My business is a food store. I sell rice, beans, corn, melon, and other provisions. There was heavy rainfall in my area in August. It fell heavily and continuously in Lagos, causing serious flooding everywhere. The floodwater entered many houses and shops in my area and affected almost everybody. The flood really caused serious loss. It affected me financially. My business was growing before the flood, but now I’m just trying to get back on my feet.
The night the rain fell, I was not around. I don’t live close to this area. By early morning, between 5 and 5:30 a.m., people started calling me. They said, “Austin, come quickly, the flood has entered your shop.”
When I got here, the water was already up to my neck. It wasn’t easy to get to my shop because everywhere was flooded. When I finally got there and saw the damage, I didn’t even know where to start. I was speechless. The water had destroyed everything inside. All my goods, such as bags of rice, beans, corn, melon, millet, Indomie, spaghetti, and many other foodstuffs, including my fridge and generator. The flood soaked everything.
After the incident, I realised that I had lost goods worth about ₦2.5 million to the flood. Within two to three days, all the rice that had been soaked in the flood had turned black. The beans had already started germinating, so nothing could be used again. The melon and corn were no longer of use. I had to pack them and give them to people to feed their goats.
I just opened this shop not long ago, in June this year, and I have been managing. I borrowed money from the bank to open the business. Everything I was doing was through effort and planning, and the flood came and destroyed it all. It’s not easy. Everything I worked for just went like that in one night.
Sometimes, I just sit down and think about how I started and what has happened. I’m still managing the little that remains, trying to rebuild slowly. When I remember how much effort I put into setting up this shop, it pains me. But there is nothing I can do. I just keep pushing.
Since the flood, life has not been easy. It was my friends who came around to help me. They contributed small money so I could start again, at least to have something to do. Even with that, I’m still owing. I couldn’t go to the bank immediately. I was scared because I had not finished paying back the money. I had nothing left. When I couldn’t continue the payments, I just had to explain myself and start managing. Up till now, I’m still struggling to pay the bank loan.
As narrated by: Austin Divine (Ikorodu, Lagos).
This snippet is published as part of a series, Lagos Under Water.
Discover more from Chronycles
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Published by