by flood. State governors under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors Forum have also pledged assistance to Borno State, while the Dangote Foundation has pledged a donation of N1.5 billion for the people of Maiduguri. N1 billion will come from his purse while his Foundation would chip in 500 Million. It is hoped that the donations trickling in would be judiciously spent and won’t end up in the private pockets of those in charge. In Nigeria, we take advantage of situations such as these to further cause more hardship for victims as is already being reported.
Additionally, our slow pace of doing things negatively impacts the recovery process as the World Health Organisation and other relevant international bodies are warning that there could be an outbreak of cholera and other water-borne diseases in the state. This is because many dead bodies were seen floating on flood water. Septic tanks have also been overflown by the flood water. In spite of these, many residents wade through the water almost on a daily basis in an attempt to pick up the pieces of their lives.
Nigeria as a nation must speed up the implementation of her disaster management template. While it is advisable not to wait until disaster occurs, we must be prepared for any eventuality. We are all familiar with the phrase ‘Prevention is better than cure’. It would not be out of place for Nigeria to buy top-notch rescue equipment; helicopters and other gadgets for search and rescue operations. We also don’t need to wait until natural disasters happen before we start planning against recurring disasters. A contingency plan should have been mapped out for different kinds of natural disasters.
As the people of Maiduguri begin the process of getting back on their feet, it is our fervent hope and prayer that God will repose the souls of those that died and provide means of sustenance to those that are still alive.
See you next week.
