Loss of Lagos Wetlands Fuels Flooding

Bennett Oghifo

Lagos has lost almost all its wetlands to housing developers, which is one of the reasons for the massive flooding experienced even with the lightest rainfall. Another reason is that residents block the drains and canals by turning them to dumpsites for solid wastes.

Wetlands are those spectacular water catchment areas that hold storm water and prevent it from flooding homes. Not too long ago, there were wetlands on both sides of the Lekki-Epe road and on the Lagos-Ikorodu and everywhere else. These wetlands were home to marine life, birds visit, rare flowers sprout in these lakes, but they are all gone. The downside is that storm water that should be held in these wetlands now flood homes. Wetlands are daily being encroached upon and no one seems to be bothered.

This is the reality and it is worsened by the bad habits of some of the residents who dump their solid wastes in drainages and canals, causing storm water to flood the streets and homes.

Also, Lagos’ topography makes flash floods inevitable, but it could drain itself naturally and this is where the wetlands come into play as they serve as buffer and retention places for excess storm water until the water is able to flow into the lagoon or rivers or dry up. However, some wetlands hold water round the year. 

In most neibourhoods, people actually dump solid wastes in canals and drainages, even with the barricades the government erected to prevent such abuse. They don’t want to pay LAWMA to evacuate their waste.

Flood water erodes the surfaces of roads, and destroys other vital infrastructure, causing so much pain to the government and those who did not contribute to the problem.

Many roads have been washed away by storm water, and everyone suffers the effects of bad roads as they move from one place to another for whatever reason. The government will have to go back to repair the same roads that were rehabilitated last year. Not because the job was poorly done, but because of abuse.

There is also an ongoing abuse of the state’s urban and regional planning laws, as shanties and illegal structures sprout at every conceivable space with some attached to perimeter fences of public and private buildings.

There is little or no consideration for the safety of occupants in times of emergencies. Property owners cherish and value the revenue from the shops more than the lives of the residents.

Petty traders take over walkways designed for pedestrians, thus forcing pedestrians to compete with vehicles on the major axial roads at the risk of their personal safety.

Even those who hire shops are never satisfied with the size of the tenement they paid for. They prefer to display their wares including products that should not be displayed in the sun on the walkways. 

Regrettably, the supposedly elite, who have widely travelled, throw waste out of the windows of their luxury cars onto the roads. They park on the roads obstructing other road users just to buy from hawkers and when the government insists that traders should use only designated places (the market and malls) some, including Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) will allege war against the poor.

The Lagos State Government has stepped-up its environmental regeneration and urban renewal drive, Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has demonstrated the political will to reverse this ugly trend. Through the renewed efforts to regenerate the environment, illegal structures are being removed from drainages and with the drains desilted, while popular markets like Computer Village, Ladipo, Alamutu, Mile 12, Jankara, among others, were shut temporarily for cleanup.

The government is also removing shanties and other obstacles, particularly from rail line corridors, as well as reclaiming road setbacks being used by traders and artisans.

Those contravening the law on road setbacks and illegal construction of makeshift facilities have been given an option to remove them or await the government’s demolition team. The major challenge is that some people are not willing to comply with the government’s directive.

The government has urged Lagos residents to collaborate with it to build a ‘Greater Lagos’. There is, perhaps, no better way to do this than to embrace attitudinal change toward the environment. It is whatever we give to the environment that it gives back. The government also urged community leaders, traditional rulers, NGOs, the media and other stakeholders to partner with them to ensure that current gains in the sector are sustained, and prevent the government’s huge investment in the environment from being a waste.