For generations, rainfall has been known to serve as showers of divine blessings as it had always provided the needed blessings that mankind needed for survival. Rain is also a boost to electricity supply, as it fill the dams that roll the turbines of hydro power. Rain water has constantly been nature’s solution to drought and famine.
But while the advent of the rainy season delights the farmers, for residents of Lagos, a coastal state, the wet season is not always the best time of the year. It is a period that comes with the intimidating challenge of flooding. And when it happens, many homes are swamped, property worth fortune are destroyed and sometimes human lives are involved as the the flood sweeps away everything in its path, leaving residents to recount tales of woes. To an average Lagosian, rainfall could be a curse rather than a blessing.
Nigeria enjoys the humid tropical climate type because of its location just north of the equator. The tropical climate is characterised by the hot and wet conditions associated with the movement of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) north and south of the equator. Usually, the country experiences consistently high temperatures all year round. Since temperature varies only slightly, rainfall distribution, over space and time, becomes the single most important factor in differentiating the seasons and regions.
The southern part of the country experiences long rainy season which starts in March and lasts till the end of July, with a peak period in June. And like all states in the southern part, Lagos has a tropical wet and dry climate with two distinct rainy seasons; the more intense one occurs between April and July, with a milder one from October to November. At the peak of the rainy season, the weather in Lagos is wet about half the time.
Usually, whenever it rains heavily across the state, there is a rise in the Lagoon and Atlantic Ocean, which automatically locks up all the canals that had already been blocked with litters by residents due to indiscriminate dumping of refuse. When the water in the ocean and Lagoon recedes, the canals will discharge into these water bodies; but it takes a long time for this process to take place due to the slow movement of water in these canals which had previously been blocked by refuse. This naturally results in flooding noticed in the metropolis. However, flash flood is noticed on the road after continuous rainfall which definitely disappears after the canals are able to empty into the water bodies.
Unauthorised erection of structures on the pathways of water by citizens in the state is another major cause of flooding. People build structures without obtaining approvals from the state’s Ministry of Urban and Regional Planning, thereby contravening the law and distorting the state’s masterplan.
It is a fact that usually flooding occurs in the metropolitan areas as a result of urbanisation which leads to generation of more wastes that are dumped indiscriminately in the drainage channels.
To forestall the occurrences of tragedies that have characterised this season previously, the state government has been cleaning, clearing and de-silting drainages and canals on the highways and streets in the metropolis prior to the coming of the rains. Therefore, the residents of the state should brace up for the task of ensuring a zero tolerance for flooding by fulfilling their own part through constant cleaning of the drainage channels and by desisting from dumping their wastes arbitrarily. Also, Lagosians should take the issue of obtaining approvals before erecting their buildings in order not to build on drainage channels, thereby blocking free flow of water whenever it rains.
In addition, there are some flood plain areas in the state which are susceptible to flood. Areas like Ajegunle, Owode Onirin and Owode Elede in Kosofe Local Government Area, Kuramo Beach, Alpha Beach on the Island as well as Mende Maryland, Ijora- Badia and Iwaya on the Mainland, among others, fall in this category. As a result of the incessant rainfall which seems to have begun for the year, the Lagos State government has advised residents living in the low line areas (flood plains) to relocate due to the rising level of water from the rainfall. This is essential for affected residents because of the persistent rains since March which had led to the rise in water level of the lagoons and rivers as a result of back-flow into adjoining low line areas.
In the same vein, residents should observe the weather condition before leaving their homes or other locations and should stay off the roads if they do not have any business being there since, usually, there are traffic gridlocks on major roads and stranded commuters have to pay increased fares for the few bus drivers who were willing to risk plying the roads. This act will also prevent loss of lives as witnessed a couple of years back when it was reported that a couple lost their lives when they were trapped in their vehicle by flooding in Ketu area of Lagos on their way back from church.
Due to the enormity of this often human-induced environmental disaster, Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, represented by his Deputy, Idiat Adebule, at the 2015 World Environmental Day, urged residents not to panic over the heavy and persistent rainfall noticed in the state, saying that Lagos has adequate provision to prevent disastrous flooding. He appealed to Lagosians to desist from throwing refuse into drainages, saying that the practice is very harmful to the environment and human well-being. According to him, human-induced changes in the environment affect the well-being of the people every moment in the state and that people cannot sustain their healthy living if they continue to destroy the environment.
Therefore, it is important for Lagosians to be environment-friendly because, as the governor pointed out, people cannot continue to degrade the environment and expect to reap benefits and peace from it.
With natural disasters occurring across the world, as a result of the abuse of the environment, this is the time for everyone to have a rethink about our attitude to the environment. That we have not experienced monumental environmental tragedy should not be taken for granted as being immune from such. Thus, we must take our destiny into our hands and do all the needful to ward off avoidable natural calamities. Hence, the need for everyone to support the state government in protecting the environment.
*Bakare wrote in from Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.