Peeps,
i want to bring to fore this topic again,
It is still a matter of concern and an issue needing urgent attention.
If u are lucky to be in the office or at home, fine and good, but take it or leave it, there is more to be done in Lagos especially in the area of flooding.
Yes Fashola is working well, i am his chronic supporter and admirer but the fact that i cannot be blinded to is, LAGOS IS FLOODING.

Rains expose underbelly of Lagos
Wale Sokunbi ( 08056180228 walesokunbi2003@yahoo.co.uk)
Wednesday, June 15, 2011



Babatunde Fashola
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If Lagos State’s darling governor, Babatunde Fashola, is not to leave the state, unappreciated, at the end of his tenure in spite of all his efforts on roads construction, he should, from this moment, begin to pay closer attention to the problem of flooding. The rains that fell last Saturday in the metropolis rudely exposed the underbelly of the mega city that his government is trying to build.

One fact that many people came away with following the downpour is that flooding is one of the major threats to the city. The floods left many wondering how critical sections of a mega city could be so summarily sacked and disgraced by a natural phenomenon that occurs every year.

That day, attempts by many Lagosians to link Jibowu through Ishaga/Mabo area of Surulere nearly turned out a misadventure as they ran into a street turned into a river, right in the heart of the city! Residents of the street were virtually trapped in their own homes as their vehicles bobbed about, a grave danger to drivers who suddenly found themselves trying to navigate a river instead of a road, while many vehicles broke down.But for the penchant of Lagos floods to recede shortly after rainfall, the state government would have had to be called in to rescue the hapless residents.

On some portions of Herbert Macaulay Way, especially the stretch between University of Lagos Road and the U-turn to Customs area, the flood was just as bad. Some portions of the Mile 2 – Oshodi Expressway are other bad spots where floods occasion terrible traffic gridlock.
The situation leaves many wondering if Lagos is, indeed, a mega city in the making as we are daily told.There is no doubt that Lagos is a large and complex city full of challenges. But, the way flood sacks many parts of the town anytime there is heavy rainfall calls for greater action from the government.

In past years, the city witnessed serious commitment to clearing of drainages and canals prior to the rains. But, with the general elections this year, the clearing of the drainages appears to have been more on the pages of newspapers than in reality.
Incidentally, this is one year that Nigerians have been warned to expect more rains than usual. The Nigerian Meteorological Agency has warned of increased rainfall, from between 300 to 1100mm in the North to between 1200 and 2700 mm in the South.

This is expected to lead to more floods with grave impact on public safety, agriculture, and transportation. To ensure safety, the Lagos State government has advised residents of some areas such as Owode-Onirin, Agiliti, Ikosi -Ketu and Isheri North Scheme to leave their homes for higher grounds during the period between June and January, next year.
This suggestion has not gone well with many residents of these areas, some of whom had to be evacuated to government camps during the heavy flooding of last year.

The challenge before Governor Fashola now is to conduct a study of the more severely flood-prone areas with a view to coming up with ways to re-channel the floods.
Asking people to leave their homes for seven months of the year as the state’s environmental agency has done is not a practical way of tackling the problem. There should be a more sustainable way of addressing the issue. This will need the knowledge of experts in flood control management.

Luckily, the state government recently through the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, said that governance in the state for the next four years will be based on the opinion of Lagos residents. This is a good development.
However, the recent report that the state government has accused car wash operators of being the major cause of flooding in the state is actually begging the question.

The Permanent Secretary, Office of Infrastructure, Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Wasiu Olokunola, who gave the government position, said the authorities had commenced a clampdown on them.
He said available research on causes of flooding in the state indicated that car wash operators that discharge waste water on the road not only damage them, but also cause flooding.
It is good to ensure that car wash operators and others are restricted from damaging the roads, but the causes of heavy floods are much more serious than that.
As the Permanent Secretary advised, however, Lagosians need to pay more attention to clearing of drainages in their vicinities.
They also need to be proactive in getting the relevant government agencies to clear canals. With the problem of flooding getting worse year after year, it will be good to build more canals and drainages in affected parts of the state. Other parts of the country which experience flooding, especially Ibadan in Oyo State, the Eastern part of the country where the problem is compounded by erosion, and other prone areas in the North should take the warning from the meteorological agency seriously. Let measures be devised now to combat flooding in all parts of the country to ensure public safety during the rains.