TUNDE OYEKOLA examines the unparalleled dried season flood in 3 Kwara LGAs, the place over 5,000 rice farmers misplaced greater than 3,000 hectares of ground utility N11.5bn
As Nigeria grapples with the weakness of meals safety, the hot flood of Shonga Rice Farm in Edu Native Executive of Kwara Situation, which reportedly submerged about 5,000 hectares of rice ground, may were a destructive contributor to meals shortages within the nation.
Like a flowing wave within the barren region, Shonga lately skilled an extraordinary flood on the top of the dried season on January 25, 2025, which swept away hundreds of hectares of rice farms in 3 native govt disciplines of Kwara Situation.
The amount of paddy rice produced in Nigeria in 2023, consistent with the document of the Central Storagefacility of Nigeria, used to be 8.9 million metric tonnes, the absolute best since 2010. Kwara Situation’s rice manufacturing stood at over 102,000 metric tonnes output right through the rainy and dried season.
A 2022 CBN legitimate file, which celebrated the go back of the rice pyramid in Nigeria, indexed Kwara Situation as some of the six states within the North Central which joined the rice-producing states in 2022.
“The North Central state, which contributed over 40,000 metric tonnes of rice paddy to the recently unveiled rice pyramid in Abuja, was not considered a rice-producing state before the administration of President Muhamadu Buhari and Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, but today, the state has emerged among the top producers in the country, courtesy of the efforts of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria in the state,” the CBN document said.
Talking at the building, the atmosphere chairman of the Rice Farmers Affiliation of Nigeria, Dr Ahmed Saba, stated “We thought we didn’t do enough in our production until we got to Abuja where the Central Bank of Nigeria, which is in charge of the Anchor Borrowers Programme, unveiled the data showing that Kwara State actually did better than we thought, being among the top rice producing states in the country.”
Saba, right through a talk over with to the flood disciplines, disclosed that about 5,000 hectares of rice plantation, estimated at N11.5bn, had been ravaged within the flood that submerged disciplines in some communities within the 3 native govt disciplines of the atmosphere.
The lawmaker, who recognized the rice produced in Moro, Edu and Patigi as some of the perfect within the nation, lamented that the farmers had been bowled over that their disciplines may well be flooded when it wasn’t the wet season that normally comes with bulky waterfalls.
“On this segment, we’re all the time suffering from the overpouring right through the wet season. This is why you spot a dozen of nation coming to farm right through the dried season. This sort of overpouring has no longer been witnessed within the era, particularly right through the dried season.
“A dozen of disciplines were submerged by means of aqua because of the hole of Jebba Dam. That affected us severely, as billions of naira were wasted. Some farmers had established themselves right here for the era 3 months. This overpouring got here as a awe to everybody and this can be a warning to meals safety within the nation.
“The type of rice that comes out from Moro, Edu and Patigi is one of the good quality rice produced in Nigeria. The opening of the water is suspicious and that is why we have to carry out an investigation. Why did they open water at this time of the dry season? We will find out,” Saba stated.
He expressed his readiness to boost the topic at the ground of the Area of Representatives as he often known as at the Federal Executive companies to probe the overpouring catastrophe.
The legislator disbursed 150 luggage of NPK fertiliser, 50 knapsack sprayers, 50 luggage of rice seeds, 170 litres of pesticide and chemical compounds and 10 items of sun aqua pumping machines to the sufferers to mitigate the results of the loss incurred.
“We’re going to get a hold of a movement for the Area to seem into the topic, time the important companies will have to additionally examine why there’s a overpouring this occasion. We can not say there may be flood right through the wet season and nearest flood once more right through the dried season. It method one thing is mistaken someplace.
“All of us must be on the same page because we are talking about food security in the country. We have to let the Federal Ministries of Agriculture and Water Resources be aware of what has happened and see the measures they can employ to assist the farmers so that they can go back to the farm,” he stated.
With the hot flood which affected communities in Edu, Patigi and Jebba in Moro Native Executive Branch, the determine of rice manufacturing within the atmosphere may have long gone indisposed.
Some affected communities incorporated Fonga and Jebba in Moro LG; Lade, Patigi and Kpada districts in Patigi LG and Shonga, Bacita and Lafiagi in Edu LG of the atmosphere.
“Over 5,000 rice farmers were reportedly affected in the incident arising from the alleged opening of dams in Jebba and Kanji, Niger State,” the previous chairman of RIFAN and lawmaker representing Edu/Patigi/Moro Federal Constituency of the atmosphere within the Nationwide Meeting, stated.
Saba, who described the overpouring as a warning to meals safety within the nation, stated the stage to which the disciplines had been destroyed used to be regretted.
In keeping with stories, the overpouring claimed a minimum of one future time 3,000 hectares of rice farm had been submerged and about 5,000 farmers had been affected.
The affected farmers consistent with Muhammad Abdulkadir, a society chief in Tada, are those that got here from other states within the North. He stated, “We have now farmers from Kebbi, Zamfara, Kano, and Niger states, and they have got misplaced thousands and thousands of naira utility of rice farms to this flood.
“We want the federal government’s aid. When there used to be disagree flood, we realised over 3 million metric tonnes of rice right here once a year.
“We thank the government for coming to our aid immediately. This should not end here. We want the government to find a permanent solution to perennial flooding in this axis. The permanent solution is to dredge the River Niger.”
Probably the most affected farmers, Mallam Suleiman Mohammed, instructed The PUNCH that the overpouring devastated his whole funding and livelihood. He stated having began witnessing a leap forward in dried season rice manufacturing, the catastrophe left him in ache and woe.
Every other farmer, Mrs Hassana Peter, described the status as a hideous loss, including that the whole lot she laboured for within the closing 3 months used to be washed away inside a couple of days. “I sold all my properties to farm this dry season and lived inside my farm for three months. I am a struggling woman. Who will come to my rescue now? This is too much for me,” she lamented.
Every other sufferer, merely recognized as Abdullahi, who claimed to be amongst farmers who diverted to rice farming, described the status as a obese catastrophe.
“Farmers who cultivate cassava, maize and other crops have diverted. From the community up to the bank of the River Niger, everywhere is filled with rice fields and it’s difficult to believe this is happening during dry season farming,” he stated.
He stated the least a farmer may spend to supremacy a hectare of rice plantation is over N1m, including that the ones affected, each indigenes and non-indigenes, had been akin to two,000.
Mr Aliyu Jibril, who additionally claimed to have misplaced a number of hectares of rice disciplines to the overpouring, stated since they began the dried season farming of rice in Shonga, this pace’s loss used to be unparalleled. He lamented that farmers doubled in quantity this pace in comparison to closing pace, with over 300 farmers affected in one of the communities.
A Lagos-based entrepreneur whose funding used to be additionally affected, Alhassan Mohammed, stated “We lost billions of naira to the incident and I urge the Federal Government and others to visit the place to see for themselves the terrible devastation. Some victims who took loans to invest fainted following the incident.”
The Emir of Shonga, Dr Haliru Yahya, talking to the atmosphere govt delegation right through a talk over with to the segment to establish the stage of the catastrophe, expressed awe on the flood within the society at this occasion of the pace when there used to be disagree downpour. He appealed to the federal government to behavior a radical investigation into the reasons of the extraordinary flood.
The Emir stated, “From right here as much as Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, Niger Republic, and Mali, there used to be disagree downpour. The Sahel is dried. How can there be a overpouring right here? The supply of this overpouring should be native.
“We have now requested from Kainji Dam, they usually stated it wasn’t from them. However Jebba Dam may no longer disclaim it. Actually, they stated they might quickly akin it. We spent a number of years attracting nation to this playground. We are hoping this won’t occur once more nearest pace to avert meals lack of confidence.
“One life was lost, 3,000 hectares of rice farm submerged and about 5,000 farmers were affected in the unusual flooding in Shonga community in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State,” the Emir stated.
He said additional, “His Excellency (Governor AbdulRazaq) has spoken to me, and he took it very seriously. I didn’t expect this delegation again, given his interventions already. We are very grateful to him for his concern and for sending this powerful delegation. We must get to the roots of the matter. If it is true that Jebba Dam released water, what was the reason, and who authorised it?”
Following the incident, the Kwara Situation govt has arrange a minimum of two other delegations to probe the overpouring. A delegation led by means of the Deputy of Group of workers to the Governor, Bukola Babalola and the Kwara Situation Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Parks to behavior an on-the-spot review of rice disciplines and communities suffering from the overpouring.
The delegation visited Shonga to ascertain the reasons of the extraordinary flood and likewise delivered leisure fabrics utility thousands and thousands of naira to the affected farmers within the Tada society.
Talking right through the talk over with, Babalola confident the sufferers that the federal government would do business in aid to cushion the impact of the flood on their farms.
“We are here to see the damage done to the farms, especially the rice farms in the Tada community. We have seen what happened and we are taking the message back to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to see what can be done to remedy the situation — immediate and future remedies — and avert loss of lives and farmlands,” she instructed journalists at the sideline of the talk over with.
The Kwara Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Parks, an company of the federal government, led by means of the atmosphere Mission Coordinator, Alhaji Shamsideen Aregbe, additionally visited the affected society and worn a drone to survey the affected segment for an on-the-spot review of the disciplines and communities.
Representing the Emir of Shonga right through the Kwara ACReSAL crew talk over with, the Nakodi of Shonga, Alhaji Sulaiman Yahya, recommended Governor AbdulRazaq for his reaction to the overpouring incident and thanked the Kwara company for the talk over with.
Aregbe expressed unhappiness over the flood, including that “The Kwara ACReSAL crew is in Shonga at the directive of Governor AbdulRazaq to counterpoint the atmosphere govt’s efforts of establishing a climate-resilient folk and offering contingency situation reaction to sufferers of failures, particularly environment-related ones.
“The ACReSAL is a Kwara Situation venture supported by means of the Global Storagefacility with the challenge of restoring degraded parks, and protective the surroundings, amongst alternative actions in several elements and sub-components within the 19 states of Northern Nigeria, together with the Federal Capital Range (FCT) Abuja.
“I am here with our technical team; we will deploy advanced technology, including a drone, to assess the flooded areas and the extent of damage, to proffer solutions to the problem. The governor has brought in the ACReSAL Project through the World Bank and the Federal Government to develop our state and provide succour to the people in environmental disasters. We are fully committed to achieving this,” he added.
Aregbe nearest confident that the entire document of the findings could be made to be had to the governor in addition to the Global Storagefacility to get aid and viable environmental and ecological answers to the weakness.