This week’s column has been particularly difficult to write. Normally, I’m not very emotionally involved in a topic other than it touches on things that I care about. I can normally keep my mental distance and talk about things like disease, suffering and death.
This week is a little different. We are still processing the flooding that happened last week Tuesday in Maiduguri and I still haven’t properly processed the trauma of that fateful night. Right now, everyone in Maiduguri has a flood story. Currently, all we do is greet each other with our stories. It is a type of healing exercise to try to wrap our heads around that catastrophic event. That said, I am going to delve into the economics of emotions, because as I am fast learning, economics is everything. Absolutely everything.
The main concept that links all of economics together is scarcity. Scarcity is the concept that we have limited resources with unlimited need and wants. Resources can be anything. Resources are not just money or physical stuff. They can also be the amount of emotional energy that we have to give to things. It’s the number of hours in a day that we can dedicate to thinking about things. When it comes to flood and the emotional toll of these disasters, we only have a certain amount of energy that we can give to them.
The flooding in Maiduguri resulted in scarcity- limited food, access to safe drinking water and most importantly, shelter. Overnight, people lost roof over their heads, their food and their source of livelihood. The hospitals are down and there are no medicines. With this scarcity of commodities, consequently, comes inflation. A bag of sachet water (pure water) costs N500, half bag of rice (25kg) costs N80,000 and pack of Maggi cubes- N4000! In Maiduguri!
As if this exploitation is not enough, by the second day, people created a business of rescuing people stuck on the rooftops. Where are you? You need rescuing? How many people? Where are we taking you? You need to give something. Ranges are between N50,000 to N200,000. Transfers are accepted.
I swear, the black man’s wickedness to his fellow man, in times of crisis, is something that should be studied in university classrooms. Because try as I may, I just cannot understand this manner of evil.
Since the beginning of the week, the media has been awash with multiple donations- Dantata, Dangote, Atiku Abubakar, NEDC, the UAE, PDP, House of representatives, State house of assemblies, senators, all cadre of politicians and philanthropists. Even President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has pledged N3billion. Apart from individual donations to faith-based organisations, associations, foundations and well-meaning individuals themselves, all other donations are either to Borno State government or NEMA.
And therein lies my main fear: The economics of corruption. Here, the economics is not based on scarcity, it is based on plain, unadulterated greed. A part of me is very happy and filled with gratitude over the immense goodwill that the people of Maiduguri are receiving. God knows they need it. These people have been through the hell of Boko Haram and now this. Yet, another part of me is filled with dread and trepidation- will all these funds reach all the people affected by the flooding? Will the mechanic whose shed was ruined feel the impact of these monies? Will the people currently sleeping in Muna Garage receive compensation? Will the people sleeping on the streets of Damboa road ever have a roof over their heads? Will the woman who plaits my hair, whose makeshift house was completely demolished and who lost her two children in the flood, ever receive compensation? Or will she remain an unnamed statistic of the number of people further plunged into poverty? Who will ensure that all these people are correctly captured? What is the plan for these funds? What is the plan for these people? Will there be accuracy? Transparency? Or will Nigeria happen to these donations?
The recent flood in Borno caused by the breakdown of the Alau Dam has resulted in unprecedented devastation. Critical infrastructure, including bridges, roads, electricity systems, healthcare facilities, and schools, have been severely damaged. Approximately one million people have lost their sources of livelihood. What will happen to the people who investigated and said that Alau dam was ‘not compromised’? Should they not lose their jobs and face the firing squad? If a doctor mismanages a patient and it results in death, is the doctor not liable? Then how much more so, a group of ‘professionals’ who allowed the loss of hundreds of lives? What about the sum of N171 million that was spent by the government on the ‘rehabilitation’ of Alau dam from June 2023 to July 2024? How was that money spent?
Flooding is an existential problem worsened by leadership failures. Throwing money at environmental problems without accountability is inhumane. Heartless even.
In the end, everything is economics, even feelings. Shared trauma, difficult, life altering decisions, inflation and corruption. As we continue to try to heal as individuals and as a community, we are constantly making decisions to try to maximise the invaluable resource that is peace of mind. It’s getting a little bit easier, day by day, but sometimes when it’s hot and that wind is blowing, all you can do is pray and hope for the best.
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