The recent flood incidence, the fifth in the series of such disasters, at the Trademore Estate along the Lugbe-Airport Expressway in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, has become one too many. Despite the risk posed by the flood, the attitude of the relevant authorities to disaster control and management leaves much to be desired.

Residents in the sprawling estate are concerned about the regularity of the flood disaster, which took its toll on the people in 2014, 2015, 2019, 2023, and 2024. Surprisingly, the residents seem lost as to why there is no lasting solution to this menace. Both the estate developer and the regulatory government agency are not helping the situation by deciding to leave the residents to their own devices as they struggle to cope with the devastations caused by the flood.

When the incident occurred last year, following a heavy downpour, 116 houses were affected. The Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) declared the Estate a disaster zone and threatened to pull down some structures believed to be obstructing waterways.

As should be expected, residents of the estate vehemently opposed the government’s decision. The government, on its part, caved in to pressure and jettisoned the planned demolition. Yet again this year, the flood has emerged with greater intensity. In clear terms, this entails that in failing to take the difficult measure of demolishing some of the houses to save others in the estate, the government merely postponed the doomsday.

The latest flood aptly demonstrates this fact. Thankfully, no life was lost. But how many floods will the estate experience before the government does what it has to do to effectively control the situation?

However, it must be stated that from 2007, when the estate was formally opened after the homeowners took possession of their properties, there was no flood incident until 2014, and since then, there has been one flood disaster after another bringing in its wake tears and pain.

The questions authorities and, indeed, residents of this Estate must not only ask but also provide plausible answers to are: what is responsible for this recurring flooding? How can that be tackled once and for all? Are they residents and the government ready to do the needful even if the outcome will be unpleasant to some people?

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