BY MUHAMMAD M. ALI, SEPTEMBER 28, 2024 | 05:59 PM
Abubakar Olu Alau was on the brink of harvesting his sweet potatoes, onions, watermelons, and tomatoes when the flood struck. His farm was among hundreds that were completely submerged, now part of the Alau river in Konduga Local Government of Borno.
In pain, Olu, also offered what can be done urgently to help their situation, and also rescue Maiduguri from another disaster.
'We lost everything, including the land. Now, nothing will grow on this land,' Olu said, standing near the river where his farmland once stood.
Floodwaters began to recede earlier this week in most areas. Olu, a father of five, was cultivating the equivalent of eight plots of land in the Alau to sustain his family.
'During my last harvest, I got about 70 bags of onions and 4 truckloads of watermelon, 2000 baskets of tomatoes,' Olu said. This season, he doubled his investment with a credit of N1.5 million, unaware that the flood would destroy everything.
Olu said this while struggling with tears.
The community lives around Alau Dam, which is fed by Ngadda River, a tributary of Yedzaram River.
Since the flood began on September 9, it has traveled about 10 kilometers, inundating houses, shops, hospitals, and bridges in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, Jere, and Konduga Local Government.
National Emergency Management Agency records showed that about 30 people were killed by the flood, displacing 400, 000 people and affecting about a million others, with most of them seeking shelter in camps and host communities.
Farming industry on the brink, threatening food security
The dam was established between 1984 and 1986 to provide drinking water to Maiduguri and its environs and also encourage irrigation farming. Alau community has been the major beneficiary of this scheme.
The capital city of Borno and many other communities largely depend on Alau community for perishable goods. Olu said, if something is not done quickly their community will be in trouble, which will also affect Maiduguri.
Olu's story reflects the concerns and suffering of many farmers in the Alau community.
When this reporter visited the community on that fateful Sunday, farmers were inspecting their farmlands to see what the flood had left for them, but most were devastated by what they saw.
Not only were their investments completely gone, but the flood also washed away the most fertile part of the soil, rendering it useless for future use.
Bulama Aisami Bulama Bale, a traditional ruler in the community, was cultivating over 50 plots of land. He planted grains, onions, and sweet potatoes, hoping to earn nearly N10 million. Unfortunately, all were washed away by the flood.
'I invested everything I had in the farms, and now they are all gone,' Bulama said. 'The problem is that we have nothing left in our store to eat. We emptied the store to finance the farm.'
'I cannot even remember how much exactly I invested on my farms, but my worry is that the farm may no longer be useful again because the flood washed away every fertility of the lands,' Abdulrahman Bale, another farmer in the community who was hoping to earn over N3 million from his two farms of onions and tomatoes, said in frustration.
Expert Speak on Land Fertility and Concern for Food Security
Abdulhamid Muhammad Yusuf, an agriculturalist, gave his opinion on the fate of the farmlands that were destroyed by the flood and the possibility of the farmland regaining its fertility.
'Two things are involved. If the flood has completely eroded the topmost part of the soil, the possibility of cultivating the farm in subsequent years is zero. On the other hand, if after the flood, there are left debris on the flooded farmlands, the farmers can go back to their farms anytime soon.
'But most often than not, a flood with such pressure normally erodes and washes away all topsoil in farms. I seriously doubt if those farmlands can be useful again,' Mr. Yusuf said.
A substantial part of Maiduguri, the capital city of Borno, largely depends on Alau community for perishable goods.
Just like Maiduguri, many other Nigerian communities are also predicted to face food security crises due to the flooding incidents in 2024.
The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) recently issued a policy brief titled "Status of Food Security: Dimensioning the Crisis, Policy Options, and Strategic Responses." This brief outlines urgent measures to address the current food crisis in Nigeria, aiming to develop a comprehensive approach to alleviate hunger and offer practical solutions.
In January 2024, Nigeria's food inflation surged to 35.41% from 33.9% in December 2023. The number of food-insecure Nigerians increased significantly, from 66.2 million in Q1 2023 to 100 million in Q1 2024 (WFP, 2024), with 18.6 million facing acute hunger and 43.7 million Nigerians showing crisis-level or above crisis-level hunger coping strategies as of March 2024. This unprecedented crisis demands immediate humanitarian, social protection, and food systems responses.
The United Nations predicted that 82 million Nigerians, about 64% of the country's population, may go hungry by 2030, calling on the government to tackle climate change, pest infestations, and other threats to agricultural productivity.
Farmers demand quick fixes
Alau Dam was constructed to provide water for domestic use and irrigation. It has also been the source of flooding in the past, particularly during years of heavy rainfall.
The primary factor contributing to the dam's overflow is the seasonal inflow of the Ngadda River, a tributary of the Yedzeram River. The Yedzeram River, originating from the Hudu Hills, flows northwest towards Lake Chad.
During the wet season, it contributes significantly to the Ngadda River, which then feeds into Alau Dam. However, in years of low rainfall, the Yedzeram River's contribution is reduced, leading to decreased inflow to the dam.
After the 1994 Maiduguri Flood, in addition to the dam, the federal government created a substantial wall to reduce the pressure of the flowing water on Maiduguri to avert future floods.
According to the federal government, the devastating September 9, 2024, flood was caused by the overflow of the dam due to climate change.
However, the Alau community disputed the government's claim.
They argued that both the dam and the substantial wall established to decrease the chances of flooding had been in bad condition for about three years before the recent flood.
Rather than fixing them, the government ended up creating a temporary concrete hill before the substantial wall. They believed that the dam and substantial wall would have helped reduce damage in the communities affected.
'We also told them that the hill will divert the water to our farms. We begged them (Alau Dam officials) several times to either fix the gates of the dam and the substantial wall or destroy the temporary hill. The substantial wall would have saved us and Maiduguri a lot of damage,' Adam said.
When the water came, at the community level, they tried hard to patch the substantial wall but to no avail.
'It was the temporary hill created that diverted the water to another direction to destroy our farmlands,' said Madu Walkima, who also lost nearly N50 million worth of produce in his farm to the flood.
Almost every rainy season, Maiduguri's environment witnesses flooding incidents, but not on that significant scale as witnessed this year. The yearly flooding mostly affects residents of Fori community who live on the footplains of Fori River, feeding from the Alau Dam.
The community explained that Maiduguri was also flooded because the diversion had enlarged the riverbank beyond the substantial wall that ordinarily is supposed to reduce the water pressure.
'We used to witness how the substantial wall does its work each time the water levels in the river increases. The wall will not prevent water from going to Maiduguri, but it would significantly reduce the water flow pressure,' Wakilma added, stressing that poor maintenance of the Alau Dam facility caused the problem rather than solely blaming it on climate change.
However, since the flood primarily affected farmlands, the Alau community has remained within their communities and aggressively turned to fishing for survival.
Abdulrahman Bale, a father of two, said: 'The only thing that remains for us now is fishing,’ Bale said as he spread his net on the water to catch fish. 'At least I make no less than N5000 a day.'
Along the coast of Ngadda River, which feeds the Alau Dam, there has been a mini-fish market. Sources familiar with the market hinted that after the flood, many community members who were not serious about the fishing business have now joined.
In the market, both fresh, dry, and smoked fish are being sold. Business people from parts of Borno and beyond come to the community to catch or buy fish.
However, fears have begun to increase among the community concerning their future after the water dried up.
What normally keeps the water around was the dam infrastructure and the substantial wall created. Now all of them are faulty and destroyed. The farmers begged the government for quick fixes to the dam infrastructure to save their means of livelihood.
'We are appealing to the government to quickly fix the dam for us. That is all we want,' Abubakar Olu Alau, pleaded.
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