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he report says Lagos is the only Nigerian coastal city that might go under if nothing serious is done to stop the effects of climate change and the poor environmental attitude of the residents.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) based in France, had, in a study entitled Ranking of the world's cities most exposed to coastal flooding today and in the future, revealed that Lagos was at risk of being submerged in the next 50 years. Lagos was among cities in the developing world facing similar fate. Cotonou, Liberia and Abdijan in West Africa were in the number.

OECD said that "in the 20th century, sea level rose by an estimated 17 centimetres but conservative global mean projection for sea level rise between 1990 and 2080 ranges from 22-34 centimetres. Oceans which have been absorbing 80 per cent of the temperature increase attributable to global warming are expanding as ice sheets in the North and South poles melt. These events have led to a rise in sea levels and increasing flooding in coastal cities. The projected rise in sea levels could result in catastrophic flooding of coastal cities."

A University of Lagos don, Dr Emmanuel Enyeribe Ege, said the prediction about Lagos and other cities re-echoed in Rotterdam in June this year at a programme entitled Urban Development Tools and Climate Change and its implication for the world. It was organised by the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) of the Erasmus University, Rotterdam, in The Netherlands. Dr Ege, who teaches in the Department of Geography said: "From what I observed, what they (in Europe) are doing regarding climate change and what we are doing here are poles apart. It is clear that we are too complacent with climate issues.