•A part of the flooded Confluence Hotel in Lokoja. Inset: Some houses on a flooded street
Many residents of Lokoja are yet to recover from the impact of the massive floods that overran parts of the city a about three weeks ago. Similarly, the owners of hotels, bars, eateries and tourist resorts in the city, whose businesses were disrupted by the floods are still counting their losses.
For the likes of Mr. Musa Nda, the manager of Madina Foods in Lokoja, the flood seemed like a little joke at its onset.
“At first, we observed the water coming through the other side and we didn’t take it seriously. We thought that even if it came, it would stop at the office. But when it came the second day, the water started rising and continued until it got to this stage,” Nda says, rather regretfully.
Soon the ‘joke’ became a harsh reality, inflicting serious financial losses on the residents of Lokoja and travellers passing through the city to either the northern or the southern parts of the country.
Nda lost goods worth about N3.5m in his cold room to the floods. A few days before then, he had slashed the prices of his goods so as to attract more sales.
“The floods have affected my business seriously. I had 300 cartons of fish in my cold room and all of them were worth N3.5m. They were trapped inside the building when the floods occurred,” he says.
He is not the only one affected by the disaster. Even his customers have lamented the effect on buying and selling in the area.
“Both buyers and sellers are trapped. The buyers cannot enter Lokoja and the sellers cannot take their wares to other parts of the city because of the floods. Some customers normally come from Fellele, Danija and Kabwa. Now, they cannot come out because those places are submerged. Even when they want to come out, they cannot afford the fares charged by commercial motorcycle operators. Many of them have lost their houses. I am confused now,” he says, describing the hopelessness of the situation.
Also, the floods have deeply affected the hospitality industry in the city, which is famous for its tourist attractions and decent hotels. Even workers at the Grand Mirage Hotel, which was undergoing renovation just before the floods came calling, had to pack their things and return to their respective home towns.
A member of the staff of the hotel, Fadare Oluwatosin, says business boomed at the hotel a few days before the rampaging floods. “We were having 15 lodgers at the hotel every day. Now we have only nine. The floods have affected our business badly. The few of us left in the hotel are just trying to see if we can finish what we are doing and go away. Some of our workers even packed their loads and headed for their home towns,” he says.
Similar complaints echoed in other hotels in the city. At J.B. Motel, a receptionist, Joel Salami, noted that the hospitality industry in the affected area had experienced a serious slump in terms of patronage and profits.
“When the floods started, there was no movement from Lokoja to Abuja or from Abuja to Lokoja. Travellers coming from Abuja had to go back and those who wanted to travel from Lokoja to Abuja had to abort their trips,” Salami laments.
The manager of the NUJ Guest House, Monday Ujoyi, counted the losses incurred in terms of a 70 per cent drop in patronage, disrupted nightlife, and soaring costs of transportation in the city.
He says, “What we are facing is devastating. In short, you can see the whole environment now. This is a place that we normally closed at about 2 am. But since this flooding started, we no longer have customers again from 9 pm.
“Some streets and areas are completely inaccessible. Okada people now charge between N150 and N200 a drop. And that is if you can even find one. We now have 30 per cent patronage instead of 70 per cent.”
At present, nightlife in Lokoja is almost non-existent, with most fun spots in the city being abandoned. Commerce has taken a deep plunge. Even sellers of suya (roasted beef) are affected.
“Because of the floods, many people in the state do not have money and they are no longer patronising us as they used to do. Now, only a few people buy suya from me. The floods have affected our business. Something should be done about it,” a seller complained.
The Commissioner for Culture and Tourism in Kogi State, Mr. Thomas Acholo, says the floods have dealt a big blow to tourism in the state, adding that the state-owned Confluence Beach Hotel has been seriously affected.
“There is a five-star hotel in Lokoja that is almost completed. But for the floods, the contractor handling the project would have officially handed over the hotel to the state government. Unfortunately, it is flooded up to window level. The restaurant, bar and furniture are affected. The water ruined the chairs, fridges and tables. We had to pack whatever we had there to another place,” Acholo says.
He describes the loss to tourism as colossal, adding that the floods destroyed some cherished monuments and artefacts in the state, as well as compelled the suspension of some cultural and tourism related activities.
“We wanted to host a fishing festival in Ibaji Local Government Area, but the floods have made it impossible to do so. Most of the sites that we wanted to use are submerged. Even the sacred statue of the deity known as ‘Inikpi,’ has been covered by the flood.
“The floods affected the hospitality business because there are no roads. Even those that came to Lokoja had to ferry their cars, which cost them between N10,000 to N15,000. to ferry it from one side the Niger River to the other where they can drive on. It is difficult to measure the extent of the damage caused by the floods to tourism in the state.
“There is a cultural festival which we used to do every September at the river bank. The spot where it used to be held is flooded. That is the problem we are facing. Ibaji LGA as a whole is submerged, but the people have been evacuated. There is no single land left. The water has reached the roof level in my house. There is no way you can see land or anybody there.
“People in those affected LGs and even some areas in Lokoja cannot even come out for any night activities. Except you board a flying boat, there is no way to come. The floods negatively affected the people’s social lives. It also affected the hoteliers heavily,” Acholo says.
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