For days now, and weeks for others, life came to a halt, triggered by another outburst of perennial floods that reminded us that we are neither Lords of the universe nor of the environment. School children could not go to their institutions; stranded workers could not get to work and in some situations, people could not get loved ones to hospitals to be treated. The roads were so flooded and choked that trips that would normally take about 30 or 40 minutes became six to ten hours nightmare for many. Several low and middle income businesses were wiped out as their products and some buildings were swept towards the Atlantic Ocean. But these are nothing compared to the loss of human life in various places.
This is tragic but should we be surprised? I suggest not. Those who know and have experienced the same or similar things in one way or the other in the past and survived are witnesses to what happened fifteen to twenty years ago, ten or five years ago and in some places even a year ago. Unfortunately those who didn’t survive are too silent to speak to our present predicament. Who can forget the national trauma we went through when a young promising medical doctor, Dr. Aya Hayfron Opong died in tragic circumstances in 2018. She was a nursing mother, returning home from an evening church service in Teshie on the night of a heavy downpour. She was attempting to cross the bridge over the Naa Pra River when the surge of floodwaters washed her car away. While two passengers she had offered a lift were rescued by onlookers, she could not be saved. 2018 may seem so long ago but it remains as fresh as yesterday for her family. Today, if you were to go to the exact location where Dr. Aya Opong was swept away, you might or not be surprised to see that not much has changed. Filth and refuse still cluster the uncompleted bridge at the site. It is only a matter of time before the same tragedy repeats itself or worse. How many more lives need to be plugged away? How many more dreams crushed? And for how long must this go on? When shall we reorder some of our priorities to respond more adequately?
Each time it happens, we cry out, call on the government and the Assemblies to do something, or pray to be protected. But nature is relentless and is also protesting and fighting back against humans who refuse to do the needful. It would only get worse. When we call for states of emergency to be declared for things like this or illegal mining, we seem to forget that with or without declaration, we have always been in states of emergency. We often think the government is to blame, and to some extent, rightly so, because the responsibility of any government is to secure the well-being of its citizens.
It is understandable to hear people cry out or pray for the government’s intervention. Rightly so because every government has responsibility for
infrastructural development and maintenance. The major factor for most of the flooding is the lack of drainage and outlets for water when it rains heavily. Several streets with beautiful homes have no gutters or any outlet to divert flood water. This is where urban planning and control come in. Thorough intervention would require the evacuation of people and the complete shutdown of whole streets for what needs to be done to rectify the situation. Several buildings and properties must be demolished, and massive dredging needs to be done where necessary. There must be Assemblymen and women as well as other government officials committed to doing the best they can, even if they are far in between.
The current situation, however, goes beyond calls or shouts at governments to fix things they may not have created. And may the Lord continue to bless his prophetic expositions, but the outcry of my good friend, Ben Avle from Citi FM, would not alone rectify our current plight. We often think of Assembly people and others in government as ‘they’, as against the rest of us. But they are also people like us, and those who fail among them are mirrors through which we see ourselves. The truth is that we are all collectively guilty in various ways and have a responsibility.
In what has been called a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, scientists did massive research on what has caused the low oxygen and nutrient levels that is inhospitable to most marine life, and the finding is that for years, humans have polluted the Mississippi River with pesticides, industrial waste, and toxic chemicals. Furthermore, when flooding in New York killed 11 people in 2021, part of the finding on what caused it was that human-built infrastructure and land-development practices that leave little space for water are actually a big part of the problem. We may not think things are that bad in Accra, but we are not too far behind. Adnan Rajib, an engineer and director of the H2I lab at the University of Texas at Arlington, says, “Everyone is doing research on how floods impact humans”, and adds, “It’s also the humans that are causing the floods”. According to him, “we need to let nature play its original function,” adding that “water does not have anywhere to go.”
Hence, when water, for example, from the Aburi Mountains cannot easily flow into the Atlantic Ocean, it has no choice but to flow through highways, homes, and wherever else it can breathe to get to its destination. What we experience and cry about are the consequences of that. Condolence visits, relief, and prayers are not enough to remedy the situation. The starting point is human responsibility and behavioural change.
Even where there are best infrastructural provisions, every citizen has some responsibility to ensure that such provisions are not choked up by what we each contribute to block the waterways. Even where there are drainages and gutters, every Kenkey husk and banku wrapper, every ‘pure water’ plastic, and other forms of debris contribute to the clogged waterways. The little piece of paper we squeeze, as well as other garbage we throw by the wayside when we think no one is looking or the heaps of debris we dump in streams and waterways all point to our collective guilt. Related to this, I’ve often wondered if there is any regulation for Trotros to have a waste paper basket in their vehicles, so passenger don’t throw their banana peels and bottled water plastics out of the window. But I know that the easy part is the provision of such regulations or laws. The harder part is compliance and enforcement.
Even when those in authority want to do the needful, there are always people who would protest against their buildings, legal or illegal, being touched for necessary reform. Some people would argue that their ancestors’ boundaries must not be touched for any infrastructural remedies for the common good of whole communities. People continue to erect buildings, shops, or stalls where they should not. Some Assembly people remain under pressure to collect ‘something’ to turn a blind eye to illegal structures that should not ordinarily be approved. Beyond illegal mining, illegal constructions, or compromise of officials, our refusal to do what is right and essential for the common good of all is the greatest threat to the well-being of Accra as a city. And if Accra fails to get it right, we should expect nothing better from other cities and regions. Until there is both the political will on the part of the government, assembly members, and others in authority to do the needful, it will only get worse. And certainly, until we are all willing to stop our careless dumping of waste on innocent waterways, things can only get worse. Next year, the elements would exert their anger beyond what we know today and consume not only highways but homes and buildings as well as human lives.
I have heard people say it has never been this bad. Some have said they have lived where they are for ten to fifteen years and have never seen anything this bad. As true as that is, let us put ourselves in the bowels of waterways. Already choked and constipated years after year.
Between God’s Compassion and Human Responsibility:
I have heard people say we should appeal to the gods or pray for God to help us. As much as I believe God answers prayers, I also know that it is not every prayer that he answers. God’s sovereignty and compassion do not overlook human responsibility. This is why prayers alone, however passionate they are, would not solve the flooding challenge of Accra. As you may have noticed, not only have homes and schools been flooded, but also several mosques and churches where people call on God to intervene. God will not send angels down to do what he has commissioned us to both be and to do. Nor would he continue to wink at our failure to stop abusing the land and waterways that God has entrusted to us as stewards. And when God is silent or seems silent, the waterways and floods will continue to shout at us until the needful is done. I come in peace!
Dr. Femi B. Adeleye for Mba (Mission for a Bright Africa)
