The rainy season is gradually setting in, if it hasn’t already, in West Africa where cases of deadly floods have already been reported here and there. This is the case in Côte d’Ivoire, where the month of June alone recorded no less than nineteen deaths with, in addition, the collapse of buildings. In Niger, several regions including those of Zinder, Tillabéri, Maradi, Diffa and Tahoua, are already affected, causing, on July 17, a dozen deaths, thousands of victims and numerous material damages. In Burkina Faso, the halberds that fell on July 19, which lasted practically all day, caused a great deal of fear and material damage in the Burkinabè capital, where certain districts found themselves cut off from the rest of the city due to the water invasion. That is to say if the rainy seasons follow one another and resemble each other with their share of misery and disasters; the phenomenon has become so recurrent in this part of Africa. But the responsibilities are shared between populations with culpable incivility and a government with sometimes criminal laxity when the latter simply does not fail in its sovereign duties.
The weather forecast predicts average to excess precipitation
Indeed, when it is not populations that shine through inappropriate behavior, it is the public service that is failing through its lack of anticipation. Thus, we can never denounce enough the deviant behavior of these citizens who, beyond the anarchic occupation of public space, take malicious pleasure in throwing all kinds of household waste into the drainage gutters. Some even go so far as to install kiosks and shops on the slabs of gutters, making them impossible to access the public service in the event of the need for cleaning. Others play hard if not recklessly, deliberately settling in flood-prone areas despite warnings and other awareness messages. And what regarding those citizens whose greed pushes them to move from precarious site to precarious site, following selling off the plot of rehousing assigned to them? All this, under the nose and beard of public authorities who are often powerless, and who do not always show themselves to be considerate, even less up to the aspirations of the populations. How can it be otherwise when partisan politics, with its petty calculations, tends to take over everything, with leaders who are far from being paragons of virtue when it comes to awarding contracts and management of public affairs? It needs to change. It is therefore time to make people face up to their responsibilities. Especially since this year, the weather forecasts predict average to excess rainfall over the period from May to August in the Sahelo-Sudanian strip which covers most of the countries of West Africa. This means that there is nature’s part, especially with climate change, but also that of human action.
It is up to the people to change their mentality by adopting the right behaviors
This being said, the living conditions of populations who already live in destitution are certainly made more difficult because of the high cost of building materials, but poverty cannot explain everything, nor absolve on good account behaviors that sometimes border on the ‘unconsciousness. This means that it is the responsibility of the public authorities to provide themselves with the means to put an end once and for all to the phenomenon of people who settle in flood-prone areas, in defiance of the regulations in force. In this matter, they must be firm and intractable, even if it means making people unhappy today to save lives tomorrow. Similarly, the State should be able to use its authority to put order in the face of the phenomenon of anarchic occupation of public space, which sometimes takes hostage the rainwater drainage channels, constituting a danger to the whole community. Beyond that, it should even be able to have the courage to raze certain precarious neighborhoods and rebuild them according to urbanization standards that offer better living conditions to the populations. At the same time, it should be able to take strong measures aimed at providing as much relief as possible to populations who do not always have the means to afford decent housing. And in these times, the State should be particularly attentive to the case of internally displaced people who live in precarious conditions and suffer martyrdom because of the terrorist attacks which forced them to give up everything to save their skin. It is regarding the dignity of these populations who have not chosen this sad fate, but also regarding their health in these times of malaria and the cholera epidemic which is knocking at the doors of the country of honest men. It is also up to the people to change their mentality by adopting good behavior by using garbage cans and avoiding throwing household waste into the gutters.
” The country “
