• Thank donors of relief materials
From Obinna Odogwu, Awka
The people of Awba Ofemmili community in Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State had opened the 2022 farming season with a lot of hopes and high expectations.
They were hopeful that the year would bring them good tidings; especially by ensuring that they recorded bountiful harvests on all fronts once their crops began to mature.
For this reason, the people who are predominantly farmers, emptied into their farmlands, tilling the soil and planting their crops; each according to their energy and financial power.
While some of them used their personal financial resources to embark on that year’s farming activities, some others took loans with the hope of paying back after the harvests.
From rice to cassava, yam to cocoyam, maize and others, the people spared no seedling. They also ensured that they applied manures – organic and inorganic – just to ensure they got bountiful harvests when the time came.
But those efforts went down the drain as soon as the floodwaters surged into their territory. Almost every inch of their farmlands was covered by the flood. Some, if not most, of their homes were badly affected too.
In fact, the floodwater, according to the residents of the community, covered entry point into the town, thereby making it difficult for them to get adequate supplies of their essential needs throughout that period.
Except for the use of canoes, it was difficult to access the town during that period. And to double their trouble, the community had no tarred roads. The only road which connects it to its neighbours was usually very slippery during the rainy season.
However, the current governor of the state, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has recommenced construction works on their road. The Amansea – Ebenebe – Ugbenu – Awba Ofemmili Road was started by Mr Peter Obi, but he couldn’t finish it before he left office.
However, Obi did some parts of that long stretch including the construction of the Ebenebe Bridge, but his successor, Chief Willie Obiano, abandoned the project. He didn’t add even a pebble stone to it throughout his eight years as governor.
Regardless of that bad situation, Awba people trudged on with their lives; doing one of those things they know how to do best – farming. They cultivate all manner of crops in their farms, but major more in rice farming.
In fact, when it comes to rice farming, Awba Ofemmili is arguably the best in the whole of the Southeast region, if not the entire country. The quality of their rice called Awba Mass is superb.
But because of paucity of funds, lack of machinery and support from the government, the people do not practice commercial rice farming even when they have massive lands for that purpose.
Recently, the Federal Government visited the community with some goody bags. It went there with some relief materials to help the people cushion the harsh effect of the flooding which was still having negative impacts on them.
The relief materials were 122 bags of rice (25kg each), spaghetti 122, Semolina 122, 21 cartons of groundnut oil containing six bottles each, seven bags of salt containing about 45 pieces each and 20 cartons of maggi.
The items came from the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCRMI), and the Federal Commissioner in charge of the organisation, Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim, handed them over to the town.
Suleiman-Ibrahim, represented by the Principal Admin Officer of the commission, Mrs Gloria Ene, said that the government felt the pains of the victims; hence, the provision of those items to support them.
“What prompted the relief material was the flooding. The people of Awba Ofemmili encountered the 2022 flood that destroyed all their farmlands and so, they encountered a lot of problems. In fact, so many people died because of that incident.
“So, it is coming as succour to them; as succour to the vulnerable. It is coming as a succour at this time to help them; to soothe them because of all the damage they encountered last year during the flood”, Suleiman-Ibrahim said.
Reacting to the development, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Security Matters, Mr Ignatius Okafor, and the parish priest of St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Rev. Fr. Joseph Nwilo, in their separate remarks, commended the government for its support to the people.
“I am so happy for these relief materials because the people here are suffering. Sometimes it looks like they are not cared for; they’re not remembered in the sharing of some of these things.
“I thank the state government also because they came to their rescue during these flood disasters. They dropped some relief materials and then, some political parties also brought some relief materials then”, Fr. Nwilo said.
On his part, Okafor said: “I am highly impressed. In fact, I am overwhelmed. I am so happy about it because our people are poor people. They are peasant farmers; very vulnerable. And last year, floods destroyed all our farms. People are going hungry. So, this thing came at the right time.”
In different interviews with Sunday Sun, some residents of the community relieved the memory of their ordeal during that horrible disaster that wrecked many homes across the country.
Ebele Okafor said that she borrowed money to embark on the farming activities, but lost everything to the flood. She, however, commended the government for its kind gestures.
“I was badly affected by that flooding. It destroyed my cassava and rice farms and others. That time, we couldn’t even move because the flood covered everywhere. There was no means of transportation.
“My relatives were equally affected badly. All their crops were destroyed. Everybody was mourning. I don’t know whether to say that what happened was greater than someone’s death. It was horrible. They lost everything at once.
“We normally borrow money to farm and then pay back after harvest. This time around we couldn’t pay back because the flood destroyed everything.
“I spent the sum of N200,000 on my farm and I lost everything. There were those who cultivated on over 50 plots of land. You can now imagine how much they spent on their farms. That should be in millions, but they lost everything.”
Asked if she recovered anything at all, she said: “We couldn’t recover anything after the floods receded because the floodwaters lasted for over a month in the farmlands. So, by the time it receded, everything had decayed.”
Another resident, David Anaekee, said that the flooding hit him very hard. He said that the situation was so bad that he had to relocate to another community during the period and only returned when the water receded.
“The 2022 flooding affected me very badly. It destroyed my rice and cassava farms. I cultivated five plots of land and the whole thing cost me about N300,000”, he lamented.
For the governor’s aide, Okafor, his own experience was equally very bad. He lamented that he lost his rice farm and others to the flood.
“The 2022 floods cost me a lot. I cultivated 10 plots of rice, but they were all submerged. I lost everything I spent in that place. All the money I invested was lost. There was nothing to show.
“And all the cassava and maize I planted were all gone. This year, I started borrowing money again to start afresh. Now, I have no cassava, no garri; I buy them from the market”, he lamented.
Okafor said that flooding made life unbearable for his people as they lost everything they worked for in one fell swoop.
“It affected the people seriously. First, our road was cut off. There was no means of transport. All the food items were destroyed. Everybody was going hungry; nothing to live on. There were people whose houses were covered by the floodwater.”
Okafor, who commended the good spirited individuals and organisations who supported them during the period, also called on the government to support them with farming implements.
“It will be good if the government can help us. We need help. We need loans because we need money for farming. We practice subsistence agriculture here, but we need to switch to mechanised farming, but there is no help.
“We want the government to assist us with farming implements – fertilizers, seedlings and even financial assistance. We need those things. Awba Ofemmili produces 90 per cent of the rice sold at Awka markets. It is called Awba Mass”, he said.
Narrating his observations, Rev. Fr. Nwilo said that the people suffered too much during the period.
He said that he moved around the town with a canoe to monitor the level of devastation in the community.
“It was outrageous. I covered the video on a canoe from this place to the remotest part of this town and it was terrific. I had to go on a canoe, videoing everything.
“All their farmlands were submerged by the floodwater. Their rice, cassava, yams and others; everything totally destroyed. And there was nothing we could do about it.
“That flooding was a terrific one. It affected this community and it is still affecting it because they hoped that by the following year, their yam, cassava would have matured for harvesting, but they were all destroyed.
“And that is why there is a lot of hunger in this town because their rice, which is their major crop, has been destroyed.
“Some people lost up to 20 chains or plots; some 30, some 50 plots of land. And all submerged by water.
“You can imagine. How will the person take care of their family? The children are in school. How will they care for the sick ones?
“I personally had to call some of my friends, including those outside the country to assist these people out”, the Catholic priest stated.