Rising Waters, Sinking Dreams: Devastating impact of floods on Maiduguri local businesses

Musa Ibrahim stood in the warm September sun, his face weary, his shoes caked in mud, his red eyes surveying what had been his furniture store for several years but now seemed unfamiliar. On 10 September, floodwaters inundated his store and manufacturing site on the west side of Fori Bridge in north-eastern Borno State.

When Mr Ibrahim raced to the shop that night, the water was already ankle-deep and rising fast. “What I saw shocked me,” he told PREMIUM TIMES.

“Everything was happening fast, so I began grabbing things as quickly as possible,” he said. “Yet, we lost pretty much everything.”

Thousands of homes and large swaths of farmland, roads, and other critical infrastructure were submerged. The flooding was caused by structural damage to the Alau Dam and heavy rains in the Bama, Damboa, and Gwoza local governments of the state, which led to the overflow and collapse of the dam.

Officials said the flash floods covered about two-thirds of Borno State, with widespread flooding recorded in the Maiduguri, Jere, Konduga, and Mafa local governments. The impact was especially severe on small businesses.

The federal meteorological agency warned early this year that excessive rain could cause widespread devastation. But residents were still shocked when the powerful rain hit Maiduguri and barreled through Nigerian north-eastern states last month.

“We were constantly checking the weather,” said Mr Ibrahim, who heads a union of furniture manufacturers beside Fori Bridge in Jere Local Government Area. “Whenever we see a forecast of heavy rains, it’s like, oh my God, please let it not come here.”

Neighbours joined Mr Ibrahim to salvage what they could from his shop, but it was little. “All the building materials, business records, wood, and ceilings began to disintegrate before my eyes. The furniture floated,” he said.

Nigeria’s disaster management agency, NEMA, last week reported 303 flood-related deaths in the country and more than 1.2 million affected persons this year. No fewer than 2,716 people were injured, and the water displaced more than 673,738 people.

When PREMIUM TIMES visited Mr Ibrahim’s store days after the disaster, all his essential items were ruined. His losses and the lingering economic hardship in the country have him questioning whether the business will ever bounce back.

“In the last six years, I was fortunate to amass large capital and make a huge profit, but the water has taken everything away,” Mr Ibrahim said, pointing towards the damaged items and what is now left of his shop. “I didn’t take any essential items from the store. The only thing I have left is my life.”

Experts said the effects of these floods would push the already fragile region into a more profound humanitarian crisis, especially in Borno, which has long been an epicentre of one of the country’s worst humanitarian crises, driven by a decade-long insurgency led by Boko Haram and its offshoot, ISWAP. For more than a decade, millions of people have lived in constant fear of attacks, with communities forced to flee their homes repeatedly.

With the cataclysmic flood, residents said they had seen it all. “Look at this,” Mr Ibrahim said, referencing damaged building materials and ceilings stained brown mud from the floods. What are you supposed to do with this? Trash.”

Mr Ibrahim’s shop is only one of thousands of businesses in Borno affected by the devastating floods. The Borno Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (BOCCIMA) estimates that the total cost to commerce in the city was N27 billion between 10 and 19 September.

Vice President Kashim Shettima said the flood in Maiduguri was the most catastrophic in the state in over three decades.

“The flood’s unprecedented scale has presented challenges beyond our previous experiences,” Mr Shettima said when he led a federal government delegation to the beleaguered city. “The disaster serves as a sobering reminder of the increasing threats posed by climate change, not just globally, but particularly to the North-east regions.”

According to the World Meteorological Organisation, Africa produces only a fraction of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, but the continent bears a heavy burden from climate change.

“Nigeria’s vulnerability to flood disasters has been highlighted time and again, as witnessed during the devastating floods of 2012, 2018, and 2022,” Mr Shettima, himself a former Borno governor, said.

As the climate crisis causes heavier and more frequent floods across Nigeria, environmental groups said various flood disaster impacts demand more effective and targeted mitigation actions.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the private sector are particularly vulnerable to climate-related events like flooding. As the backbone of the Nigerian economy, experts said that SMEs’ anticipatory adaptation is urgently needed to safeguard the socio-economic system of places at flood risk.

The Maiduguri flood left a trail of suffering and loss of lives in its wake, and its actual toll has yet to come into focus fully. The size of the affected area is enormous. Borno State is twice the size of Nigeria’s South-east region, and nearly 500,000 residents have been pushed out of their homes.

Some areas are worse hit than others. Residents of Fori, Gwange, Lagos and Custom bridges linking Mairi, Alau, Gwange and Galtimari wards fled their homes as the waters engulfed their communities.

The level of devastation could be seen as residents aired their once-cherished possessions.

The emotional toll was evident on Fatima Bintu’s face when PREMIUM TIMES visited. “All our personal belongings are gone,” Ms Bintu said, standing in front of what used to be the family’s kitchen.

“We lived in a four-bedroom flat, but the water swept away everything to the very last brick,” she said.

The state government has set up a committee to support the victims and rebuild damaged infrastructure. PREMIUM TIMES reported that the state government raised billions of naira after the flood. However, the authorities are unlikely to reach all affected persons.

The World Food Programme also set up kitchens providing food to the Maiduguri displaced and emergency food and cash assistance to people in the hardest-hit areas.

Ms Bintu is the eldest daughter of her family. She cooks and sells food at their residence, a business she took over from her late mother. Every evening, the front of her house used to be filled with the warmth and chatter of loyal customers.

“Today, we don’t have anything to eat, let alone sell to our customers,” she said. “Everything we have worked for is gone. I have been panicking about food, shelter and clothes because we lost everything,” Ms Bintu said in September. “We have yet to receive any form of support.”

When the Alau Dam collapsed, billions of litres of water poured into communities in Maiduguri. State authorities said dozens of people died in the flood. With rescue operations continuing in Maiduguri, it is impossible to give an accurate count of lives lost in the water.

Earlier, a PREMIUM TIMES investigation found that the Alau Dam was poorly maintained. Safety upgrades were not done, and systemic failures plagued the spillway, resulting in the cataclysmic collapse.

Many residents are still sheltering in camps. The disaster follows an alarming malnutrition crisis caused by conflict, climate change, and inflation in the region.

“We had to get rid of everything,” Ms Bintu said. She said her family had recently spent more than N1 million on the house when her brother married. Now, they had to start all over again.

The damaged house contained personal belongings, including academic papers and items Ms Bintu got from her late mother. “I had several things that were hers that are gone,” she said. “Things like that are the hardest to think about.”

The kitchen, where the family stored foodstuffs and utensils, was submerged. She hopes they will rebuild soon, but replacing missing household items will be more difficult. “We need help to do this,” Ms Bintu said, pleading that anyone who can help us should do so, please.”

Like many of the affected Borno residents, the 25-year-old is hopeful for divine help after the storm. “I believe this is a trial from our Lord. The water has taken everything from us, but Allah will help us overcome.”

The UNHCR Representative in Nigeria, Arjun Jain, said the floods have compounded years of prior displacement, food insecurity and economic hardship, with disastrous consequences.

“Communities which, after years of conflict and violence, had started rebuilding their lives were struck by the floods and once again displaced,” Mr Jain said.

Residents said food prices have skyrocketed because the flood washed out access roads, markets, and farmlands.

Mr Jain said that when the floodwaters finally recede, thousands of families will return to their destroyed homes. “They will need significant support to rebuild homes, livelihoods, and a sense of normalcy.”

Strained Businesses

Bakura Lawan, a shop owner at Maiduguri’s Monday Market, lost over half of his stock to the disaster. He said most of the Islamic medicines he sells were damaged.

The North East Development Commission (NEDC) has donated N3 billion to support small businesses affected by the disaster. As of 21 September, Mr Lawan said he had not received relief items.

Not wanting to tempt fate again, Mr Lawan said he would never keep significant items at the shop overnight again.

“What we salvaged was barely a quarter of what was in the shop,” Mr Lawan added. “We are not fully back yet. As you can see, the renovation is still ongoing.”

‘One battle after another’

In February 2023, a mysterious fire burnt down the market.

“We had not recovered from that calamity when the floodwaters came,” Mr Lawan said. “It’s been a constant battle from one thing to another.”

Established about 35 years ago as Maiduguri’s central market, the Monday Market is rated as the largest in the North-east region and the mainstay of Borno State’s economy.

Mr Lawan said the fire disaster was minor compared to nature’s rage in the water. “We were the hardest hit by this flooding,” he said, stressing that the losses could not be estimated. We can only pray to God to replenish our pockets.”

In addition to the houses, schools, markets, and hospitals that were submerged, the Maiduguri prison was also flooded, enabling several inmates to escape.

Officials said at least 201 local government areas across 31 Nigerian states have been affected by floods, which have resulted in widespread displacement, loss of lives, and destruction of homes and livelihoods.

For small businesses, the journey has been emotionally and financially draining. Many owners feel that the government has forgotten them. Alhaji Adamu, whose shop is next to Mr Lawan in the Maiduguri Monday Market, described the flood as “disastrous and beyond comprehension.”

“We were massively affected financially,” Mr Adamu told PREMIUM TIMES, saying two-thirds of his store was gone. Before the devastation, he used his provision store to cater for his extended family of 11.

“It all happened so quickly. When we got to the shop, the water was not much, but sadly, thieves had already broken in and carted most of our belongings. Eventually, the water took everything left,” Mr Adamu lamented.

NEMA said the flooding damaged more than 161,539 hectares of farmland in Nigeria just before harvests. This is happening at a time when 32 million people in the country face severe food insecurity, according to the UN.

In Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states alone, 4.8 million people are experiencing severe food insecurity, with the lives of 230,000 children threatened by severe acute malnutrition, the UN said.

Losses of potential harvests are alarming given the already skyrocketing prices of staple foods such as rice, maise, beans, sorghum, and millet, which have more than tripled over the past year due to record food inflation.

In Laujeri, a settlement neighbouring Alau Dam, farmers typically grow two crops yearly. In the fall, they harvest rice and onion and plant wheat, maise, and potatoes.

Bulama Aisami, 65, said about four hectares of his farmland were inundated. This year, Mr Aisami planted wheat, maize, and potatoes, promising enough income for his family. “Now, all the farmers in this community cannot cultivate anything again,” he said. Everything is gone.”

Mr Aisami and many other farmers in Laujeri are turning to fishing after their homes and farmland were damaged.

The UN said the immediate needs of affected people include food, water and sanitation, hygiene, safe shelter, and protection for the most vulnerable, such as separated and unaccompanied children.

However, Mr Adamu, the trader in Monday Market, believes business owners like him also deserve immediate assistance. “It is not only people in IDPs that need help,” he said.

“We also need support. I am appealing to the government and development bodies to look in our direction, too. They should support us in whatever way so that we can resume activities in this market.”

Stains on the wall in his shop showed how high the floodwaters reached. Mr Adamu estimated that he had spent N250,000 to rebuild his shop alone, and the bills kept coming.

“Adding the cost of food and everyday needs, plus taking care of my kids, all while living without income in the past nine days, is heartrending,” he said. “I don’t have the capital to start the business again.”

‘Gripping Stories’

The account of Bashir Zannah, a 22-year-old provision store owner who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES, is equally gripping. Woken up by a neighbour’s shouting, Mr Zannah described what he saw as an “unimaginable scene.”

When water flooded his shop in Galtimari, Mr Zannah could not salvage anything. He said he survived the disaster, but “every other thing is gone.”

“We still have to thank God for life. Bodies were floating past us when the disaster happened. Schools and entire houses were caught up in the water,” Mr Zannah recalled.

In Maiduguri, the devastation is best summed up as a tale of two cities. Low-lying areas along the city’s coastal line were inundated, while people living higher up on the GRA seemed to carry on as usual. Except that electricity and water were cut for several days as pumps and the electrical grid went offline.

Now, the city is slowly re-emerging. The Sanda Kyarimi Zoo, where floods killed more than 50 per cent of the animals, has started rebuilding.

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Back in Jere, Mr Ibrahim, who owns a shop close to Fori Bridge, is appealing for help to open his shop again. “We need help from government and humanitarian organisations. Nobody can compensate us for our losses because it’s a natural disaster, but we need support to restart again.”

Like many in Borno, Mr Ibrahim felt sure the flood’s impact would endure. “Many years from now, they’ll be talking about this calamity and its attendant impact,” he said.

Before the flood, Mr Adamu said he had over 4,000 plaque wood in his store. At current prices, selling for N4,000 each, Mr Adamu lost over N16 million.

“I also have ceilings, nails, cement and other things. Roughly, we lost more than N40 million to the disaster,” he said.