The Lagos State Government said Wednesday that flash flooding is an unavoidable reality of the state’s coastal geography, while urging residents to stop dumping refuse on roads and into drainage channels, a habit officials say makes an already difficult situation worse.
Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources Tokunbo Wahab said the government cannot eliminate flash flooding entirely but is focused on reducing its impact through continued investment in drainage infrastructure, flood control measures and environmental management. Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, he framed the challenge as one of balance rather than elimination. “Must we always get flooded? I will tell you no. But can we realistically, as a coastal state, avoid flash flooding? I will tell you no. So, what do we do? There must be a balance. We must mitigate the impact of our realities,” he said.
Wahab said residents still have a significant role to play in preventing the flooding that is avoidable, pointing to indiscriminate refuse disposal as a major contributor. Waste dumped carelessly, he explained, tends to wash into drains during rainfall, blocking channels and obstructing the free flow of stormwater, which worsens flooding across many communities.
The commissioner argued that Lagos needs to confront its underlying vulnerability rather than avoid discussing it. “People tried to run away from the elephant in the room. And what is the elephant? The elephant in the room is Lagos is a coastal state, and we’re exposed to the vagaries of climate change, we can’t run away from it,” he said.
He went on to explain the mechanics behind the flooding, noting that parts of Lagos sit below sea level, leaving them especially vulnerable during intense rainfall combined with high tides. Rising sea levels linked to climate change, he said, often prevent stormwater from draining freely, which is why flooding lingers temporarily in affected areas. “Some parts of Lagos are below sea level, and once there’s climate change, there’s excessive rain, there’s excessive heat, and there’s tidal lock, because there’s a sea level rise. Once the sea level is up, your stormwater naturally will not discharge. It will hold back for maybe one or two hours. And that’s why we say to Lagosians, please, don’t panic, this water will recede within one or two hours,” he said.
Wahab pointed to ongoing state investment in resilient infrastructure as evidence of the government’s commitment to managing the problem. “On our part, we’ve provided resilient infrastructure statewide, and we’re still providing the same,” he said, adding that sustained infrastructure development paired with public cooperation remains the state’s best available approach to minimising flood impact, even if the flooding itself cannot be avoided entirely.
The commissioner’s comments follow two weeks of flash flooding across several parts of Lagos, which prompted Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to approve the immediate dredging and maintenance of 28 additional primary drainage channels statewide.
