Minister of Works, David Nweze Umahi, on Tuesday said Lagos’ drainage master plan legally requires stormwater to be discharged into the Lagos Lagoon through designated evacuation channels rather than into the Atlantic Ocean, saying the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway was designed in line with that existing system.
Umahi made the clarification during a stakeholders’ engagement on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, recent flooding in Lagos State and a press conference held in Lagos, following a technical presentation by engineering consultant, Engr. Tomilola Olatinwo of AEC, on the state’s drainage master plan.
According to Umahi, the highway’s drainage infrastructure aligns with the Lagos State Government’s approved drainage design.
He said, “The principle of evacuation of rainwater is that the rainwater by law of Lagos State Government, you can’t drain the surroundings of your house to the ocean. You drain everything…to this lagoon.”
Explaining the drainage network displayed on a map during the presentation, the minister said the evacuation corridors were designed to channel water into the lagoon and streams, not directly into the Atlantic Ocean.
He added, “So it’s either it’s going to this stream or it’s going to the lagoon. That is the design. And so neither the Coastal Highway nor the surroundings should drain water to this ocean. It’s against the law of Lagos State Government.”
Umahi explained that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway was designed using Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) projections of future sea-level rise and flood risks associated with climate change. He said the highway’s elevation and engineering design are intended to protect surrounding communities from ocean surges, similar to the protective role played by the Eko Atlantic shoreline infrastructure along Ahmadu Bello Way.
According to him, the ministry’s responsibility was to ensure water from communities along the highway could be conveyed through culverts into the state’s designated evacuation corridors.
“We are taking water from the residential areas, commercial areas… and pass it across the Coastal Highway… to now go through the evacuation corridor,” he said.
Umahi maintained that flooding in Lagos existed before the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and said the Federal Government would continue working with the Lagos State Government to address the challenge. He attributed the flooding to Lagos’ low-lying terrain and changing weather patterns, noting that the highway should not be blamed for every flooding incident in the state.
He said, “The floods… in Lagos has been there before the Coastal Highway. It was there yesterday, it’s there today, it will also be there tomorrow. But we do everything possible… to continue to combat the flood problems in Lagos, because Lagos is founded on low land.”
The minister attributed much of the flooding within the corridor to blocked drainage channels, low-lying developments and indiscriminate dumping of refuse rather than the highway itself.
He said, “But in the next slide of Hitech, you will see how our people… are carrying refuse to block the culverts, are pouring refuse inside the mangrove, they are using concrete to block the discharge point.”
Umahi disclosed that the Federal Government and the Lagos State Government were working on additional measures to improve drainage around the corridor, including the construction of service lanes with parallel drains and the completion of outstanding drainage channels identified in the state’s master plan.
He also directed that anyone caught blocking drainage channels or culverts with refuse or concrete should be arrested and prosecuted, describing such acts as environmental sabotage that worsens flooding.
Ademide Adebayo
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