Rain of ruins

Layi Olanrewaju, Ilorin

Residents of Ilorin, Kwara State, especially those on Murtala Mohammed Road, are counting their losses over the heavy rain that fell recently and destroyed property. The rain started at around 10pm and lasted less than an hour, leaving a sour mark in its wake.

It was violent, stormy and unfriendly. It blew off the roofs of shops and living apartments and destroyed makeshift shops and sheds.

It dumped the remains of its ugly devastation on the rail line that ran behind the affected structures and buildings.

One of the most affected structures was the building housing Olufunmilayo Records, resulting in the loss of goods and property worth several millions of naira. Evangelist Adedayo Agboola, owner of the record outfit, told Daily Sun: “It is very tragic, but God gave us reasons for gratitude. I am grateful to God that no life was lost in the disaster.

“The fact that there was no loss of life, or no one was injured, is a good reason to thank God. If any of those things had happened, our attention would have been divided between the irreparable loss and care for the injured.

“I lost millions to the rain honestly. I am still counting my loss. We deal in video CDs, cassettes and so on. These are items that should not be wet or get soaked. But as it were, when the roof of the building was removed, the rain fell on them and damaged a lot of them.

“When I settle down, I will try and sort them and see which among them are not bad enough, but I know they are just going to be a few.

“We have called in some artisans to fix the damage, because we are in the rainy season. The landlord’s children and I are working on it already.

I am sure that God is in control.”

Other people in the neighbourhood were seen lamenting and counting their losses too while a few were rendered speechless due to what they called “a hopeless and helpless situation.”

Hadijat is a single mother who lives in a building in the affected area. She said life has been tough for her and the children. She feared that it would only get worse with the misfortune that had befallen them.

She has been struggling to survive as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown: “Why this again, as if the pain of the lockdown is not enough and God allowed this added challenge? Has He abandoned us?”

She called on the state government to come to their aid to avert further hardship and frustration.

The destruction was an eyesore as sympathizers were seen in different groups discussing the downpour and its effects. There was a consensus that if this could happen now that the rains are just beginning to fall, worse would be the fate of the people at the peak of the rainy season.

Attempts to get the reaction of the permanent secretary, Ministry of Environment, Mr. Abraham Kola Ojo, were fruitless.

A senior staff of the ministry who did not want his name in print said the permanent secretary was new at the ministry as he was just appointed, though he has been briefed. He said the ministry had written to the disaster management arm of the Federal Ministry of Environment:

“Officials of the ministry have visited the area. The incident occurred during the total lockdown, government could do little as at that time. But as the lockdown is being relaxed, government officials will visit the affected areas though palliatives are being worked out for them.”

He said the Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Aliyu Sherifdeen, has been monitoring the possible areas where government could come to the assistance of the victims: “The pandemic caused a lot of setback in government efforts at alleviating the victims’ sufferings.”