Ajogbo-ota Residents Ravaged By Flood, Fear Of Diseases, Fire Outbreak Amidst Neglect

As the rainy season beckons again this year, fear of flood, waterborne diseases, fire outbreak grip Ajogbo-Ota communities as they remained neglected by government, Adejuwon Osunnuyi writes

 

 

 

Rainy season is here again. For millions of farmers all over the world, it’s no doubt a season of to be glad. This is because, rain, in abundance, is key to having great harvests.

But for the residents of Ajibode, Konifewo, Ewu-Igbogbo and Oke Osa, which make up the Ajogbo-Ota, in Atan-Iju Ilogbo Local Council Development Area of Ado-Odo Otta, behind Tipper Garage along Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Ogun State, the rainy season is not a season of joy, but rather a period of anxiety, untold hardship, anguish and fear of breakout of diseases as well as fire outbreak.

Over the years, these communities have continued to be ravaged by incessant flooding.

Anytime rain falls, especially heavy ones, the entire Ajibode, Konifewo, Ewu-Igbogbo and Oke Osa communities and the adjourning ones, are usually paralysed as residents and visitors always resort to using canoes to ferry themselves out to safety. Vehicular activities are always grounded as even the motorcycles, popularly called Okada, which is the major means of transportation in the community, are definitely no go area.

The magnitude of the water is often so overwhelming that many house owners have had to abandon their homes.

While streets have repeatedly been turned into ‘River Niger’ to the extent that the flood flows into houses during rains, residents who are at home are given automatic ‘house arrest’, while those who have gone out for their daily chores are left with no other option than to stay back and look for alternative means of shelters outside.

The roads, apart from being riddled with huge potholes and gullies, have been narrowed to single path due to the mammoth refuse congealed by rain water whose passage is inhibited by blocked uncoordinated drains. As it rains, the flood sweeps the refuse to the middle of the road, making movement of any kind difficult.

Interestingly, for Ajogbo-Ota communities inhabitants, their fear seems to have been made more frightening, especially with the prediction of heavy rainfall for this year by the Nigerian Metrological Agency, Nimet as well as the neighbouring state, Lagos, recently.

For instance, advising the residents recently to be prepared for the rainfall which said he said is going to be slightly above normal, the Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tunji Bello, said Lagos is going to experience about 240-270 days rain with the 2020 rainfall predicted to begin in March 19 and end November 22.

According to Bello, the 2020 Seasonal Rainfall Predictions and Prevention of Flooding in Lagos is to inform residents about the 2020 rainfall prediction by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET).

“Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) is to allay fears of residents and prepare them ahead for the likely consequences of the rain,” he added.

Bello said before the rainy season, a couple of rainfall was expected to occur which would be enormous and tend to give a false start to the rainy season.

“Lagos Island is expected to have a rainfall onset date of March 19, with an error margin of three days, while its cessation date is expected to be November 26.

“It is also expected that Lagos Island will have about 252 days of rainfall and about 1,714 millimeters of rainfall over the year.

“It can be deduced that Lagos State shall experience a rainy season of 240-270 days, while the maximum annual rainfall is predicted to be 1,750 millimeters.

“Year 2020 will likely experience days with extremely high rainfall amount which may result in flooding,” Bello warned.

Though the Ajogbo-Ota is not in Lagos State, but its closeness to the state is a cause to be worried about. The consequences of the rainfalls will no doubt result in great floodings of the community that have been ravaged by incessant flood over the years.

However, aside the prediction of heavy rainfall by NiMet, for the residents of Ajogbo-Ota who are being cut off from civilization with the flood, their plight seems to be getting worsened by the reconstruction work on Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway around Owode and Ijako area of Ota, Ogun State.

The storm water from the expressway is said to have been channelled into the gouge at Owode Isale while the stream from the gouge passes through Ajibode/Konifewo Road in the lower terrain adjacent the expressway thereby adding to the incessant floods. With this, the access route to the river and the communities, are usually, totally blocked.

The channel route has now become a very deep and wide gully that has grown big trees, which become death traps in an area where thousands of people dwell.

Whenever it rains, worries seem not to have increased for inhabitants alone, but also for visitors to Ajogbo-Ota. With the rains, many parts of these sleepy communities usually return to a familiar path in which residents had to roll up trousers to walk on the streets to avoid being smeared, and motorists had to wade through waterlogged roads.

The only major road that leads to the communities, apart from being riddled with huge potholes and gullies, have been narrowed to single path due to heavy cracks caused by deep gouge. Whenever it rains, the road goes underwater. Yet, no one seems to bother about it. This, no doubt, is very unbelievable.

Speaking with The DailyBells, Adeyemi Adeshola, President of the Alliance of Concerned Communities of Ajogbo area, said: “Flooding here is so severe that houses and vehicles get submerged in. We don’t have a place to stay anymore. There is no dangerous animal we have not seen. We have seeing scorpions and pythons; what we won’t wait to see before we act, is crocodile.

“The sad thing about the water here is that another one from a beer bottling company within this vicinity is also released to these communities. The water contains chemicals as you can see from the colour and we don’t need anyone to tell us that it is very dangerous to our health. All we have laboured for years have been destroyed. Many have sold their houses with others just abandoned theirs. Some sleep in the church or anywhere the night meets them.”

Sadly, Adeshola noted, last year, most of the students who were to sit for the West African School Certificate Exam, WASCE, at the only secondary school in the vicinity, Ajogbo Grammar School, missed their examinations as a result of the flood.

“Many couldn’t go to school because of the flood. Since the road became flooded, many parents wouldn’t allow their children take the risk of going to school through the flooded road.

“Most of the time, to pass through the flood, it gets up to the shoulders. So, if you don’t know how to swim, you dare not venture to go through it,” he submitted.

Also, Adeshola recalled that during last year flooding, an elderly woman got drowned in the flood before she could be rescued.

Speaking in the same vein, another resident, Mrs Bunmi Lawal, said the Ajibode village in particular has always been a nightmare during rains as motorists spend hours to navigate its difficult terrain.

“It is still a puzzle that a major epidemic has not broken out in this environment, given the rubbish that dot the landscape,” she said.

Mrs Lawal noted; “The flood from the Expressway has compounded the situation here as motorists and pedestrians now wade through the ocean-like streets. The flood makes the major road here impassable for cars and pedestrians.

“They are, most times, forced to make a detour or fold up their dresses before they can ‘swim’ through the place. The same scenario plays out in all the communities here. On the other access roads, the situation remains the same as they are all very terrible.”

Aside the incessant floods, while Ajogbo-Ota residents have continued to be weary of the breakout of waterborne diseases as a result of the bad water they have to navigate through every time the floods come calling, another terrific fear they are nursing is the fear of fire outbreak.

When The DailyBells visited the community recently, apart from noticing the absence of governments’ presence in the community aside the two public schools in the community, Ajogbo Grammar School and another primary school, the gigantic gas pipeline passing across the only road that leads to the community, poses a great danger as the incessant floods have washed away the earth that covered the pipeline.

This is quite dangerous, as the pipeline could get ruptured any time soon. Yet, it seems government is not bothered.

Speaking with The DailyBells on the danger being posed by the pipeline, Adeshola said there had been several efforts taken by the community in the past, to get the attention of concerned authorities to come to their aids in order to avert fire outbreak.

For instance, Adeshola said the community has appealed to authorities concerned as well as the federal ministry of works.

First, on 26 September, 2018, the community, under the auspices of Glorious Estate Community Development Association, Konifewo wrote a letter to the Corporate Affairs Manager, Shell Nigeria.

In the letter titled; SOS Letter, A Call For Immediate Attention, signed by the CDA chairman, Olarenwaju Durodola, the community said rising from its meeting held on 15 September, 2018, members resolved to draw the attention of Shell to the Gas pipeline laid by the company which crosses the main arterial road to the Ajibode/Konifewo Road behind Tipper garage Ijako Ota, in Ogun state.

According to the letter; “Recently, due to heavy rainfall, the road is always flooded for days un-end and the force of the surging water has swept off the road completely thereby causing untold hardship to the inhabitants but our main concern is the gas pipeline that the wood had removed the earth work from thus revealing heavy raft of woods which we believe were probably put in place to secure the Gas pipeline underground (please see pictures.) We cannot determine the dept or meters of the Gas lines to the surface; this is the reason why we apprehensive. I am sure you will appreciate the level of our concern because should there be anything untoward or or any gas leakage, there will be disaster of immense proportion.”

“Furthermore, a passionate appeal is hereby made by members to your organisation for the rehabilitation of some sections of the road as part of your Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) -this is due in part to the onerous labour required and the communities’ communal efforts seem ineffective on one side and government unsympathetic attitude to our plight on the other.”

After waiting for about two months and no response from Shell, the community, again decided to write the DG/CEO, National Environmental Standard and Regulation Enforcement Agency, NESREA.

It informed the agency that since it wrote to Shell, the company did not respond nor show any diminution of interest and readiness to remedy the situation while inhabitants are exposed to dangers.

The community urged the agency to wade into the matter as urgently as possible.

Subsequently, while NESREA responded by sending a delegation to the community to inspect the scene on 6 December, 2018, the delegation advised the community to write its sister agency, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, since it deals mainly on Oil and Gas matters.

Meanwhile, based on the advice, the community again wrote another letter to NOSDRA on 6 February, 2019, but till date, there had not been any response from the agency.

To the Alliance of Concerned Communities of Ajogbo Area, Ota Chairman, the deafining silence is a cause to be worried about.

Adeshola noted that the seemingly unconcerned attitude of Agencies might have been responsible for most of the fire outbreaks resulting from pipeline leakages across the country.

“I believe some of the pipeline fire outbreaks might have been avoided if the agency responsible has responded swiftly,” he said.

Meanwhile, Adeshola told The DailyBells that based on the recent letter written to the State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, there are hopes that there might soon be a reprieve for the Ajogbo-Ota communities.

According to him; “Last year, we cried and begged the government to assist us because they are the only people that can help us redeem this mess.

“We are hopeful, especially from the part of the state government as it has shown some concerns by sending some engineers from the concerned ministry to this place. They evaluated the situation and agreed there is a huge problem, which requires urgent attention. We believe in our understanding and God-sent governor.”

While being hopeful that something tangible would be coming from the government, the community has not been sitting aloof.

To cushion the effects of the flood, the residents, through communial efforts have so far been able to grade parts of the road.

To achieve this, Adeshola said they have so far spent over two million naira.