Lagos to be submerged in water soon, experts predict

Lagos to be submerged in water soon, experts predict

Temitope Musowo

Lagos at risk of environmental disaster of monumental proportion

Perennial flooding has become a problem in many states of Nigeria in recent time, a menace environmentalists have attributed to anthropogenic activities and other natural occurrences associated with global warming and climate change. 

 Particularly worrisome is the situation in Lagos as a costal state, where commercial activities are always grounded each time it rains.

The magnitude of havoc wrecked each passing day there is torrential rainfall in Lagos and the neighbouring Ogun is calling for concern among experts and stakeholders alike who have now come up with the prediction that if nothing is done urgently to arrest the situation, the entire city of Lagos may soon be submerged in water.

Particularly concerned about this environmental problem that poses threat to lives and property in Lagos and beyond, Devcom Nigeria, went to town to seek expert’s opinion on the way out.

The causes and danger of perennial flooding

Mr Deji Akinpelu, the founder of Rethinking Cities Initiative, an advocacy group that focuses on urban development, expressed great concern on the situation he described as worrisome.

In an interview with Blueprint correspondent, he said that Lagos is experiencing perennial flooding due to urban planning failures to respond inclusively to the coastal nature of the state, climate change and urbanisation.

‘’The failure to protect our wetlands, giving them up for housing developments has led to having water bodies not finding where to flow to’’.

He also added that the poor commitment of the government and poor coordination between government ministries to Lagos drainage master plan in terms of funding and execution is largely responsible.

As a photographer and documentary filmmaker whose special interest is on urban development from the perspective of the urban poor, Mr Deji believes the approach to development plan in Lagos has been very elitist.

He is of the opinion that the plans executed by previous government in the state focused on making Lagos liveable for only the rich, citing forceful eviction of the urban poor to build luxury estates as seen in the case of Otode Gbame (2016 -2017) and other informal communities

Waste management problem

Looking at the problem from the angle of waste management angle, he posited that, a narrow waste management approach, which does not take into account the importance of waste separation and lack of policy on single use plastic, has also become problematic. 

Deji blame the Lagos government under the last administration on the ban on cart pushers in the state, which he said has led to poor waste management in informal communities such as Dust Bin Estate, Ajegunle, Makoko etc.

We have government agencies approving wetlands for housing developments, which has led to the environmental impact of flooding in the state.

We will like to see a Lagos where decision-making is based on community engagement, the collection and use of data to inform policymaking and a Lagos that is more knowledgeable about the different experiences of people in the city, no matter the class you may belong to in the society. These and many other actions are why Rethinking Lagos is necessary. 

The danger to us in near future is a Lagos submerged by water. Lekki is highly under that treat and even several parts of the mainland. Presently Adeniji Adele estate, a premium estate in Lagos in the 80s, is under serious threat of building collapse due to flooding because of dredging activities by housing projects around the estate.

Is this going to be the future of Lekki 1 & 2 by 2050? Certainly it’s going to happen. We are already experiencing lives been lost during heavy rains in Lagos. When Lagos finally becomes unliveable due to flooding, economic activities will reduce, the real estate market will crash and Lagos as the 5th largest economy will be a thing of the past.

A good number of people after living in Lekki, move out after 3 years due mainly to flood issues, very soon people will begin to move out of the state itself due to loses they experienced caused by flooding.

Lagosians are losing more productive time in traffic compounded now by flooding, if this continue our life expectancy will further reduce with more sudden deaths of people.

 Proffering solutions to the problem

A commitment by the state government to the Lagos drainage master plan with enough budgetary provision.

The Ministry of Environment should publish the drainage master plan on its website to enable local residents to verify whether new interventions in their areas are potentially violating the plan and to take appropriate actions.

Intervention in waste management in informal communities by allowing cart pushers, this will discourage dumping of waste in canals in those communities. Enact laws on single plastic use and also make producers of plastics collect back plastics through waste aggregators in the state through Extended Producer Responsibility Law. Go beyond waste collection to waste separation from homes to waste recycling.

We need to pursue a development plan that is inclusive, liveable for both the rich and the poor at the same time. Our goal shouldn’t be to make Lagos the Next Dubai rather lets create a Lagos that is climate resilient and sustainable that puts the interest of 70% of her population working in the informal sector at heart.

Informality like slums, traders and artisans shouldn’t be regarded as Illegality in the state. This sector makes meaningful contribution of over 100billion annually to the state’s internally generated revenue in form of several taxes. The state shouldn’t focus on Mega city projects alone, but rather also empower the Local governments to carry communities-based projects in areas of waste management, traffic management and even social housing.

Problem of urban Planning

To further seek clarification on the issue of urban planning raised by Mr Deji, an urban planner was contacted to shed light on if there actually a master plan being followed in Lagos

Acting Head of Department, Urban and Regional Planning, Lagos State Polytechnic, Mr Peter Fosudo, corroborated Mr Deji’s position that lack of good planning of most Towns and Communities a situation where there are no good drainage plans for Communities and Towns

The waste disposal habits of many Lagosians. There are cases where people eat and drink and throw the waste on the streets and whenever rain falls, it collects the waste and block the drains. Some also go to throw bags of waste in running storm water during rain. 

Development and development control challenges; A situation where developers do not seek planning permits before building, especially those along drainage channels thus blocking the water course and inadequate monitoring by the Lagos State Building Control Agency officials. 

Development in areas of low land level; Areas of low land level coupled with the high water level in areas like Lekki/Ajah

Dredging Activities; Some dredging and land reclamation activities that increases the land in some areas such as Oworoshoki and transferring the volume of water to other areas

 Release of dams: When dams are released, it causes overflow of some water bodies such as the Ogun river, that flows through Iseri up to Ajegunle in Ikorodu road.

Silting and choking of drains: industrial effluents discharged into canals can cause silting and this may disallow flow over time.

 If nothing is done, there will be loss of lives and properties, destruction of housing and environmental infrastructure. These are quite valuable.

On whether or not Lagos has a master plan, he said there are plans, whether or not they are being followed is a different case all together.

‘’There are plans, Yes. There was a regional Plan 1980 t0 2005 which was comprehensively reviewed in 2007 to accommodate a number of other lower plans.

Apart from this plan, Lagos state has prepared several Model City Plans for different regions such as Ikoyi-Victoria Island (2006), Lagos Island (undated)  Ikeja and Oshodi (2009), Apapa, Mainland Central (2009), Badagry Master plan (2011, revised 2013), Alimosho (2011) as well as Ikorodu  about to be signed into law. These are plans’’.

He however expressed concern about these plans because many of the recommendation are not known to the general public and developers and this is a minus on the side of the government that spent so much on plan preparation and end users are not adequately informed. 

What do environmentalists have to say?

A Sustainable Development and Environmental Consultant, Mr. Oludapo, Olukunle Opeyemi, bore his mind on what he termed an impending danger.

To him, there are combinations of factors responsible for perennial flooding in Lagos State; the factors range from anthropogenic (human) factors to policy inconsistencies. 

Just like other experts, he also fingered urban planning as a challenge in the state. Couple with outdated laws and poor enforcement.

‘’Our laws are obsolete; these laws were promulgated in the 50s and 60s; penalties and fines against the offenders are unimaginably low. We need to review and update these laws as soon as possible and make them relevant to our present day realities’’, he said.

He also blamed government/regulatory officials for compromise in most cases.

Incessant and unregulated sand filling going on in the state is another key contributor.

As an environmentalist, he condemned allocation of floodplains and wetlands for development.

‘’ Floodplains and wetlands are meant to be preserved, they serve as buffer in the event of flash floods but in Lagos we have practically destroyed all our floodplains and wetlands at the altar of development and economic gains. 

Population increase is another factor he mentioned, ‘’the ever increasing population of Lagos resulting in land cover modifications (indiscriminate removal of vegetative cover) and depletion of ecosystems in the name of development is another factor’’.

Mr Kunle believes for our current structure to work and cater for the growing need of Lagosians, we must adapt the adopted structure to our realties here, adding that copying and pasting directly from where we are copying them from will not yield the desired results because our realities are different from theirs. 

He therefore warned that Lagos State Government needs to act fast in tackling the problem of incessant flooding in the state by encouraging planting of more trees and vegetative covers in the state

‘’The government need to create more awareness among the citizens through the Community Based Organizations, Faith based Organizations, Neighborhood Watch, Landlord and Residence Associations, Traditional Rulers etc. about the danger of persistent flooding to our city’’, he said.

Government’s effort to prevent this looming danger

Particularly concerned about the impending danger the issue of perennial flooding and other environmental problems pose to Lagos as a city, the Lagos state house of Assembly during July plenary session discussed the raised the issue.

As announced by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa during plenary in July  following a Matter of Urgent Public Importance raised by Hon. Noheem Adams from Eti Osa Constituency 1.

The House immediately set up an adhoc committee to look into the issues of environmental challenges and degradation in the state.

During the long session, the speaker of the house observed that issues of abandoned projects and disposal of refuse characterized the environment in the state, directed the committee to visit some of the drainages, LAWMA office and report back to the House in one week.

Adams recalled that there was an Executive Order by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in May 29, 2019, where he declared state of emergency on the Environment in Lagos State.

"Lagos State is being flooded daily during rainy season due to the way we manage our environment, "We generate 13,000 metric tonnes of waste daily in the state, but how do we turn them to wealth’’, he said. 

The lawmaker then urged the State Ministry of the Environment to evacuate the waterways in the state, adding that most of the drainages in the state were not being evacuated.

"The office of the drainage management in the Ministry of the Environment should be made to work again. It is when the drains are blocked that we have a lot of flood on our roads," he said.

"Roads, refuse and drainages are interwoven and when one is bad it will affect another. The primary work of the local government is to clear refuse and do things like these rather than the white elephant projects some of them are embarking upon."

In his comment, the Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade from Ikorodu Constituency 1 suggested that the lawmakers should collate the drainages that require attention in their constituencies and that the Assembly should send the list to the necessary agencies.

Agunbiade added that the House could then evaluate what would have been done in the next two or three months.

The committee which recently submitted its report to the house of assembly made recommendations based on their investigations and finding, the report and  recommendations which were adopted as the resolution of the house.

The speaker then directed the Clark of the house to forward a letter to the governor for urgent action based on those recommendations.

WOMEN ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND THE QUESTION OF UNPAID WORK

Temitope Musowo

WOMEN ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND THE QUESTION OF UNPAID WORK

Paid and Unpaid work between men and women

It has been said that in order for the world to progress socially and economically so as to fulfil the overriding 2030 Agenda objective of leaving no one behind, the entire population and its collective talents must be utilised. 

This position in recent time has sparked up debates on the distribution of paid and unpaid work between women and men which has now been on the political agendas of most developed countries.

It is believed that women in all society are more involved in unpaid care work than men. Women are said to devote significantly more time to household work than men. They work as cooks, child minders and cleaning ladies for their own households much more than men. 

Although, this work is essential for the quality of life of men, women and their children, but the way it is shared between women and men according to women’s advocates is said to be a major source of gender inequality.

This inequality they said constitute serious barriers to women’s economic empowerment as they spend much of their time on unpaid and less time on paid work.

Therefore, the conclusion that the amount of unpaid care work between men and women varies among countries, social classes, family size, social norms and the availability of substitute services spurred us into action, so we went to town to sample opinions of people around here about this line of argument.

Equal time use in both paid and unpaid work for men and women?.

Nkechi Ilochi-Omekedo, Manager Women's Rights Programmes. ActionAid Nigeria believes women needed to be appreciated by all and sundry for the unpaid work they do and the workload should be shared.

‘’Unpaid care work is work. It should be recognized, valued and appreciated by everyone, government, communities, families and even women! Recognition means valuing it. We also talk about redistribution which means that the workload should be shared within households so that women and girls will have time to also pursue other interests beyond household chores. So, men and boys should learn to share in house chores

She also advocated for a working policy framework from the part of government to ease women of burden of unpaid care work, ‘’Unpaid work done mostly by women should be reduced through concerted efforts by government and communities.

This means making our policies work - for instance, Nigeria has an Early Childhood Education policy where crèches are made available for 0-5 years within public schools and even in private schools. If this is implemented, the fees are affordable, then, women can have their babies cared for within specified hours and then have time for rest and other opportunities’’, she said.

On whether men and women should have equal time use in paid and unpaid work at home, she came up with a formula, ‘’3Rs’’ in response to this, she said, ‘’it is not about having the same time use really, but about the 3 Rs- recognition implying valuing the unpaid care work by men and boys; redistribution- where men and boys can share in household chores as well as women and girls; and then reduction- everyone- from families, communities and government making effort to put in measures to ensure facilities and services are available so that time spent on petty chores are reduced.

There are labour saving machines such as dish washers, if crèches, old people's homes, water, etc are made available, then time spent by poor families who cannot afford the services can be reduced’’.

The African perspective from an African man

Patrick Okohue, a journalist spoke from an African perspective; he believes such debate should not even arise in the first place, his words, ‘’you see, this line of argument is alien to us here, it is un-Aprican, if I help my wife to do house shore she should count it a privileged .she shouldn’t lord it over me or have an expectation that because I did it for her yesterday so I should do it today again.

Nobody is saying women should not work, but by nature, it is their duty to do house shores, cook, nurse babies and others, if I chose to help, she should count it a privilege and not a right.

This argument of equal time use on unpaid care work should not even arise, because the way we are going, one day women will say men should start helping them to carry pregnancy that they cannot be doing that alone while men remain free for nine months.

When you marry a women, you pay her bride price, she assume that duty of taking care of the home, there is nothing about gender equality in that. That is why you as a man need to be responsible by making provision for the house

In the western world we are looking at, that is why in case out divorce, everything a man worked for is given to the woman, why don’t we say since we are agitating for equal time use in unpaid work at home, then if anything happens, we should put everything together and share equally before going our separate ways, after all, we both worked to achieve those things,, he affirmed.

Women and job loss in the 4^th Industrial Revolution

Another feminine voice, one of the loudest in the country at that, , President, Centre for Change and Women Arise, Dr. Joe Okei- Odumakin is of the opinion that men and women should have equal time use in unpaid work at the home front, she explained further with reference to the 4^th industrial revolution, ‘’One of the fundamental ways of  protecting the women against job loss in the 4th industrial revolution is our ability to sustain the advocacy against gender disparity, which has become a major reactionary culture in our private and public work places and this is one of it. When women have less time spent on unpaid work, it gives them more time for paid work, just like men, then they will be economically empowered and less dependent on men. 

Our ability to ensure equality of work conditions, abolish disparity and promote competence above gender considerations will play a long role, in this regard. A lot of our women and domestic workers are often seen like machine, with much too much responsibilities, our ability to promote equality and gender parity, will eradicate this very backward Societal orientation’’ she concluded.

Women and job loss in the era of digital economy

She explained, ‘’Jobs loss is real in an ever competitive world of work and women are affected just as men are for many reasons. Most often, women are found in the informal sector and the sector is mostly unregulated with poor working conditions. This makes them vulnerable. Thus, to protect women against job loss, it means that the sector which women are mostly found in should be regulated.

Private sector is guilty of this the more, where staff are hired and fired at the will of the company owner(s) without question. Women's position even makes them more vulnerable to job loss. Another factor to consider is that not many women have the requisite skills or are in management/leadership positions- if job cuts are to happen within an institution or organisation, of course those in the lower ladder takes the fall.

Women therefore need to learn skills and be allowed within the management position. It is important to note that without education and other opportunities which some women in certain regions are denied of, achieving this becomes tricky.

But it is true! Especially for the rural poor. Less women and girls are educated, meaning less skill, many women and girls are "protected" from harm and danger by men and boys meaning they would not be allowed to seek for better options, if there is less money in the home to take care of children education, who would be stopped from going to school- girls of course, even when she may be more intelligent than her brother. Where does that leave her- less skill. So, they end up doing precarious jobs, doing unpaid care work more than men

She however concluded by saying that, ‘’Give women space, give them tool, give them knowledge, give them opportunities, give them skill and there is no mountain they wouldn't climb’’’.

Achieving UHC through Nigeria National Health Policy 2016

Achieving UHC through Nigeria National Health Policy 2016

Temitope Musowo, Lagos

The current population of Nigeria based on the latest United Nations estimate is 199,783,091. While many people may be seeing this from a negative perspective when placed side by side with other indices, however, an increasing population could be an advantage only to the extent that it is healthy and productive. 

Good health is essential to sustained economic and social development, as well as poverty reduction. Access to needed health services is crucial for maintaining and improving health. 

Therefore, achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is an important objective for all countries to attain equitable and sustainable health outcomes and improve the well-being of individuals and communities.

Universal Health Coverage is defined as ensuring that all people have access to needed health services (including prevention, promotion, treatment, rehabilitation and palliation) of sufficient quality to be effective while also ensuring that the use of these services does not expose their user to financial hardship.

Consequently, UHC has become a major goal for health reform in many countries and a priority objective of World Health Organisation (WHO). This necessitated the review of the Nigeria National Health Policy 2014 (NNHP 2014) in the year 2016 to embrace the UHC.

The National Health Policy 2016 is a comprehensive health document that spells out the functions and responsibilities of all levels of government.  The overall goal of the policy was to strengthen Nigeria’s health system particularly the primary healthcare sub-system to deliver qualitative, efficient and comprehensive healthcare services to all Nigerians.

Government’s effort and the National Health Act 2014

The National Health Act 2014 took a long period from 2004 to 2014 before coming to existence. This is a document that set out a legal framework for the provision of health services, a strong potential to transforming health care provision in Nigeria. 

On 22 of June 2016, there was a meeting on the National Health Policy in Abuja where the finalization of the National Health Policy was revised for the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

During the Abuja stakeholders’ meeting that was chaired by the Minister of Health who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), Dr. Amina Shamaki, who stated that prior to the current National Health Policy document, Nigeria had developed and implemented two others in 1988 and 2004. Both were said to be developed at a critical stages in the evolution of Nigeria health system and had far reaching impact on the system over the course of their lifetime.

The Minister noted that over the last two decades and half, Nigeria has recorded some progress in the performance of the health system, while he assured of a good foundation and that Nigeria is in the right direction as the country earnestly seeks to achieve the visionary goal of UHC.    

With a recurrent expenditure of N315.62 billion for the ministry of health in the 2019 appropriation bill, about 46.3 billion increase from the last year’s recurrent expenditure, which was N269.3 billion. Can we then say the government is committed to the attainment of the UHC?

Achieving UHC in Nigeria still a challenge

Despite government’s efforts at attaining the UHC, Nigeria still face challenges that delay progress toward the attainment of the national government's declared goal of universal health coverage (UHC). One of such challenge is system-wide inequities resulting from lack of financial protection for the health care needs of the vast majority of Nigerians.

Only a small proportion of Nigerians have prepaid health care. Quality health care of course answers to adequate funding, sufficient manpower, effective monitoring and proper regulation, all these seems to be a challenge in the Nigeria health system giving the fact that Nigeria health sector is largely public sector driven. 

According to a Public Health Physician & Senior Lecturer Dept. of Health Policy and Management, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Dr Oluwaseun Akinyemi, who was speaking on the challenges of attaining the UHC in Nigeria.

He said apart from poor funding, one of the major challenges is health care resource allocation in Nigeria which he said is skewed in favour of secondary and tertiary care as against primary care and Primary Health Centres (PHC).  A direct consequence of this according Dr Akinyemi is that most people bypass PHC facilities to seek primary care at secondary and tertiary facilities, a situation he said promotes inefficiency and inequities

Dr Akinyemi talking about health inequality in Nigeria also mentioned the distribution of health workforce in Nigeria which he said is also skewed in favour of secondary and tertiary facilities located in urban areas as incentives for health workers to accept rural postings are often nonexistent or poorly applied.

‘’The government does very little to control the geographic location of health facilities by both private and public sector owners leading to allocation inefficiency: Overprovision in some areas while other areas are not covered’’.

The absence of social security for vulnerable groups, regressive taxation, poor planning and targeting of public funding for health, corruption, and lack of coordination across the three tiers of government, he said all contributing to health inequality slowing Nigeria down in the journey to attaining Universal Health Coverage.

Meanwhile, during the Abuja meeting of 22^nd June, 2016 that witnessed the National Health Policy revised for the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UCH) and other health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The minister of health, Prof. Isaac Adewole urged state governors to allocate at least 15 per cent of their annual budget to the health sector in line with Abuja declaration, for the implementation of National Health Policy.

He said the Federal Government is going to allocate at least one per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the establishment of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund as provided by National Health Act 2014. He called on state governors to ensure timely release and disbursement of allocated funds for health to achieve the objective of the National Health Policy.

It remained to be seen whether the three tiers of government are committed to the terms of the Abuja declaration and the National Health Act 2014.

U.S Consulate Launches Academy for Women Entrepreneurs

Temitope Musowo,Lagos

U.S Consulate Launches Academy for Women Entrepreneurs

The Consulate General in Lagos, Claire has launched the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE), a State Department-led initiative that supports women entrepreneurs around the world.

This was part of a week-long program of the consulate,where a diverse group of 100 women were selected from a pool of over 6,000 applicants.

According to the Consul General,Claire Pierangelo, the successful applicants would  receive lessons on business management, network with like-minded entrepreneurs and mentors, and learn the practical skills required to create successful and sustainable businesses.  

Declaring the workshop open, The Consul General explained that the goal of the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs is to teach women around the world to become successful entrepreneurs. She noted that women’s empowerment will be key to Nigeria’s long-term economic development. 

“One of the U.S. government’s goals is to promote entrepreneurship worldwide.  Through the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs, we are doing just that by giving these ambitious businesswomen the skills they need to take their ventures to the next level,” she said.

Consul General Pierangelo described the role of women as crucial for the progress of national economies. “Women are the backbone of society no matter what country you are in.  When women are working, the country is working,” she noted.

Leading local business leaders will help facilitate the workshop. They include: Ms. Inya Lawal, alumna of the Fortune-U.S. Department of State Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership program; Dr. Henrietta Onwuegbuzie, Academic Director, Owner-Manager Program at the Lagos Business School; Ms. Hansatu Adegbite, Executive Director at Women in Management and Business (WIMBIZ); and Ms. Teju Abisoye, Executive Secretary, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund.

In addition, participants will receive access to DreamBuilder, a blended business-training course developed through a partnership between Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management and global copper mining company Freeport-McMoRan.

The AWE is a component of the White House Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, designed to empower women worldwide to fulfill their economic potential, thereby creating conditions for increased stability, security, and prosperity for all.

Nigeria is among 26 pilot countries worldwide that were selected to participate in the AWE program. The other African countries participating in the inaugural AWE cohort are Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

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