The subject of flood usually comes to discuss whenever rainy seasons prevail and the effect of the natural disaster is usually unmanageable. From the Biblical age when God used the element of water as a means of destruction, water has never been a good master. Though a good servant, water serves a definite purpose in our everyday lives; helping to maintain the sanitary and domestic aspect of our houses.
Over the years and especially in contemporary times, flood and flooding have formed the central theme of public discuss, publications and journals with different agencies proffering diverse thoughts on the dreaded environmental disease.
The government has in times past devised various means of managing and controlling flood and, even launched several programmes to address the seasonal scourge yet, there seem to be no change. When the Flood Preventive Measures was flagged-off last year, the Commissioner for Environment and Mineral Resources, Prince Enobong Uwah, had appealed to citizens to help the government in her bid to control the flood epidemic.
The Commissioner and his entourage had gone round major flood-prone areas of the state; delisting and unblocking drainages to mitigate the effects of heavy down pour earlier forecasted by the Nigerian Meteorological Service. Thus, heaps of refuse left on Ndiya Street at Akpan Andem Market and other roads were carted away.
All of these was to ensure that the gutters and drainage channels are free from blockages that would pose a challenge to the free flow of water.
Sadly, things have not taken any different shape since that evacuation. Gutters are still filled with debris and rubbish and water ways have long been filled to the brim with sand, bringing it to the same level with the roads that one wonders if there was any trace of a Gutter therein.
Akpan Andem Market, the same spot where heaps of sewages and refuses were evacuated now is a sorry sight. The stench of the odour, the magnitude of the heap and its gradual encroachment into the main road is scaring, not to mention the undisputable fact that the gutters will surely resist water when the rains come falling. Akpa Ube Street is yet another place where Gutters have taken the functions of waste bin. The waters settle at a convenient location after rainfall and do not leave until sunshine.
For years, Udi Street gutter has remained unbeatable in matters of smell, stagnant water and residue. This has been responsible for the high rate of mosquito invasion, rodents and other pests, even in broad daylight.
What are these communities doing to ensure that the efforts of the governments are complemented? How can individuals prevent flood in small measures that would affect the general control of it?
Although the government owes citizens the responsibility of catering for their needs, the citizens should not be engulfed in the illusion that those in power know so much about the waters wading through their homes and business places. These officials live in places where flood is not seen or heard of, and even if they do, the waters have no power to penetrate their domains. As such, we know better where the shoe pinches.
Individuals can prevent flood simply by keeping their wastes in the right places-the government-approved bin, and keeping the water ways free from residues of any form. All temptations to pour refuses into gutters must as a matter of consciousness, be overcome and the environment, kept free from loop-holes capable of retaining water.
Communities can by reason of communality, share in the flood-control activity by organising weekly, bi-weekly or monthly sanitation in which members of the community will be incorporated into evacuating sand, wastes and other residue from the gutter to the approved waste bin. Communities who have attempted this only end up worsening the situation of things as they empty the gutter contents on the roadside for the rain to again sweep into the gutter. Also, laws forbidding dumping of refuse in gutters should be made and followed strictly to instil discipline and fear in the minds of stubborn citizens.
Our gutters are being abused and our community leaders do not seem to observe it. We as individuals do not see a thing wrong with it either and yet, we crave for gutters for water to flow. We wish we had gutters along IBB when the ones at four and two lane are crying to be free from the captivity of refuse. We blame the government for not manufacturing gutters on roads when we readily pour out our refuses on flowing waters. We imagine an expansion of gutter because we know the ones we have are not wide enough to contain our heaps of refuse.
The government is trying her best and we citizens must follow suit. Together, we can control flood if our want for democracy dividends does not outgrow our need for it.
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