Flooding: No need to panic, Lagos tells residents

The Lagos government says there is no need for residents to panic over concerns relating to flooding. 

Earlier in October, the state government had issued an alert to residents residing along the banks of Ogun river to prepare for flooding which would be be caused by the opening of the Oyan dam.

Tunji Bello, commissioner for the environment and water resources in the state, had said the release of the dam will worsen flooding.  

“The situation may also be worsened by the release of water from Oyan Dam by the managers, the Ogun-Oshun River Basin Development Authority which has increased the level of water of the lagoon,” Bello had said. 

“The identified areas include Ketu, Alapere, Agric, Owode Onirin, Ajegunle, Alagbole, Kara, Isheri Olowora, Araromi Otun Orisha community, Agiliti, Maidan, Mile 12, Odo Ogun, Owode Elede, Agboyi I, Agboyi II and Agboyi III must have to be alerted to relocate upland at any time.”

Speaking on the development, Gbenga Omotoso, the Lagos commissioner for information, told TheCable that “there is no need to panic”, adding that the circular on imminent flood was issued over a month ago.

Also speaking on Friday in a Channels TV interview, Olalekan Shodeinde, the Lagos ministry’s permanent secretary for drainage services, said the floods won’t be massive but residents should prepare.

He, however, said the areas prone to the flood are those close to the Ogun river.

“We are not expecting a massive Bayelsa-like or Kogi-like situation,” he added. 

He also said if severe flooding happens in Lagos, “probably maybe 100,000 or 200,000 people will be affected”, adding that “the areas prone to such incidents are low-line areas in River Ogun”.

“The essence of the early warning is for you not to be caught napping; for you not to be caught trapped in that situation. That is why we are making the noise; that is why we are talking about this,” he said.

Speaking further in an interview with ARISE TV on Friday, Omotoso said the state government has cleared drainages to prevent flooding.

“The notice that you saw that people should move, that was what we said over a month ago when the weatherman said Lagos was going to experience more rains,” he said.

“So, we had to advise people to move because he said there was going to be flooding. But up till today, the people are still there and their homes are not flooded.

“Lagos has about eight rivers discharging into Lagos river, River Ogun, River Osun, and all of them they are discharging into Lagos, and anytime the volume of water goes up in the lagoon, there is flooding. 

“Or they release water from River Ogun or River Osun, there is flooding. But what you can see now is that the kind of flooding that they are experiencing is in other places that is killing people, we are not experiencing it in Lagos, all because we have invested in cleaning all our big drainage channels; in cleaning all of our drains. 

“We have about 222 secondary channels; all of them have been cleaned because we envisaged that this year, the rains could be much.

“So, instead of people talking about Lagos state government asking people to take precautionary measures, which is what any responsible government should be doing, we should be getting kudos that people’s homes are not sinking — that they can still drive on roads.”