THE FLOODS SWEEPING THROUGH NIGERIA

  For many years especially since post 2015, Nigerian families have had to put up with all manner of formidable odds. The country may have been a hotbed of poverty even before 2015 but the statistics are unimpeachable as to the fact that a bad situation has only grown worse since then.

 While it is true that before 2015 the security situation in Nigeria was worsening, it is even truer that since then things have lurched out of control, piling an incalculable cost on the country in terms of lives lost and economic opportunities gone. In more than 60 years of being an independent country, the argument that the country has never had it this bad would take some serious beating.

  By November 2022, Nigeria`s surging population is expected to hit 216 million. About 91 million Nigerians languish below the poverty line.  The cost has been a staggering one. That the country remains one of the world`s poorest in spite of its staggering natural resources and even more staggering human resources speaks to the fact that those who have managed the country for decades have failed to put in place the structures and factors that could have seen Nigeria maximize its resources to guarantee quality lives for its teeming population.

  That the country continues to post some truly scandalous statistics about wholly avoidable challenges is testament to the fact that the country has so far failed to build a system that can withstand shocks and guarantee that life can be lived with some measure of dignity.

  In many ways, Nigeria remains a poorly planned country.  It also remains a country with no plans for its immediate future. Over the years, because those tasked with managing the affairs of the country have been shortsighted, they have been complicit in ensuring that the country has no long-term plans for its people. It is then no surprise that the prophecy about those who fail to plan is fast being fulfilled in the life of Nigeria as a country.

  Across some states of Nigeria, nature has been venting its fury. The floods surging through many of states have been sweeping away lives, property and livelihoods.

 In Kogi, Katsina, Enugu and Anambra States, for example, many have lost everything to the floods, even their lives. In Anambra State, eight Local Government Areas of Ogbaru, Onitsha North, Onitsha South, Anambra East, Anambra West, Awka North, Anyameli, and Oyi are said to be under water. Jigawa State in the North  has also experienced its share of devastating floods this year.

 Though the floods have something to do with climate change, they did not come out of nowhere. There were predictions. Nigeria has known for years that some states are prone to flood. Yet for many years, nothing has been done to improve the resilience of such states.

 Entire families have been left at the mercy of nature because over the years, adequate measures have not been put in place to ensure that when such events occur as they would, people are as protected as humanly possible.

Instead, what is usually the case as seen in Kogi State where the Governor`s wife has taken to sharing canoes emblazoned with the logo of the ruling All Progressives Congress is that those who are in a position to do something about events such as the perennial floods would rather do nothing but prefer to  wait for the opportune moment at which to reap maximum political gain from the pains of others.

Kene Obiezu, @kenobiezu