‘Flood has ruined our businesses, lives’

One of the houses submerged by flood

THE flooding occasioned by the torrential rains in Kogi State has rendered many people homeless in nine local government areas. The disaster, which has seen many houses submerged and farms destroyed, has made life more difficult for the people of the affected areas.

Some affected victims counted their losses in separate interviews with Saturday Tribune.

Hajiya Binta Yusuf, a fish seller, said: “I lost all my savings to the flooding. We can no longer go to the river to buy fish. Everybody is affected. Our house is submerged. We don’t know where to start rebuilding our lives from.

“I am calling on the state government to come to our aid. We are suffering as a result of the flood disaster. We don’t know where to go; my children and I have been managing with our relations that were not affected.

Another victim, Musa Bala, said: “I am a rice farmer. The flooding affected my business very badly. Like many other rice farmers in my area, I borrowed from the bank to run the business and now that my farm has been destroyed, where will I get the money to pay back the loan? The bank will not listen to stories; we have to pay them back. I don’t know where to start from. I am appealing to the government to help us so that we can overcome this problem.

Joseph Moses, a commercial motorcycle, also narrating how the flooding affected him, said: “My house has been submerged. The house where I rented an apartment is not close to the river bank but due to the magnitude of this year’s flood, the building was not spared. I have relocated my family to the village while I manage with a friend. We are calling on the government to construct alternative roads in the state. The road leading to Ajaokuta from Ganaja has been cut off by the flood. The former governor of the state, Musa Wada, was constructing a bypass. If you are coming from Ajaokuta to Lokoja, you don’t need to enter Ganaja, you take that bypass called Wada Road and come out at Army Barracks. Sadly, the road was not completed before Wada left office. If such a road could be completed by the present administration, all vehicles coming from the South-South would be making use of this road and anytime there is flood, this bypass will serve as alternative for motorists.

“We also have Zone 8 Road which comes out at Crusher. It is the only alternative road now for the people but it is in a bad shape. I am appealing to Governor Yahaya Bello to complete the construction of thE road. Although the road contract has been awarded by the governor, work has not begun on the project.

An indigene of the state, Esther David, explained to Saturday Tribune how the flood disaster affected her. She said: “This is a sad year for many people in Kogi State. The flood affected everybody one way or the other. If you live in Felele, which is far from flood-prone area, you are still affected because you cannot take the normal road to town, I mean, the road leading Nataco-International Market to the town. You have to take Crusher Road through Zone 8, which is in a bad situation. The government should consider constructing more bypass roads to avoid hold-up. I am a tailor but I can’t go to my shop because it has been submerged by the flood. I have to move my sewing machine to my house in Felele, which is not affected. Getting to town on a daily basis is a problem now because commercial motorcycle and tricycle operators are cashing in on the disaster by charging exorbitant fares.

Simbiat Yusuf, a foodstuff seller, said her shop was overtaken by flood while she was away in Kano to buy some stock. She said: “On my way back, we got stuck at Koton-Karfe due to flood. I couldn’t abandon my ware, so we spent three days there. Later, I was able to offload by foodstuff from the vehicle and take a boat to Lokoja. Sadly, flood water had filled up my shop and the stock left in the shop got soaked. It is very painful.”

In Benue State, floods wash away homes, crops and hope

Victoria Okonkwo sits in a canoe as neighbours paddle her away from her house in the nation’s food basket, Benue State, which is now under water – along with more than 100,000 hectares (247,100 acres) of farmland.

“It was last week that it started, so I left thinking that the water would not be this much. Now I am displaced with my children,” Okonkwo, 45, told Reuters.

Okonkwo is among at least half a million Nigerians affected by flooding in 29 of 36 states this year. Farmers say the rising waters will push food bills higher in a nation where millions have fallen into food poverty in the past two years.

Farming was constrained by flooding and food shortages and COVID-19 restrictions in 2020. Prices shot higher due to this year’s war in Ukraine and nationwide insecurity that has pushed thousands of farmers off their land.

“This is a catastrophe indeed. All of these wrong things are happening at the same time,” said Dimieari Von Kemedi, chief executive of Alluvial Agriculture, a farm collective.

Farmer Tersoo Deei, 39, said two hectares (five acres) of her rice and nearly all her soybeans in Benue were underwater. What she had harvested she has to sell now, before it has dried, because her house washed away.

“I do not have any option but to sell my rice paddy because there is nowhere to keep it,” the mother of four told Reuters.

Nigeria-based commodities exchange AFEX estimates flooding and other factors will cut maize output by 12 per cent year on year, and rice by 21 per cent. That is a serious problem for a nation where inflation hit a 17-year high in August, led by food inflation at 23.12 per cent.

“What we are seeing currently is the worst case… at least in the last decade. This is a very big challenge to food security,” David Ibidapo, AFEX’s head of market data and research, said of the flooding.

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