As the clouds gather in the sky with their angry faces, the people panic, wondering if it will rain heavily or continuously for a long time. Some of the residents in my community start reinforcing their dikes, one sandbag at a time, piling up to hold out water. They are expecting an overflow of water onto their yards and sometimes into their homes.

This is the harsh reality faced by the people living at Mbak Ikot Obong and Ikot Akpan Road, off Oron Road in the city of Uyo in Akwa Ibom State.
Akwa Ibom in general is a level land in the coastal area of Southern Nigeria. Uyo is its economic hub, a city known for its clean and good road network.

_{^{Introduce my community, Uyo in AkwaIbom State Screenshot from Google Map}}

The major challenge affecting my community

This is the first week of August; my community is already knee-deep into the rainy season, and we are expecting more and heavier rain by September. Earlier this year, the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) and the Federal Ministry of Environment issued flood warnings for Nigeria.

The Cassandra syndrome set in and the warning was ignored. Now we have large areas flooded and places inundated.

The water level rose, breaking through the dikes, flooding the environment, filling up pit toilets and washing faecal matter into homes, setting in motion what could be the beginning of serious epidemics like cholera.
This has led to long hours of washing, mopping and disinfecting. Some shops storing garri and rice have lost their stocks; those who do not want to incur the loss will be selling contaminated food.

Those who live in less affected areas still suffer the effects because they will have to walk or drive through this flood. Anyone who decides to take another route will pay more or spend more fuel driving alternative routes.

Farm animals like goats and sheep have been reported dead; some houses in inundated areas have caved in, while landlords have lost tenants who have packed out of flooded areas.

What I think is the cause of the problem.

The Cassandra syndrome started it. People failed to take precautionary measures in time, even when the warning was sounded early enough.

But that is not the real problem. Uyo as a city is clean with a beautiful road network, and these roads were designed with drainage systems that channel away runoff water into an underground tunnel. Due to the loose nature of our soil, sand and garbage are washed into gutters, clogging them.

To make matters worse, some people dump their waste in the gutter, hoping that the flow of water will carry it away. The refuse soon grows, and growing plants sink roots that hold the sand in place. The water now overflows and runs into houses.

The efforts that have been made to address it

The government had made every last Saturday of the month a compulsory cleanup day. A day where gutters are unclogged. Payloaders and trucks go round collecting the materials removed from the drains and disposing of them.

Even with these measures in place, we still have clogged gutters and flooded areas. I personally think this is not an infrastructural problem; it is more of an orientation problem. People these days feel unclogging a drain is minimal work, a low-class task with a stigma.
It is classified among "jobs that get the hands dirty"; pride keeps people away from unclogging their gutters. The rich pay for it to be done, and those who can't pay for the service would rather build a dike or suffer the consequences.

We should have an attitudinal re-orientation that fixes the problem of pride, adjusting the effects our language has on people because some terms belittle certain tasks and make people too proud to engage in such tasks.

Address the cultural stigma, and the men will get into the gutters in front of their homes and shops to clean them without feeling reduced, and a free gutter will mean no flood.

How community members, organisations, or government can help

Bring down those seemingly accepted social media skits that glorify white-collar jobs while dehumanising labourers who remove the cogs from the wheels of progress and keep our community moving.

Pay and encourage those who agree to perform such essential tasks for the community, as it will encourage others to do the same.

Reduce the glamour in political offices and give some to the menial task worker who keeps the community going. Policies can be made, laws drafted and passed, but someone will still have to get into the drain and clear it; otherwise, you will come home as a legislator and find a flood covering the road to your house.

Conclusion and Invitation

The flooding in some places in Uyo is not an infrastructural problem. It is a social attitudinal problem tied to a culture that prizes certain jobs and occupations. A yahoo-boy is given more respect compared to a low-paid guy who works as a labourer and can get in and unclog the gutters, saving the community from the effects of flooding due to clogged gutters.

In Uyo, the flooding didn’t start with rain. It started with pride. Until we respect the hands that unclog our gutters, the water will keep entering our homes.

I am inviting @eliany, @dequeen and @bela90 to identify and present some of the problems or challenges we face as a community.

Media Credit

Composer	@manuelhooks
Graphics from	Galaxy-A15
Entry type	[SLC33-W6/ link]
Organizer	@josepha
Contest link	Click here
Date	Thursday.. 20th August
	(@) 2026