When It Rains It Pours By Hannatu Musawa

Hannatu Musawa

There have only been a few other instances when the term ‘when it rains it pours’ has had such a literal application. Within the last week, the cloudburst of torrential rain not only poured to its heart’s desire, it also caused the devastation of lives in many states all over Nigeria. The nous of the saying is that sometimes in life, when one thing goes wrong, many others follow. That was true for the thousands of people caught up in the disaster. People lost family, livelihood and homes.
Following the tragic loss of human life and extensive destruction of property and infrastructure, those affected are still experiencing the effects of the storm, as homeless survivors are forced to live on contaminated, disease-infested waters.
Information is that in order to avert dehydration and quench thirst most of the survivors continue to drink the polluted water, thus exposing themselves to malaria and other diseases from the swarms of mosquitoes and viruses breeding in the flood waters

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The floods have so far affected parts of Jigawa, Adamawa and Kaduna states, with reports that thousands of houses were submerged, tens of thousands of residents rendered homeless and a death has been recorded.
Death is always very sad, but the death and suffering of people come with an added emotion of anger, if it is generally felt that human error had a hand in the tragedy.
Flooding is not a new phenomenon to us and we are often faced with its reality in the country, so much so that it has more or less become predictable. Back in 1988, a major flood in Kano displaced more than 300,000 people and in 1999 more than 200,000 people were displaced by floods in Niger. Also, in 2001, two hundred people died and tens of thousands were left homeless when torrential rain led to a flood that devastated Kano, while in neighbouring Jigawa, 180 deaths were registered, 800 people injured and 35,500 displaced. In 2005, dozens of people were killed, over 50 houses swept away and more than 3,000 people displaced by flash floods in Taraba when the River Jalingo overflowed its banks following heavy rains. Earlier this year in Ekiti, a couple of people were killed, roads and bridges were swept away while a two-storey building collapsed in a severe flood. In 2005, hundreds of people in Gusau, Zamfara State died when it was reported that a dam burst. Similarly, in the same year, the Birnin Gwari dam in Kaduna burst and took with it at least 50 people and about 1,500 houses. In 2012, what were termed as the worst floods seen in Nigeria in 40 years ravaged the country, affecting seven million people and causing damage worth N2.6trillion. Hundreds of people lost their lives and over two million people were displaced.
Every year many towns in the South-South are inundated by devastating floods for at least a quarter of the year, while Lagos Island finds a number of its streets buried under water frequently. One could go on and on stating examples of the incidents of flood in this country, but that’s not necessary, because every time a person is drowned in a flood we are reminded of the sorry state of our national facilities and our lack of maintenance culture.
Flood disasters in Nigeria are a common problem, but despite this, despite the constant destruction and dead bodies left floating in flood waters almost annually, the emergency services, local, state and federal governments appear to take no adequate preventive measures to curb its frequency. Every action, all precautions seem to be done ‘after the fact’.
With the vast majority of shelters in rural settings made out of mud-brick, ordinary people are living in structures threatened by flooding. Poverty dictates that the poorest families live on the most subsidiary and susceptible land, prone to flooding and other disasters. Nigeria has various dams located across the country and the communities living near the dams face the force of any flood likely to occur during the rainy season. With all these facts available and after so many incidents of flooding, the authorities responsible must strive to develop preventive and rescue structures, in the event of continued repeating of such catastrophe.
The government, at every level, has a responsibility to assess the factors that contribute to flooding, in order to effectively tackle it. The poor planning of our roads, towns, physical development control and implementation problems of our general infrastructure are major contributors to the dire effects of flooding we continue to experience. Other factors such as poor sewage design, stilted canalisation, bad waste disposal habits, lack of a maintenance culture and taking shortcuts when executing jobs in order to squeeze more money from a contract also heavily increase the threat of disasters such as flooding.
One look at our supposed developed cities exposes the lack of structure and precaution in Nigeria. Even the most beautiful of buildings in this country seem riddled with cracks, yet devoid of fire escapes. Roads are often characterised by large, crater-like potholes, gullies. Some houses are constructed along river banks. The vast natural resources of this country must be used for the basic safety and protection of all Nigerians. Government must prioritise in investing in infrastructure that could improve the lives of ordinary Nigerians, ensure safety and should, as a matter of urgent priority, embark on a new strategy that would save people during such devastation.
With all the tragedy this nation has witnessed in the last couple of years, one would have expected that by now, the relief agencies would have become competent enough and ready to identify and execute successful rescue operations.
Our emergency relief programmes should, henceforth, form effective coordination between themselves and the local government communities. Local programmes to appropriately train rescuers should be provided in villages, so that first aid teams can be established and extended to serve as a first point of response in any emergency. Our emergency units cannot let the disaster victims of this country down next time, should we (God forbid) have an incident of a crash, building collapse or a flood.
When I was a little girl, I used to think that of all the natural disasters of the world, flooding was the most harmless. With every flooding I witness, I know that I was wrong. Studies show that although billions of people fall victim to various natural disasters, floods and droughts have the most devastating effect. When I first came across this piece of information I was surprised, because unlike tornadoes, earthquakes and avalanches, floods and droughts did not seem as dramatic. But the fact remains that floods and droughts account for at least 86 per cent of ‘all’ such natural disasters and have longer lasting and more far-reaching effects on the health of ordinary people. This pathetic situation is exacerbated by the fact that floods threaten long term livelihood and food security and affect women and children more.
Natural disasters will occur. But I also believe that the consequence of the heavy rain, which lead to the worst floods are frequently precipitated by human error and neglect. As we deal with this latest flooding in Nigeria, may we not loose sight of this fact.
The rain may have washed away a lot of hope, laughter and life, but it didn’t wash away all hope. Our government, at every stage, must step up and protect our latest flood victims and protect other Nigerians from being affected further by the floods. People need to know that the next time there is a flood in this country, the authorities would have done everything in their power to ensure the safety of the citizens before, not after the fact.
Last week it certainly rained in Nigeria and with the rain, it poured grief into the hearts of those who loved and lost. May normalcy be returned to those who were displaced and dismayed and may the souls of the departed rest in perfect peace, ameen!
ref: http://www.leadership.ng/columns/464034/when-it-rains-it-pours