A building collapse in Bangladesh killed more than 1, 100 people. In Lagos, Owerri, Calabar and a few other Nigerian cities, buildings have also collapsed, killing many. A 300-year-old tree fell at a market in Umudagu Ihitte Mbieri village, Mbaitoli LGA of Imo State, and killed more than 30 people. Those were perhaps man-made accidents - each happened because somebody was reckless.
However, rainstorms and windstorms that have been wreaking havoc in Katsina, Adamawa, Enugu, Delta and other states were not man-made, nor was the tornado that killed over 20 and destroyed assets in Oklahoma, the United States, this week.
Such ugly incidents should serve to remind everyone that more natural disasters will happen this year as the effects of climate change become more obvious. The rainy season has just started in most of tropical Africa. There will be more rainstorms and windstorms. Floods will ravage many homes and render many roads impassable. More trees will fall. And people may be killed.
We are not prophets of doom; these things have been predicted by NIMET and NEMA. But not much has been done. Where are the buffer dams? How many trees have been planted and nurtured to serve as wind breakers or stop desert encroachment? Where are the water drainage channels? Have blocked gutters been opened? Everybody is just waiting. After a disaster, one committee or the other may be set up to enrich some people while the victims suffer in silence. The victims of last year's flood disasters are yet to receive any reprieve: some got N500 or less from government panels. Should this year's victims expect anything better?
This wait for doomsday should not continue. It is not enough for the minister of the environment or the minister of water resources to issue warnings directed at no one in particular. Let us see action. Cameroun may still open the Lagdo Dam at short notice. There are indications already that there will be torrential rainfall this year and that the harvest may not be good. Are we ready for nature's fury?
Where government works, there is always the chance to contain both man-made and natural disasters. Building contractors who use inferior materials in order to make huge profits should be watched. Since government regulators are often docile and interested only in taking bribes, owners of high-rise structures must not toy with human life anymore. In villages and towns, overgrown trees should not be allowed near homes or public places like markets and schools.
Old trees are more likely to succumb to rainstorms; they should be cut. This Saturday is "Environmental Sanitation Day" in many states of Nigeria. Residents should go beyond cutting grasses and sweeping streets.
They should watch for ecological disasters waiting to happen in their areas. Where they cannot get immediate help, those at risk of getting killed by floods should relocate immediately; it might be too late to do so in September or October.
Source: Leadership
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