The rain was so hard this morning neither I nor the driver Alhassan could see more than a few metres in front of us. Crowds of people, busses and okada motorcycles crowded under bridges.
The okada –motorcycle taxis- we passed on the road looked miserable. Passengers making themselves small in the pillion seat, drivers muttering to themselves for strength, driving on despite the heavy rain.
Heavy ruddy water lay in foot deep pools around roundabouts. It was churned up by the cars and sprayed over the okada as they hovered round the outside of the bends.
Last week a flash flood poured through the satellite town of Kubwa, tearing through houses at about 6 am, catching people unaware.
The water level of a small canal rose over six feet, engulfing the houses built close by. Many people lost everything they had, and now the government has banned them from returning to their homes, and will demolish them soon.
The residents blame the flood on the engineers of a nearby dam. They say the spillway must have been opened to reduce the pressure on the dam. But engineers say they did not let any water out. If they had, they say, the whole town would have been obliterated and everyone there killed. They say that people blocking the canal and restricting the flow of the water is responsible for the flood.
People in the village say that the flood water receded while it was still raining, and that there has not been as high a flood here in the 20 years they have lived there.
Now I can’t say what caused the flood exactly, but I remember from my geography lessons that it is possible for flood water to recede while it is still raining. And that it flash floods can occur once in thirty, forty or fifty years. It is also not possible to judge exactly how heavy rain is with the naked eye. I’ve seen a river flood after the rain has stopped, and had to move my tent.
But the most pertinent point to me is not exactly what caused the flood. It’s that the people who live around the dam, even helped build it, instantly blame the authorities who run it for their ills. In this case they may be wrong about the origin of the flood (they could also be right, I don't know), but it’s a miniature version of the relationship that Nigerians seem to have with their government, as they see it a remote dictatorial authority absorbed with lining their own nests.
The okada –motorcycle taxis- we passed on the road looked miserable. Passengers making themselves small in the pillion seat, drivers muttering to themselves for strength, driving on despite the heavy rain.
Heavy ruddy water lay in foot deep pools around roundabouts. It was churned up by the cars and sprayed over the okada as they hovered round the outside of the bends.
Last week a flash flood poured through the satellite town of Kubwa, tearing through houses at about 6 am, catching people unaware.
The water level of a small canal rose over six feet, engulfing the houses built close by. Many people lost everything they had, and now the government has banned them from returning to their homes, and will demolish them soon.
The residents blame the flood on the engineers of a nearby dam. They say the spillway must have been opened to reduce the pressure on the dam. But engineers say they did not let any water out. If they had, they say, the whole town would have been obliterated and everyone there killed. They say that people blocking the canal and restricting the flow of the water is responsible for the flood.
People in the village say that the flood water receded while it was still raining, and that there has not been as high a flood here in the 20 years they have lived there.
Now I can’t say what caused the flood exactly, but I remember from my geography lessons that it is possible for flood water to recede while it is still raining. And that it flash floods can occur once in thirty, forty or fifty years. It is also not possible to judge exactly how heavy rain is with the naked eye. I’ve seen a river flood after the rain has stopped, and had to move my tent.
But the most pertinent point to me is not exactly what caused the flood. It’s that the people who live around the dam, even helped build it, instantly blame the authorities who run it for their ills. In this case they may be wrong about the origin of the flood (they could also be right, I don't know), but it’s a miniature version of the relationship that Nigerians seem to have with their government, as they see it a remote dictatorial authority absorbed with lining their own nests.
posted by Andrew Walker at 1:54 pm
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