There is no belabouring the matter that sorrow not only stalks the land, it is ravaging it. So thick is it you can almost touch its emanations that fill the atmosphere. But for its wide-spread nature, you could almost want to hold it in its intangible folds and condensation and throw it up. As a result there are lamentations from want; there are lamentations over escalation in prices of essentials, principal among which are foodstuffs and energy, that is the pump prices of Petroleum Motor Spirit more generally referred to as petrol or fuel. The one of gasoline is practically on the lips of everybody. It is elating and hope-laden that the authorities are acutely aware of this. One point I quickly wish to make is that since fuel prices have been identified as the trigger of the inflationary waves, more oil should be supplied to Dangote Refinery and at a more reduced price until the four public refineries are fixed and proper competition ensues. Reduced price from the oil source is bound to translate into reduced cost price and selling price.

It is not just bread and butter that man is grappling with in these times. There is the issue of understanding the elements as well. There is already an alert from the National Emergency Management Agency that 362 communities are under the threat of flooding. This was the same way 31 communities were tipped off last year. They were told heavy rains were on the way that would lead to heavy flooding and they should begin to take precautionary measures. National Flood Early  Warning Systems Centre, an arm of the Federal Ministry of Environment, had said all through this week, running from Monday till today, Friday, there would be heavy rains that would give rise to serious flooding which would sweep through the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and 22 states. Indeed, the cities and towns that would be hit in the listed states were mentioned. According to the Early Warning Systems Centre, ‘’Also, due to the rise in the water levels of Rivers Donga, Benue and Ogun, communities on the flood plains of these rivers, as well as other flood plains, are advised to evacuate.” Last month, several parts of the North, were ravaged by floods, hard hit in particular was Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. Two weeks ago, water for households was rationed at intervals of two days to enable the government effect repairs on damaged facilities and in the words of the Ministry of Water Resources to fix “the broken –down water facilities and networks as a result of the flood that affected Maiduguri Metropolitan Council and its environs…” For the period the rationing covered, water was predictably gold!

These have become perennial problems and we human beings, relying solely on machine forecast have closed ourselves to the prompting and advice of the elemental beings, who are conscious beings and who have responsibility to protect or warn other creatures on the consequences of their own actions in bringing about heavy rains to cleanse the earth surface. The alluvial deposit from floods enhances the fertility of soils especially in areas moisture level is low. Floods raise water levels under the ground and fill water subterranean water reservoirs. Those who preoccupy themselves with these phenomena say cold spells, for example, promote oxygen supply in the lakes, in their deep water layers, and thereby raise the quality of plant and animal lives in the depth of the lakes. Thunderstorms and lightning ensure balance in electrical discharges between the tropical region and the temperate region.  Oceans would be hindered in providing the basis for development and preservation of plant life if there were no floods and hurricanes. 

What I am getting at is that these occurrences are not intended to harm but to work as agents of periodic re-creation and enhancement of life. And in the wisdom of the Most High, as Terence McKenna once said, “Nature is not mute; it is man who is deaf!” Women who have been endowed to be in the fore-front to pick promptings from Nature Beings are busy pursuing executive exertions and public acknowledgement– to be presidents or governors, renowned pilots, gold-medalist footballers, Crane drivers and weight-lifters and thereby suppress their womanliness in which lies their connection with the power of the Light and men clap for them! Any wonder the world is upside down and there is sorrow everywhere. Man is at a cross-roads. And all our religions have offered mankind for ages is a caricature of an all-loving, all-forgiving and indulgent Creator of all the worlds, not One Who demands unremittingly compliance with His immutable Laws which bear His Holy Will in which alone lies genuine happiness. 

The question we may then wish to ask ourselves is: How is it that animals, reptiles and birds are hardly hit by what we call natural disasters? It is mainly those that are in tethers or the zoos that often get caught in the storms; they are the ones often affected, some even killed. Animals, birds and reptiles pick the promptings of the elemental beings and heed their warnings and guidance. Those even in cages make frantic but futile efforts to get free and run!

The USA TODAY online published on Tuesday the report of what it described as whole families, swept away by floods. It is captioned: Entire Families Swept Away with the rider, ‘A piece of all of us’: The children lost to Hurricane Helene’s Floodwaters. The experiences are captured in part as follows: “A single pink rose blossomed on a scraggly bush next to where the front wall of the Drye family home stood until 16 days ago, the plant’s greenery a welcomed brightness amid the mud-coated land.

“Two thorny offshoots, each holding a single unopposed bud, clung defiantly to the bush. Despite floodwaters rising 27 feet above the road the plant persevered, its leaves now soaking up the bright Asheville sun. A smattering of plants and at least one tree also remained standing when the waters receded after Tropical Storm Helene.

“But it was the trio of roses that Megan Drye took solace in on a Sunday afternoon in mid-October. She believes they are a sign from her parents and young son, who perished when the family’s home collapsed into the Swannanoa River on September 27. Megan 39, was the sole survivor of the flood, which killed seven-year-old Micah Drye and Nora and Michael Drye, both 73.

“Micah was just one of the children lost in the storm. Nine-year-old Felix Wisely and his seven-year-old brother, Lucas, also died. At least one other student from Buncombe County Schools is confirmed dead, and roughly 20 remained unaccounted for Monday. Superintendent Rob Jackson said the district is ‘continuing to search’ for them.

“As the nation’s attention turned to Florida and the devastation wrought by Hurricane Milton, North Carolina is still reeling from Helene, mourning those confirmed dead and holding vigil for those still missing. In Buncombe County, home to Asheville, at least 72 have died, the largest share of Western North Carolina’s 124 confirmed deaths so far, according to USA TODAY Network analysis. Authorities expect the death toll to rise as search and rescue crews continue recovery efforts. 

“Micah was a piece of all of us,” she told the Asheville Citizen Times, part of USA TODAY Network. “He was silent –he was actually quite shy until he opened up just like Mom, and then he was your best friend. ‘And he was affectionate, just like my dad and me. He got a little piece of everyone.’

“When floodwaters forced her family to the roof, Megan texted her sisters who live out of state and told them they had escaped to the highest spot in their home. Though cell service was already knocked out, Megan’s phone upgrade the week before allowed her to message by satellite. Her sisters Jess Drye Turner quickly took to Facebook to post about the increasingly frightening situation. ‘They are watching 18 wheelers and cars floating by,’ she wrote as flooding ravaged the region. ‘This is definitely a moment faith is all you have. God knows the outcome already.’

“She soon added a photo Megan had snapped of her white sneakers on the roof, water nearly reaching the eaves and two hours later, she added a second photo. It drew thousands of reactions. Drye Turner’s next update wasn’t for almost 11 hours. Her parents and nephew had drowned, she wrote. Megan also was plunged into the river when the home collapsed, though she was rescued after becoming wedged between storage containers. Drye Turner and her sister didn’t know where Megan was taken. As she prepared to leave Texas and head to western North Carolina, she turned again to Facebook. Could anyone help them find Megan?”

Accounts such as these in the foregoing culled from USA TODAY online edition can’t but be heart-rending and sobering. In the light of the explanation of why we cannot but have flooding for the good of the soil, lakes and oceans, is it all flooding that we can say are beneficial? There are many natural disasters that, true to the words, are disastrous. Such cannot be ascribed to the activities of the Nature Beings that work in perfection and who manifest the benevolence of the Almighty Creator.  A great many instances of devastations arise from carelessness by we human beings, disregard for natural order and ignorance. To start with, man is no longer in harmony with nature. Whether it is government, private enterprises, there is absence of plants, trees that would serve as wind breakers, shrubs and grasses to rapidly absorb rain water. 

Clusters of skyscrapers going to 25 floors or even 50 seeking to touch the clouds, do not allow the soil to breathe. They also constitute excessive weight on the area where they are erected. But these are regarded by the modern man as engineering and architectural feat. With them there is oxygen supply deficiency for the less plant life, the less the supply of oxygen and rarified air. As I did state recently, plants absorb carbon dioxide and through the process of photosynthesis convert this into oxygen. Indeed, in the process we know as photosynthesis, the energy of sunlight is used to drive reactions between carbon dioxide around us and water to form carbohydrates. The complex chemical substances called carbohydrates are put in plant storage organs as in yams, cassava, potatoes—all roots, and grains such as in rice, maize, wheat and so on. When we eat them the chemical energy in them is turned into a form we need for breathing, motion, thinking, speaking and writing, for all human activities. Where there is reduction in plants, activities of Nature Beings are correspondingly reduced. Without the activities of the elemental beings life on earth for any living being, man and animals as well as birds, would have been impossible. It was not for nothing that the Whiteman built Ikoyi as a model town – all buildings erected in leafy surroundings. Our elite rushed there only for many of them to reduce a serene, beautiful town to their level!

Where there is a jungle of concrete there will be flooding. First, there is absence of plants and grasses to absorb the water. The ground compacted with heavy equipment loses the capacity to absorb water. Concrete makes it impossible for water to permeate. The water simply flows away. A collection of such becomes floods menacing the neighbourhood and the city as a whole.

Other mistakes that trigger floods are blocked drainage and natural water pathways through buildings. Buildings and commercial activities are also found in flood or landslide-prone areas. Christopher Vasey who has written extensively on “questions relating to our world view”, says “Everything in nature is interconnected; every injury in one part affects other parts, which again has a knock-on effect. Seemingly small mistakes can ultimately trigger great catastrophes.” 

However, we cannot always talk about sorrow. We must learn to plant joy and brighten up. We must understand the chemistry of sorrow and the waves of joy and happiness for they have spiritual content even in their intangibility. 

(FULL DICOURSE NEXT WEEK).