In the last few years, torrential rains, accompanied by gale-forcewinds have wreaked havoc by leaving in its wake death and destruction. Crops, livestock, properties and lives were lost all over the country, while in eastern Nigeria the level of soil erosion resulting in massive landslides in some instances is alarming.
In spite of warnings by experts, we have continued in our destructive ways which include indiscriminate felling of trees, gas flaring, bush burning and destruction of forest rserves among others. Nature, that Janus-faced phenomenon, has been blamed in many instances for all these woes while our own ways of life, many of which have never been environmental friendly, especially in Lagos, have not been taken into consideration.
The last few weeks of rainstorms in Lagos State have again exposed the danger residents face in the city and the nonchalant attitude to how we manage nature. On Monday last week, an early morning rain swept through Lagos, claiming lives and properties. In some parts of the city the storm damaged houses and submerged neighbourhoods while over 200 Lagosians were rendered homeless.
Agreed, torrential rains are typical of coastal areas such as Lagos, so we expect flooding in the low lands, especially beside bodies of water. Therefore, we need a good drainage system to de-flood these areas whenever it rains. But the way we treat drainage channels causes flooding whenever the rains come, because some residents see nothing wrong in dumping their refuse into gutters, believing that the water will carry it away. Others build structures on the right of way of storm water and we all know that water must find its level, so it backs up and destroys whatever it can.
While the efforts of the Lagos State government is commendable, we believe there is still more to do. The Lagos State Waste Management …Read More
Source:: PM Newspaper
