Since August this year floodwaters have covered the land with darkness, like the inchoate universe before God degreed creation in the Bible Book of Genesis. The water is gradually withdrawing from the land and receding into the sea. But the land is yet without form and void; pestilence, hunger, strife, suffering (no smiling) and despondency persist and there is no ark in sight for the lands that the rough hands of nature have strummed punitively. Southsouth Regional Editor, Shola O’Neil, in this report follows the trails of sorrow, tears, and blood left behind by the worst flooding in a decade. The report relying on veritable data, and climate change trends, warns that a new dawn is far from nigh.
From Rivers through Bayelsa to Delta, Kogi, and other parts of the country, the mist is lifting after the roaring heavens unloaded multimillion gallons of water across Nigeria. The dove has disappeared signaling the end of the flood, but its aftermath is revealing more gloom than comfort. Flood-wearied inhabitants of coastal communities of Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers states among others in the Niger Delta are going back to familiar sights – watermarks of the flood on their walls, houses hurriedly evacuated are denuded; farmlands and even the rodents and pests that troubled them are reeling.
In Aven, a community in Patani LGA of Delta State, the suffering is a surreal reenactment of 2012 all over again. It took them years to recover from the 2012 flood; this could take even much longer. For these hapless victims of the community located along the East-West Highway, suffering has always increased after each bout of flooding and there is no break from the anger of nature.
The flooding interregnum from 2012, one of the worst years in history, was broken in 2020, forcing back fearful memories: Dozens of inhabitants of the lowland town had fled to the higher ground around. They braved the elements, mosquitos, and fear of trucks and cars crashing into their ramshackle abodes while they sleep.
Two years later, they do not have that luxury; the highway is flooded, and instead of the buses, trucks, and cars, that sometimes stop to buy their farm products from roadside markets, speedboats took over the highway. Buildings are totally swallowed by floodwater and many who did not see it coming, or have nowhere to run to watch with great anguish and despair as their life savings are washed away
Denizens of Aven are gradually returning home, again, and trying to pick up what is left of their shattered lives and soaked belongings. But there is little to be excited about. Some are swimming in floodwater to reach their homes, others use canoes or rafts. The air is filled with a putrid smell, rotten livestock, bloated carcasses of rodents, and feces. The water is polluted, leeches, tadpoles, and earthworms struggle for space; all are displaced, and they all mind their business. Temporary shelters are returning to the highway, where fires burn at night for warmth and cooking or roasting of tubers of yam or plantains savaged barns.
In front of a bungalow without window seals, located on a tiny road on the east side of the highway, a teenage girl and her half-clad brother, both drenched, alternatingly used sticks to redirect wastes, lumps of floating feces and other waste matters from swirling into ‘living room’. The water had receded from near roof level, yet plastic items cling to the naked wall. They refused to speak to this reporter, only intermittently nodding or shaking their heads to answer questions about their parents. The frowns on their faces tell of their worry as thunder clapped overhead. Their parents have apparently gone in search of what to eat.
In nearby Umeh, an Isoko community, isolated from their kith and kin by unfriendly terrain and inclement weather, the battle is one of survival. “Our entire existence depends on how we battle the aftermath of this flooding,” a member of the community who lives in Port Harcourt told our reporter. It is a landlocked community accessible only through a branch off between Patani and Ughelli on the East-west road. It was only brought into ‘civilization’ on February 14, 2015, when the then-governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, inaugurated the famous Umeh Road.
The road is a testament to how social media could be used for development. For decades the agrarian community and arguably a food basket of the state was cut off from other parts of the state and Nigeria by the terrain. This land is home to hardworking farmers who lived in penury because of their inability to evacuate farm produce – plantain, yam, and fish products – to markets outside their homes. That was until members of the community, led by Mr. Afahokor Duncan, launched the Umeh Need Road campaign on Facebook, in August 2011. The campaign attracted the attention of Uduaghan, who kept his promise to build a road to link Umeh to other parts of the state.
In appreciation, the community bestowed Uduaghan with the honourary traditional title of Elo Umeh (Light of Umeh). The honour was in recognition of his doggedness to complete the road against all odds, including the 2012 flood that washed off the road before its conclusion. The blessing from that disaster was that it offered a chance to reassess the design and make changes. This reporter was one of the first persons that drove through the landmark road and bridges to Umeh at its completion three years later.
The redesign of the road might have helped it withstand the latest intrusion by flood, yet there are concerns about how much longer the bridges can withstand the unyielding pressure of irate nature. Our checks revealed that the floodwater has washed off swaths of the road at up to five points while the bridge holds firm.
Sunday Nation was shown a video of able-bodied men who risked their lives and defied vortexes in the midst of the storm to reinforce the bridge. They carried sandbags to create bulwarks against the stormy flow – a show of how much the road meant to them. It is not clear how long that would last, or if the state government would intercede to save the agrarian town from relapsing into its pre-2015 days.
In Ughelli South, Bomadi, Burutu and the Isoko, the Oshimilli, Ndokwa, Kwale, and other LGAs of Delta State, the tales are as sordid. Okpare Theophilus Onojeghen, the publisher of Delta Today, an online news media, said his entire Ughelli South LGA was not spared. “From Okwagbe (Inland and Waterside), Oginibo, Ewu, Otujevwin (Otu-Jeremi), and the entire Olomu kingdom are affected.”
Okpare hinted that damage to buildings, farmlands and household properties in the area could hit billions of naira, without even factoring in the cost of repairs on roads and bridges. “Ughelli south consists mainly of agrarian communities. Many people, including my sibling, Ruth, lost several millions of naira. Ruth lost two hectares of cassava, pepper, and vegetable as her farms are totally wiped out. There are other people whose poultries and vast farmland are also destroyed,” he said with emotion.
The flood is an ill wind that spared no one, including the high and mighty. The country home of Ijaw national leader and activist, Chief Edwin Clark, in Kiagbodo, Burutu LGA was among dozens of buildings affected in the area. The extent of the destruction to the one-story palatial abode of the 95-year-old former Information Minister could not be determined, as roads leading to the area have been inundated. But sources in the sleepy town said damages are substantial.
Schools in the community, like hundreds of others in flood-ravaged states, were evacuated and shut down. Clark’s university in Kiagbodo; the maternal home of Wilson Oruma, one of the stars of Atlanta Olympic 1996 football team hero, is still underwater.
“It is not just the home of our national leader, there are about 80 communities in Burutu LGA, and all but Ogulagha Kingdom, are affected. The level of destruction is beyond explanation; homes are swept off, countless lives are lost and valuables running in several billions of naira have been destroyed. We are devastated and in mourning; where do we start?” Mr. Lucky Ezebri, who is housing some of those displaced, said.
BAYELSA STATE is arguably the worst hit in the Niger Delta. The floods started in late September, and by the 10th day of October, it had been totally cut off from other parts of the country. The entrance to Yenagoa, the state capital, from the highway was isolated from Okolobo on one end and Patani on the other.
With an inclement topography and a low land area almost entirely below sea level, no part of the eight LGAs in the state is spared. The difference is in the level of affliction. The luckiest area is the Brass LGA, located on the tip of the ocean, which makes for free flow of the water. Brass (6,042) is the only LGA with less than a six-digit human impact in the entire state.
Out of 1.7 million people in the homogenously Ijaw state, the State Emergency Management Agency, (BYSEMA) said 1,344,014 persons are affected; 1.21 million were displaced; 96 deaths. Mr. Daniel Alabrah, the Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, told our reporter on Saturday morning that 864 and 14,025 houses were totally and partially damaged respectively. The figures are higher than data released by the Federal government since the start of the disaster.
Governor Douye Diri, said he acted proactively by closing down schools in the state as early as the first week of October. The Nation on Sunday has now learnt that the initial plan to reopen schools on November 14 has been canceled because of the impact on schools. The state’s record showed that 157 schools are damaged – 95 and 62 partially and totally, respectively.
Speaking through Alabrah, he disclosed that measures put in place to mitigate the effect of flooding were restricted by laws, and thwarted by ignorant community members. “Government embarked on shoreline protection projects in three pilot communities: In Sampou and Odi communities of Kolokumo/Opukuma LGA , which is usually flooded through the river, and in Agbere of Sagbama LGA.
“In Odi the measure worked till the water broke through the ground, while in Agbere, the wall prevented the water from entering. But after a while, the water started pouring in. Yenagoa, at Okutukutu, we built a dirk in one of the major water channels and prevented water from entering. Sadly, the people broke the dirk because they thought it was responsible for the high water level.”
The governor slammed his critics, including the FG: “People who talked about dredging the rivers (Nun and Forcados) don’t know (the law) or are being political because the power over water channels is with the FG, you can’t do anything without approval.”
“The FG says it sends warning and blames states for not taking steps. It forgot that some laws restrict states on water resources. They have the full powers from the law and the resources, yet did not make any provision. In Bayelsa, how can we relocate when our entire land is under water?”
In Rivers State, the situation is no less grim: Six of 26 LGAs are hit by varying levels of devastation with Ahoadas (West and East), Ogba-Ndoni-Egbema, Abual/Odual, and Emohua LGAs being the worse hit in that order.
However, our checks showed that the state government has better management of the disaster than their counterparts in the region, especially in Delta State, where criticisms have trailed the government’s perceived nonchalant attitude in the face of a massive humanitarian crisis. Officials in Ifeanyi Okowa administration confided in our reporter that the day-to-day management of the 2012 crisis is strikingly missing.
In places like Ahoada East where all lands are covered in water, refugee camps are set up in the next available neighboring LGAs, while even those who are not in camps are provided with foodstuffs, medical aids, and environmental services.
The chairman of Rivers State flood management task force, Dr. George Nweke, who spoke exclusively to our reporter, painted a miserable picture of what the people are going through. He also provides insights into efforts being made by the governor to ameliorate their plights and to ensure a speedy return to normalcy.
“The entire (Ahoada West) local government area is submerged; there is no dry land. As a result, it is not possible to have IDP camps there,” Dr. Nweke explained. He added that only people who have multiple-floor buildings are able to live in the upper chambers of their homes in the area.
“What they do is that they move to the top floors or build platforms where they stay. When they need to get things they enter canoes. It is sad and we are very concerned about their welfare and no effort is being spared to get succor to those who are in IDP camps and those who are living in clusters in Ahoada East.”
Nweke further explained that although Emohua and Akuku-Toru LGAs are on relatively higher land than Ahoada, the overflowing water from the badly hit land has permeated some communities, causing disruptions.
2022 Flood Could Surpass 2012 in Destructions, Human, Material Losses
*$15mn Olam Rice Farm submerged
Meanwhile, an independent investigation by our reporter, backed by statistics, indicates that up to 400,000 households and families have been dislocated in the worst-hit parts of Delta, Bayelsa, and Rivers states. The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has warned that more families are tethering on the brink with hygiene and sanitation challenges escalating.
Many people, families, and organizations are counting their losses from the current flooding calamities, which experts believed is triggered by climate change and heavy rainfall. A recent report by the UN-OCHA, on 8 November, revealed that 5.9 million people in Nigeria and 19 other West and Central African countries are affected by the current flooding.
The UN report added: “Heavy rains and floods continued to take a significant toll on human life, property, farmlands, livestock, killing 1,132 people, injuring 4,005, while displacing 1.8 million”.
The report supported our findings that flood devastation could have a very telling effect on the Niger Delta region, where the food-producing areas are among those worst hit in the state listed in the preceding paragraphs. In 2012 flood affected over 7.7 million Nigerians across 32 of 36 states. Various reports, including Wikipedia, estimated the cost of the 2012 flood at over N2.6 trillion.
Following from above, experts are making sound strong warnings that the current flooding could set the nation back by up to 300% of the 2012 figure.
“Do not forget we (Nigeria) are trying to recover from a pandemic; falling crude oil prices; insurgencies that have crippled food productions in the core North and North Central as well as massive oil theft as never seen, the rising prices of diesel and other essential goods. The marks are clear for everyone to see that this could be worse,” an EMBA graduate of the Lagos Business School, told our reporter.
The source quoted extensively from the LBS report of 02 November 2022, titled The New Global Disorder. It was presented by Mr. Bismarch Rewane, MD/CEO of Financial Derivatives Co Ltd, as part of issues surrounding redesigning of the naira, cautioned that flooding would connive with other factors to worsen food insecurity nationwide.
Rewane’s presentation said, “Most of the (flood) affected states are agrarian economies, raising concerns about impending food crisis. About 110,000 hectares of farmlands completely damaged; Olam rice farm submerged – worth over $15mn; 10 hectares of rice farm submerged in Kogi.”
Speaking further, our source, who asked not to be named, said, “With the above, the current disaster has already surpassed 2012 (without adjusting for inflation). The 2022 prognoses are dire, including in humanitarian cost, with 33 (more than 90%) of states affected, some two million persons directly affected, and the death toll at over 600 (nearly double 363 casualties recorded in 2012).”
The flood has also resulted in more than 2.5mn people (of which 1.7mn are children) needing humanitarian aid. Outbreaks of cholera and other sanitation-related diseases, waterborne disease etc. are also on the increase.
Road and other Infrastructure Damage, Nightmare on East-West Highway
The jinxed Warri-Bayelsa- Port Harcourt axis of the East-West Highway is back on the brink. The hoodoo seemed to have been broken just weeks ago. The road looked set on being one of the best in southern Nigeria. Driving from Warri-Ughelli (Delta) to Kaiama (Bayelsa) was smooth as silk, with the only interruption to the smooth drive from Warri to Port Harcourt being Bayelsa State axis, particularly from Kaiama to Mbiama through Zarama. Those bad spots were receiving attention from the contractor before the latest disaster.
Coming in from Port Harcourt, construction works were also going on speedily from Choba through Rumouji, Ahoada, and Okogbe to Mbiama. Even the most ardent critics of the present administration commended the pace of word. For the first time in history, the drive from Emouha to even after Ahoada was smoothly on dual lanes.
The ill wind of the current flood has wiped out whatever progress has been made on that road in the last five years. The tsunami of the flood has swept through the gleaming nylon-tarred road, leaving in its wake scenes of destruction, turbulence, and chaos that eviscerate and obliterate the last one year of Sukuk fund-inspired progress.
Long queues with attendant security challenges have resurfaced. Hundreds of passengers from Lagos and other Southwest states, Edo, and others of the country now congregate on dozens of trouble spots on the road.
“Those who use water as a metaphor for gentility apparently haven’t seen the kind of destruction that water has wrought on this road,” a passenger that was stranded around Okolobo area of Ahoada, said as he took in the havoc on the road.
Our reporter, who visited the scene, conceded that the flood was far from gentle: it was indeed a display of the power of water in its most destructive splendor. Miles upon miles of the tarred road lay supine flipped over by the ungentle giant. Bridges along the road, notably between Ahoada and Elele Junction in Rivers state, is crooked and bow to the power of nature. Roads and bridges that withstood the weight of heavy-duty trucks bearing hundreds of tons of products, including steel, are humbled by the force of water.
The East-West highway is back to its default state – impassable, a nightmare for travelers, motorists, and business owners who use it to ferry goods and services from the industry maritime hub in Lagos and other parts of the Southwest, as well as foodstuff, poultry, and animal products from the north. At least two dozen trucks, countless numbers of cars, buses, and other vehicles were trapped, swept off, or damaged at various points along the highway at height of the carnage.
Uche George Ukah, a contract driver for a newspaper company, told this paper, “We thought we have passed this ugly stage. We are again spending more than eight hours getting to Benin from Port Harcourt. Usually to Warri (at night) takes no more than three hours, but today (Thursday) it took me five hours.”
Others said they would rather deal with the gridlock on this road than contemplate the alternative. Until last weekend, commercial buses, and trucks carrying foodstuffs and livestock to Port Harcourt, Uyo, and Calabar were forced to take the ‘Israelite route’, detouring through Asaba-Onitsha-Owerri to Port Harcourt. This resulted in more fuel consumption and increased transportation costs, which are passed to the final consumers.
The drivers, assets, and goods are exposed to the insurgency in the Southeast, where the not so ‘Unknown Gunmen’ are unleashing unrestricted mayhem on travelers, residents, and everything in Ibo land. On Thursday through Friday 20th – 21st October, no fewer than 12 trucks and cars were set afire between Oba and Aworka in Anambra state.
Expectedly, these disruptions have resulted in nearly 50 percent rice in the food of staple food, including rice in the last six weeks, not to mention the Monday (lockdown) Holiday in those states.
The partial to total destruction of 200,000 homes across the affected states in the country is also expected to pressure housing as residents of rural areas affected by the flood seek greener and safer havens in cities and dryer lands. Health experts also expressed concerns that traumatized survivors who lost loved ones, properties, and means of livelihood might become depressed and susceptible to suicide.
Sadly, there is no rainbow after the flood; in fact, the worst may yet be ahead. The Nigeria Metrological Services predicts the situation to remain in Anambra, Delta, Bayelsa, and other states till the end of November. Worse still, NiMET is urging preparation for more devastating flooding in 2023. NiMET sounded similar warnings before this current disaster, but none listened – Federal, state, or local governments.
Would they listen this time around; will Nigerians in low-lying lands learn enough from this catastrophe to heed evacuation warnings?
