Flood sacks Lagos

From Sola Oluwadare, Muda Oyeniran, Shola Adekola, Dele Ayeleso and Nafiu Bamidele - 15.10.2009

LAGOS metropolis was, again, brought to its knees by flood, following about six hours of heavy rain fall on Wednesday. Commercial activities remained at the lowest ebb, even as of 2 p.m., as many streets remained impassable while most offices could not open because of flooding.

An okada rider was almost drowned while trying to avoid running into a passenger bus near the Ikeja flyover on Agege Motor Road. It took the intervention of some passers-by to prevent him and his passenger from being swept away by the flood.

At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, the effect of the rain led to the late arrival of many workers of the various aviation agencies. When the Nigerian Tribune went round the agencies, most offices were found to be near empty, while the few workers, who were on the ground narrated the hardship they went through before they could get to their offices.

Flights were delayed as the rain affected visibility. Only few flights were operated during the rain. The downpour, which began at about 6 a.m., continued till midday in some parts of the city, forcing many people to remain indoor, while only a few commercial buses were on the road.

Some motorists, who dared the flood, had themselves to blame as their vehicles broke down in the flood, which found its way into some vehicles. Ikeja was worst hit by the flood, as many vehicles broke down, while the few that could wade through the flood had hectic time.

The ever-busy Opebi-Allen Road was taken over by the flood with some pedestrians, who defied the rain, almost drowned. A middle-aged woman, who attempted to pass through the flooded area at Awosika Bus Stop, had to be quickly helped out of the flood by some men.

While many shop owners could not open for business in some areas of Ikeja, owing to the heavy flooding, others were seen scooping water from their shops.

For more than two hours, motorists abandoned some portions of the roads, because of serious flooding while a resident, who claimed to have left his residence at Mile 2 at 7.30 a.m. for Idi-Araba near Mushin, arrived at 3 p.m.

The journey normally takes less than 45 minutes barring heavy traffic on the road. Commercial buses going to the eastern parts of the country hiked their fares by as high as 100 per cent for commuters who could not make it to the bus stops on time. A visit by the Nigerian Tribune to Jibowu, Yaba and Ojuelegba bus termini revealed that fares to Calabar, Enugu, Port-Hacourt, which hitherto were N4,000, N2,500, and N2,000 respectively went up to N5,000, N3,500, N3,000, depending on the owners of the mass transit buses.

Some stranded commuters described the development as totally unfair and unbearable, and some of them had to cancel their trips. But some of the drivers, who spoke to the Nigerian Tribune, said the increase was necessitated by the deplorable state of the Ore-Benin expressway.

Intra-city passengers also experienced an increase in fares, as a trip from Agege to Ikeja rose to N70 instead of N50 and Maryland, N80, from N30.

That's what happens when a city is build with no adequate storm drainage system.

Fortunately for those residing in flooded Lagos, the MODALITY of turning into a [b]cat[/b]fish is now a commercially available option which can be utilized by trapped commuters when the flood waters rise.


Praise the Lord, buy watch out for the kids with fishing lines.

Those on Aba should come here and comment. You will have to choose weather to have bad roads or to be swept of your feet by flood

Please stop @Mekuslogan. The situation in Aba is ridiculous, and there is absolutely no excuse whatsoever. That town is not even close to any major water, hence the reason why any EXCUSE for what continues year after year is nothing but STUPID.

Now for lagos, I don wail tire. I grew up in that state and government after government, the problem still remains that not enough money is spent on building s serious drainage system. I remember Marwa did try a whole lot to invest heavily in those, but Tinubu allowed all that to go the way of the dogs when he took over. Not sure how much the current government is doing about the issue which does not really require an intervention from rocket scientists. But I don't believe this problem is a difficult one if the government actually considered it will help save the state money in road repairs and environmental issues year after year.

lagos is not the only city by the coastside that has been flooded, in 2005,louisiana was flooded aided by hurricane katrina in which lives was lost, the issue is not a lagos problem but if we have a good central gov that doesnt care about lagos cuz its an opposition state, ocean surge is a natural problem which should not be politicized or ethnicized.,so u dummies should just Bleep off

KoBO,

Flooding has nothing to do with nearness to ocean; otherwise we won't read of flooding in the North which is a recurrent phenomenon. In any case, there is a River (Aba River) which also overflows each year. Like the gov of Abia, if Fashola leaves office without solving the flood problem, then all the noise about achievements is fraudulent. He is making millions compared to Abia, and so needs to work harder.

mekuslogan:

KoBO,

Flooding has nothing to do with nearness to ocean; otherwise we won't read of flooding in the North which is a recurrent phenomenon. In any case, there is a River (Aba River) which also overflows each year. Like the gov of Abia, if Fashola leaves office without solving the flood problem, then all the noise about achievements is fraudulent. He is making millions compared to Abia, and so needs to work harder.

Actually it does. When you get floods on land, the same rain also causes rivers to overflow, so yes, flooding also has to do with nearness of water bodies. I remember when the river magidun overflew its banks back in the 80's. A lot of folks lost their houses and it was no joke for many of those whose livelihood depended on the river.

Aba River almost never overflows. Are you sure you have actually seen that river before? Which Aba river overflows it's banks? If the government actually spent time cleaning the place up, you would realize that the cause of the overflow has next to nothing to do with that river.

Please, stop trying to compare Aba ( an easy case in my opinion) to Lagos here. I say this because I lived in Aba long enough to understand that the problem is NOT that the problems are too big for the government but that the government SIMPLY DOES NOT CARE. If you want to compare Aba to any place, start with Owerri. Why is Aba no where close to what is obtained in Owerri? I woiuld have said Umuahia but the yearly erosions and collapse of roads there is just mindboggling and the continued disregard of the people's safety by the government is just unacceptable. I remember when the road to Bende LGA collapsed. One would expect the government to actually step in to do a good job BUT NO. UNbelievable!!!

Kobojunkie:

Actually it does. When you get floods on land, the same rain also causes rivers to overflow, so yes, flooding also has to do with nearness of water bodies. I remember when the river magidun overflew its banks back in the 80's. A lot of folks lost their houses and it was no joke for many of those whose livelihood depended on the river.

Aba River almost never overflows. Are you sure you have actually seen that river before? Which Aba river overflows it's banks? If the government actually spent time cleaning the place up, you would realize that the cause of the overflow has next to nothing to do with that river.

Please, stop trying to compare Aba ( an easy case in my opinion) to Lagos here. I say this because I lived in Aba long enough to understand that the problem is NOT that the problems are too big for the government but that the government SIMPLY DOES NOT CARE. If you want to compare Aba to any place, start with Owerri. Why is Aba no where close to what is obtained in Owerri? I woiuld have said Umuahia but the yearly erosions and collapse of roads there is just mindboggling and the continued disregard of the people's safety by the government is just unacceptable. I remember when the road to Bende LGA collapsed. One would expect the government to actually step in to do a good job BUT NO. UNbelievable!!!

@bolded.very true.

but i know the problem with aba.anyone who can use google well should just google terrain and aba's problem becomes glaring.aba is below sea level inland.the city is located within a kind of bad spot.the solution is a very deep drainage or channel to imo river which is also close to the town.the second solution is moving the city upwards and demolishing the old city.

same applies to lagos.shifting the city upwards towards abeokuta or ibadan and demolishing the old city.if not,we just manage life in the flood.

wonderful wonderful Eko!

Eko ti baje oh!

Our Country is in trouble.

Lagos can easily be submerge by water one day,that is why i am surprise Fashola does not have strong policies on environmental and climate changes.Instead wasting money building new sometimes irrelevant projects they should spend the money reconstructing and fortifiying the city against that monstrous ocean that is at the doorstep.

Lagos is at the mercy of the elements.

this is bad