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One year after, the killer flood in Maiduguri, a reporter’s diary of survival moves by residents, the medical sector, coordination errors, leading to more challenges beyond the damaged Alau Dam

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7 months ago

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One year after, the killer flood in Maiduguri, a reporter’s diary of survival moves by residents, the medical sector, coordination errors, leading to more challenges beyond the damaged Alau Dam

By: Bodunrin Kayode

Sometimes God creates Providence for mankind. We may not know the weight of His handiwork until something unusual happens and we begin to reflect and surely thank Him for the miracle that resonated with us mere mortals days or months after. Its been one year since the deadly September flood from Alau dam that devastated the Borno State capital Maiduguri. And yet the pains felt by many residents are still fresh as yesterday. Especially those whose loved ones are now part of the statistics recorded as missing or dead.

Many affected residents have moved on by relocating from the customs/ Muna water basin area while others have returned trying to pick the pieces of their lives together again in what is left of the old structure. The Alau dam tragedy has not gone away from the hearts of many residents who lost human lives which to me as a watcher of events is the most valuable of all the losses. One year on since the raging flood attack on the state capital, many residents are still counting their losses like wounds from the 15 year old insurgency.

For me, its one year of narrow escape from a devastating flood that would have consumed me if I was living in the heart of the customs area. This is because I almost paid for an accommodation few months to the flood. Only God that would have helped me because I have never swam in my life before. And even when one knows how to swim, the torrent of the raging dam water was so fast that one needed to be careful not to be swept into any of the major tributaries of nearby rivers with fixed routes to move to the dark deep abyss of nowhere.

Most residents of greater Maiduguri who spoke with this reporter in that axis said that they have never seen such devastation in their existence. The flood which rushed into town with such high velocity at the wee hours of the night of September 10 consumed a large part of Customs area right up to 505 housing estate and landing at the farm centre general area killing several vulnerable residents in its trail. It virtually encompassed the fertilizer plant and the adjoining farm centre housing estate which is currently undergoing rehabilitation by Governor Babagana Zulum. About 150 people were said to have perished in the water which took over the entire post office like an intimidating sea with all manner of dangerous snakes that escaped from the zoo. Other animals like the lion have been so caged that they refused to move out. One year after manager of the zoo, Don Best Abatcha is still raking his brain on how he would replace all those animals that were killed by the angry flood. All his customers have gone while some have relocated from the town after the flood. On a whole, sources who should know claim that about 15 percent of the city centre was submerged in water right up to post office.

How I escaped the flood

For me, I was supposed to have been in my apartment at customs that fateful day in September 2024 but the negotiations with the caretaker had gone sour and I had to dump the house for very strong reasons.

First, the place had been battered by the previous tenant and second the toilets were unkempt and needed repairs for privacy when using it. I tried to negotiate by getting him to repair the place, but he would not bulge. That to me was why I had to look elsewhere for a much more decent apartment. I actually stumbled on another at the other side of town close to the 7 division of the Nigerian Army. That ill fated apartment i avoided was located about 60 metres from the main entrance to the customs office. All the residents on that part of the town lost every thing they had called material things. Not one was spared. And I would have been one of them if not for divine providence. The only people and institutions spared partially were those who had one or two story buildings like the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH).

Reactions by survivors of the flood

I recently drove down to a restaurant to eat just opposite the customs area where I was supposed to have been residing but the place was a shadow of itself. The igbo lady name withheld almost in tears went into a litany of woes while narrating her experience in the past year. ” I lost everything in that flood. The water took away my utensils and pots and I had to start from scratch. That is why you could not recognize this place when you parked earlier. It has indeed changed and we still try our best to survive. Watin man go do even if dem refused to compensate some of us with the 100k, they announced will reach us. Will I comit suicide? she chuckled.

“I saw you when you arrived but was wondering why you did not come out of the car. Did not know you were struggling to locate the place.
Customer, I never knew you were the one but welcome to the relic of the old place you used to eat lunch. We thank God for being alive but I must tell you we went through hell and back since last year.

“We were surrounded by water when it happened so we had no where to go to. We rushed to the peak of the customs fly over and stayed there for two days but it was on the third day we were rescued from being killed in case the water had risen more than the ground floor of the customs building which we were seeing. The thing started slowly on the 9th but by 2 am of the 10th of September, we would have become history if that fly over was not there. We looked towards Gwange, it was water, our front was also water and it was rising slowly to consume us. Well one year after, I thank God for his mercies. Recording her woes in my brain I sat down finally, took my lunch and drove off towards Gwange area, glanced at the renovation done to the police division and then off to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH). One year after the Gwange police division has really bounced back. Normal police activities were going on. The place looked more presentable now than it was about a year ago. A lot of houses and shops have been renovated one year after. Some actually got compensated by the Gujibawu committee while many others did the job themselves. The tension on mechanics who had to bring back to life hundreds of cars has gone down. Many residents who could afford the bill never waited for the committee to compensate them. They have all moved on hoping to see each day as it comes.

UMTH one year after

With the will power to go on and Professor Ahmed Ahidjo on the driver’s seat, a lot of recovery has taken place in the UMTH. From recent briefings by the Chief Medical Director (CMD) Ahidjo, repairs have taken place on most of the high grade radiation machines now working. A brand new MIR machine has been donated by Emeka Offor.
Lots of Damage was done especially to equipment on the ground floor while the first floor was relatively peaceful on that fateful day. The CMD noted in one of his recent briefs to newsmen that over 20 billion naira worth of property was destroyed by the flood. But they have been able to stand on their feet now in spite of all odds. Lots of items have been replaced but more needs to be purchased to keep the hospital going on.

The assistance of the medical sector

One year after the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) in Damboa road has since returned to normal duties. The urgency to save souls about to perish in the flood has gone down because every one seems to be fine now. The surveillance pillar has gone back to its primary duties. Hunt down any strange scourge and put an end to their existence. They hardly have time for petty politics or debates over the next route Ebola will take if they are careless. And what if they are not as vigilant as Stella Adadevoh who knew it but stood her ground to take the bullet for Nigerians.
Before I close my notebook, let me report to you that those who were saved miraculously are still alive to tell their tales of survival. Others who assisted in burial of loved ones have put the episode behind them. None of them were exempted from the tragedy. They were all touched in one way or the other because one friend or colleague or relative lost someone in the flood. Business premises of loved ones at Monday market area were devastated by the flood. Some of their relatives lost shops at post office. And they had to support them because the flood committee largesse did not get to them.
On a whole, they did their best ensuring that opportunistic illnesses were not allowed to spread all over the town. Sadly, the ministry of information could not work effectively with the health sector to synchronize statistics to fish out what is needed by news hounds. The Commissioner was doing his briefing in a separate venue while the entire health sector was briefing as a team at the EOC. That was a wrong precedent which did not help the media coordination.

What future for the Alau Dam?

It is obvious that the Alau Dam has come to stay regardless of the threat it still poses to residents of Maiduguri over 20 km from where it is located. At least 80 billion naira has been voted for the repairs of the dam by President Bola Tinubu. And as things stands now, we are awaiting the rehabilitation work to start so that the facility can return back to safety. The entire population in greater Maiduguri has been on red alert expressing fears that the water may still rise beyond expected limits. To reduce the fears of residents, Governor Babagana Zulum has actually visited the facility several times to ensure that the safety of residents is not compromised. He has directed the site engineers to watch and ensure that the water never goes beyond a particular level.

Regardless of these assurances, the Maiduguri/ jere axis which has formed the greater Maiduguri was also not spared from recent flash floods during the ongoing rainy season. So this time around, apart from the latent threats from the Alau Dam, Chibok, Damboa and parts of Biu suffered tremendously from the flash floods from the rains in the state. As expected Bulumkutu, Abuja talaka, Dala and environs where equally threatened by flash floods. One year after many people don’t want a repeat of the last flood. For residents in Maiduguri, their very existence is threatened whenever they see any form of unusual water rising towards them. The last flood was a terribly bad omen. Nobody wants another flood in Maiduguri no matter how small.

One year after, the killer flood in Maiduguri, a reporter’s diary of survival moves by residents, the medical sector, coordination errors, leading to more challenges beyond the damaged Alau Dam

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Descendants of Yamtra-Wala: Surfing in the Comfort of the Bura Ethnic Tribe/Cultural Identity

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1 week ago

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March 31, 2026

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Descendants of Yamtra-Wala: Surfing in the Comfort of the Bura Ethnic Tribe/Cultural Identity

By: Balami Lazarus

I have spoken and written articles on the Bura-Pabir, where I was called names with insults of convex images. I am here once again with nearly the same subject on ethnic tribe/cultural identity: the dilemma of the Pabir group of people who are standing poised between being Pabir or Babur.

The Bura people are an independent ethnic nation historically, geographically, and politically within the Biu territory long before Yamtra-Wala. Is it then wrong for anyone to think and say that the Pabir group of people are the same as the Bura from an ethnic-tribe/historically cultural perspective? What made them the same? How and when did they become the same? Are the Bura people descendants of Yamtra-Wala?

Historically, the Pabir are an extraction of Kanuri/Kanembu through the bloodline of a disgruntled prince, Abdulla, from the Kanem-Borno Empire, who, with his band of 70 men, founded the Biu kingdom and her royal dynasty in or about 1535.

In this work, I will write using Pabir, their original name given to them by the Bura people. I will also raise some thought-provoking questions with the uffti of truth in the space of ethnic tribe/cultural identity.

In history, I was taught to always take note of historical facts and figures and be objective in analyzing historical events/source materials with a sense of reasoning because many histories were falsified through irrational narratives/oral history from one generation to the other.

What is then the rationale behind the Pabir people addressing themselves as Babur? I believed answers to this are rooted in ethno-religious sentiments capped with an inferiority complex in the claws of

Babur. Why are they now forcing themselves on the Bura people’s cultural identity considering the recent development on the yearly Bura Cultural Festival at Marama? And this is the same ethnic tribe many Pabir scorned with contempt.

I was privileged to ask some few individuals from both divides, and what they said on this matter was the plain truth. “The Bura people are the first inhabitants of this territory, people with unique culture, traditions, and customs.” One individual said, “We have to be part of them (Bura) because we are a minority with no ethnic/cultural identity, nor are we an ethnic tribe/nation… They gave us the collective name “Pabir,” not “Babur,” as we are being called and addressed wrongly today.

The distant and recent events have not been in favor of the Bura people. Proponents of the Babur conspiracy theory presumably thought that by being addressed as Babur, they would be given ethnic tribe and cultural identity garments. But has it?

In the context of history, if and when one is speaking or writing for the purpose of ethnic tribe/cultural identity of the Bura people, I believe that such

Submissions shall probably be in favor of the Bura as an independent ethnic nation, unlike the Pabir, who are direct descendants (Yamara-Wala) of Prince Abdulla from Birni Ngarzargamu in the Kanem-Borno Empire.

“I am a Pabir man. Can you point at any cultural source material or genre tied to us as our cultural heritage? And neither are we of common ancestry or lineage with the Bura.”

Let us rewind back, taking into consideration the name Yamtra-Wala, the founder of the royal dynasty of Biu. In the Bura dialect, it is pronounced and spelled as “Yamta Ola.” However, you may wish to know that it has its roots in the Arabic language.

But in an attempt to improvise and starve the term “Pabir,” choking it with “Babur” has further perpetuated historical miscarriage, a clear distortion of history.

What was the position of the Pabir in the ethnic/cultural unity of the Bura people of the Biu territory? Where were they when they had the Bura Almanac of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s titled Bura Community in the following towns and cities like Kaduna, Lagos, Kano, Jos, Enugu, Ibadan, Zaria, and other locations within Nigeria? It is on record that there was absolutely no mention of Pabir in unity with Bura combined as a united community in such places. How then did Pabir get into the ethnic tribe/cultural identity of the Bura people, considering the recent development on the yearly Bura Cultural Festival? Note that these are the same people the Pabir scorned with sentiments of “mission.” However, it still remains the healthy stock where many have reached the sun.

Be as it may, probably they are afraid to be left out individually or collectively in the ethnic identity provided by the Bura people. And to also bask in the comfort of Bura cultural identity and heritage.

Historically, before 1535, there was no such group of people in the Biu territory. Therefore, the band of the 70 led by Prince Abdullah of Birni Ngazargamu in Kanem-Borno does not add up to give the Yamtra descendants the permit to claim ethnic tribe and cultural identity of the Bura people. Archaeological sources around the greater Biu territory like the ancient abandoned settlement sites such as Kumba in old Bwala village. Ghenchabiri in Kwajaffa, among many others in the Hawul Local Government Area, is evidence of the presence of the Bura people before c.1535.

I hereby tie myself with roots of history to say that the Pabir people, who are the descendants of Yamtra-Wala, will find it difficult to disengage and/or isolate themselves from the beautiful Bura ethnic tribe and cultural identity despite sentiments of “mission” because Yamtra-Wala came without cultural identity. For this reason, Pabir or Babur are offshoots of the Bura ethnic tribe and cultural identity because they have an identity of their own.

Similarly, the Bura are the lighthouse of the Biu territory because they are found all over, contributing their quota to nation-building. They also made up the greater part of the Biu territory’s population.

Balami, Publisher/Columnist 08036779290

Descendants of Yamtra-Wala: Surfing in the Comfort of the Bura Ethnic Tribe/Cultural Identity

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IBUAM: 5 Years Comprehensive Academic and Practical Training For Borno Indigenes Courtesy of Babagana Zulum’s Administration

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2 weeks ago

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March 27, 2026

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IBUAM: 5 Years Comprehensive Academic and Practical Training For Borno Indigenes Courtesy of Babagana Zulum’s Administration

By: Balami Lazarus

Let me use this space and opportunity to make it clear that News Net Global Limited (NEWSng) Abuja and I are not media consultants to Isaac Balami University of Aeronautics and Management, Lagos (IBUAM). I have to bring this to the fore because some persons are presenting us as her media officers.

I was in Maiduguri recently on assignment for my firm, and during the course of the assignment, I decided to make time to do some independent investigations on the ₦12.9 billion scholarship offered to 54 students, indigenes of Borno State, courtesy of the state government, under the leadership of Governor Babagana Zulum, who believed in the progress and future of Borno State through Isaac Balami University of Aeronautics and Management, Oshodi-Lagos (IBUAM).

The scholarship is meant to educate and empower young students of Borno who meet the necessary requirements to study and be trained both intellectually and practically at IBUAM in various fields of aeronautics engineering and management as future pilots, aircraft/aerospace engineers, and aviation management experts to become future global leaders in the international aviation space (industry) equipped with comprehensive knowledge in modern aviation arts and techniques for the growth and development of Nigeria.

The Zulum administration has thought it wise to give young citizens of Borno State origin these golden opportunities through the State Scholarship Board.

This initiative, however, did not go well with some indigenes of Borno. Reliable sources based on my findings revealed that some members of the state executive council, Borno elders’ forum, among others, were not happy with the scholarship program meant for the 54 IBAUM students of Borno. In fact, before now it was a tug of war that generated a storm of bitter sentiments in a teacup greater than a mug.

In a brief chat with Engr. Isaac Balami, he informed this writer that he appreciates with gratitude the Borno State Government under the able leadership of Governor Babagana Zulum for believing in IBAUM to train its indigenes in the fields of aeronautics engineering and aviation management for the growth and development of the aviation industry in Nigeria and beyond. “IBUAM and I are grateful to my governor, Engr. Babagana Zulum, and those that have contributed to the realization of the scholarship program.”

Let me also state here categorically that scholarship programs are always provided under terms and conditions that are formulated by the offerer, like the case in question. But some individuals in government and other bodies are cogs in the wheel of such progress.

Are you aware that there are characteristics and physical differences between Engr. Isaac David Balami, an individual, and Isaac Balami University of Aeronautics and Management (IBUAM)? In a nutshell, herein are two entities—individual and institutional. But here are some citizens poised and wrapped in ignorance, raising eyebrows on collective future benefits.

The $12.9 billion doled out by the Borno State Government was not given to Engr. Isaac David Balami and shall never be his personal money from this day forward. I believed if and when anyone were to ask about the said money, that individual should go and ask IBUAM, not Engr. Isaac David Balami.

Balami, Publisher/Columnist. 08036779390

IBUAM: 5 Years Comprehensive Academic and Practical Training For Borno Indigenes Courtesy of Babagana Zulum’s Administration

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IBUAM: Redefining the Nigerian Aerospace and Systems Through Aeronautics Disciplines

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2 months ago

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February 17, 2026

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IBUAM: Redefining the Nigerian Aerospace and Systems Through Aeronautics Disciplines

By: Balami Lazarus

The Wright brothers invented and flew the first airplane in 1903. They never knew that they had set the growth, development, and progress of the aviation industry with their invention.

Following the establishment of Isaac Balami University of Aeronautics and Management (IBUAM), Nigerians are optimistic that it will redefine with sophistication the aerospace systems, giving a new definition of the aviation through her academic courses by the quality of graduates that shall come on board sooner or later with made-in-Nigeria aircraft, their parts, and other related inventions.

I remembered one of my bright students whom I taught some years past, who has clamped and insulated her mind and interest to studying aeronautics engineering; my encouragements for her were endless.

And here we are, with a university that will give every candidate equal opportunities in his or her course of study, where future global stars are going to be trained to rule the aviation industry and her economy—national and international—through IBUAM academic disciplines.

The emergence of specialized universities in Nigeria was a big reality in the realm of our educational systems. These universities are no doubt making progress towards improving specialization by their trained professionals in various fields of studies for economic growth and industrialization, like what IBUAM is intended to do through one of her courses rarely taught in some Nigerian universities.

IBUAM is here to cater to the near-starved aviation needs of human capital and material resources through aeronautics engineering systems/management.

All courses at IBUAM are important for our nation’s development and in the aviation sector. Interestingly, IBUAM has state-of-the-art facilities to enhance teaching and learning—hangers, special workshops, tools, materials, and equipment. Her classrooms/lecture halls are also equipped with modern/standard facilities meant for effective and qualitative academic teaching and practical lessons for excellent performance of her students in their various courses. Therefore, IBUAM is doing the right thing in our education space and time.

Before I started this work, I was focused, mind made up on one fundamental course offered at IBUAM, and by all standards, that will automatically change the foundation and structure of the aerospace, which will provide Nigeria with aircraft and parts through the Aerospace Engineering course (B. Aerospace Engineering). This academic discipline is where students are expected to be trained in the science and skills of aerospace engineering “meant for designing, building, aircraft maintenance, and spacecraft systems.”

Therefore, this course of study and its related associates (metaphorically) will redefine the aviation aerospace and its science of engineering arts/skills, provided IBAUM academic teaching and learning are capped with practicals.

Engr. Isaac David Balami

whose passion for education and aeronautics is rooted in IBUAM, said that courses of study are all in the womb of JAMB requirements for candidates seeking admission in IBUAM: “For better and further understanding of our admission requirements and equal opportunities, I refer intended candidates to go through the JAMB prospectus.”

With no iota of doubt in my mind, this university will put Nigeria on the international aviation map of progress and value.

Balami, Publisher/Columnist. 08036779290

IBUAM: Redefining the Nigerian Aerospace and Systems Through Aeronautics Disciplines

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