The Labour Party Gubernatorial Candidate for the 2023 Lagos State hovernorship elections, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has said that he has not seen any forward-thinking visionary intervention that the current administration in Lagos State has done in regards to the severe flooding caused by heavy rainfalls in Lagos State, adding that even their reactions are mediocre at best.
The politician and architect said this on an interview with ARISE NEWS on Saturday where he discussed the unfortunate flooding that occurred across Lagos State, as he also said that it is possible for all the canals in Lagos State to be cleared within two days so as to peon yp drainage systems and avoid unnecessary floods.
Speaking of the impact of the floods in Lagos, Rhodes-Vivour said, “These same group of people have been in charge of this state for almost 24 years- in terms of party. But apparently, they have a blueprint, they have a plan for the city, and this plan has been existent for some time. Now Lagos State is also listed as one on the fastest sinking cities in the world, and it is said that by 2100, most of Lagos State will not be habitable with the current state of things. Now, when you look at the fact that every year, we deal with this same thing again and again and again, people are losing possessions, businesses are being completely destroyed by floods, think about how many cars had to have their engines replaced that significant damage were done in this economy. We go through this every year. We know that we are a low line coastal city.
“I have not seen any forward-thinking visionary intervention that this government has done. For the most part, they are reactionary, and even the reaction is mediocre at best, And I will explain why. You see then excel exceedingly well when it comes to demolitions across the state. Now, look at what the Commissioner went around talking about several interventions. He said they were emergency services. On the 8th day of the week, he wants to come and start removing desilting, and you call that emergency services. That’s not what emergency service is to my opinion.”
He went on to say, “All canals can be cleared in two days. When you work with the local government, you empower that local government, clear all the canals in your district, every local government should be able to do it in two days.”
When asked on his suggestions to the government that could reduce the problem of flooding in Lagos State, he said, My opinion is you have data, climate data that says on these days, you expect significant amount of rainfall. Like you said, there should be cooperation with the media announcing on all stations that we are going to have this amount of rainfall. There must be an emergency protocol. So when we have these amounts of rainfall, these are the routes that are going to be taken. The public must be aware of this in dry season, not in rainy season. We have to understand that we are a low line state, right, and this must be also part of our culture.”
SPeaking further on solutions to flooding and how to help Lagos citizens, Rhodes-Vivour said, “You also have your roads that act as valves. I mean, look at the Oworo situation- on one of the road, it was not flooded, on the other side, it was flooded. There should be a valve system that allows for cars to be able to go on the other side. This is long term planning. And then also, we must have a wetland protection policy. I think this is one of the things that was highlighted during the debate. The Commissioner says that there is a wetland protection policy- there isn’t, there is a draft. If there is a wetland protection policy, we should have a list of all our wetlands, it must be published.
“And then, we must look at what government has done to protect the wetland. It’s not enough to say don’t build on the wetland, because wetlands are nature’s natural sinkholes, they absorb a lot of water. The problem is we’ve had haphazard sandfilling across Lagos State that has limited the amount of water that can be contained and water going back down to the rivers or to the lagoons or to the water bodies.”
The architect then said that it was important for the Lagos government to adopt the mentality of living with water in Lagos State, rather that fighting against it, as he said, “When you identify all your wetlands, you put a use to it. So for instance, you can have solar farms, you can have leisure facilities, you can have a park. We must get into the understanding that Lagos State needs to become a sponge city, must live with the water, not fight with the water.”
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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