Everywhere, floods are a challenge for humanity everywhere, by Owei Lakemfa
Everywhere, floods are a challenge for humanity everywhere, by Owei Lakemfa
Floods in Havana, Cuba. Photo credit: dreamtime.
Floods everywhere are a challenge to humanity everywhere; therefore, the United States should, without exception, allow humanitarian assistance to all human beings in need, regardless of ideology, religion, creed, or race. Basically, all human beings are the same with equal rights and should be treated as such.
Confluence Hotel in Ganaja, Lokoja was my favorite place whenever I visited Kogi State. Its main attraction for me was to sit and watch the Niger and Benue rivers embrace warmly in eternal marriage as their waters flowed south to the Niger Delta before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. /p>
Sitting there, I never forget that one of the tributaries of these great rivers, with their confluence at Ganaja, is the Forcados River on whose banks I was born.
I used to run from Ganaja to downtown restaurants; it only took a few minutes by taxi. Then, a few days ago, the usually friendly skies opened up, drowning out several parts of the city. The Ganaja-Lokoja road has become a place where only amphibious vehicles dare to travel. The roads I used had become extensions of the Niger River. Now, to move on the road, you needed a boat. On Tuesday October 4, a boat carrying people on the road capsized and two people drowned. Four others drowned in the nearby area.
It all sounded unbelievable until more videos appeared showing that in the Korton Karfe area leading to Lokoja, the flood that had submerged the town was such that it was difficult for motorists to differentiate the road from the Niger River. But Kogi was in a better condition than Yobe. There, as of October 2, seventy-five deaths had been recorded and more than 31,000 households affected in 255 communities.
Although the floods have swept through 27 of the country's 36 states, affecting half a million people and killing more than 300, including 20 in the last week alone, it does not appear that the government has realized the disaster. Rather than a sense of national catastrophe, which necessitates emergency action, including the mass evacuation of affected or endangered communities, normal business continues, with the political rally industry booming.
However, Nigeria is in much better shape than Pakistan where 75,000 kilometres, or about a tenth of the country, has been under water. As of September 30, some 767,488 houses had been destroyed and more than 1,277,000 damaged, particularly in Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces. Tragically, more than 1,700 people were killed and at least 12,800 injured. More than 4,000 children are on the list of victims.
Just like the United States, which is also partly devastated by Hurricane Ian, people around the world want to come to the aid of...
Floods everywhere are a challenge to humanity everywhere; therefore, the United States should, without exception, allow humanitarian assistance to all human beings in need, regardless of ideology, religion, creed, or race. Basically, all human beings are the same with equal rights and should be treated as such.
Confluence Hotel in Ganaja, Lokoja was my favorite place whenever I visited Kogi State. Its main attraction for me was to sit and watch the Niger and Benue rivers embrace warmly in eternal marriage as their waters flowed south to the Niger Delta before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. /p>
Sitting there, I never forget that one of the tributaries of these great rivers, with their confluence at Ganaja, is the Forcados River on whose banks I was born.
I used to run from Ganaja to downtown restaurants; it only took a few minutes by taxi. Then, a few days ago, the usually friendly skies opened up, drowning out several parts of the city. The Ganaja-Lokoja road has become a place where only amphibious vehicles dare to travel. The roads I used had become extensions of the Niger River. Now, to move on the road, you needed a boat. On Tuesday October 4, a boat carrying people on the road capsized and two people drowned. Four others drowned in the nearby area.
It all sounded unbelievable until more videos appeared showing that in the Korton Karfe area leading to Lokoja, the flood that had submerged the town was such that it was difficult for motorists to differentiate the road from the Niger River. But Kogi was in a better condition than Yobe. There, as of October 2, seventy-five deaths had been recorded and more than 31,000 households affected in 255 communities.
Although the floods have swept through 27 of the country's 36 states, affecting half a million people and killing more than 300, including 20 in the last week alone, it does not appear that the government has realized the disaster. Rather than a sense of national catastrophe, which necessitates emergency action, including the mass evacuation of affected or endangered communities, normal business continues, with the political rally industry booming.
However, Nigeria is in much better shape than Pakistan where 75,000 kilometres, or about a tenth of the country, has been under water. As of September 30, some 767,488 houses had been destroyed and more than 1,277,000 damaged, particularly in Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces. Tragically, more than 1,700 people were killed and at least 12,800 injured. More than 4,000 children are on the list of victims.
Just like the United States, which is also partly devastated by Hurricane Ian, people around the world want to come to the aid of...
Floods in Havana, Cuba. Photo credit: dreamtime.
