₦airaland Forum

Some Lagos residents are counting heavy losses after torrential rain flooded homes, destroyed businesses, trapped families and disrupted movement across several communities in the state.

The residents, who spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos, recounted how the flooding forced families from their homes, destroyed livelihoods and left many appealing for urgent government intervention.

Among the worst affected is a poultry farmer in Lekki Scheme II, Mr Alex, who said he had been trapped indoors for three days as floodwaters submerged his compound and destroyed his poultry.
“For over three days, I couldn’t go out. I’m on my bed right now because everywhere is flooded,” he said.

Alex said he watched helplessly as floodwaters overwhelmed his poultry pens, killing chicks and causing heavy financial losses.

“I’m looking at my chickens dying. I’ve never experienced anything like this before. The eggs I managed to recover, I boiled them to eat,” he lamented.

The resident, who has lived in the area for more than 10 years, described the flooding as unprecedented, noting that Lekki Scheme II had previously been relatively free from flooding.

He attributed the situation to inadequate drainage and alleged that developers had built over a major canal, restricting the natural flow of stormwater.

“Those developers built on top of the canal. They narrowed it and turned it into a gutter. That’s why we’re suffering this flood,” he said.

Alex urged authorities to complete the ongoing canal project to prevent similar disasters.

Another resident, Mr Johnson of Ajiran, Lekki, said floodwater entered his apartment around 4:00 a.m., forcing his family to seek refuge in a neighbour’s upstairs apartment.

“We had to wake the children and move them to safety because the water kept rising. We have not slept properly since then,” he said.

Johnson said the flood damaged household property, including a refrigerator, mattress, electronics, food items and his children’s school books.

According to him, although flooding occurs almost every rainy season, this year’s incident ranks among the worst the community has experienced.

“I couldn’t go to work, and my children could not go to school. It means lost income and missed classes,” he said.

He also expressed concern over possible outbreaks of waterborne and mosquito-borne diseases.

At Ikotun Market, Mrs Ifeanyi Kugbala, a foodstuff trader, said floodwater swept through her shop, soaking bags of rice, beans and other food items worth hundreds of thousands of naira.

“When the rain started, water entered my shop without notice. Many of my goods were soaked, and some cannot be sold again,” she said.

Kugbala said she borrowed money to restock her shop and now feared she might struggle to repay the loan.

“This is my only source of income. I don’t know where to start because everything I invested is now at risk,” she said.
She blamed the recurring flooding on blocked drainage channels around the market and urged the government to improve drainage infrastructure and ensure regular desilting.

In Ebute Metta, Ms Kehinde, who lives on Bola Street beside a canal, said heavy rainfall had become a source of anxiety for residents.

“Once it starts raining heavily, nobody in this area sleeps with both eyes closed. We keep watching the canal because once it begins to overflow, we know water will soon enter our homes,” she said.

She said Friday’s downpour caused the canal to overflow within hours, flooding nearby streets and compounds.

“We don’t pray for rain anymore; we pray that whenever it rains, the canal doesn’t overflow. That is the reality here,” she said.
Kehinde urged the Lagos State Government to carry out continuous desilting of canals and improve drainage infrastructure in flood-prone communities.

Also, a journalist, who requested anonymity, said he and his family had been staying in a hotel for two weeks after floodwater inundated their apartment.

He said the experience had forced him to begin searching for another apartment and advised prospective tenants to consider the flood history of neighbourhoods before renting during the rainy season.

Residents blamed the recurring flooding on blocked drainage channels, indiscriminate waste disposal and rapid urban development without adequate drainage infrastructure.

They urged the Lagos State Government to intensify drainage clearance, enforce environmental regulations and provide emergency relief materials, including food, potable water, mattresses and medical assistance, to affected families. (NAN)

eejo:
Nigeria is the richest country on Earth but many live in poverty. How can anyone explain this but finally I have the answer. I will start by this question as a Nigerian are you a black person. 50k for the best answer today.

mojohnny:
Update on this.
It took 6 days for the visa to be approved
Biometrics was 10th Feb
Decision email was today 16th February.
Standard visa application

eejo:
Explain Why many Nigerians are going to lose their money. Business, Houses and lives which will escalate into the worst Humanitarian crisis in the History of mankind over the next 25 years.

Eboofa:
Oga go and complain to the regulatory commission....you have more than 90% of power availability....yet you complain

madridguy:
Is the Iyaloja from Ekiti State?

First, let us get rid of the worthless argument that fallaciously equates the case of the self-appointed “Eze of Lagos” with the ambitions of Folasade Tinubu-Ojo, the woman who parades herself as the Iyaloja-General of Nigeria because she happens to be the daughter of the President. Pitching one against the other to make a case against the imposition of alien traditions on another culture is a rhetorical strategy called “false equivalence” because it is as clear as night is different from day that one is an internally empty position, while the other will be backed by the force of federal power. The Eze of Lagos will have no salary, no official recognition, and no subjects except perhaps for a few folks who consider him a ceremonial head and nothing more. I have attended Nigerian parties in the USA where they introduce the “Eze Ndigbo” of one US city or the other. No oyinbo goes around fretting over such because they know it is a self-designation that has no serious political meaning. Even in Lagos, the farthest the Eze Ndigbo can go is attending parties, settling disputes, and probably earning money from folks by performing simple tasks for them.

The Iyaloloja-General, on the other hand, can write an “official” letter to an Oba in her capacity as “the first daughter of Nigeria” to introduce her local iyaloloja appointee to them. Unlike the “Eze Ndigbo”, she can walk into their palaces in her capacity as the scion of the President and be granted an audience. Even when the Oba appropriately schools her on how their histories and cultures make the “iyaloja” title alien to them, she could still go ahead and impose her candidate in defiance of their traditions. Given how our politicians grovel before federal power, it is only a matter of time before her “iyaloja” is fully recognised. So, there is a practical difference between what one can achieve with the title and what the other cannot. One is a mere pretender to social relevance, while the other is backed by real political power.

On several levels, Tinubu-Ojo’s “iyaloja” title is a bastardisation of a title that used to mean something among the Yorubas. To be an “iyaloja” is an honour given to enterprising women, the breed who have demonstrated remarkable acumen and resourcefulness in trade and business management. They are usually women who, to varying degrees, forged new paths in their economic endeavours and lifted their community. In the case of the late Abibatu Mogaji, the adopted mother of Bola Tinubu, who bore the title, everyone knew her to be a businesswoman with a verifiable record of achievement in enterprise. When Mogaji died, Tinubu-Ojo—in connivance with traditional rulers who are ever seeking to please her father, who holds their destinies in his pocket—usurped the position. And that was how the title went from Mogaji, an actual tradeswoman, to someone who has likely never taken a path not already guaranteed to her father in her life.

From the “iyaloja”, an honour given to distinguished women who have made a significant contribution to humanity, it became an empty title that can be conferred on any pretender as long as they have some political influence. Tinubu-Ojo did not even stop at the “iyaloja-general” of Lagos, where her father has held sway for decades. As daddy’s political territory expanded, she also edited her title to cover a broader jurisdiction. Now, she has summoned enough temerity to go to Edo to impose an alien Yoruba culture on them. Tomorrow, she will probably head for Kano or Enugu to continue her agenda of Yoruba colonisation. I can assure you that by the time Tinubu-Ojo is done with the “iyaloja” title, it will either need redemption or will have become so problematic that it will be another aspect of Yoruba culture that needs to be consigned to the dustbin of cultural history. That is how traditions meant to promote meritocracy gradually die when hijacked by the clowns.


The Osaro Idah, whom the Oba of Benin asked to educate Tinubu-Ojo during her visit to the palace, made a critical point when he stated that the “iyaloja” title was unknown to them. He pointed out that what they have in their culture is the “iyeki”, who similarly functions as the “mother of the market”, although she also has spiritual duties. There is no “iyeki-general” because each constituent selects its own leader and takes her to the palace to be confirmed by the Oba. He said, “Iyeki is particular to each market. No one has the right to control the other in another market. The “iyeki” in Oba Market has no role to play in Ogiso Market.” But this is also how Yorubas typically choose their iyaloja until hustler-obas subverted tradition. Ideally, there should not be an “iyaloja-general” position because the role of iyalojas does not warrant an overall superintendent.

That was until Tinubu-Ojo was appointed one in contradiction to the spirit of the position. The bogusness of the title itself is very much reflective of its vacuousness and the pretence of the bearer (and even the conferrer). “Iyaloja-general” very much reminds me of Ola Rotimi’s character in Our Husband has Gone Mad Again, who said being an “attorney-general” is preferable to a “chief justice” since “any village chief can do justice.”

The title of “iyaloja” was intended to be organic and independent, each market selecting from among themselves anyone they saw fit to lead them. The traditional societies that created that title thought it must be democratic like that for the role to be meaningful. What we have instead in the “iyaloja-general” is a grotesque manipulation that over-centralises the role of the iyaloja and robs the local market women of the initiative to select their own worthy representatives. This artificial creation has now assumed the role of a kingmaker, waltzing into palaces and thrusting an alien tradition with the soft-hard power of the “first daughter”. Even worse damage is how the title of “iyaloja”, which should promote enterprising women who have distinguished themselves in the world of business, now pushes forward charlatans and impostors who have probably never tried to understand market functions. By now, you would have noticed that Josephine Ibhaguezejele, whom Tinubu-Ojo introduced in the palace as the head of market women in Edo State, is frequently described as a “pastor”, placing religious profession over professional accomplishments. There is virtually little or nothing said about her experience as an actual market woman that qualifies her to be in that position. That shows how the title of “iyaloja” is losing organic connection to the market from where it purportedly derives its meaning.

It is also ironic that Tinubu-Ojo’s president father is one of those who has spent years canvassing for a more decentralised government. Today, they are in power and suddenly executing an agenda of power centralisation that runs every pipe in the social sphere straight into their gluttonous pockets. We, of course, know that he will not be restraining her. She is not only an adult daughter who can defy her aged father, but theirs is also a polygamous family where the interloping “first daughter” and “first son” are also keeping space for their respective mothers, who were not lucky enough to be occupying the “first ladyship.” Besides, Tinubu-Ojo can always pass this whole charade off as her contribution to building the Tinubu political dynasty, efforts that will pay off immediately as political mobilisation means in 2027.

zero8zero:
It was just a coincidence that the acronym sounded Igbo, especially when the suffixes MA was added to complete it. This is history, pick up your history textbook and educate yourself, this is a 1951 history, it shouldn't be too hard for you guys.

zero8zero:
Stop all this nonsense abeg, Anioma is an acronym, it is not an Igbo only communities. Anioma is multi ethnic and multi cultural, it comprises of different ethnic groups from Edo, Igala, Lukumi, Igbo, Ika, etc.
Anioma did not come into existence until 1951 when it was coined by Dennis Osadebey from different ethnic groups and background. Pls, stop this land grabbing and desperation to force yourself on other minorities of Anioma who have their own unique identities.

Vergovert:
I am just silently waiting for the last straw that will finally breaks the camel back.

When the camel can't take it no more.

I pray it happens in my lifetime.

LegendHero:
Sokoto is still safe than any state in the South East.

Hope you know?

Armed bandits have abducted 49 residents of Makuwana village in SabonBirnin Local Council of Sokoto State, while two people drowned as they attempted to flee the assault.

The village head, Alhaji Salisu Ibrahim, disclosed the incident during a condolence visit by the Deputy Governor, Idris Mohammed Gobir, following the twin tragedies of banditry and flooding that recently struck the area.

Ibrahim said Makuwana had suffered no fewer than three bandit attacks within a week, adding that the latest invasion forced some villagers to run into a river, where two drowned. He confirmed that the attackers whisked away at least 49 people.

He further lamented that many residents also lost their property in the flood that submerged parts of the community. “As Muslims, we have accepted both incidents in good faith. We are now appealing to the state government to come to our aid,” he said.


In his remarks, Deputy Governor Gobir expressed sympathy with the community and promised that the government would consider constructing an alternative road to SabonBirni, after floodwaters washed away a major route.

Gobir assured that the state would continue supporting security agencies in the fight against banditry and urged residents to sustain prayers for peace and stability.

He prayed for the repose of the souls of those who lost their lives.

Softmirror:
His wife said there are not going back. I mean Patience. But his second wife haven't said anything yet.

AndroBlaze:
Why are there so many hidden posts on nairaland all of a sudden? Its pretty annoying.

obi4eze:
Why are so many comments deleted on Frontpage?