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.