by Alexander O. Onukwue
Reports from the Benue floods say that about 3,000 homes have so far been affected across 24 communities and 12 Local Governments.
That represents more than 50% of the twenty-three local Government areas in the state. It is a sizeable portion which tells of the extent of the disaster’s coverage, but could also provide an avenue for beginning a significant change in the urban outlook of the state.
Mr Boniface Ortese, the Executive Secretary of Benue’s State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), while speaking to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN,) detailed the damages suffered by some particular areas, especially “Achusa, where 200 houses were affected with 5,125 persons disposed in Idye, where 217 houses and 5,200 persons were affected; behind the Civil Service Commission, where 200 houses were submerged in flood and 5,777 persons were displaced”.
The about hundred and ten thousand displaced persons will face two options; at the moment, they necessarily have to move from their submerged residences to other shelters. But what should happen after the rains and floods subside is a carefully planned reconstruction of the housing arrangements in these affected communities?
The State Governor’s media adviser, Mr Terver Akase, noted that the floods, while a natural disaster, may have been caused because “perhaps we neglected some of the things that we should have done as a people”. Avoiding a recurrence of this would require not neglecting to plan for a more sustainable and resilient housing system for the affected areas, featuring proper drainage networks and flow channels.
As the 7th most populated state in Nigeria and located between major cities, Benue state cannot afford not to attend to its challenges with a deliberate approach. As much as it has been a disaster, the flood should present the state with an opportunity to revise its plan to make it more resistant to the shocks of heavy rains.
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