I had barely slept off after working all through the night to finish an important assignment I was working on, when a loud shout of commotion kicked me out of my slumber. I recognised the voices of my neighbours, some of them I had just barely known. I immediately jumped out of my bed, only to land in a pool of flood water that had swept through my house. My documents, books and various other stuffs were floating like dead fish.” This was the experience of Tokunbo Ajayi, a resident of Adeola Street in Alpha Beach area of Lekki Lagos, when recalling his ordeal after a downpour just months after relocating to his Lekki property in a chat with the Nigerian Tribune.
Ajayi’s experience and others have left an indelible impression on him that living in highbrow places in Lagos does not necessarily guarantee that you are safe from flood problems.
“I ran to Lekki on the Island, because I thought I would be safe from insecurity and diverse challenges associated with living in the less fancied areas on the Mainland, but apparently, this is far from being the case. Lekki may be safer than Ikeja in terms of security, but in terms of flooding, it is the worst,” he further lamented.
For the past couple of years, Lagos State, like many other states in the country, has been plagued by incessant flooding especially after every downpour. This, needless to say, has led to the loss of scores of lives while property worth several millions of naira has been destroyed.
Ikoyi, Victoria Island, and Lekki are generally referred to as the homes of the rich and affluent in Lagos, and as such, many people might have the notion that those places might be immune to some of the general problems, especially rain-induced flooding, often faced in places such as Abule-Egba, Iyana Ipaja, Agege, Oshodi, Ijegun, among others, which are generally occupied by middle and low-income classes.
But this is far from being the case, as residents of Ikoyi and its environs now seem to be living at the mercy of runoff which is often experienced anytime there is a downpour.
There was massive flooding of roads followed by massive traffic gridlocks, in many areas visited by the Nigerian Tribune, and those included Queen’s Drive, Glover road and Park View Estate, all in Ikoyi. Very conspicuous in all these neighbourhoods are very expensive houses, some of which are believed to be worth over N300m.
Scores of vehicles were seen having a hard time manoeuvring their way out of the water that had flooded the roads, while many pedestrians with trousers rolled-up to knee level were equally seen wadding their way through a large collection of water on the Ahmadu Bello Way and other roads in Victoria Island, which forced the road to be temporarily closed.
Similarly, an early morning downpour caused a huge flood at Mobil Estate, Ajah, where it was reported that roads were so flooded that even strong vehicles such as SUVs were not able to wade through the water that had flooded major roads.
Needless to say, the problem led to the crippling of businesses as many shops were flooded while others remained under lock and key throughout the duration of the floods.
A recent survey carried out by Nigerian Tribune however seems to suggests that the problem might have been in existence for a very long time, and this has largely been blamed on the attitude of the so-called rich men towards one another.
This is because it is believed in some quarters that rather than working together to solve the problem, many of the rich residents in the highbrow communities seem to have thrown an air of ‘I don’t care’ towards the problem, especially as no one wants to seek the opinion of another on finding a lasting solution to the problem.
This idea was supported by a resident of Bourdellion Road in Ikoyi, Mr Desmond Alaka, a self-styled social critic and businessman, when giving his views about the problem.
“As against what is obtainable in communities occupied by low and middle income earners, the rich people here don’t believe in working together. Here, every house has a personal security guard as against communal guards usually found in other places,” he said.
“Usually when there is a problem in places occupied by the common people, and it seems the government is not doing anything about such problem, residents of such places often come together to solve the problem. But here, this attitude is somehow missing among the rich, who see such moves as an open invitation to unnecessary interactions,” said Alaka.
Sharing a similar opinion with the social critic, another Lagos resident, Mrs Abimbola Ademuyiwa, whose office is located at Falomo in Ikoyi but who lives on the Mainland, was at a loss as to why three places – Lekki, Victoria Island and Ikoyi – well known for their affluent residents, would be among the worst affected places in Lagos anytime it rains heavily.
“I have been working on the Island (Ikoyi and Victoria Island) for close to a decade, so to a large extent I know a thing or two about the state of things here. I find it very strange that despite the money owned by property owners here, nobody seems to be finding a solution to the problem. Anytime there is a major downpour, everything in Ikoyi comes to a standstill. The roads become flooded with water while the drainages tend to overflow with rain water, yet we have the headquarters of banks, telecommunications companies as well as the personal residents of highly influential people in the country directly affected by the problem,” she remarked.
More tales of woe
While narrating his ordeal, a resident of Adeyemi Lawson, in Falomo area of Ikoyi, Mr Thomas Akinyemi, confirmed that after one of the downpours, the road leading to his house, which he said also doubled as his office, was so flooded that water almost reached his groin region.
“Flood water reached well above my knee level. At some point, it got almost to my groin region. I could have stumbled in the water and probably ruined an important document I had with me if I wasn’t familiar with the road. But even at that, I had to guard my steps very well otherwise I could have fallen,” he said.
Also lamenting, another resident, whose residence is meters away from the Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, David Oke, revealed that his entire little community was flooded with rain water after a downpour that lasted for about four hours, last week.
Similarly, a businessman at Adeola Hopewell area of Victoria Island, Mr Samson Akinwande, complained that rainy seasons always brought untold hardships on everyone around, especially business owners, who he said often had their businesses crippled as a result of water flooding into their offices, shops and roads.
We always experience this problem every time it rains heavily; the road on both sections become heavily flooded and it is not uncommon to find water flooding into our offices. During such periods, business activities become totally paralysed while traffic gridlocks become the order of the day,» he lamented.
Possible causes of flooding
In the past, the problem of flooding in Lagos, particularly on the Island, has been blamed on a number of human activities including dredging and sand filling of wetlands and buffer zones, as well as on indiscriminate laying of cables in drainage channels by different telecommunications companies.
This stance has not changed still, as it was recently backed by a Lagos-based civil engineer, Mr. Samuel Adedeji, who stressed the importance of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to all projects, especially coastline projects, such as the dredging and sand filling activities carried out for the Eko Atlantic City project, could have played a role in the prevalence of the problem.
He insisted that the flow of storm water after heavy rainfall, which ran from drainage system into lagoons and finally into the ocean had been altered to some extent by sand filling and land reclamation exercises in the state.
He argued that only a good EIA study would reveal the likely extent of this man-made distortions so as to ascertain whether the effect can be adequately mitigated.
Adedeji, when proposing way forward and possible preventive measures, called for the immediate establishment of Coastal Engineering Units in the Nigerian university system.
Similarly, a group that seeks to protect the environment, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, ERA/FoEN, has blamed the “environmentally-unfriendly projects” by the state government along Lagos coastlines, especially the Lekki-Ajah axis for massive floods that submerged houses along that axis after recent downpours.
Akinbode Oluwafemi, who is the Deputy Executive Director, ERA/FoEN, said the rains had exposed how dangerous experiments like the Eko Atlantic City project and unmitigated sand dredging along the Lekki and Ajah corridor for the ultimate pleasure of the wealthy could make life miserable for the residents.
“We have said it time and again that environmental sustainability goes beyond showmanship and sweet pronouncements,” he said.
“The explanation of the state government conveyed by Environment Commissioner was very watery as it deliberately avoided the subject matter but instead blamed the flooding on near insignificant pieces of rubbish floating around narrow drains,” he said.
“We also ask this government to make public the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) on the controversy-streaked Eko Atlantic City Project and others that defy logic at a time that climate change is inducing sea level rise globally. Anything short of a retreat from these dangerous activities will spell doom for all of us,» he further stated.
A Lagos lawmaker and Chairman, House Committee on Waterfronts Infrastructure, Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu, also gave this indication during Monday›s plenary, where he complained that though some residents of the state had chosen to build illegal structures on drains, construction and sand filling works around the Lagoon and waterfronts in the state had also compounded the effects of the rainfall.
He further expressed worries that the illegal construction, improper disposal of solid waste in canals/gutters and reclamation of wetlands if not urgently checked would cause further flooding of the state due to their obstructive nature.
Menace caused by blocked drainage
But the Lagos State government has vehemently refused to link the problem to drainage and sand filling activities in the state, especially the Eko Atlantic City project.
The Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare, pointed out that rather, the problem should be blamed primarily on blocked drainages which he said could be adduced to indiscriminate dumping of refuse in the state›s waterways.
Adejare who made the call through a press statement made available to the media, also urged residents of communities ravaged by flood as well as those prone to it to relocate elsewhere pending when the rains would recede.
“We are on top of the situation. The government is concerned by the recent occurrence of flooding in some parts of Victoria Island, Lekki, Oniru and its environs and our emergency lines 112 and 767 are open 24/7 for residents to report any emergency situation,” Adejare added.
The commissioner also urged residents in the habit of dumping refuse indiscriminately especially in drainage channels to stop forthwith, saying that engaging in such did not only portend health hazards, but could also lead to loss of lives and property.
He said dumping refuse in drainages meant to take flood water to the lagoon, often blocked such channels and as such had dire consequences that could lead to loss of lives and property.
Also when answering questions thrown at him by lawmakers in the Lagos Assembly, who had summoned him over the problem, Adejare insisted that the problem was man-made.
The problem is mainly man-made as it is caused by people who build houses on drainages. We saw people sand filling to build houses on Osborne Phase 2. People also build houses by the lagoon against the law, he said.
Adejare said further that though there was illegal dredging all over the state, machineries had been put in place to put an end to it.
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