LAGOS—LAGOS metropolis was yesterday crippled by flood resulting from an all-night rainfall. The floor left the transport system in a gridlock and most roads impassable, with Gov. Bola Tinubu threatening that the days of selling "pure" water in satchets might be over. The rain which started in parts of the metropolis at about 10p.m. Wednesday continued until about 9.30a.m. yesterday, sacking many families from home in the flood-prone areas. Most affected were highbrows Victoria Island and Ikoyi.
Many motorists, unable to navigate their way out of the heavy waters, got stuck on the popular flood-prone Ahmadu Bello Way, Adeola Odeku, Oju Olobun and Leventis. Meanwhile, parking lots remained empty with their patrons stuck in the traffic.
Gov. Tinubu went round some of the affected areas barefooted, saying the sachets contributed to the flooding. He also said structures blocking drains would be demolished.
The iniquitous commercial motorcycle operators suffered heavy losses as they were forced to stay away in order not to damage their engines. They even turned down heavy financial inducements to take passengers.
Also flooded were Agege, Yaba, Gbagada, Oworonsoki, Bariga, Igbogbo. The Igbogbo-Ikorodu home of Works Minister Chief, Adeseye Ogunlewe, was similarly flooded, according to a reporter whose home was inundated to knee-level during the downpour.
Thousands of commuters were stranded at bus stops as transport ground to a halt and hundreds of workers could be seen trekking long distances through deep water to their offices.
Although many public transport drivers withdrew their buses from the roads, the rain caused traffic jams because most roads were flooded, causing the city’s open sewers to spill over into the crowded streets. Dozens of private vehicles were also abandoned by their owners because of the flooding.
Meanwhile, Lagos State government said yesterday that it would soon commence the deflooding of Dolphin Estate, where the flooding problem has recently worsened. Mr Tunji Bello, Commissioner for the Environment and Mr Hakeem Gbajabiamila, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, told newsmen that they had decided to solve the problem once and for all.
Bello explained that the problem had lingered because of a controversy between the federal and state governments in the area but added that President Olusegun Obasanjo had intervened and that work was set to begin in the area.
He said in the short term, the area would be deflooded, while the Mc-Gregor canal would be dredged later to provide a lasting solution to the flood problem. Bello said the state would go ahead with solving its part of the problem, while the federal government could come in later.
He denied reports that the flooding was caused by churches and mosques, which sprung up in illegal places, adding that the actual cause was the sand-filling done in Osborne area.
Bello also accused the wives of policemen, who traded near the canal in Obalende and its environs, of dumping refuse in it, saying, however, that the Inspector-General of Police had intervened and warned them to desist from doing so.
The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) which a few years back set up a task force headed by a former president of the society, Engr Olusegun Ajayi, to come up with solutions to the perennial flooding of the Island and its environs appears hamstrung, as most of the corporate organisations expected to make financial contributions failed to do so.
Spokesman for the professional body, Mr Afolabi Ajani, told Vanguard yesterday that although the initiative was still on course, it had been hampered by the poor attitude of Lagosians and the state government to environmental matters.
“The task force was meant to clear the drainages but their work has not been made easy by the attitude of the people doing business on the Island. Many of the shanties that serve as eateries have resurfaced even after they were demolished,” he said, adding that some of these makeshift eateries were built on drainages while their customers dump assorted and sometimes non-degradable materials into the canals.
