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Residents Want Lagos Govt’s Intervention On Flooding

By Paul Adunwoke
19 July 2015   |   12:41 pm
RESIDENTS of Agegunle, Mile2, and Apapa want the Lagos State government to rescue them from flooding. The distraught residents blamed their plight on blocked canals, as well as indiscriminate construction of houses. Tunde Owolabi, a trader at Opeleye Street in Ajegunle, whose shop was destroyed by flood, said: “It is unimaginable that the entire area…
Flooding in the Apapa area                  PHOTO: PAUL ADUNWOKE

Flooding in the Apapa area                                         PHOTO: PAUL ADUNWOKE

RESIDENTS of Agegunle, Mile2, and Apapa want the Lagos State government to rescue them from flooding.

The distraught residents blamed their plight on blocked canals, as well as indiscriminate construction of houses.

Tunde Owolabi, a trader at Opeleye Street in Ajegunle, whose shop was destroyed by flood, said: “It is unimaginable that the entire area does not have good drainage. People have blocked drainage channels provided some years ago with refuse, or have built houses on them. This destructive flood occurs here every year. The government is aware of it, yet nothing has been done to save us from this hardship.”

A motorist, Mr. Ola Opeyemi, said the flood entered his house and destroyed his property. According to him, “It is unacceptable that homes are still being submerged in Lagos. This can be avoided if there is proper arrangement on ground. We do not have functioning canals. The drainages are totally blocked. There are no good roads and no government agency seems to be on alert, so that people do not build houses in places that worsen the flood problem.”

Another resident, Mike Effiong, said people can no longer cope with the flooding, adding that self-help efforts to solve the problem have achieved little. “We have spent money doing what we could, such as building drainages and sand filling places. But there is a limit to what self-help can do. There is need for urgent attention; hence we are calling on government to clear the canals to allow free flow of water.

The state government should replicate the good work going on elsewhere, here, too. If you look at the development the former governor put in place in other parts of the state, you will wonder if we are part of Lagos,”
 Effiong said.

One Bamidele Ayo told The Guardian that the flooding has become a yearly incident, which seems to be getting worse.

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