The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Floods

  • Floods: FG votes N17.6b to states, agencies

    Floods: FG votes N17.6b to states, agencies

     

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday allocated the sum of N17.6 billion to states and agencies to cushion the effect of floods in many parts of the country.

    The breakdown of the figure shows that N13.3 billion goes to the affected states, while agencies involved in tackling the disaster will receive N4.3 billion.

    The president made the announcement on Tuesday morning in a national broadcast on the state of the nation.

    He also raised a committee on flood relief and rehabilitation headed by Business mogul, Aliko Dangote and former president of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA Olisa Agbakoba.

    The National Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation has Dr. Mike Adenuga, another business mogul as the chief fund mobiliser.

    The committee has one year to conclude its tasks among which is to raise funds in support of government’s efforts to provide urgent relief for victims of floods across the country.

    The affected states were categorised into four groups based on the present assessment.

    Category A states will receive N500 million each, while states in category B and C will get N400 million and N300 million respectively.

    The government splashed N250 million each on states in category D.

    States in the A Category are – Oyo, Kogi, Benue, Plateau, Adamawa, Delta, Bayelsa and Anambra.

    While Jigawa, Kano, Bauchi, Kaduna, Niger, Nasarawa, Taraba, Cross River, Edo, Lagos and Imo are pooled in category B.

    Kwara, Katsina, Gombe, Ogun, Ondo, Ebonyi, Abia and Rivers are the states in category C.

    The category D comprised Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Yobe, Enugu, Ekiti, Osun, Akwa Ibom, Borno and the Federal Capital Territory.

    The committee which is also expected to advise government on the judicious utilization of funds raised has been authorized by President Jonathan to co-opt any other persons or organizations that it may find useful in carrying out its assignment.

    The committee members are expected to operate from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

     

     

     

  • Floods take toll on more Nigerians

    Floods take toll on more Nigerians

    The disastrous effects of the floods caused by the overflow of the River Niger seem not to be abating, with the victims urging the government to end their woes, report NWANOSIKE ONU, OSEMWENGIE OGBEMUDIA and OSAGIE OTABOR

    Seven die in Edo camp

    THE news from Fugar, in Estako Central Local Government Area of Edo State, where victims of the floods are taking refuge was not chery yesterday.

    Seven of the inmates reportedly died while the victims accused health officials of extortion.

    But there were reports that other victims at the camp were delivered of seven babies.

    Thousands of persons displaced in three local councils in the state when River Niger overflowed its bank, are taking refuge in six camps in the state.

    Some of them told The Nation on the telephone that they were not being attended to by health officials sent to the camp.

    They alleged that the officials made them pay for drugs provided free by the state government.

    The victims said the women gave birth through the assistance of traditional birth attendants and that the medical personnel in the camp were inadequate.

    One of the victims, Abdulazeez Alidu, said they only heard about medical kits sent to the camp on the radio but none is available for them.

    The coordinator of the Primary Health Care centres in the locality, Dr. Alfred Esiamoghie, confirmed dearth of doctors at the camps.

    According to him, only two resident doctors and two members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) attend to the health need of more than 3000 inmates.

    Commissioner for Health Dr. Cordelia Aiwize said the government did its best to provide relief materials to the displaced.

    She said erring officials would be disciplined.

    Permanent Secretary of the Hospital Management Board (HMB) Dr. Irekpono Omoike said relief agencies had been saddled with co-ordinating the distribution of relief materials.

    He promised to investigate those behind the illegal sales of drugs.

     

    FADAMA farmers lose

    billions in Edo

     

    EDO State Coordinator of FADAMA III Project, Mrs. Momodu Judith, has said farmers benefitting from the FADAMA grant lost billions of naira to flood in the state.

    Mrs. Momodu said the entire rice production belt in the state was washed away by the flood, which affected three local government areas.

    In a chat with our reporter yesterday, Mrs. Judith identified the major areas affected by the flood as where farmers benefitting from FADAMA grants carry out their farming activities.

    She said many of the farmers were harvesting their crops when the flood struck.

    She said: “FADAMA groups at Agenebode, Imievba, Udaba and other places lost their products. Ifeko Island is virtually gone. What was lost cannot be quantified. It run into billions of naira.”

    Mrs Judith predicted heavy shortfall in food production in the state.

    The Coordinator of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Edo North Senatorial District, Alhaji Abdulahi Mohammed, also urged the Federal Government to take adequate steps to avert food crisis that will arise as a result of flooding in parts of the country.

    Mohammed noted that without rice from Udaba, Udochi and Anegbette in Etsako Central, yam and cassava from Etsako East and Esan South East, there will be no food in the state.

     

    Harbour Industrial Layout in Onitsha submerged

     

    The Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on National Assembly Matters, Mrs. Joy Emordi wept yesterday like a baby in one of the flood victims’ camp in Onitsha.

    The former senator, who represented Anambra North zone, was consoled by victims of the floods as she wept uncontrollably at Bishop Crowther Primary School.

    Mrs. Emordi, who was at the victims camps with various relief materials, said she never knew the extent of the devastation.

    Some of the items included: more than 50 bags of rice, over 1,000 pillows, 1,000 blankets, 1,000 buckets, 500 cartons of Indomie Noodles, 500 cartons of detergents, 500 cartons of biscuits, many cartons of tomatoe paste, assorted vegetables oils and beverages among others.

    She, however, called for the establishment of a special trust fund for such emergencies to discourage people from relying solely on the state and federal governments.

    The trust fund, Emordi said, should be proactive in rehabilitating victims after the disasters, adding that wealthy Anambra people, state government, corporate organisations should be involved.

    Besides, the former senator suggested that a special committee, made up of reliable Anambra indigenes should manage.

    She urged medical personnel and non governmental organisations (NGOs) to rally round the victims.

    The Anglican Bishop of Mbamili Diocese, the Right Rev. Henry Okeke, who received Emordi, said Anambra State Governor Peter Obi had already created many camps to shelter the flood victims.

    He said that the Bishop Crowther Camp alone, was housing over 950 victims, mainly from Anambra East Local Government Area.

    Another site visited by Mrs. Emordi is the flooded Harbour Industrial Layout in the commercial city of Onitsha.

    At the Layout, Emordi noted that more than 39 companies, had been consumed by the ravaging flood.

     

    Idheze community seeks govt’s assistance

     

    RESIDENTS of Idheze, an oil producing community in Isoko South Local Government of Delta State, have called on Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan to come to their rescue as flood has taken over their homes.

    President of Idheze Community Development Union (ICDU), Mr. Richard Okogba, said, in a statement yesterday that the flood rendered many people homeless and destroyed farmlands.

    Okogba said in the statement: “The flood got to our community last week and has destroyed our crops; took over our community clinic, part of the secondary school and many houses. Right now, our people are taking refuge at the community primary school and that is temporary because we do not know when the flood will get there to the school. This is why we humbly calling on the government to come to our aid.”

    According to him, famine looms in the community because all their crops have been destroyed, urging the government to rehabilitate the affected people.

     

    Fed Govt to introduce flood

    resistant rice, says Minister

     

    PLANS are afoot by the Federal Government to partner with the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines for the introduction of flood-resistant rice in the country, Agriculture Minister Dr. Akinwumi Adeshina said at the weekend.

    The minister, who spoke in Ilorin, after visiting Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara at the Government House, was in the state to inspect farms destroyed by flood in Edu and Patigi local government areas.

    He said the government would also distribute to farmers free of charge, high-yielding maize seedlings that can mature in 60 days.

    He added that the government was making provision for other high -ielding and flood resistant seedlings.

    According to Adeshina, the gesture is to ensure that the devastation of farmlands across the country by floods does not lead to food scarcity.

    He sympathised with the government and people of the state on the incident, even as he attributed the floods to climate change.

    Ahmed solicited greater involvement of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in providing succour to flood victims.

    The flood affected more than 70 communities in Patigi Local Government Area and submerged 16 villages in the state.

     

    5,775 Kogi farmers affected

     

    At least, 5, 775 farmers in Kogi State had their farmlands submerged by the recent flood disaster in 41 wards of the state, the state Chairman, Rice Farmers Cooperative Union, Mr Umoru Adejoh, has said.

    Adejoh told reporters at the weekend in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, that the number represented those who complained to the union.

    He said the number of those affected might rise, as the nine communities ravaged by the flood are “the food basket of the state.”

    Adejoh predicted a sharp increase in the prices of rice, fish and other basic food items due to the floods, adding that the flooding occurred when farmers were set to harvest their produce.

    According to him, over 200, 000 hectares of rice farms and other crops have been washed away.

    He described the disaster as very ominous for the nation’s agricultural sector, “as many of the farmers obtained loans to cultivate large farmlands this year”.

    Adejoh appealed to the federal and state governments to come to the aid of the affected farmers to enable them recoup their losses and remain in business.

    Fear of hunger is real

     

    THOUSANDS of hectares of farmland, especially of cassava and vegetables have been completely washed away by the floods in Asaba Ase, Abari, Ekregbesi, Uzere, Aviara and Iwelle among other areas.

    At Okrama-Oyede in Isoko North Local Government Area, traumatised residents have resigned to fate.

    Their belongings were seen floating.

    Okrama-Oyede is an agrarian community sharing boundary with Ibedeni, Ukpude and Ivori communities which are also submerged.

    However, the victims, who were rescued through government emergency scheme are being quartered at St Michael’s College, Oleh, where government had created a relief camp.

    Similarly, decomposing livestock, poultry and wild animals were seen floating, raising concerns about imminent food shortage and epidemic in the affected communities.

    A passenger, who rode on a speedboat with our reporter from Uzere to Abari, said: “This land (water) where we are travelling now was a farmland. We used to travel over five kilometres by road to get to the waterside to board a boat, but now it has become a river.”

    Mr. Francis Seibido, the immediate past chairman of Abari community, lamented the plight of the victims in the community.

    He said: “Right now there is no good water for us to drink in this community. We drink this (flood) water that you are seeing and you know it is unhealthy for us. We need drugs. The only transformer we have has been submerged in the water and right now we do not have light.”

    A trader, Mrs. Victoria Daniels, said the price of garri, a staple food in the area, has shot up by over 250 per cent. She said: “Today, a basket of garri is sold for N1,000 and we do not know how much they are going to sell it for us tomorrow. Foodstuff is expensive now because there is no food anywhere and we do not have money to buy food.

    “It is true that government has warned us earlier but we did not know that it is going to be like this. Right now we are very hungry here. The government should come to our aid because we are suffering.”

     

    We’re overwhelmed,

    says Uduaghan

     

    EDO State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan said magnitude of the disaster was more than what his government can handle alone.

    Uduaghan spoke through Mr. Tony Nwaka, his Commissioner for Special Duties and member of the inter-ministerial committee he set up under the chairmanship of his deputy, Prof. Amos Utuama, (SAN).

    He said over 20 of the 25 local government areas of the state have been affected by the flood.

    Nwaka said: “Beyond those local government areas far away from the River Niger – less than five – all local government areas of the state and nearly 1,000 communities.

    “We have been moving round and we have set up resettlement centres across the state. There are two in Asaba, Illah, Osissa, Kwale, AGGS Ozoro, St. Michael’s College Oleh, Ughelli and Okwagbe, which was opened today.”

    Besides, over 25,000 displaced persons in the government centres, the commissioner said there are thousands others scattered across the state.

    He said the government is also providing food and medicines for those who shun the resettlement centres and chose to stay with their relatives.

    “More and more people are being moved and we are providing medical services in the camps to cater for them. Unfortunately, we have also had to deal with cases of settlements, like that in Ashaka, which we had to close down because it was also flooded,” Nwaka lamented.

     

    Kogi victims take

    refuge in Edo

     

    MORE than 1,000 victims of flooding in Kogi State are taking refuge in Illushi, Esan Southeast Local Government Area of Edo State.

    The victims have since converted the Illushi Market into their temporary camp, where complaints trail the distribution of relief materials provided by the Governor Adams Oshiomhole-led administration.

    One of the women was allegedly delivered of a baby boy last Friday.

    One of the victims, Mr. Nelson Arome, said most of the victims came from Omabu community, in Oyedega Local Government Area of Kogi.

     

    Nigerians urge Fed Govt

    to act fast

     

    WORRIED over the number of lives and valuable properties lost to flooding in some states across the country, a section of Nigerians yesterday called on the Federal Government (FG) to address the menace.

    Mr George Haruna, a civil servant, lamented debilitating toll flooding has taken the economy and food production.

    Haruna spoke yesterday with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

    He said: “Most farmers have been displaced as a result of this flood and it has made the cost of foodstuff in the market to increase.”

    Besides, the teacher said flooding is enemy to human health, since most of the potable streams and rivers in the country have been contaminated.

    A student, Olanrewaju Buhari, said the flood had prevented some students from going to school and that some of their mates in schools not affected by the flood would be ahead of them in their studies.

    Admitting that rainfall was natural, Buhari urged the Federal Government to endeavour to provide drainage in strategic places.

    Mrs. Beatrice Benjamin, a trader, said that the flooding had affected her fish business.

    She said: “The price of fish has gone up a little, but the truth is that is very hard for me to get a carton of fish to buy these days.”

    According to her, the Federal Government should act before more lives are lost to the flood.

    Her words: “Now we are scared of travelling around in our own country. This should not be. Initially, it was security that was the issue in this country, but now it is flood. This is so sad.

    “The government officials should visit Lokoja-Okene road, it is a terrible situation down there. Safety of lives is not guaranteed and trucks plying the route are not helping matters.’’

    Mr. Suraj Hassan, a civil servant, said that the flood was due to the lack of proactive measures, suggesting that the river banks should be dredged and the displaced provided with accommodation.

    Hassan also urged the authorities to relocate all the houses along the river banks to avoid future occurrence

    A businessman, Mr. Bethel Lemchi, warned the government that the flooding being experienced in some parts of the country might lead to food shortage.

    Lemchi, who gave the warning in an interview in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said the disaster had wiped out several farmlands in various parts of the country.

    He urged the government to devise measures of managing the expected food crisis which he described as ‘inevitable.’

    Lemchi also urged the government to import food items to sustain the population to avert starvation.

    “Importation of food should be paramount because the floods have ravaged crops and attention should also be paid to farmers’ welfare,’’ he said.

    He attributed the cause of the flood to inadequate provision of drains on the roads.

    He said: “A lot of roads have collapsed due poor or no drainage system. Most of the contractors who won contracts to construct roads are driven by selfish gains not the people’s welfare.’’

    Lemchi noted that if the contractors had constructed the roads to international standard, flooding would be minimised.

    “Flood is a global phenomenon but Nigeria’s case is worse due to poor road network.’’

     

  • Nigeria and floods

    Nigeria and floods

    So, who do we blame, and really is it a blame game or the scary realisation that we are just a nation run on auto-pilot, one for which after 52 years, we are still plagued largely by the same problems?

    We are 52, part of the country is in water. We are deep in flood and equally flooded on all fronts by corruption, mismanagement, maladministration and poor governance.

    Two months ago when parts of the Shendam/Mikang axis and the southern part of Plateau were cut off from the north, it was just one of those rare occurrences. The city centre was next with scores of death; parts of Bauchi were not spared. But like all floods, all issues that have plagued us, with a wave of the hand, are confined to the bin of history.

    As said earlier, this is no blame game, NEMA has tried. In the face of tight budget, the agency resorted to big boats and canoes for the evacuation exercise, exhibiting ‘Nigerian promptness and expertise’ in the rescue efforts and relief distribution. But it smacks of selfishness that on the immediate, very little had been done as prevention, by a body responsible for combating these forces of nature.

    Lake Nyos is close to Nigeria, and sources say a 2005 UNDP report had predicted that the dam was at “a point of potential collapse”, in fact, within 10 years it may collapse. Yet, after seven years, nothing has been done.

    Based on the report, financial losses estimated in billions of naira, comprising crops, residential and commercial structures, utilities and infrastructure, including roads and bridges and other services will occur.

    Although Lake Nyos is yet to collapse, when it does, all these predictions and others not known will occur. We are not only just faced with a bad case of flood, but possible outbreak of epidemics, it is so strange that with the level of devastation, no national emergency was declared.

    Depending on whose figures, more than 30,000 people around the country are displaced, and stranded. Death toll now is over 500 people and it’s on the increase. No one really cares, and 52 years, no one cares.

    One cannot point to any very-quick-fix-it solution, drastic measure or long term plan. No one even understands how and why the dam was opened, causing the rise in water level in some states.

    I dare say government has failed.

     

    By Charles Dickson

  • Life after the floods

    Life after the floods

    Today’s remedial action determines tomorrow’s well-being

    As Nigerians, we sure have our worries, but don’t we, on occasion, wonder why we are so blessed? Everywhere else, the earth quakes, sinking homes, burying and mangling private and public facilities, to say nothing of the precious lives lost. Asians, Europeans, South and Central Americans count their costs now and again whenever the earth moves. Our continent and country are largely spared. Hurricanes ravage the United States so often that the Americans have since learned to differentiate one from another simply by giving them human names. That was why we heard of Hurricane Katrina. We are spared of such Katrinas. Volcanoes are rare in Africa, unheard of in Nigeria, but erupt in Europe, spewing hot ash and rocks, and causing not a little palaver. We are also blessed in that area, aren’t we? There are other natural disasters from which the good Lord has insulated us.

    But since last month, Nigerians have felt the power of water, life’s otherwise precious liquid. No one is comfortable with that encounter. A persistent downpour swelled the Niger River and other rivers and tributaries, causing them to overflow their banks. The result has been utter devastation. Over two million people were reported to be displaced in Kogi and Edo states. Hundreds of houses collapsed under the impact of water. Displaced residents found temporary perching spots on the rooftops of surviving houses, waiting to be evacuated. Women clutched their babies, hoping something would happen to put them out of their nightmare. In Delta and Anambra, misery was widespread, as homes and farmlands were washed away.

    In Ndokwa-East, a council in Delta, reports suggest no flood ever wreaked so much havoc in its history. It left about 22 clans under water, their people in sheer torment, displaced and with little to eat and little to wear, in makeshift shelters, and unsure of what tomorrow would bring. In Onuaboh, for instance, a clan of three communities, namely, Umugwor, Umuoche and Umuazu, this year’s flooding will be a watershed. No dry grounds at all. Inyi, where I spent two formative years, is a vast body of water. 2012 will be the year of the Great Floods. Discounting the services of wall calendars, the year will help to set off one event from another. It is an unsavoury encounter with one of man’s most cherished resources.

    There has been some response from government. The Emmanuel Uduaghan administration in Delta State has sent relief to the displaced residents, as have individuals and organisations.

    But there is need for more work. There is need for the authorities, including the federal government, to assess the situation and ascertain the magnitude of damage. Next, it will help to determine what assistance is required. Plus, no one should forget that whatever relief is sent should be appropriate, targeted and monitored.

    There are reasons for these suggestions. Disaster management can easily be bungled if not properly thought-out, just as relief efforts can be misapplied and wasted if not clearly conceived and monitored. If the right things are not done at the right time, people needing help become hopeless. And that deepens the initial crisis.

    For some of the flood victims, their plight has a traumatising impact. Their farmlands may have been flooded in the past, but not their houses or entire communities, as is the case in Ndokwa-East and parts of Isoko in Delta State. These people are struggling with not just economic loss; they are also grappling with psychological shock and need help in that area as well. They need encouragement now, some sort of psychological therapy.

    They need comprehensive relief consisting of, but not limited to, food, medicine, water, clothing, and, of course, sleeping places, till the water recedes. They will also be happy to see that assistance meant for them actually gets to them, and not to some opportunistic dealers or people far removed from the floods. But beyond all that, they need something permanent, something to start and sustain them after the great waters. They need cash to buy new seedlings and begin all over again.

    It is in the interest of everyone if this crisis is well managed. For one, it will show that we can learn from past blunders in disaster management, and that our governments really care for the people they govern.

    No one should lose sight of the imperatives of mitigating the unpleasantness of life in a relief camp. Still, it must not be forgotten that tiding victims over the flood season is only one step, requiring another. That second step is even more fundamental. It should resolve the issues of life after the floods. What will the farmer-victims eat when the waters recede? And since these farmers also feed the society, what will we all eat when dry grounds appear?

    How these issues are resolved now will determine the quality of life after the floods.

  • Floods, tears and blood

    Floods, tears and blood

    Several communities across the country are counting their losses to floods. For some, it is simply unquantifiable, especially where lives are involved, report Bisi Olaniyi, Ugochukwu Ugoji-Eke,   Chris Oji  and Nicholas Kalu

     

     

    East-West road threatened as Rivers residents count losses

    IN other climes, there are wet and dry seasons but it is not so in the Niger Delta. The dry season spell experienced between December and March in other parts of the country is alien to residents of the oil-rich region.

    In Rivers State, the near absence of dry season has made construction, especially road, very difficult in the Southsouth state with a swampy terrain.

    This year, the devastating effects of the torrential rainfall have been felt by all. At the mercy of the floods is the strategic and ever-busy East-West Road.

    The road starts from Oron, in Akwa Ibom State, runs through Ogoniland in Rivers State to Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ondo and Ogun, terminating in Lagos State.

    The contracts for the dualisation of the Warri to Port Harcourt stretch of the road were initially awarded to Setraco Construction Company (Warri-Kaiama) and Julius Berger Construction Company (Kaiama-Port Harcourt).

    Prior to the introduction of the amnesty programme in 2009 by the Federal Government for demilitarised Niger Delta youths, Julius Berger officials, mostly expatriates, were frequently kidnapped in exchange for ransom.

    When the kidnappings became unbearable, the firm was forced to abandon the job. Messrs Setraco was subsequently hired to take over the road. But the company is overwhelmed by the enormity of the work to be done. Already, agitated Niger Delta residents are complaining about the slow pace of implementation.

    The firm had started asphalt overlay from the Warri end and sand filling from the Rivers axis before the floods took a debilitating toll on its programme. Portions of the road are being washed away around the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) and from Emohua to Ahoada East and Ahoada West Local Government Areas.

    Villagers told The Nation that floods remain the major threat to the project, which maynot be completed by the December 2014 completion date.

    The mostly affected areas in the Garden City are: Ada-George, Diobu and Ogbogoro. Two Diobu residents – Mercy Apia and George Otelemaba, blamed it all on poor drainage.

    Residents of Ada-George and Ogbogoro will have to live with the incessant flooding for more weeks, considering the ongoing dualisation and reconstruction of the roads.

    But the Governor Rotimi Amaechi-led administration is not folding its arms. Its intervention is making the after-effects of the floods in Rivers State a child’s play, considering the tales on the lips of residents in other parts of the country.

    The governor has mandated the contractors handling road projects across the state to provide covered drains and service ducts.

     

    Communities sacked, farmlands washed away in Abia

     

    In Abia State, floods have sacked many from their homes and washed away hectares of farmlands.

    One of the affected communities is Umuaku in Umunneochi Local Government Area where the floods destroyed multi-million naira property, including perimeter wall fence of buildings.

    They include the walls of Jacob Achara Methodist Church that were pulled down and several other buildings that were submerged. Hundreds of farmers were sent on forced break from their farmlands.

    But residents alleged the on-going construction of the Mbala Isuochi road blocked the natural water path.

    Also counting their losses are residents of Ohanku road in the commercial city of Aba. Many of them have been sent on vacation from their houses, which are either submerged or have their access washed away.

    At least 20 houses have been abandoned by tenants, who lost the battle to prevent them from being flooded. Some of the residents said that their problem started when the firm rehabilitating the road, allegedly blocked the underground drainage collecting storm water to Aba River.

    They argued that rather than maintain the original level of the road, the firm raised some sections, a development they alleged was responsible for the flooding of the area.

    The residents also alleged that the contractor, consciously and unconsciously, blocked the drainage with stone chippings, which they discovered as they tried to de-silt the channel as part of their communal effort to remediate the situation.

    The flood, which has divided the road into two, has created an emergency terminal for vehicles from Ngwa at a distance while the others from the Ohanku end has to make a detour before AmuonichaAmucha.

    With the water level still high for residents to wade through, pedestrians now circumvent the affected area through the adjoining premises.

    At the Akoli –Ohanku junction where the underground drainage is believed to have been blocked, buildings on both sides of the road have been partially submerged. Nduka Ukpabi, an affected landlord in the area, lamented that all his tenants have packed out.

    At Umuaku, an affected cleric, Rev. John Nkemakolam said: “We have never experienced a flood of this magnitude. It pulled down fences and water levels inside people’s rooms were as high as six feet. We have lost a fortune, individually and collectively, but glory be to God, no death has been recorded so far.”

    Abia State Deputy Governor Emeka Ananaba, who, on behalf of his boss, Governor Theodore Orji, visited the area for an on-the-spot assessment, expressed shock at the extent of the damage wreaked by the floods.

    He, however, assured the people of the government’s quick intervention to alleviate their suffering.

    “The government will come to your aid soon,” Ananaba told a cross-section of residents in Umuaku.

    He said that the state would approach the Niger Delta Development Commission (NNDC) for possible assistance, not just to victims in Umuaku but to help the government tackle the menace of erosion across the state.

    Beyond the climate change, the flooding of the two Abia communities was aggravated by the blockage of collector drains by contruction firms.

     

    From Kogi with tears

     

    Sacked from their homes in Kogi State by floods, 5,000 residents Elele, Ekanyi, Obale and Affa communities in Analo Ward of Ibaji Local Government Area have relocated to neighbouring Idah Local Government Area of the state and Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State to seek refuge.

    Most residents of Ekanyi, Obale and Affa succeeded in crossing over to Enugu boundary communities of Ogurugu, Ojjor and Iggah in Uzo-Uwani council at the weekend.

    They crossed over to safety on wooden canoes through the Mabolo River, also known as Ofu, leaving their property which had been completely submerged in water.

    There were also reports that the people of Elele, Odobo, Nwajala and Ejule, whose communities were submerged early last week, have all relocated to Idah.

    Man, from Odeke community, in Ibaji council area relocated to Iggah community in Enugu State.

    It was learnt that they live like refugees with many of them residing in primary school buildings.

    Though, some good-spirited Iggah indigenes have vacated their houses accommodate their fellow-countrymen, some victims still face difficulties.

    Residents of Ekanyi and Affa natives have been moving to Ogurugu since last weekend. The community has become home to victims, including the aged and children.

    Fears of possible outbreak of epidemic are rife since most of the victims pass the night in open spaces.

    The chairman of Ibaji Local Government Area, Mr. Dave Ogwu, lamented that greater parts of his council had been deserted because of the flood, which according to him, has destroyed many houses, property, farmlands and crops worth several billions of naira.

    He called on relief agencies to assist the victims who have been turned into refugees in neighbouring Enugu State. The call became necessary and urgent because the calamity, he said, is beyond what his council could shoulder.

    According to Ogwu, Governor Idris Wada, who has visited Idah, was due at the emergency camp created in Enugu State yesterday.

    Officials of Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area, led by the Chairman, Mr. Cornel Onwubuya who visited the border communities to assess the situation on Sunday, expressed concern over the large number of refuge-seeking Ibaji people.

    The council chief and a community leader, Chief Maximus Ukwuta, who led the team, urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other relief agencies to quickly come to the rescue.

    He listed shelter, food, drugs and clothings as the victims’ urgent needs.

    The Red Cross Society said it had received reports of the victims’ crisis in Uzo-Uwani council and had briefed its Enugu office to act quickly.

     

    Communities in Cross

    River in tears

     

    Though Cross River is among the states listed by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) to prepare for heavy rains and flooding, the intensity of the disaster could not in any way be compared to what was experiened the previous years.

    According to the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), more than 42, 000 residents have been displaced by the flood this year.

    The worst hit local government areas are: Obubra, Ogoja, Yala, Ikom, Abi, Biase, Odukpani, Boki, Obudu and Obanliku.

    It is difficult to see the displaced persons in one rehabilitation camp as they are promptly accommodated by families and friends in adjoining, communities.

    A SEMA official said the hospitable nature of the people has, to a great extent, aided them in coping with the situation.

    In Yala, Mr Gabriel Ogar, who is accommodating a family whose house was flooded, said: “Well, this thing can happen to anybody. So, we have to open our hands to help our brothers and sisters.”

    So far, 11 deaths have been recorded this year, according to SEMA.

    In Adim in Biase, a nine-month-old baby, Godswill Echu Okon, was reportedly killed when a residential building collapsed on him. The collapse was caused by flooding. In Agwagwune, in the same Biase council, two 12-year-olds were allegedly swept away.

    As of the last count, about 49 persons have been hospitalised from flood-induced injuries.

    More than 4000 farmers have also been affected with about 106, 000 hectares of farmland washed away. Yams, cassava, cocoyam, melon, rice and vegetables, among others, have been destroyed.

    The Nation learnt that about 1059 houses have been destroyed, especially in the rural areas where they were built with mud bricks.

    One of the most famous tourism sites in the state, Buanchor Drill Ranch and Canopy Walk in Boki, has been rendered inaccessible by the floods. The bridges and culverts on the road have all been swept away.

    The disaster, which came in the aftermath of a down pour that lasted for about three days, also affected six villages where no fewer than 80 houses were swept away and 3000 farmlands destroyed.

    At the end of the three-day downpour, about 10000 residents either became homeless, or incapacitated economically.

    Tourists who were on tour of the Buanchor Drill Ranch and Canopy Walk as at that time were trapped.

    The about-30-metre high Buanchor Canopy Walkway, located in the heart of the virgin forest of Boki, is the longest in Africa. The Drill Ranch is for the protection of Drill Monkeys, an endangered animal species which attract hundreds of tourists on monthly basis.

    The situation is a major blow to tourism, the mainstay of Cross River’s economy.

    In Agwagwune, Biase council, women and children live under inhuman conditions with no potable water, food and medication.

    The villages in the area could only be accessed by the use of canoes through forest, invested with reptiles and dangerous animals.

    Speaking in Egbism village on his canoe, Mr. Ekuma Bassey, lamented that the flood was the first of its kind in more than a decade.

    He lamented that he and his family had no place to live in as they could not raise the rent for apartment in the city centre.

    Bassey lamented that they could no longer eat cooked food, as all the water sources in the area have been poluted.

    He said: “Now, we eat only bread which we have to buy from the neighbouring community. We cannot use firewood here. We cannot use kerosene. We are suffering. Please help us.”

    Bassey lamented that market and schools have been submerged, creating both economic and social problems.

    Okpandin, a village in Yala Local Government Area, was completely sacked.

    Mr. Cyprian Idim, a resident of the community, said: “We have no access to that village again and the people had to be evacuated to other villages. There is no access to that village again. Water has surrounded the village.”

    Expressing regret that their farmland had been washed away, he said: “We have no other occupation than farming.”

    Compounding matters was the recent release of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon. The water released from the dam affected Yala, Ogoja, Ikom, Obubra, Abi, Biase and Odukpani council areas.

    SEMA’s Director-General Vincent Aquah expressed the fear that the magnitude and severity of the damage to lives and property would increase as the flood level rises.

    According to him, apart from the expected extreme famine as a result of the destruction of farmlands, accommodation would become a problem as many are already relocating to make shift shelters.

    “These conditions are far below human standard particularly living in a slum such as this thatch house. Children and women are suffering and there is an urgent need to address the situation before it gets out of hand,” he said.

    He appealed to the Federal Government and international organisations to assist the government in cushioning the effects of the floods.

    Aquah said sensitisation campaigns have been flagged of in all the coaster communities to advise residents of flood-prone communities to relocate to higher planes.

     

  • Floods: Oko Poly shuts Atani campus

    The management of the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State, yesterday closed indefinitely the Atani campus of the institution, following the floods that submerged the campus.

    The Rector, Prof Godwin Onu, explained that the action was taken to save the over 3,000 students and 500 workers.

    The floods have ravaged the Ogbaru Local Government Area, where the campus is located.

    The management, at the weekend, deployed over 50 canoes and 15 buses to evacuate the students and workers.

    In a statement in Awka, the state capital, Prof. Godwin Onu explained that the management closed down the campus because of the threat the floods posed to life and property.

    He regretted that the closure would adversely affect the school’s academic calendar.

    Onu said: “The examination is to begin in the next two weeks and the Atani campus has been closed, to allow the floods to recede. We are desperately in need of aid to enable us tidy up the environment as soon as the flood gives way and to recover from the colossal loss.”

    The rector said the polytechnic had lost about N500million.

    He regretted that the floods affected buildings, equipment, such as computers, generators and electronics.

    Onu noted the floods had caused a big disaster.

    The academic urged governments at all levels and individuals to assist the polytechnic, because the management alone cannot cope with the situation.

     

  • Traumatised and bruised… children caught up in floods

    Traumatised and bruised… children caught up in floods

    The floods in various parts of the country have left children with the Hobson’s choice of living under conditions that are below human standard. They are traumatised, suffering and scarred, report UJA EMMANUEL, NICHOLAS KALU, BASHIR MOHAMMED and KOLADE ADEYEMI

    Little Hope, Patience, Ngozi and Amara had no hand in the fate that has befallen them. Chased away from the comfort of their parents’ home by the Makurdi, Benue State flood, they are now four of the over 200 children whose homes are the three displaced people’s camps. They sleep in classrooms, defecate in make-shift toilets and live at the mercy of the government and donors.

    Their residency of the camps means they are not at liberty to eat what they want. They have been unable to go back to their schools, which resumed a few days after the rains overran their homes. Sound sleep has become a luxury, with mosquitoes feeding fat on them in the open camps. Clothes and toiletries are in short supply.

    In short, they are traumatised, scarred and unsure of what tomorrow will bring. They are reduced to living every day as it comes.

    Most of the children in the camps are between the ages of one to 14. But there is also baby Suswam. He was born at the Wurukum camp. His mother Chiso was delivered of him last week and she named him after the Benue State Governor.

    At the time of his birth, the camp was lacking beverages and baby foods. The other camps at St. Catherine and NKST Primary Schools also faced similar challenge.

    The Camp commandant in charge of L.G.E.A Primary School Wurukum, Mr. Terumbur Alabar, admitted that the development was a major challenges.

    The Camp commandant at St. Catherine, Mrs. Diana Akera, confirmed that they lacked beverages and the assistant camp commandant at N.K.S.T Wadata, Miss Doose Agede, said the situation was the same in her camp.

    Hope, Patience, Ngozi and Amara told The Nation that they had missed school. They said life in camp is difficult.

    Hope said: “We barely have enough to feed. We now sleep in the classroom, with mosquitoes all over. We can’t play much.”

    Abdul Umaru, a 12-year-old, told The Nation that the disaster had truncated his Quranic education. He described life in the camp as difficult.

    A nursing mother, Mrs. Ngunengen Ape, lamented the inability of her three children to go to school. Little Miss Wandoo Ugo , five , said she missed school and play. She said she wanted to get back home.

    “I hardly find enough sleep. I am missing school. The Federal Government should do something to alleviate our suffering. Life in camp is terrible,” she said.

    The camps in Lokoja, Kogi State, are overstretched. The population of children in the Adankolo, Gadumo and Kabbawa camps is put at over 600.

    Children expressed sadness at their inability to go to schools.

    Seven-year-old Sule Rebecca said her parents lost everything, including her schooling materials, to the floods.

    She said: “My parents could no longer afford by books and uniform that got lost in the flood. The little money my mother made in her grinding engine business was washed away by the flood. Even if I still have my uniform and other school materials, my parents have no money to pay for my school fees because water has taken away their properties, including our grinding engine.”

    The Science Secondary School student urged the government to get teachers to teach them at their camps.

    Madam Jummai Abdulkadir, a mother of four, said feeding the children had been a major challenge. She condemned a situation where a family of five shares one or two cups of rice for a meal.

    “Though we know it is the situation that led us to this travail, and government is doing its best to provide for us, but the supply is too small for us. Even the toilet provided is being locked up most times because they accused us of misusing it,” she said.

    A widow, Mrs. Ramatu Aminu, told The Nation that a N35 loaf of bread is given to a family for breakfast. She said of her seven children, only five were registered by the camp’s managers. She said all the children have stopped schooling because of the disaster.

    At the Adankolo camp, Rabi Yaro and her four children sleep on a tiny mattress she salvaged from the wreckage of her former house.

    She said: “I have been homeless for more than two weeks; this is where we are staying now. I took nothing except for this mattress and those three cooking pots.”

    At the camps, lunch is usually bread, with nothing to go with it. In a day, a family gets two cups of gari, pure water and bread.

    In Agwagwune, Biase, Cross River State, children live under inhuman conditions with no potable water, food and medication. Their parents do not fare better. No thanks to flood, villages in the area can only be accessed by canoes meandering through the forest trees amidst reptiles and dangerous insects.

    A resident of Egbism village, Mr. Ekuma Bassey, lamented that the flood was the first of its kind in over 10 years.

    He lamented that he and his children had no place to move to as they could not afford to rent a home upland. So, they have been ‘living’ on water.

    He said: “Now, we only eat bread, which we have to go to a neighbouring community to get. We cannot use firewood here. We cannot use kerosene. We are suffering. Please help us.”

    Children are facing hard times in Okpandin, a village in Yala Local Government Area, which was sacked by flood.

    A resident of the area, Cyprian Idim, said: “We have no access to that village again and the people in that village had to be evacuated to other villages. There is no access to that village again. Water has surrounded the village.”

    Mrs. Glory Inyang of Umon Island in Biase Local Government Area of Cross River State said her children have had to stop schooling.

    She said: “Our children can no longer go to school. We even thank God they are alive.”

    For Mr. Bassey Ilem’s children in Agwagwune, Biase, the mode of transportation to school has changed.

    He said: “They now have to go to school in a canoe. If the children here tweaked the popular nursery rhyme a bit to sing, ‘Row, row, row your boat gently down the street/Merrily, merrily, merrily life is not a treat’ it would definitely not be out of place. Things are no longer as they used to be and life has grown a lot harder for these people who have been forced to get used to the body of water around them.”

    A resident of the area, Mr. Willam Ilem, said: “Primary school has a separate canoe from secondary school. That is the means of transportation.”

    In Abayong, a student of the Government Secondary School, David Ana, said: “I can no longer go to school. My school uniforms, school bags, books and sandals were all washed away in the flood.”

    In Agwagwune, pupils of St. Augustine Primary School have a makeshift school – the Town Hall. “We are now using town hall as classrooms. The children can study here as the schools have been taken over by water,” a teacher, who pleaded anonymity, said.

    Cross River State Commissioner of Education Prof Offiong Offiong said: “We have already taken steps to relocate the children and make necessary arrangements to ensure that academic activities in hose schools are not disrupted. Some of the schools have also been captured under our comprehensive renovation programme and by next month some contractors are going to be mobilised to sight. So, we are on top of the situation.”

    The Director-General of the State Emergency Management Authority (SEMA), Mr. Vincent Aquah, said children and their parents are suffering.

    He said: “These conditions are far below human standard. Children and women are suffering and there is an urgent need to address the situation before it gets out of hand.”

    He appealed to the Federal Government and international organisations to come to the aid of the state government, which, he said, has no financial capacity to effectively manage the situation.

    Hajiya Amina Yusuf, a mother of eight who was among the over 15,000 people displaced by the flood which ravaged five villages in Warawa Local Government Area of Kano State, has cried out for help over hunger and lack of adequate shelter for the victims.

    According to Hajia Yusuf, for two days, her children and other residents of the camps were neglected. She said there was no food and medication.

    She said: “It was only this afternoon that they brought us gari and sugar. I have about eight children with me, what can we do with three cups of gari? This is pathetic and I call on those in authority to do something urgently to alleviate our plight.

    “We did not cause the flood. We are victims of natural disaster and that does not mean that we should not be treated as human beings. In everything, we give Allah the glory that all of us survived the flood.”

  • These days, it pays to own a canoe too!

    These days, it pays to own a canoe too!

    Whoever knew that come one day, canoes would rush around on Nigerian roads where big trailers would fear to tread?

    During the week, I listened in on a radio programme on the ‘curse of the ember months’. I was prepared to learn how I could meet those guys and give them a piece of my mind, thinning out the population the way they do around Christmas, the ember months that is, not the radio people. No, I do not necessarily have anything against them radio guys; it’s just that my diary is full. Anyway, I was very relieved to learn that there is no such thing as an ‘ember month’s’ curse. Instead, there are careless and desperate drivers who want to make extra money for the Christmas period, period. In the process, they make mistakes and kill people.

    I also learnt, on that radio show, that the Christmas period usually witnesses, how do you say it, a little bit of madness, no? People use the period to show off what they have achieved during the year, such as how many cars they have bought. This is why a single family that used to go home for Christmas in public transport finds that it needs to take seven cars to ferry everyone in the house home: one each for the father, mother, children, servants, luggage, food, family dogs … That’s right; the dogs must go for Christmas too. Who else is going to sing, ‘It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas’ for the family? The children? Are you serious? In a family that takes seven cars home for Christmas, the children do not need to know anything. I would not.

    Seven cars! Imagine that, and in a land where three quarters of the populace cannot even ferry themselves to work with a bicycle. Sometimes I wonder, should those ones commit suicide? What is just wrong with us that we lose all reason and dignity as we drool and grovel in abject ecstasy at the feet of these material things? Obviously, such families need some talking to.

    The unfortunate thing is that none of us can actually raise the first stone to condemn the family mentioned above because I think that is the secret dream of everyone of us: to show the world up in our little ways! How else will the world know we have ten cars if we don’t take seven of them home for Christmas? That is what makes life a little fair, at least. So, I guess our mindless worship of these mindless material things will continue unabated until something shows up to let us know how really flimsy we are, such as floods.

    Oh, the floods, the floods! Have you seen pictures of the Kogi floods? I mean, here is Kogi State, in gentle somnambulism all the year, undulating along the pathway of life minding no one’s business, not even its own, and it is suddenly and furiously thrust into national limelight, not by some great achievement but by the floods! It is a rather sad event, isn’t it, particularly for those killed, displaced or discomfited. When I saw the pictures, I just went, wow! There’s just water, water, everywhere in Lokoja! And Noah was nowhere in sight, only Mother Nature! Incredible!

    I mean, here we are, dying or killing each other over land, money, power, positions, just name it, and all the while not one of us realises that nature is in masterful control. How come none of us realised this? We really need to go back to our books. Seriously, don’t we ever learn? Has no one told us the story of the man who was so desperate to purchase an airline ticket he went and colluded with the tickets clerk to withdraw one that had earlier been sold to someone else and the plane now crashed and killed the desperado? Have we never heard that story? Or of the man who insisted on taking a particular seat in a bus on a long distance journey, only to be the only one to die in a crash the bus was involved in? You have not heard? Silly me, I thought these things were common knowledge.

    Look now, one of the Lokoja pictures was of a house with a car parked in front of it, both neck-deep in water of course, and as I looked at it, I thought, this car ain’t going nowhere any time soon, not to the market, the office, the shops, nowhere. But then, right beside it was a canoe and its paddle and I thought, what ingenuity! This man had prepared for a rainy day, literally! What message did this modern day Noah receive that the rest of us didn’t: when you buy your car, make sure you purchase a canoe to go with it? Who would have thought that one would need a canoe, no matter how little, after one had bought a car?!

    More pictures showed how houses had been completely submerged in water; and how big lorries, trucks, trailers were attempting to wade through the waters. I saw however that canoes, tiny little canoes, were able to move and were being used to ferry people and things over the waters. And I thought I spied a little canoe stretching out a helping hand to a big lorry across the water. Perhaps not, it might have been just my eyes playing tricks as usual. When I looked at that picture again, I thought how indeed are the little risen and the mighty fallen! Whoever knew that come one day, canoes would rush around on Nigerian roads where big trailers would fear to tread? Who knew indeed, that some day, some rainy day, some little canoes would be the heroes of their owners’ lives? As they say, life is full of strange turns and twists.

    Let’s look to now; there are some lessons to be learnt from these strange turns and twists. To begin with, I think we should all accept the fact that life is indeed full of strange turns and twists and it never pays to disdain the little guy. What do you mean you already knew that? What about your neighbour? If Nigerians as a people were to accept that they knew that, then we would all cling less to these material things, accumulate stolen funds less, stow away public funds less and generally not carry on as if we were in control. I think the only thing we are in control of is the food in our stomachs, not even the one on our plates. A fly may come suddenly and perch comfortably on it.

    Now, don’t go getting me wrong again. What I mean is that the larger order of things (such as floods, lightning strikes, earthquakes, etc.) is not in our hands. However, we can help the little things such as preparing for the larger order of things: getting a canoe, preparing systems for the delivery of relief materials, equipping hospitals well enough to take care of the injured, etc. We may not be in control of things in general, but we can at least focus on the things that truly matter such as making this world a better place by serving others, not just ourselves. Now, I’m sure not everyone can afford a canoe (imagine, Noah spent years building his own!), but we can at least bear in mind that nature rules, ok, cause we don’t, ok.

  • We’re better prepared to handle floods, Lagos assures

    Lagos State has appealed to residents not to panic over persistent downpour and the attendant flooding because measures have been put in place to manage such situations.

    Speaking with journalists shortly after the September edition of the sanitation exercise yesterday, the Head of Service, Mr. Adesegun Ogunlewe, said Lagos will not experience the devastating floods recorded in other parts of the nation.

    Ogunlewe, who led the monitoring team, said government had cleared many of the drainage channels, adding that expansion of canals is ongoing to tackle the challenges of flooding.

    According to him: “We are well prepared and the drains this year have been cleared and we have also warned that all those living close to the canals evacuate those areas for the government to have easy access. We will work to ensure that that flooding is reduced to barest minimum.”

  • Floods hit Adasu, Ogbeh, Aondoakaa, others hard

    The floods ravaging communities in Benue State as a result of the release of excess water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon is about to submerge a substantial part of the Benue State University Teaching Hospital.

    It was learnt that electricity transformers and the maintenance block in the teaching hospital have been submerged.

    It was also discovered that prominent indigenes of the state have lost property estimated at millions of Naira.

    At the hospital, Benue State Health and Human Services Commissioner, Dr. Orduen Abunku, said the facility was threatened by the floods which had scaled the fence and submerged some buildings.

    He said the transformers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) have been affected and that the hospital now relies on two generators for electricity supply.

    Prominent Benue indigenes, including former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Audu Ogbeh, former Attorney-General and Justice Minister, Mike Aondoakaa and the former Governor of the state, the late Rev-Fr. Moses Adasu, lost property estimated at millions of Naira.

    The late Adasu’s Covenant Clergy Retirement Home on the Beach Road and Covenant Projects Company on the Makurdi-Gboko Road were submerged.

    The floods also overran Ogbeh’s Makurdi home.

    Hundreds of bags of rice which Aondoakaa stocked in two warehouses on Ogbeh’s premises as raw materials for the Miva Rice Factory, have been destroyed.