The Lagos State Government has described the recent flooding in the state as a natural consequence.
The State Commissioner of Environment and Water Resources Tokunbo Wahab said this on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Thursday.
He insisted that inadequate planning was not the cause of the floods that swept across the state’s main roads on Wednesday.
He said, “I will start by saying to Lagosians, ‘We are sorry for the inconvenience caused due to nature’s cause yesterday morning.’”
SaharaReporters had reported how thousands of road users and commuters were stranded as floods took over major roads, including the famous Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos on Wednesday morning.
The floods were as a result of heavy rain which started around 3am on Wednesday.
In multiple videos and pictures seen by SaharaReporters, Iyana-Oworo and Olopo meji areas heading to the Third Mainland Bridge were completely flooded, causing long traffic buildup that extended to the Alapere area of the state.
A resident, Cmion blamed the government for failing to provide adequate drainage system to solve the agelong flooding problem in the state.
He said, “This flooding happens every year in Lagos. Every damn year, what the hell is the government doing to curb it; absolutely nothing.”
But the commissioner said the floods were not due to the government’s lack of planning.
He continued: “It’s not for failure to plan that we had what happened yesterday,” Tokunbo said. “No, it was nature taking its full course. And we are sorry for those whose lives were disrupted: they could not go to work, they could not go to their marketplaces, they couldn’t go to school.
“Emergency teams were on the ground since around 4 a.m. I’ve been up since around 4 a.m. yesterday,” the commissioner said.
He noted that the impact of the floods was managed a few hours after, saying, “Nature will take its course. What we have to do is to mitigate the impact of nature on the environment. And that was what we did yesterday.”
Wednesday’s rainfall began early even before residents of the state woke up for the day’s work.
