Lagos Flood; natural disaster or citizens and government incompetence.
Raining season often bring different inconvenience, with work, home, transportation, etc. While the impact of rain is often less in some states, heavy downpour in some other states is often of great and detrimental inconvenience. This year’s raining and it effect has led to a certain question which needs to be answered, destruction on houses, cars, road has raise numerous debates among people.
Is Flood in Lagos a natural disaster or the citizens and government incompetency?
Flood often can be defined as a natural disaster, heavy downpour even in developed countries most times causes flooding, while the need for drainage is not a topic for discussion in most western country, it is of a great discussion in Lagos, Nigeria. Most area and street in Lagos do not have drainage system, and those with drainage system are clogged with debris from citizens which jeopardizes the accurate maintainence and safety of the drainage system, and then affect the ability of it to hold water firmly during heavy downpour.
1. The use of Flood warning system.
Ninety percent of houses in Lagos are built with profit orientation, just few house owner in Lagos consider residence safety and convenience. The need to pass information to individual occupants in Lagos in prior notice for flood alertness is, of course, not a part of the environmental agenda in Lagos.
Lagos water; 3 Dead, 15 rescued as boat capsized
2. Homes and building modification.
In country where flood is described as a natural disaster, modification of building to enable them withstand flood is a priority for the home and environmental department. However this is lacking in a state such as Lagos State to most house owners.
3. Restoration of rivers to natural course.
In the next ten years, this may end up the major causes of flood. Water based courses are currently been used to building homes and mall for people. The need to make Lagos a metropolis state has clouded the need for environmental safety, of which in the nearest future, this might pose a dangerous lead to the lost of lives and properties of Lagosians.
4. Littering and dumping of refuse on roads side and road path.
Some part of Lagos is often seen as a dirty environment to live in. The area occupied by the elite are often not left out when the issues of littering and environmental pollution and violation is been considered. People often keep huge trash load on road side, and road pathways. Some go as far as dropping the refuse on the busy road side. Issues like this are what needs to be considered before floods in Lagos are either considered as disaster or not. The need to emphasize on the abuse of the available drainage, needs to be dealt with, dropping of dirts or trash on the road should be totally prohibited.
Flood can only be described as a natural disaster if all the above-mentioned needs are considered the situation still continues. Where none of this is considered, an individual can certainly say flood in Lagos is more of the citizens handiwork or negligence from the government than it is of natural disaster.
