Poor habits and illegal land reclamation are causing flooding in Lagos, says Commissioner

A commercial bus and a delivery van caught in flood water in Lagos.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Dayo Bush-Alebiosu, has blamed ongoing flooding in the state on bad environmental practices and illegal land reclamation.

Bush-Alebiosu said careless waste disposal, illegal dredging, and unauthorised land reclamation are hurting efforts to resolve flooding in the coastal state.

He spoke on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Tuesday.

“It is necessary to identify what the problem is in the first place, and the problem is nothing other than bad habits.

“I mean, illegal reclamation and illegal dredging affect it on one hand; habits affect it on the other hand,” the commissioner said.

He mentioned that while illegal land reclamation is driven by money, poor waste disposal comes from residents’ attitudes.

“At the end of the day, those who, out of habit, dump refuse aren’t doing it because they want to make money from it. However, those who are reclaiming illegally are doing it for commercial purposes. So, you have both sides,” he said.

Bush-Alebiosu also expressed concern over people dumping human waste into the lagoon. He warned about its effects on the environment and public health.

“The first thing is that some people even dump faeces into the lagoon and things like that. This is the same lagoon that feeds us. You know you’re eating fish that’s feeding off faeces,” he said.

“So all of these things eventually will come back to bite us, and this is just a typical example of what we’re seeing at the moment.”

Lagos has faced flooding in many areas in recent weeks due to heavy rainfall. Residents reported blocked roads and damage to their properties.

The situation caused anger among residents, with many blaming the Lagos State Government for the ongoing flooding that submerged major roads and left motorists stranded. This flooding also disrupted business activities and flooded homes across the city.

Flooding often affects major roads including Gbagada, Iyana Ipaja, Ikorodu Road, Ikeja, Maryland, Mushin, Ogudu, Lekki, Oshodi, Agege, Alimosho, and Obalende. Sections of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, and Lekki-Epe Expressway are also affected.