By Amarachi Jim-Nwoko
LAGOS (PRECISE POST) — The Lagos State Government says flash flooding is an “inevitable reality” for the coastal city, but warned on Wednesday that residents who dump refuse in drains are turning a natural challenge into a man-made crisis.
Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, said the state cannot completely stop flash floods but is investing heavily to reduce their impact.
“Must we always get flooded? I will tell you no. But can we realistically, as a coastal state, avoid flash flooding? I will tell you no,” Wahab said on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
“So, what do we do? There must be a balance. We must mitigate the impact of our realities.”
Wahwa said Lagos’s geography leaves it exposed to heavy rainfall, rising sea levels and tidal lock. Some areas, he noted, lie below sea level. When sea levels rise, stormwater cannot discharge immediately, causing water to back up for one or two hours.
“Once the sea level is up, your stormwater naturally will not discharge. It will hold back for maybe one or two hours. And that’s why we say to Lagosians: please, don’t panic. This water will recede within one or two hours,” he said.
The commissioner stressed that residents have a critical role to play. Refuse dumped indiscriminately, he said, is washed into drains during rainfall, blocking channels and worsening floods.
He urged the public to stop “running away from the elephant in the room.”
“The elephant in the room is: Lagos is a coastal state, and we’re exposed to the vagaries of climate change; we can’t run away from it,” Wahab said.
He added that the state has continued to roll out resilient infrastructure to improve flood control. “On our part, we’ve provided resilient infrastructure statewide, and we’re still providing the same,” he said.
Wahab reiterated that sustained infrastructure development and public cooperation are essential to minimising the impact of floods.
His remarks follow two weeks of flash flooding across parts of Lagos. In response, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has approved the immediate dredging and maintenance of 28 additional primary channels across the state.
