Broken promises and stolen future in Maiduguri

The threat of flooding is once again looming in the city of Maiduguri, in northeast Nigeria, a year after torrential rains and the collapse of a dam has left whole districts overwhelmed in water.

For many residents who always carry the scars of last year’s floods, the possibility of a rehearsal has created a huge discomfort.

At least 37 people died in the floods and two million had to abandon their homes after the general destruction of houses, farms and businesses.

Sa’adu Dahiru, forty-two, lost his two-year-old son.

“He died of hunger and fever during the flood. We had no appropriate food, no drugs and no safe place where to stay.”

She told the BBC how her children cried and they had to rush in the middle of the night by wearing “only a few clothes”, leaving everything else.

She says that she received state support of 10,000 Nairas ($ 7; £ 5) when the flood occurred.

However, the mother of six says that government help has stopped since: “Since then, none of the government’s other promises has reached us. We are still waiting, always suffering.”

The Borno state government says it has supported local communities affected by the disaster.

He cites the creation of emergency and food aid camps as well as cash documents.

More importantly, the government began to rebuild the dam and dike system in Alau – on the outskirts of Maiduguri – which caused the flood.

The construction of the dam began in 1986 and was maintained by the Chad Basin Development Authority (CBDA), a Nigerian government agency.

However, more than a decade and a half of the insurrection of the Islamist group of Boko Haram in the region made it difficult to maintain the dam, told Mohammed Shettima, head of the agency engineering department, at the BBC.

“The dam is located on the sidelines of the Sambisa forest-about 4 km (2.5 miles) from the base of jihadist groups,” he said.

“The Dykes were worn and because they were not maintained, when the heavy rains came last year, the Dykes gave in, releasing (the huge volume of water that flooded the city.”

In August, two soldiers were killed near the dam and four security agents were killed in the hands of people suspected of being Islamist fighters.

One of the victims of the floods that was affected by Islamist violence is Maryam Jidda.

She escaped her hometown of Damboa with her daughter and two grandchildren after he was attacked by Boko Haram about four years ago.

“They did not warn. They came like a dark wind at night,” she recalls.

She thought she had found security in Maiduguri. Then the floods came and forced her to flee for the second time.

She sat on a broken block of the debris from her destroyed house with her red dress, or Jilbab, draped above her head on the ground.

Eyes desperate, the 72 -year -old man cut the figure of someone who had seen years of suffering and difficulties.

“I was standing in water to the waist, crying,” said Ms. Jidda saying that the water changed life rushed into her compound, before she overwhelms her house.

She now lives in a temporary shelter where food is rare and impure water.

And not only did she lose her house, but also the photographs and the affairs that carried the memories of her family.

A year after the floods, many residents still live in makeshift shelters, homeless.

Young people were also particularly affected due to the disruption of their education as well as the lack of jobs.

Ali Kadau, 21, told the BBC that the flood “had taken” everything “.

“Before the flood, I managed. I did not go far at school, but I had small skills-I used to help a mechanic workshop, to repair tires, to do shopping,” he said while sitting on a broken chair, pushing a test of flies in hot weather maiduguri.

Mr. Kadau recalled how it started as every rainy season – the usual floods in the streets. But this time, it did not stop. The water began to enter people’s houses, and for a long time, the Gwange area where it lived was overwhelmed.

“Our own house – built with mud – could not bear the pressure. The walls fell. The water entered, taking everything away. Our clothes, mats, food, even my phone that I used to get customers. Everything is gone,” he deplored.

The family slept outside for three days before finding space in a neighboring school that turned shelter. There was no privacy, no comfort, just bodies lying side by side.

The mechanical shop in which he worked was also affected – water destroyed the tools and machines.

“Now I’m just sitting. No work. No school. No money to start anything. Sometimes I help push the wheelbarrows on the market just to eat. Other days, I just think,” he said.

The governor of Borno Babagana Umara Zulum described the response of the floods as an intimidating task, in particular given the 16 -year -old struggle against violent extremism.

“We have set up a committee with a specific mandate,” he said, adding that members were working tirelessly to ensure that affected families have received adequate support, including shelter and food.

Finding a shelter for two million people in Maiduguri, a city that already welcomes more than a million people who had fled Islamist attacks, was an important challenge.

“The government’s priority was to stop the overflow of water, which helped prevent the city from completely immersing itself.

According to the Committee report, a total of 28.2 billion Nairas ($ 18 million; $ 13 million pounds) was collected thanks to a combination of national governments and states, as well as aid agencies such as the United Nations refugee agency and the global catering program.

A significant amount of money would have been distributed to more than 100,000 households, alongside food and non -food items.

Additional support included financial assistance to more than 7,000 merchants in the affected markets, as well as to places of worship and private schools.

As part of reconstruction and recovery activities, Borno requested an additional 61 billion Naira to rebuild damaged infrastructure, including bridges, road networks and hospitals.

However, there is a danger that such a large amount of money is not approved unless there is another disaster.

Some funds have also been approved for the rehabilitation and upgrading of boreholes across Maiduguri and the surrounding communities to combat the rarity of water caused by flood.

While the rainy season heads to its culmination in September, for people like Mme Dahiru, the question is simple: “How to start again when I have nothing?”

While Mrs. Jidda is still mourning. She had 10 children. Only three survived.

“There is nothing more than memories and pain.”

Additional Chigozie reporting Ohaka and Gift Ufuoma