Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, has responded to criticism of the state government’s handling of flooding, urging political commentators to consider Lagos’ coastal geography, tidal conditions and the growing impact of climate change.
Wahab, while reacting to comments by former Labour Party governorship candidate Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, said flooding in Lagos should be assessed against the realities of managing a coastal megacity.
According to the commissioner, even resilient drainage infrastructure cannot completely eliminate flash flooding in a city exposed to coastal and tidal conditions.
Wahab noted that the state government had implemented several measures to mitigate flooding, including investments in drainage infrastructure, pump stations, year-round drainage maintenance and flood abatement operations.
He also listed the ban on styrofoam and single-use plastics, preservation of wetlands and removal of structures located on floodplains among the measures taken by the government to address environmental challenges.
The commissioner said these interventions had reportedly contributed to a 75 to 80 per cent reduction in flooding incidents across Lagos State.
He therefore described suggestions that the government was ignoring flooding or had failed to make meaningful progress as misleading, stressing that the challenges confronting the state should be considered alongside the interventions already undertaken.
Wahab further argued that flooding was not peculiar to Lagos, describing it as a global challenge affecting coastal cities and other parts of the world, including Amsterdam, Thailand, Nepal, Afghanistan and the United States.
He said the key issue should not be whether every flood could be completely prevented, but how effectively authorities prepare for flooding, reduce risks and protect residents.
The commissioner urged critics to base their assessment of Lagos’ flood management efforts on the state’s geography, climate realities and documented interventions rather than what he described as political rhetoric.
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