I have been in this community for more than 30 years. My father, who is close to 99 years old, has a house here. My own house is behind this street.
On that 4th of August, we were all asleep. The rain started the previous night, but it was not much. So, we felt it was just normal rain. But while asleep, I could hear a sound, and I was wondering where it came from. I never knew that it was my dad. He was using his walking stick to hit the chair. I believe he must have woken up. But because he has difficulty walking, he was probably using the walking stick to alert me.
By the time I got up from the bed, it was water I saw. It had gotten to window level, and my own bed is a bit high, so I did not know what to do to quickly rush to my dad’s room. When I got there, it was the same scenario as mine. He was just on top of the bed. Everything was soaked ‑ the chairs, the freezers were all floating.
To the glory of God, we managed to come out. My neighbours had come out as well. They had to back my dad. In fact, we could not open the entrance door at first because of how much water there was. By the time we got outside, the water was very close to my chest.
Life has never been the same because feeding was difficult during that period. Since August 4th till date, life has not been easy. All our furniture is destroyed. Our freezers are not working. All our stabilisers are destroyed. All our clothes were spread outside for weeks. In fact, many of our clothes, we’ve given them out.
Many television stations came. They took our interviews and all that. Nothing was done. Even the government sent people. They only took our statements. Nothing was done. But thank God for our Community Development Association (CDA) chairman. She acted like a man. We were all surprised. She took it upon herself to go around the vicinity checking homes that were affected, and to the glory of God, she had to bring her club people (Lions Club International). They were the ones who came to rescue us during that period. They brought food items and mattresses. They did so many things for us.
We have a government that we, the people, voted into office, and it has not done anything. They are living comfortably with their families. If they have a headache, they travel abroad for medical treatment. But look at the masses, suffering. It shouldn’t be. I’m highly disappointed.
As it is now, we cannot go back to business. I do plantain chips. All the things I’m using got spoiled during the flood incident. My sewing machines got spoiled. My stabilisers got spoiled. Forty of my neighbour’s bags of cement got spoiled. As I’m complaining, so are other people complaining. We wouldn’t mind if the government came to our aid to assist us financially. At least to get back on our feet.
As narrated by: Sarah Goodswill (Ikorodu, Lagos).
This snippet is published as part of a series, Lagos Under Water.
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