WHEN Mr Olanrewaju Layiwola moved into his own house located at Elizabeth Layiwola Street, New Bodija, Ibadan, Oyo State, it was a dream come true for his family. Years of labour and savings had finally materialised in a bungalow his family could call their own. However, 14 years after, his family now has a perennial battle with bouts of malaria due to stagnant flood water in his compound, and his house is at risk of collapse due to a weakened foundation. In the beginning, it was not so.
Previously, there was a drainage that ran through Layiwola’s residence and then downhill into a canal. The drainage carried flood water from various streets in the area and passed unhindered into the canal. However, in recent years, the neighbours downhill started to develop their plots leading to the eventual blockage of the drainage as they refused to allow it pass straight through their plots.
Mr Layiwola said that the obstruction of the flow, apart from the health risks it has posed, caused flooding that led to the destruction of his generator, and inverter, and is now dangerously threatening the structure and entire foundation of his house.
He told Nigerian Tribune that he had submitted a petition to the Commissioner for Lands, Environment, and the Coordinator, Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project on the 5th of July 2023, after his discussion with the owners of the obstructing plots.
He stated that officials of the Ministries of Lands and Environment had visited the site several times with their teams. They had several meetings with all the affected stakeholders and the management of the Community Development Association.
According to him, all the parties that visited the place established that the flood water (from different streets upstream) ought to go straight into the canal through everybody’s plot as earlier established.
Layiwola added that in February this year, when he noticed that another rainy season was approaching, he decided to cascade the matter to the Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Lands and later the Commissioner.
Layiwola commended the efforts of the commissioner and permanent secretary in handling the case saying that “both of them have been upright, diligent and professional in their approach.” He added, “It was when the Permanent Secretary called for the case file and report on the petition that we noted that no file was ever opened for my case.”
He said that the permanent secretary gave a clear instruction after which he was asked to furnish them with the photographs of the flooding, building approval, Certificate of Occupancy, Governor’s Consent and earlier petition that had been previously submitted since July 2023.
“It was then passed to the Commissioner for approval. On the 5th of April, I visited the office of the PS again and it was noted that the file had returned and the Commissioner directed that all obstructions blocking the free flow of water be removed.”
He stated that after the commissioner’s directives, it was agreed that to be swift, the affected landlords should provide funds to facilitate the digging and removal of the blockage.
“They later requested for N150,000. This we provided promptly, but the commissioner’s directives were flouted. The obstructions were not removed.
“Several dates were set to remove the obstruction. We just noticed that such days will pass without any action being taken. Eventually on Friday, April 19, I visited the office of the permanent secretary again and it was mandated that they must go to remove the blockade.
“Meanwhile, on Thursday, April 25, I got a call from a junior official of Lands Ministry that they were at the site again with a senior official. I came back quickly and this was my first time seeing this official who reversed the commissioner’s order advising that the water be directed uphill.
“He even told me sarcastically that I should take on the digger and dig the water channel myself while dishing out instructions to his junior colleagues that he must never see them supervising the digging of any channel. Instead, he said the blockade should be mildly cropped so as to divert the water uphill.
“The cropping done on the 3rd of May has since woefully failed to achieve the purpose it was meant for. It has since rained thrice and three times my compound had been badly flooded causing more damages.”
Witnessing to the risk the Layiwolas and other residents are facing due to the blocked drainage, Mr Adeyinka Doherty, who lives near the Layiwolas said he had seen flood waters almost a foot high inside the compound. “The authorities need to come and make sure that the obstruction is removed so that the waters can flow straight into the canal. If it was a small flow of water, it wouldn’t matter. But we are talking about hundreds of gallons per second of water flowing here. I am afraid of a disaster happening here if the foundations of our houses become weakened because the water is not flowing,” he said.
Layiwola on his part is crying out to the concerned authorities to correct the improper channelisation of water for the health and safety of his and other affected households.
“I have been longsuffering enough. We treat malaria day in day out. I want the government to set things straight. The drainage should run straight into the canal,” Layiwola said.
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