After this shinning of the sun, the cloud started gathering
momentum in the sky and before we knew it, the weather had been completely
changed into a cloudy and rainy type. This did not send any signal to the
people because people had seen and experienced such friendly environment before
which later faded away, but the reverse was the case on this day.
Around 16:30hrs, the rain began to fall with a very soft
hand for few minutes and stopped. It did that severally but when it returned,
it continued to fall heavily for several hours, everywhere was full of
running-off water. This rain was expected to fall for few minutes and stop but
it was not so. What a big surprise!
Many fences collapsed, shops were carted away by this heavy
downpour while many bridges were not left out. Properties and lives were lost
in this flood. What a fateful day!
Nobody could ever imagine such ugly occurrence in Ibadan
metropolis on this day. There was no junction without traffic jam. Several
bridges that linked two roads to each other had been carted away by this overflowing
running-off water which compounded the menace of the traffic jam and standstill
of vehicular movement. This resulted into the movement of the people on the
road with the legs. The car owners abandoned their cars and trekked long
distance to their various homes.
The remaining bridges were covered up by the flood. When the
flood was coming not knowing that there was a traffic jam on the bridges,
having seen this odd and uncalled-for visitor by the drivers, they alighted from
their cars and took to their heels for the safety of their lives, it swallowed
the cars and drove them away. Nobody could ascertain the amount
of losses of
properties and the number of peoples' lives that went with this disastrous and
unfriendly incident.
One could compare what happened in Ibadan metropolis
concerning the unstopped rain to "Omiyale" meaning house carted away
by water that occurred in 1980 in the same city about thirty-one years ago,
where many lives and properties were lost then as well. What a tragedy!
This odd occurrence is not the first time in this particular
year but this one was very exceptional. This problem can be traced to the poor
management of the few available drainage or inadequate drainage system in all
the nooks and crannies of the city. Many shops and buildings were built on the
drainage paths while some buildings were built very close to the riverbank.
Small gutters were constructed by the landlords and landladies without the
knowledge of the engineers.
The available drainage and gutters were blocked with the
eroded soil and wastes from human activities and erosion. Nobody or few cares
for the cuttings and clearing of grasses in the drainage or gutter paths which
also constituted to this problem. Environmental sanitation is not as effective
as what and how it was known to be in 90s.
To put an end to this ugly incident, government be it local,
state or federal has vital roles to play. People are needed to be enlightened
and seriously-educated on how to dispose their wastes and where to dispose
them. Law-enforcement agents should be employed and mobilized to oversee this
process in the nook and cranny of the city.
Carted away bridges should be strongly constructed and
raised above the water level to avoid such occurrence in the future. The
drainage system needs to be seriously looked into and found lasting solutions
to this problem. Town planners should checkmate the man's activities on the
erection of buildings and shops on the drainage or near the drainage and
dismantle any building or shop found on its path to pave way for running-off
water.
Jingles should be made on radio and television stations
across the country to enlighten people not to dispose wastes or refuses into
the drainage system or gutters. Any defaulter must be sanctioned and
prosecuted. If all these solutions are considered by the government and the
masses, the problem of flooding which can lead to loss of lives and properties
in future will be a thing of the past. Peace brings development and people want
to live in peace not in pieces, for this to be realized, government must do
something very tangible at this moment time. God blesses Ibadan, God blesses
Oyo State and God blesses Nigeria as a whole.
