The Nation Newspaper

Tag: rainy season

  • How to handle rainy season conditions

    How to handle rainy season conditions

    A natural medicine practitioner, Dr Solomon Abutoh writes on the first question while Chief Executive Officer, Nature Healing Alternatives, Dr Leye Popoola, handles the second.

    Unlike what obtains in Europe and the Americas, where there are seasons, such as Autumn, Spring, Summer and Winter, the annual seasons in the tropical regions of the world are basically dry and wet seasons. The dry season runs from October to February while the rainy or wet season begins from March and ends in September. It may sometimes extend to early November. These two alternating seasons are what makes life go round for every living organism and humans.

    The Creator through nature has so programmed things in such a way that if only man would learn to adapt accordingly, follow the rhythm, then we would be the better for it.

    Just as a coin has two sides, so does the rainy or wet season have its advantages and disadvantages.

    It is very important for all Nigerians to keep warm during the rainy season. Man’s immunity, according to research, can be very low during the rains. Naturally, people can ward off some diseases by simply keeping warm.

     

    Advantages of the rainy season

    • Rainy season is undoubtedly a planting period. Plants, such as yams and cocoyams, as well as whole wide range of fruits and vegetables are cultivated and blossom. It also allows for large reserve of fishes within inland water ways, swamps, lakes, lagoons, rivers and even deep seas. This is as a result of expansion and rising of water basin, thus giving the fish room to roam, feed and even multiply. A visit to the coastal areas in August will reveal lots of smoked fish, cray fish, lobsters, crabs, oysters and the likes on display for sale. Thanks to rainy season. Rainy season also prepares the ground for planting , as the receding rains usually leave behind moist soil.

    Rainy season also provides a reservoir of life-giving water to trees and other plants well into the dry season, such that even when they shed their leaves, such trees remain standing and alive.

    • With the rains come increased or replenished sand volumes in coastal areas where people make a living from sand dredging for building purposes.
    • For areas blessed with alluvial diamonds, rainy season is usually the best time to prospect for this expensive natural endowment, which at times forms a major foreign exchange earner for countries so blessed.

     

    Disadvantages of rainy season

    • Rains are known to have caused massive flooding in cities, towns, villages, leaving in its wake destruction of lives and property. Some floods are irreversible. Some affected dams, bridges, farm lands, factories, residential buildings, schools and good roads. Homes, farms and business could be washed away by flooding occasioned by rain.
    • Mosquito parasites are known to incubate more during rainy season. Stagnant waters in gutters, bushy environment are breeding ground for mosquitoes. Malaria fever, a disease that continues to ravage Africa, and other populations within the tropical belt of the world, thrive during this season.
    • As human activities must of necessity go on, rain or not, the level of exposure to the effect of rain also comes with its own problems. For instance, colds and catarrh are very common during this period. There is arthritis among the aged population. Many also suffer asthma and athletic foot too.

    To cope effectively with the season however, the following tips must be followed:

    • Ensure the use of rain coats or mackintosh to cover the head and the body. They are important materials used to keep the body warm. Cloths should be worn.
    • Never expose your feet to rains, but make use of rain boots, or rubber shoes, which abound and are affordable.
    • Take warm bath after each exposure: and of course, hot beverages, preferably hot water with lemon. For those without allergy or stomach ulcer, spicy soups will also help.

    Rainy season is not a curse, rather, our preparations before it sets in, and our readiness and ability to adapt once it comes are what people need to savour the immense benefits of this season nature has kindly bestowed on mankind.

  • Bad roads: Delta residents brace for horrid rainy season

    Bad roads: Delta residents brace for horrid rainy season

    The season of rains is here and residents of the twin cities of Warri and Effurun in Delta State are living in fear of what this year’s hold for them. The season is friendly to none in the area; the rich and poor suffer from bad roads, flooding and other agonies that come with it.

    The state governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, sensational declaration last August that only “mad men” construct roads during the rainy season had assured residents of the bad roads and flood prone areas of the cities that 2016 would be there year of relief. But the strand of hope is wearing thinner with every gathering cloud.

    The dry season has come and gone without a hint of any repair being done on the trouble spots in the cities’ roads. It is back to the basics for the people of the area. It has been about a year since Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, an Agbor, Delta North Senatorial District indigene, was inaugurated as the fourth Executive Governor of the state and not much has changed in Effurun/Warri, except that the roads in the financial hub of the state are in more deplorable condition and relief is far from sight.

    Almost all the major roads in the twin cities are badly in need of repairs: the Okere-Ugborikoko, NNPC Housing Complex, Sokoh, Commissioner, Ovie Palace Road, Alegbo, Uti and others are crying for help. Access roads like the Water Odili, Oil Field, Etuwewe and Esisi roads are not faring better; they are pothole ridden and without working drainage system.

    The Okere-Ugborikoko road is next in significant to only the Airport road, which is the main link between Warri and other satellite suburbs in neighbouring Uvwie LGA. The NNPC Housing Complex and Sokoh Estate roads are no less significant; they take traffic to and from Jakpa, Refinery, Niger Cat roads to Airport Road, through which the Okumagba Avenue, Okere road and Ajamogha business districts can be easily accessed.

    Over the past years the two roads have grown in importance as project development and population creep into new enclaves like White House, New Layout, Okuisoko and other fast growing areas. Ironically, as the traffic increases, the road has become more or less like canals because of the ubiquitous potholes, which have grown in size and propensity to break down vehicles and cause pains for drivers.

    Residents of the area had hoped that with the governor’s declaration in 2015, The NNPC Complex and Sokoh Estate roads would receive facelifts. But how wrong they have been!

    Beyond dismantling the controversial BRT lane on the busy Effurun/Warri road, the present administration has failed to take advantage of the dry season that the governor said is most suitable for ‘sane men’ to work. The repair (surface scrapping) of Airport road – which the past administration inexplicably resurfaced – has been on forever and its end is nowhere yet in sight.

    It is against this background that the performance of the governor and his team has become a subject of beer parlour banters and debates.

    “Our governor is one of the best performing governors in the current regime and I think all Deltans need to support his administration”, Ovie Sunday quipped as he and his friends drown bottles of beer at a popular bar around Marine Quarters area of Warri recently.

    If the appraisal was bait, Clark, one of Sunday’s friend snap at it immediately as he retorted: “Are you a fool? How can you say that sort of nonsense here, trying to destroy the mood of everybody here? Why are you talking as if you live in the moon; what part of Warri has received a facelift?”

    “They (government) have been there for how long now, by May they’ll be one year in office and the only ‘dividend of democracy’ Okowa has given the state so far is that endless list of his S.As (Special Advisers); no roads and no social amenities”, Clark went on about his anger against the Dr Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration.

    “His excuse last year for not doing anything about the terrible state of roads here was the rainy season, now the rains are back and not even a shovel has been moved to site and you want me to be clapping for that person?”

    One might be initially tempted to judge Clark harshly and sum him up as one irrational and unduly intense person, especially when you consider how innocent the topic that got him started was. However, those conversant with the appalling situation of roads in the oil city and attendant notorious knotty traffic within and around the Warri metropolis and environs may be kinder.

    The situation is deemed to be well known to everybody, including those in the political class, that Warri roads can be anything but pleasant to whoever has to move on them – even during the dry season. Residents have over the years endured terrible, vehicle-damaging streets, from where they drive to join needless, but endless traffic jams on supposed highways, where countless deep gullies and unattended bad spots have without fail daily wasted man-hours and further batter an already beaten economy.

    The Warri/Effurun/Sapele Road, the NPA Expressway, PTI Road, especially between the Effurun Market to Jakpa Junction axis, Shiaguolo/Jeddo Road, Ubeji Road, Ugbolokposo Road, Okere /Ugborikoko Road, Giwa Amu Road, Enughe Road are just some of the roads that have turned worse than when they were just footpaths.

    The Warri/Effurun/Sapele Road has a special case, which sources a special kind of anger of residents and road users. Among several things that the previous administration, under Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, did to displease the people, the abandoned 4 kilometer Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), valued at N6 billion stood out. It was not that fact that it was abandoned, but because it was ever conceived, started and then abandoned.

    When it was started and contractors started marking out and installing boulders to demarcate and divide an already insufficient space to create a BRT lane, the people were angry. They got angrier when it became obvious that the work would be abandoned, but the last administration continued to insist that it was its A-List project. Time lapsed out on Uduaghan and stakeholders made it clear to governor Okowa, that they wanted the ‘impediments’ removed from the road so that even if the road would be a headache, deliberately installed nuisances would not be part of their headache. It took the succeeding administration over nine months to remove the barriers.

    Now, as the rains begin to hit the roads (mostly misnomers) again, the words of Governor Okowa is ringing in the ears of residents.

    “I am sure that you are aware that the rains are still on”, he told reporters at the Palace of the Olu of Warri, when he met the late Ogiame Atuwatse II in September, shortly before the monarch transited. “Only mad men construct roads in the rainy season because you will destroy the road rather than repair it.”

    Nevertheless, with the dry season over, residents are back to living in fears of what the season holds for them.

    “In the past at times like this, the government makes some palliative repairs at least to give the feeling that it cared about the people, but there is no motion and certainly no movement.

    “We cannot expect this government of sane men to do anything during the rainy season; so we can only hope that the heavens open up less frequently and dumps fewer gallons of rain this season,” a motorist navigating a section of the terrible Sokoh Estate Road in Effurun, told our reporter.

  • Bad roads: Residents of Delta cities brace for horrid rainy season

    Bad roads: Residents of Delta cities brace for horrid rainy season

    The season of rains is here and residents of the twin cities of Warri and Effurun in Delta state are living in fear of what this year’s hold for them. The season is friendly to none in the area; the rich and poor suffer from bad roads, flooding and other agonies that come with it.

    The state governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, sensational declaration last August that only “mad men” construct roads during the rainy season had assured residents of the bad roads and flood prone areas of the cities that 2016 would be there year of relief. But the strand of hope is wearing thinner with every gathering cloud.

    The dry season has come and gone without a hint of any repair being done on the trouble spots in the cities’ roads. It is back to the basics for the people of the area. It has been about a year since Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, an Agbor, Delta North Senatorial District indigene, was inaugurated as the fourth Executive Governor of the state and not much has changed in Effurun/Warri, except that the roads in the financial hub of the state are in more deplorable condition and relief is far from sight.

    Almost all the major roads in the twin cities are badly in need of repairs: the Okere-Ugborikoko, NNPC Housing Complex, Sokoh, Commissioner, Ovie Palace Road, Alegbo, Uti and others are crying for help. Access roads like the Water Odili, Oil Field, Etuwewe and Esisi roads are not faring better; they are pothole ridden and without working drainage system.

    The Okere-Ugborikoko road is next in significant to only the Airport road, which is the main link between Warri and other satellite suburbs in neighbouring Uvwie LGA. The NNPC Housing Complex and Sokoh Estate roads are no less significant; they take traffic to and from Jakpa, Refinery, Niger Cat roads to Airport Road, through which the Okumagba Avenue, Okere road and Ajamogha business districts can be easily accessed.

    Over the past years the two roads have grown in importance as project development and population creep into new enclaves like White House, New Layout, Okuisoko and other fast growing areas. Ironically, as the traffic increases, the road has become more or less like canals because of the ubiquitous potholes, which have grown in size and propensity to break down vehicles and cause pains for drivers.

    Residents of the area had hoped that with the governor’s declaration in 2015, The NNPC Complex and Sokoh Estate roads would receive facelifts. But how wrong they have been!

    Beyond dismantling the controversial BRT lane on the busy Effurun/Warri road, the present administration has failed to take advantage of the dry season that the governor said is most suitable for ‘sane men’ to work. The repair (surface scrapping) of Airport road – which the past administration inexplicably resurfaced – has been on forever and its end is nowhere yet in sight.

    It is against this background that the performance of the governor and his team has become a subject of beer parlour banters and debates.

    “Our governor is one of the best performing governors in the current regime and I think all Deltans need to support his administration”, Ovie Sunday quipped as he and his friends drown bottles of beer at a popular bar around Marine Quarters area of Warri recently.

    If the appraisal was bait, Clark, one of Sunday’s friend snap at it immediately as he retorted: “Are you a fool? How can you say that sort of nonsense here, trying to destroy the mood of everybody here? Why are you talking as if you live in the moon; what part of Warri has received a facelift?”

    “They (government) have been there for how long now, by May they’ll be one year in office and the only ‘dividend of democracy’ Okowa has given the state so far is that endless list of his S.As (Special Advisers); no roads and no social amenities”, Clark went on about his anger against the Dr Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration.

    “His excuse last year for not doing anything about the terrible state of roads here was the rainy season, now the rains are back and not even a shovel has been moved to site and you want me to be clapping for that person?”

    One might be initially tempted to judge Clark harshly and sum him up as one irrational and unduly intense person, especially when you consider how innocent the topic that got him started was. However, those conversant with the appalling situation of roads in the oil city and attendant notorious knotty traffic within and around the Warri metropolis and environs may be kinder.

    The situation is deemed to be well known to everybody, including those in the political class, that Warri roads can be anything but pleasant to whoever has to move on them – even during the dry season. Residents have over the years endured terrible, vehicle-damaging streets, from where they drive to join needless, but endless traffic jams on supposed highways, where countless deep gullies and unattended bad spots have without fail daily wasted man-hours and further batter an already beaten economy.

    The Warri/Effurun/Sapele Road, the NPA Expressway, PTI Road, especially between the Effurun Market to Jakpa Junction axis, Shiaguolo/Jeddo Road, Ubeji Road, Ugbolokposo Road, Okere /Ugborikoko Road, Giwa Amu Road, Enughe Road are just some of the roads that have turned worse than when they were just footpaths.

    The Warri/Effurun/Sapele Road has a special case, which sources a special kind of anger of residents and road users. Among several things that the previous administration, under Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, did to displease the people, the abandoned 4 kilometer Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), valued at N6 billion stood out. It was not that fact that it was abandoned, but because it was ever conceived, started and then abandoned.

    When it was started and contractors started marking out and installing boulders to demarcate and divide an already insufficient space to create a BRT lane, the people were angry. They got angrier when it became obvious that the work would be abandoned, but the last administration continued to insist that it was its A-List project. Time lapsed out on Uduaghan and stakeholders made it clear to governor Okowa, that they wanted the ‘impediments’ removed from the road so that even if the road would be a headache, deliberately installed nuisances would not be part of their headache. It took the succeeding administration over nine months to remove the barriers.

    Now, as the rains begin to hit the roads (mostly misnomers) again, the words of Governor Okowa is ringing in the ears of residents.

    “I am sure that you are aware that the rains are still on”, he told reporters at the Palace of the Olu of Warri, when he met the late Ogiame Atuwatse II in September, shortly before the monarch transited. “Only mad men construct roads in the rainy season because you will destroy the road rather than repair it.”

    Nevertheless, with the dry season over, residents are back to living in fears of what the season holds for them.

    “In the past at times like this, the government makes some palliative repairs at least to give the feeling that it cared about the people, but there is no motion and certainly no movement.

    “We cannot expect this government of sane men to do anything during the rainy season; so we can only hope that the heavens open up less frequently and dumps fewer gallons of rain this season,” a motorist navigating a section of the terrible Sokoh Estate Road in Effurun, told our reporter.

  • Ivory Coast rainy season death toll reaches 39

    Flooding and landslides during the Ivory Coast’s rainy season have killed 39 people over the last month, officials said Friday.

    The majority died on June 19, when 23 people were killed in overnight landslides in the economic hub Abidjan, but several weeks of torrential rain have continued to cause flooding across the country.

    “This toll also includes disasters that have happened in the interior of the country,” said Fiacre Kili, who leads the national civil protection office.

    Last weekend, five people were killed when flooding hit villages near Grand Lahou, west of the capital, while hundreds of houses were destroyed in the town itself, many of them because of landslides.

    Abidjan has seen a number of flooding-related deaths in recent years, with victims tending to live in slums with poor housing and infrastructure, backing onto land which gives way under heavy rains.

    In June 2009, 21 people died in the city, while seven lost their lives in 2008 and 11 in 2011.

    A month of almost-continuous rain has caused precipitation in the country to rise well above normal levels, although the situation has improved in the last few days.

  • Foot care tips for rainy season

    Foot care tips for rainy season

    RAINY season takes a particular toll on the feet. Many problems may occur with feet such as blisters, heel pains, moles, cracked heel and particularly bad odour. Foot problems especially bad odour and infection are big risks during the rainy season.

    And while you might think that covering them up protects them from the rain, the fact is that the damp weather combined with cold temperatures,are a potentially hazardous combination for the feet. People, and women in particular, do not give much thought to preventive foot wellness, only taking care of unsightly foot problems after they develop. With just a little bit of care and caution, you can keep your feet in top shape.You should monitor your feet; they need more care in the rainy season.

     

    Tips on how to help your feet survive the rains

    •For wet season, rubber footwear is your best bet.

    •After walking through murky water, wash your feet with medicated soap, rinse with water and later soak in warm salt water solution.

    •Always keep your feet warm, don’t get your feet wet in the rain and if such happens, follow the procedure above.

    •Spray your feet with antiseptic foot spray for protection against bad odour: odour occurs from bacteria and sweat glands’ reaction, especially if your shoes are damp or airless shoes.

    •Use quality lotion to keep the skin of your feet soft and moist, but don’t put any lotion in between your toes.

    •Smoking decreases blood supply to your feet.

    •Never walk barefooted or in extremely flat shoes.

    •Soak your feet in warm water for about 20 minutes at least once a week. It is helpful for blood circulation to the feet, feet relaxation and tenderness after long walk.

    •For protection against callous dead cells under the foot, scrub your heels once a week or when having your bath.

    •To prevent fungal and parasitic infections, keep feet clean and dry, and do not walk barefooted on sand

    •Keep your nails trimmed, whether artificial or not

    •Do not tear your cuticles, this will break the layer of the skin and causes injury. Instead look for cuticle remover cream or cuticle clip.

  • Now that the rainy season is here

    SIR: Several predictions have been made by different authorities about the intensity of rainfall to be experienced in various states across the country and the likely hazards that the downpour may cause if necessary measures are not put in place to curtail its devastating effects. Director-General of NIMET, Anthony Anuforom, had predicted that based on prevalent conditions, what happened last year might just be a child’s play compared to what lies ahead. But this can very well be mitigated if the right steps are taken to avoid being caught unawares.

    Also, Lagos State Commissioner for Environment, Tunji Bello, warned residents of the state to prepare for at least 236 days of heavy rainfall this year. It behoves on farmers and citizens at large to plan their lives based on the available information. While much emphasis had been on the need for governments at all levels to ensure an all year drainage clearing programme and de-silting of existing canals to tackle this perennial surge, little or no mention has been made on the expected behaviour on the part of the citizenry that are capable of exacerbating the efforts of governments.

    Many parts of the world have experienced flooding and a rising level of water in oceans and rivers. The climate change has led to rising temperatures or global warming, resulting in the melting of the Polar Regions, Nigeria not being an exemption.

    Nigerians must change their careless habits of erecting structures without due concern about the safety of their environment (.i.e. compliance with building regulations), desisting from the habit of turning drainage into dumps and building houses in places where they end up disrupting the natural course of water, (.i.e. proper waste disposal), embracing alternative energy use and paying necessary attention to sanitation issues.

    Besides, the presence of manholes on roads which are meant to provide access to underground pipes and wires, when left uncovered, could pose a serious danger to pedestrians when roads are flooded during the rainy season. People have been known to drown after falling through those holes. It is therefore important to have them covered, especially for the safety of this season.

    The unprecedented flooding of last year, following an unusually high volume of rainfall, took many by surprise, not because there were no forecasts about the nature of what was to come, but essentially because the forecasts were not heeded. A repeat of this gory experience could be avoided if government on its part play its role and Nigerians on the other hand complement government’s efforts.

    Most importantly, all stakeholders must ensure that all man-induced activities that aid flooding are stopped because any effort from the government would remain futile and a mirage if the desired behavioural pattern is not inculcated by its citizenry. This is a clarion call to all and sundry.

    • Ayo Afuwape

    Iworo, Badagry