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You Are Part Of The Problem

By Chidirim Ndeche
19 July 2017   |   12:22 pm
During the rainy season, some parts of Nigeria occasionally suffer seasonal flash floods. These flash foods are sometimes lethal, especially in the rural areas or overcrowded slums, where drainage is poor or does not exist at all. Sometime ago, those in the Lekki and Victoria Island areas experienced worse flooding than ever this year. There…

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During the rainy season, some parts of Nigeria occasionally suffer seasonal flash floods. These flash foods are sometimes lethal, especially in the rural areas or overcrowded slums, where drainage is poor or does not exist at all.

Sometime ago, those in the Lekki and Victoria Island areas experienced worse flooding than ever this year. There were videos being spread on social media of a man kayaking in Victoria Island, a bike entering headfirst into a ditch its driver didn’t see, and a couple of men doing a swimming competition.

The major problem with most of these issues is that there is not a proper drainage system. Most roads are built with no plan for drainages, or along the line the drainages built are blocked by waste or something else. The government should really make provisions for drainages to be built to save money, lives and property or else we face even worse problems down the line.

There was a thought-provoking tweet about people whose houses were built on the drainages that are needed in these areas.

As much as we would love to blame the government for all our woes, we need to understand that this change we seek cannot only come from them. Each and every single person needs to play a part in it. One of the major issues that cause these major or minor flash floods is the blockage of drainage by waste. Those gala wrappers and Coca Cola containers you throw out of the windows of buses or your air-conditioned cars, will fall on the road and be blown off to the side. Then, when rain falls and sweeps the waste into the gutters, they clog the drains. You do not allow leftover food to go down the sinks in your houses because you know that the food may clog your drains, and that is another chore for you to handle. Then why do you dispose of the waste you create the wrong way?

To solve this problem, we need to put waste in recycle bins (or take it with you until you find one), and then dispose of it properly. Let this not be an excuse given by the powers in charge of making provision for proper drainage systems in our various surroundings. As much as we have LAWMA people sweeping and cleaning the roads, they cannot solve everything.

We understand that one doesn’t have all the information. Feel free to comment and make suggestions about what you think can be done to solve this problem in our country. Every opinion counts.

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