Sokoto: If the Flood Comes Again

The devastating September 2010 floods occassioned by the Goronyo dam collapse, is regarded as the worst in decades. Many lives, villages, farm produce, roads, bridges and other structures were lost to the disaster, while thousands of families were rendered homeless. Though the situation has since remained largely normal with  individuals picking up the  pieces of […]

The devastating September 2010 floods occassioned by the Goronyo dam collapse, is regarded as the worst in decades. Many lives, villages, farm produce, roads, bridges and other structures were lost to the disaster, while thousands of families were rendered homeless.

Though the situation has since remained largely normal with  individuals picking up the  pieces of their lives, many  are apprehensive that  if the Goronyo dam and the Usmanu Danfodiyo University bridge, which was greatly affected by the flood, are not put into adequate and proper shape before the next rains, they may herald  danger.

Some members of the university community are alarmed that the university bridge, as it is now, can be adversely affected by   the least pressure.

“The condition of the bridge agonizes us. There is an urgent need to repair the bridge. It is not proper the way it is left like this. Look at the number of vehicles that ply this road. Government should take this issue as a matter of priority to avert danger,” offered Ali Abubakar, a farmer at Kwalkwalawa village within the university locality.

Ilyasu Shehu, a resident at Kwalkwalawa, who lost five farms to the last disaster stated, “it is only God that will save us .Up till now, we are still feeling the effect of the last flood disaster .Water entered our homes and destroyed them, but we still sleep with one eye open, as we are not sure of what will happen next.”

Another resident, Isa Aliyu, whose house is very close to the bridge, bemoaned, “our situation is pathetic. The bridge is in a provisional state. All five culverts in the area are blocked”.

He called for a quick action on the bridge, even as he wants government to give them an alternative place to relocate. “If they don’t want to resettle us, then they should move the road elsewhere,” he stated with rage.

During the flood, the spot Aliyu’s house is located served as a place from where people, vehicles and loads were moved   across the river. Over 50 houses, including Isa’s, were said to have been lost to the disaster.

While Aliyu and some others have rebuilt their houses, many are yet to put their houses to proper shape, due to lack of resources to do that and are forced to manage with some of those who have re-erected theirs, as they have nowhere else to go.

The Dundaye District Youth Development Association recently cried out over the same bridge.

In a press statement, it lamented that the disaster has seriously grounded socio-economic activities of the Dundaye district, and expressed concern that “the federal government of Nigeria is unconcerned about the difficulties and sufferings faced by the Dundaye District and the university communities’.

It urged concerned authorities to reconstruct the Kwalkwalawa university bridge and that of Sokoto-Kware, without further delay.

During the flood, the entire university community was cut off due to the collapse of the bridge linking the university with the rest of the world, which made the Federal Government to make available the military foldable floating bridge, as a temporary measure.

Two months later, the state government commissioned a reclaimed and rehabilitated UDUS bridge, which was washed away by the  flood. But the total rehabilitation of the bridge is pending. This is why the university community is   worried about. What may happen when the rainy season begins.

A lecturer with the UDUS, Dr Husseini Mangu, noted, “as far as I am concerned, nothing has been done. It is dangerous, as it is now. Anytime, anything can happen. I don’t think they are serious about it.

They should be serious. What they celebrated about putting the bridge to use is nothing. Any rain can push it away. There’s no work done, what they only did was to fill it with sand. This is very serious work, let them be serious.”

During the commissioning of the bridge constructed by the state government late December last year, the Vice chancellor of UDUS, Professor Arabu Shehu, had also appealed to the state governor to use his good offices to help ahieve the total rehabilitation of the bridge   with the federal government before the next rainy season.

Similarly, there have been calls on the federal government to ensure the Goronyo dam is put into shape, as a matter of urgency.

Abdullahi Aminu, a resident of Sokoto, stressed that “the issue of Goronyo Dam has been a source of concern to many of us in the state.

Just look back at what happened in September and up till now, the required repairs have not been effected.  I think government should give priority to the dam, to forestall any tragedy, especially before this year’s rain”.

Managing Director, Sokoto Rima River Basin Development Authority, (SRRBDA), Engr. Halid Yusuf, spoke on what steps the authority had so far taken on the matter.

“Following the collage of the emergency spillway of the Goronyo dam, some of the water has been restored, in the sense that they have created what is called coffer dam. Such coffer has been able to store about 1/3 of the volume of water which normally would have been stored in Goronyo dam. Goronyo dam is a multi- purpose dam. It is meant for flood control, it is meant for water supply. It is meant for irrigation. It is meant for fisheries and tourism. The collapse of the emergency spill way followed the huge water inflow. You have a situation where if we had allowed it, there would have been no water.

He explained that the coffer dam was used to store enough water to be able to utilize for irrigation and water supply during the dry season, adding that currently, much of the water utilized by the Sokoto State Water Board as well as Kebbi State, comes from Goronyo dam and that a lot of irrigation is also taking place along the Fadama valley of the River Rima up to river Niger further down.

On the restoration of the emergency spillway, he stated, “what has happened is that following this flooding and collapse, the federal government set up consultants to undertake a study.  They have finished the study, and they have submitted their report which will enable government to reconstruct. So what we are now waiting for the reconstruction of the emergency spillway.”

He admitted that it is very important for the prompt restoration of the emergency spill way.

“Yes, this has to be done as quickly as possible because as you may be aware around the environs  of Sokoto, on the  27 of February there was a drizzle  even the catchment area where most of the water comes from into the Goronyo reservoir  ,the rains might have started  earlier. So we are urging the federal government to utilize the report submitted by the consultants for the reconstruction of the emergency spillway so that we can safeguard the water supply, the irrigation and ensure that during the next rainy season, we will  be able to get normal services that used to  be rendered”.

He noted that the coffer dam itself cannot withstand further inflow of water, adding that if there is   runoff like that of last year, there will be a problem, as water that comes would have to be allowed to go out. “Consequently, there will be no reservation for irrigation or water supply in the dry season of 2011/2012, so the restoration of the emergency spill way is very important”.

Another issue is that of compensation of victims.  Secretary of the state’s committee for the collection and distribution of relief materials for the 2010 flood disaster, Abubakar Mohammed, revealed that the state government’s donation of N700 million in addition to the  N280 million collated as contributions for the flood victims, have  been distributed to the 23,000 affected households. He added that the federal government donated   N 1 billion to the state government, part of which he said, was used to rehabilitate the structures destroyed during the disaster.

These, he said, included 13 bridges and access roads in the nine affected local government areas in the state.

Also, he said one thousand houses worth N3.6 billion   are being built by the Sokoto state government for victims of last year’s   flood in three affected local government areas of Gada, Goronyo and Silame.

However, some of the flood victims in affected parts of the state say that they did not get the compensation, while others allege that people who were not affected got various sums of money, which were even more than those given to some victims.

Isa Aliyu of Kwalkwalawa said “I was given N31,000.Some people who were not affected by the flood got N70,000, N100,000 and so on.”

Also Tukur in Goronyo area, who lost 12 farms asserted, “I did not get anything. Though I am aware that some of my fellow famers got, but I was not given.”