Business, shop owners in Nsukka, particularly along Enugu road in Enugu state are currently at their wits end to save their business centres as flood continues to wreak unprecedented havoc in the area.
Our reporter gathered that the ugly situation has been ongoing since 2024 but became worse in this year’s rainy season.
Our source revealed that despite all efforts by the concerned authorities especially the local government council, the situation has continued to worsen.
However, few days ago, our reporter visited area and there was a deep sense of despair and despondency among the business owners in the area.
Emmanuel Mbah is a welder in the area and one of the affected business owners.
He told our reporter that the flood menace has literally destroyed his source of livelihood.
“For the past two years now particularly from 2024, rainy season has been a time of agony and suffering for us along this Enugu road, Nsukka.”
Narrating further, Mr. Mbah told WITHIN NIGERIA that “since this year’s rainy season started, our shops have been closed. As a matter of fact, our shops have been submerged with flood. This had been the situation since 2024.
“In essence, our business has been destroyed by the increasing flood in this area.”
On what they have done to ameliorate the situation, Mbah said that, “we have been clearing our gutters every Saturday. When the flood increased, we built barrier fence to wage the waters but it could not work. That is much we could do to better the situation.”
At Peace Petroleum Ltd, one of the filling stations along the affected road, the manager could not be reached by our reporter.
However, one of the sales girls who preferred anonymity told our reporter that ” each time rain falls in Nsukka, we don’t have any option than to close shop. This is because, we will not see any customer to attend to. The road to our filling station will be blocked by flood in this area.”
Lamenting the ugly situation, another business owner, Chidi Eze told our reporter that the situation is increasingly getting unbearable.
“I am indeed pained by the situation of this road and indeed area which has been submerged by flood.”
Eze who is aluminum window maker said that ” the flood has destroyed my business. We don’t know what to do. Every year, we spend our fortune prevent the flood from affecting our shops by erecting high barriers yet the flood continues rising.
” We are calling on the state government to come to our aid to save us from this loss of livelihood.”
At St. John’s Catholic Parish, Ihe/Owerre, the compound has been submerged by flood.
In addition to that, the school field of Central School Ihe/Owerre has been taken over by flood.
When our reporter visited the parish priest for his comment, he was said to have gone to cathedral for a crucial meeting.
One of the parishioners told WITHIN NIGERIA that the situation is not funny at all.
” Many people no longer come to our parish for church activities because there is no where to park your car here. I heard that the parish has written to the state government for help but yet, nothing has happened.”
Mike Ebuka was a resident of Nsukka.
He told our our reporter that the flooding is as a result of problem of attitude of the resident of the area.
“I was a student at UNN when H.E. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi constructed the ‘Enugu Road’ in Nsukka town.
“It was built to standard. Throughout my years in Nsukka, I plied the road to Enugu weekly and never once encountered flooding.
“The flooding started only a few years ago. That raises a question: what suddenly changed that this same road is now almost impassable whenever it rains?
“I’ll say it plainly that the attitude of some Nsukka residents is at the heart of what’s happening on Enugu Road today.
“While living in Nsukka, I observed a recurring habit; the residents dumping refuse into gutters and drainage channels the moment it starts to rain.”
Narrating further, Mr. Mike said that “If the flooding were due to a construction defect, we would have seen it years ago. Every Nsukka resident knows this practice of throwing waste into drainage systems is a long-standing tradition. Photos and videos have repeatedly surfaced to prove it.
“Now the gutters and drains are blocked. Water can’t flow through properly designed channels, so it spills onto the road and into homes.
“So, whose fault is it; government or the people? Even now, bags of refuse sit at the entrances of many houses, waiting to be swept straight into water channels at the first sign of rain. It’s a cycle that will keep blocking progress.
“Just weeks ago, videos and photos showed LGA Chairman, Jude Asogwa on site, supervising contractors clearing the drainage along that same road.
“Reports say that each time the contractors leave for the day and return the next morning, they meet fresh heaps of refuse dumped on spots they had just cleared.
“This persistent and condemnable habit forces me to ask: Ndi Nsukka, who will bear the brunt of your actions; the government, or you?”
How the flood started
Findings by our reporter showed that in 2016, the immediate past administration of Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi spent billions of naira to curb the flood in the area.
Consequently, the administration built a state-of-the-art double underground water channel along the road. The channels helped to stop the flooding along the road and by extension inside the hinterland.
However, few years later, precisely by 2022, some residents of the area allegedly started dumping some refuse inside the channels.
In addition to that, our source revealed that some iron scavengers also invaded the underground channels, cutting off the rods used to filter refuse in the underground.
In any case, as a result of this, these refuse blocked the underground gutter, thereby leading to the growing flooding.
However, all efforts to get the reaction of the state commissioner for works, Engr. Benjamin Okoh proved abortive as he could not pick his calls by our reporter.
