Lagos governor visits flood-hit communities, reassures residents

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu inspected several communities devastated by recent flooding in the Eti-Osa Local Government Area on Wednesday, responding to residents' calls for immediate and lasting measures against the perennial challenge.

Accompanied by Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, Environment Commissioner Tokunbo Wahab, and other state officials, Governor Sanwo-Olu waded through knee-deep floodwaters in areas like Ogombo, Monastery Road-Sangotedo, and Gbetu. Videos showed the entourage navigating submerged roads and interacting with residents and community leaders.

The visit followed days of heavy rainfall that inundated large parts of Lagos, disrupting commercial activities and forcing some residents to use canoes for transportation. Residents shared their plight, detailing how recurring floods have damaged homes and businesses, displaced families, and severely hampered movement within their communities. They urged for swift relief and sustainable flood-control projects.

Commissioner Wahab explained that the recent downpours constituted an extreme weather event, producing a volume of water that overwhelmed the capacity of existing drainage infrastructure. He noted that similar heavy rainfall affected other African countries and parts of North America during the same period. Wahab also mentioned that previous interventions in flood-prone areas had improved stormwater discharge, but the scale of the recent event exceeded these measures. The governor's visit comes amid ongoing efforts by the state government, including the recent approval for dredging and maintenance of 28 primary drainage channels.

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The rainfalls were an extreme weather event that produced an unusually high volume of water within a short period, overwhelming drainage channels in some locations and resulting in temporary flooding across parts of Victoria Island, Lekki, Ikeja, Gbagada, Mushin, Mafoluku and several other areas.