Residents of Ajegunle community, Ikorodu, Lagos State and its environ are groaning over the issue of flood, which is a result of lack of drainage channels and overflow of the river bank any time it rains.
The flood has affected their health, and damaged their valuables, thereby disrupting their activities.
Bimpe Ishola, a resident of Ajegunle, Ikorodu, has been experiencing flood every year due to the overflow of the river bank. Ishola trades in front of her apartment and runs her daily business of frying bean cake. She laments over the heavy downpour which makes water from the river find its way to her surroundings, thereby causing a flood and affecting her family’s health condition.
The mother of three, who has been residing in the community for over three years, explained that despite the construction of drainages around the vicinity, it gets submerged by the flood and damages properties. All homes and families have stories to tell as they still feel the effects of the flood.
According to her: “Last night, one of my daughters was down with fever and the nurse refused to come and offer treatment due to the environmental flood. And we were left with no option but to administer self-medication. I quite understand that the water is contaminated and can cause one form of sickness or the other. Yet we had to keep our legs in this dirty water and most of us also use the water for domestic usage.
“I had to call a carpenter to raise my bed level so that we could sleep comfortably at night. However, my sofa, television and some kitchen utensils have been damaged as the flood forced its way into our homes. We can no longer prepare our meals in the kitchen but buy food from a canteen and are now exposed to other health hazards.”
Ishola called on the local government in the area to construct drainages in their communities, as they provide other measures that can help combat flood in the following year.
A 32-year-old resident, Ibukun Ayomide, stated that she couldn’t attend to her business as some of the roads within the street were affected by the heavy downpour of water, adding: “However, the flood affected the majority of our property as a result of bad drainages and the locations of the houses, which were erected in low-land areas. I have to use my apartment as my new office because the condition of my shop is bad. I live in a one-storey building adjacent to my shop. As a matter of urgency, I need to repair one of the sewing machines while I move others to the house for personal use. On arriving at the shop, I realised that some fabric had been soaked in water while most of my tools were lost in the process.”
Ayomide stated that she had to remain indoors for days until the water receded. It took weeks before the water could pave the way for people to attend to their daily activities.
She said: “The situation has restrained my movement and prevented me from receiving guests. I had to stop taking customers’ orders because most of them found it difficult to access me. But, with the help of a friend, I was able to buy tailoring materials and some fabrics enabling me to attend to a few customers’ needs.”
She disclosed that the annual flood forces most residents to vacate the area and return when the situation finally subsides. But those who could not move to other safe areas, they stay back to face the effect. She added that the government has called their attention to the need to relocate to better communities but due to insufficient funds, they acted reluctant and prefer to continue managing the situation because their means of livelihoods cannot even meet up with their basic needs.
A 28-year-old barber, Dennis Chima, whose workshop is situated around the river bank at Ajegunle said that he was forced to evacuate his workshop following the recent downpour as most of his customers have moved to other safe locations thereby affecting his sales.
China said: “I have to set a plastic chair on the pedestrian precinct to attend to a few of my customers. This new development makes the customers reduce the price due to the discomfort they experience. When it rains, I can’t work that day because there is no shelter for my customers as my shop has been affected and none can afford to swim in the murky flood just because they want to have their haircut,” he said.
While lamenting, Chima stated that the situation has reduced his financial capacity to fend for his family and meet up with his other responsibilities. Although, the residents have to deal with the recurring flood with its resultant effects.
Amid the suffering, the flood turned into a blessing in disguise for a 13-year-old boy who identified himself as Tola Akinwunmi. For those trapped in their homes, he uses the canoe to aid their movement, thereby making a little penny from it, while a few others use their rain boots to get to the major road.
Akinwunmi said: “My father is a fisherman and I use his canoe to carry people to their destinations, especially during the weekend. I enjoy the business because it is another way of helping people and making money, though it doesn’t affect my school. Many people who live close to the river bank patronise me because they are left with no option than to enter the canoe to attend to their daily activities such as supplying water, transporting food items, giving them a lift amongst others.”
He added that he joins his father in the fishing business and other minor jobs that come with it, thereby supporting his family financially. However, the money they collect can only cater for their daily expenses.
A food seller who identified herself as Adaeze Njoku, who is in her early 40s, stated that she got to her shop one early morning and realised that some of her cooking utensils had been damaged. She had to pull up her gown as she moved to carry some of her cooking items to a safe place.
Njoku said: “When it rains, the streets and shops are usually filled with improperly disposed refuse, which affects residents. Once I get to the shop, I am usually faced with the issue of clearing dirt before I can attend to my customers and most of them are impatient to wait for all these processes, thereby affecting my daily business.”
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“I have to move close to the pedestrian precinct to cook and also create an open space for my customers to sit while they consume their food. Although, the environment isn’t hygienic and conducive, but I plead with most of them over the situation while others who could not cope with it leave.”
A 52-year-old trader, Joseph Ifogbe, whose residence is situated around the Ajegunle area, stated that the reoccurring flood forces most parents to suspend their children from school while others who are passionate about their wards’ education rather rely on canoes for movement at the time of the incident.
Ifogbe said: “There is no good drainage within the vicinity though the ones that we have are narrow and cannot fight the flood. Whenever there is heavy rain, the vicinity is usually flooded. My property is damaged as the water gradually creeps into our apartment. My children stay at home with me for proper monitoring as their schools are affected as well. I can’t afford to expose them to the weather cause most of the time they end up swimming in the polluted water in school. I cannot abandon my apartment due to the cost of rent in other safe communities, which I can’t afford at the moment.
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Ifogbe noted that the major roads between Ajegunle to Itowolo community are motorable, but most of the streets are not. The streets are affected as a result of the high volume of water that has invaded residents’ apartments. Most residents have abandoned their apartments while few others are faced with the task of pumping water out of their homes and shops. The environmental sanitation that residents fail to do in order the maintain a hygienic environment during this period they are left with no option than to embark on it.
Ifogbe pleaded with the government to take necessary measures to avert the flood. He said this will save the lives and property of residents in those affected communities.
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