By Abdul Kareem

In the wake of devastating floods that have wreaked havoc on Maiduguri, displacing thousands and claiming hundreds of lives, Alhaji Kashim Ibrahim Imam, an accomplished business mogul, politician, and Borno elder has stepped forward with a significant philanthropic effort. Relocating his entire family to his ancestral home town, Maiduguri, Imam has initiated a self-funded program to provide 200,000 food packs to displaced persons, targeting 10,000 individuals daily for three weeks. In this interview, with our Reporter, Abdul Kareem, Imam discusses the impact of the disaster, the collective response from leaders and citizens, and his personal commitment to aiding the recovery of his beloved hometown.

Q: Your Excellency sir, how has the recent flood devastation in Maiduguri affected the local community?

Kashim Imam: The devastation in Maiduguri has been nothing short of catastrophic. Almost every indigene of Borno is sad and saddened by the devastation that has befallen my home town Maiduguri. We are saddened by the sheer number of lives lost, which by all accounts running into hundreds. Nobody can give you exact accurate figures. Still and sadly some bodies are being discovered daily as the water recedes. Sadly nobody has the most accurate figures. It is very factual that it runs into hundreds of lives lost. Thousands of people are homeless. All their homes have been destroyed by the floods; nobody was prepared for this; our people were caught unawares in the middle of the night. The floods came in the middle of the night and all accounts point at between midnight and half past midnight. Most people were already home in bed and most were asleep. All were caught unawares. Nobody saw this coming and nobody was prepared for this. The carnage, the loss of life, and the loss of properties is enormous. Those who were rescued managed to escape with the clothes that they were wearing. And if you go round the metropolis, out of the 15 wards in Maiduguri, only four were not affected. Eleven were badly affected. In some of these wards, more than a week after people are still trapped they cannot come out. People are trapped in their homes because in most cases there are homes to go back to.

Q: What actions have you and other leaders taken in response to this crisis?

Kashim Imam: So when we received the news of this, most of the elders of Borno state that are resident in Abuja felt concerned and we organised ourselves and we all came back home. We visited the Governor. We also visited His Royal Majesty, the Shehu of Borno. The Delegation was led by Ambassador Baba Kingibe. Also on the delegation was architect Ibrahim Bunu, the former minister of the FCT. Ambassador Baba Ahmed Jidda, past ambassador to China was on the delegation. Senator Abba Aji, and Hajiya Hamra Imam were also on the delegation. Alhaji Babakura Kaigama was also part of the delegation. Baba Shettima Arfo and a host of other prominent sons of Borno were also on that delegation; we came to commiserate with our people, most especially all those who lost loved ones. I also want to say that for about a week I’ve been home, I relocated my family, my wife, my children, the extended family, everybody’s here.The delegation from Abuja also did not just commiserate and then left back to Abuja. Everybody stayed behind. We heeded the advice of the governor and I think it was very wise advice that he gave. He said that. The loss of lives, the loss of properties, the loss of people losing their homes also. The tragedy, according to him, the scale of it is beyond the ability of the state government to cope; and he pleaded with all well-meaning citizens of Borno to assist in various ways. So it has been well documented and well reported.Several well-meaning leaders from across Nigeria.State governors, the president himself came. The vice president came, the governors came, prominent.Leaders of the business community – Alhaji Aminu Dantata was here, His Excellency the former vice president Atiku Abubakar was here, Alhaji Aliko Dangote came and many others. It’s also documented that various sums of money have been contributed. 

Q: Can you tell us specifically your personal interventions as indigenes?

Kashim Imam: Absolutely. In response to the Governor’s appeal for immediate assistance, Wlwe, the indigenous sons and daughters of Borno, felt that we needed some remedial measures to alleviate the immediate suffering. And then with the appeal of the governor, he felt that what was immediately needed is the most basic of all human needs.  And that is just food and water.And we elected to focus on this. I’m happy to inform you that we are providing a total of 200,000 food parks. We have already commenced that and I’m going to invite the members of the media to do a tour of the town with us immediately after this little briefing.So that would distribute these food parks together. What we’ve tried to do is to do and we’ve started with an average of 6000 packs a day. We wish to scale this to 10,000 packs every day. And we are doing this in recognition of the fact that today the most pressing need of the people of the town is food. 

If we provide either money or foodstuffs, it won’t have the desired impact because most people simply have no homes. They are in different camps. And again across the city It is impossible, even if we are to provide foodstuffs, it is impossible for most families to simply cook. So in the absence of that, the female, not just female members of this family but both male and female members of my extended family are here both males and females They are here. You’ll be seeing them. I hope you only just say thank you to them. And they’ve been providing food as a first step. I also want to inform you that the other leaders who came from Abuja have equally made arrangements to provide food – whether it is bread or water in their various homes. I wish to also confirm and place on record that apart of from us, thousands of other well-meaning citizens of this town. Indigenes of his town are similarly assisting those that are in very urgent need and it is very depressing that as we went around in the past three days that we have been going round everybody is just crying out for food and telling us that they have not eaten for the whole day.

Q: What are the medium-term plans for rehabilitation?

Kashim Imam:  I envisage that this effort will go on for another two to three weeks, by which time it si my hope and prayers that water will have receded and people will be able to go back to their various homes, and at which stage we are going to change strategy. Instead of distributing food parks, we would be distributing bags of rice that is currently being offloaded in my compound. We have arranged for 7200 bags of various capacities of 50KG bags. The second category is 25KG parks and then the last one is 10KG bags. So we are providing a total of 7200 of those as medium-term interventions. I believe that and I’ve seen evidence of the fact that the state government is currently also engaged in similar efforts. The governor told us that they’ll be providing rice and macaroni to most of the families. I think they have a program of just two weeks that I’m told that we’ll be ending any time soon. So the people will be encouraged to go back to their homes, and we will continue our efforts for another 2 to 3 weeks because I believe that it’s practically impossible having seen the scale of the damage for everybody to back immediately. So we’ll continue the efforts for at least another two weeks after which I will hope that they will be home by which time we will also be giving them bags of rice instead of food packs. I  commiserate with the families, with everybody who has lost their loved ones and the depth of the canage is such that nobody is speared. I saw pictures that are trending on social media and I was shocked to see that the homes that I built for my two sons in the GRA area of Maiduguri is in the middle of that particular picture. The only thing that is visible is a cap of the roof. They can’t even see the entire of the whole building is submerged. What you would see is just the cap of the roof.  So this is something that has affected everyone; it is not just a few families. There is no family in Maiduguri that is not affected by this. I pray that God Almighty will comfort all of us. I pray that we will not witness any tragedy on this scale in the future.  

Q: How are other leaders and citizens contributing to the relief efforts?

Kashim Imam: The response from across Nigeria has been heartening. Many prominent figures, including state governors, business leaders, and politicians, have come forward to offer assistance. People like Alhaji Aminu Dantata, Atiku Abubakar, and Alhaji Aliko Dangote have made significant contributions. This collective effort is vital in providing the resources and support needed to address the crisis. The solidarity shown by both leaders and ordinary citizens highlights the strength and resilience of our community.

Q: What are the broader impacts of the floods on the region?

Kashim Ibrahim Imam: Sadly It is only after the waters receded first that the total.number of lives lost will even be determined. Nobody knows how many people are still under the water. This is the first tragedy that will be counting our losses. The second one is the point you’ve just made that businesses, people have  literally practically lost everything. I have so many here with me, also. people that you consider leaders in their rights and in their  different worlds, manage to escape the flood with the clothes that they are wearing. So this is why now we are looking at medium to long term measures. So, they have lost practically everything. Now the 3rd one is even more devastating and that is the fact that across several communities the flood wreaked havoc. People are calling me from Southern Borno saying that their rice farms were at the point of harvest when the flood came. What they planted is at the point of harvest and then the floods came and they lost everything. If you look across central but we have this crisis across southern Borno we have this crisis. Yes, the collapse of the town has ravaged half of the town but the rains and the floods are causing havoc across several local governments and is not only limited to Borno. It is gratifying that several well meaning Nigerians have stepped forward, but as the governor said, we need more hands;  the state.and the people need much more assistance from all of us, from everybody that has something to give. 

Q: How has this experience affected you personally?

Kashim  Imam: On a personal level, this experience has been profoundly humbling. I have put all my professional and business commitments on hold to be with our people. I decided to put everything that I’m doing on hold to be with our people. and it’s rare, I can’t remember when last I spent a week caged in one place without traveling;  today  in China, tomorrow I’m in Singapore. I traveled all over the world. If I’m in the country, there are various activities that requires my presence. So I travel literally everyday. I can’t remember when last I stayed in one place for one week and this has necessitated it and we’ve been here as I said, but I didn’t even come alone. I brought everybody in my family from Abuja. So there are so many others that are making similar efforts and sacrifices to be our brothers keepers. I pray that the almighty will alleviate the sufferings of our people. Thank you.