HE great danger
flood poses for Lagos State and its residents became crystal clear recently
after a downpour that left a substantial part of the state impassable for
several hours.
Vehicles were stuck in the streets, and there were scenes of
people being ferried from one place to the other, where ordinarily they would
have walked on dry ground or driven through.
Expectedly, many people were sacked from their homes,
property destroyed and it is a miracle that no casualties were recorded given
the magnitude of the flood and the agony it caused commuters and those that it
met in their homes or offices.
Over the years, Lagos State had always experienced some
flooding and some efforts were made to contain the crisis but the last incident
gave a clear signal that the problem appears to have assumed a new dangerous
dimension. Indeed, it assumed the level of an emergency situation and
fortunately, Governor Bola Tinubu and his executive saw it as such and have
commenced emergency measures aimed at containing the present danger.
Clearing of flood channels and gutters and demolition of
houses and other structures erected on these flood channels have been the most
pronounced of these measures. Major construction firms have also had to be
drafted to assist in this effort.
These measures are proper given that some of the immediate
causes of flooding have been identified as the blockage of these channels and
gutters by refuse dumped indiscriminately by residents as well as the abuse of
urban planning and environmental laws, which have resulted in people building
houses on the flood channels.
What has not been emphasised, is aggressive enlightenment of
the public on the adverse effects of some of their activities on the
environment. There is the need for massive enlightenment campaigns to educate
residents on the negative consequences of these unwholesome environmental
habits. This is more so given that flooding is even accentuated by the fact of
Lagos being below sea level even as most of the reclamation activities did not
provide channels for the ocean waters to move in and out of the state without
wreaking havoc.
Also, it is clear that the flooding problems of Lagos are of
such magnitude that they cannot be tackled by the state government alone, given
the status of the state as a former federal capital and the presence of critical
federal facilities in the state. The fact that the federal government also
intervenes in such serious environmental emergencies as desertification also
means that the same federal authorities should rush to the aid of the Lagos
State government, to prevent the state being overrun by flood.
More flood channels should be constructed, existing ones
cleaned up and rehabilitated while urban planning and environmental laws should
be enforced to the letter.
Structures that block the channels must give way in the
public interest. If the owners of such structures have valid authorization for
them, they should be compensated while the officials who gave such authorization
should be fished out and penalised.
But most importantly, an aggressive public enlightenment
campaign must be mounted immediately to make the people partners with government
in the great task of saving Lagos from flooding. If people know that the sachet
of "pure water" they throw out of a moving bus could cause the flooding of their
homes or offices, less of them would be inclined to do so.
The flooding of Lagos has assumed such a dangerous dimension
that serious action must be taken to check the very imminent danger it poses to
lives and property. Thus, there must be concerted action by both the state and
federal governments to save Lagos from being submerged as events of the recent
flooding seem to suggest.
