Lagos ACN Sympathizes with Lagosians Over Flooding Experience
The Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria has sent its message of condolence to the victims of the unprecedented flooding in Lagos on Sunday and indeed to all Lagosians over the flooding experience. The party says it shares the grief of many Lagosians that were subjected to the harrowing effects of the day-long torrential rainfall and says that the Lagos State government is committed to avoid a repeat experience in the future.
In a release in Lagos, signed by the Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the ACN, Joe Igbokwe, the party says it is delighted that unlike in many states in Nigeria, no Lagosians was reported to have lost his or her life in the flooding, as at the time of writing this. It says that it was a thing of joy that the flood is gradually easing off few hours after the rain and that the Lagos State government environmental officials worked through the flood to ease the situation.
“We are alarmed that what is turning out to be global scourge of flooding is hitting Lagos, and many other parts of the country with the kind of force we all experienced on Sunday. That rain started as early as 5.00am in some parts of Lagos and lasted to well into the early hours of Monday is an unprecedented experience that was worsened by the volume of the rains. We were concerned as the rains poured down uncontrollably, about the fate of the nearly 20 million Lagosians. We were concerned about the safety of lives and properties of Lagosians as the historic rain fell and we thank God that no fatal incident has been reported from the rains.
“We recall that the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NMA) had issued a warning to Lagosians to prepare themselves for heavy rainfall this year given its coastal nature but we never fathomed the heaviness of Sunday's rainfall and we fear that we might experience such incidences in the days ahead. This then requires all Lagosians to be on the watch out and do everything in their respective local areas to free drainage accesses and avoid being caught in the throes of another flood.
“We want to alert Lagosians that flooding has become a frightening global scourge and the experiences we have seen in recent times from all over America, Europe, Asia and other parts of Africa should inform us that all of us have roles to play in preventing a worse experience in the days ahead. We want to let Lagosians know that the rains yesterday precipitated a record rise in the water level of both the Atlantic Ocean and the Lagos lagoon, which made drainage quite difficult. We thank God that it did not degenerate to a critical level, as we have been seeing in some parts of the world.
“We want to point out that several projects are going on in Lagos roads and drainage system at present and we regret that most Lagosians still consciously block the drainages, the canals and the water channels, which makes flooding a present danger we all must work hard to prevent.
“We were happy that while the rains were falling, the Lagos State government was able to deploy men and materials to clear the blocked drains, canals and gutters that prevented free flow of water as the rains fell. We assure Lagosians that the Lagos State government is working feverishly to address flooding concern and urge them to assist the government in this regard. We once again sympathize with Lagosians and express the hope that similar experiences would be better managed in the future.”