Rhodes-Vivour, however, advised Gov Sanwo-Olu to initiate wetland protection policies that would mitigate and manage the impact of annual floods
By Kehinde Okeowo
The Lagos State governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general election, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has accused Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of not being proactive in the management of floods in Lagos State.
He made this known on Thursday while featuring on a programme anchored by Channels Television.
TheNiche had earlier reported that Lagos State witnessed flooding after a heavy rainfall on Wednesday morning.
Speaking after the downpour which ravaged several parts of Nigeria’s commercial capital, the Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, attributed the flooding to intense and prolonged rainfall, combined with a high tidal level in the lagoon.
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Taking to his social media handle, Wahab tweeted. “The Olopo Meji inward 3rd Mainland situation is a flash flood that is due to the high intensity of the rain, long duration rain coupled with high tidal lagoon level at the moment.
“Be rest assured it would go away in about 1-2hour. As the high tidal level of the lagoon goes down, the rain/storm water will be able to discharge into the lagoon.”
However, while reacting to the development, Rhodes-Vivour berated the Lagos government’s flood and disaster management efforts.
He went on to urge the Sanwo-Olu-led administration to initiate wetland protection policies that would mitigate and manage the impact of annual floods.
Rhodes-Vivour added, ” What is more painful to me is that I see a government that is in your face and very active when it comes to demolition but you have this kind of thing (flood), and you don’t see any emergency response or protocol.
“We are not seeing men on the ground. We are not seeing intelligence being given out early: ‘avoid these routes.’ There were no diversions.
“I don’t feel a sense of ‘I told you so.’ Anybody who loves Lagos well enough and has looked at the history of Lagos would see these things way before they happen.”