I’m a nurse, farmer, and fishmonger. I also own a pharmacy shop. What happened on the 3rd of August was very pathetic because it was something I had never experienced in my life before.
The rain started at midnight towards two o’clock in the morning. My son woke me up, notifying me that water had entered the house. My children usually sleep on the floor. So, when I came out of the bedroom, the foam had been extremely soaked with water from the flood.
I rushed to carry my son while my husband tried to check where the water was coming from. Before we knew it, the water had spread all over the house. I was just rushing to keep all our credentials away. We had to find a way to escape from the house with the thought that whatever was damaged, we would come back to it and settle everything.
We jumped over the fence, thinking that there was no water in the next building. But on getting there, we met the same thing; the flood had entered their house.
I did not even bother to check my pharmacy shop. The flood had covered the fish I was rearing. My mind did not even go there, that maybe the fish would be jumping out of the water. When the day broke and we came out was when we saw everything – the fish pond and the pharmacy.
The flood affected me a lot because we lost a lot of money. Most of my business and all the drugs were damaged, including all the fish. I thought there were still some fish in the pond, but at the end of the day, when we drained the water, we found nothing inside. This happened after I had added their feed to the pond.
That very month of August was when I was supposed to harvest the fish. I had spent over ₦600,000 on the feed. At the end of the day, we found nothing. This flood weakened not only me but everyone else in the community.
The damage it has caused me, if I just do a rough estimate, is close to ₦2 million, because my vehicle is not functioning right now, and we have spent a lot on it. We have spent close to ₦400,000 because of the brain box and all other things. After investing over ₦600,000 in the fish and reaching the harvest stage, I had no profit from it. The flood also spoiled all the drugs in my pharmacy. I lost a lot.
We have lost hope in the government. The government will not do anything. We only console ourselves that maybe if God is on our side, then they can help.
As narrated by: Tobase Esther Bukky (Ikorodu, Lagos).
This snippet is published as part of a series, Lagos Under Water.
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