The Lagos State Government has stated that its decision to remove structures erected on floodplains has been yielding the desired result.
The Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, said that the state averted what could have become a disaster by demolishing buildings on drainage paths.
“Floodplains and wetlands are not places we can afford to live. Climate change is a real-life issue,” he said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Tuesday.
“Lagos will experience heavy rainfall. We are preparing for it but the citizens must also take ownership. They must not see it as a form of punishment that why are they removing the contraventions.
“You know what I had to go through in the first 12 months when I assumed office. People had to politicise those actions. I was dog-whistled. I was called a bigot, but today, the results have shown that we took the very hard way to solve what would have become a disaster for our dear state, Lagos.”
He commiserated with the people of Mokwa in Niger State, where floods killed over 200 residents and displaced thousands last week.
Wahab urged citizens to avoid building on flood zones and drainage paths.
He said, “We’ve had those things too in some parts of Lagos where we tell people you can’t build here. And because of the coordination in Lagos, if you seek approval at the Ministry of Physical Planning, they will tell you to get a drainage clearance and an environmental impact assessment from the Ministry of Environment to show you can build here.
“What we found out is that most of those houses we had to remove don’t have approvals. So, for Mokwa, it is painful because so many lives have been lost. We just have to keep appealing to citizens.”
