Africa’s most populous city, home to more than 14 million people, may become uninhabitable by the end of this century. The low-lying city on Nigeria’s Atlantic coast, is becoming overwhelmed as sea levels rise due to climate change.
Flooding is a common problem in many cities across Nigeria, but the impacts are getting worse. Residents have been regularly documenting their woes on social media showing vehicles, houses and businesses being submerged in water after torrential rain.
Data compiled by The Knowledge, Evidence and Learning for Development Programme reveals that the total economic losses due to flooding across the state is estimated at USD 4 billion per year. Unfortunately there is very little information available about the impacts of flooding apart from limited evidence about the impacts of a few specific flood events. We can only assume that the loss to lives and livelihoods will be even greater.
The once in a lifetime freak weather events taking place around the world is evidence that climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of floods, and other natural weather-related incidents. There are currently about 18,000 people stranded by flood waters in Canada’s westernmost province, after mudslides destroyed roads, houses, bridges and other key infrastructure in what may be the country’s costliest natural disaster.
In Lagos, there are other contributing factors as outlined in the K4D report :
Uncontrolled urban growth
Although cities and states have regulations intended to prevent construction on floodplains and drainage channels, authorities struggle to enforce these regulations, and construction in flood-prone areas takes place across Nigeria.
Inadequate and poorly-maintained drainage systems
All of the cities suffer from drainage systems that do not cover the entire urban area, lack sufficient capacity to handle current rainfall volumes, and are prone to being blocked by sediment and solid waste.
Solid waste management practices
It is common for people to dispose of solid wastes in drainage channels, which leads to widespread problems of blocked drains.
Weaknesses in institutional capacity and coordination
In all cities in Nigeria, a multiplicity of federal, state, and local agencies have various responsibilities relevant to flood risk management, but roles and responsibilities are often unclear, coordination among agencies is poor, and the capacities of different agencies are often weak.
Early warning systems and public awareness
Local capacities for predicting floods and communicating warnings to the public are often weak, and residents often lack information about effective ways to prepare for floods.
A way forward
Campaign groups have urged the Lagos authorities to audit their environmental plans to mitigate flooding disasters and these plans are long overdue.
Nigeria’s federal authorities have designed the Flood Mobile App to make predictions that could buy coastal regions the time to make adequate preparations to protect besieged cities like Lagos. The app is available online and provides real-time flood forecasting information about a specific location, using data collected by the NIHSA.
Separately, as a result of negotiations at the recent COP26 summit, Lagos will receive support for the implementation of its climate action plans and priorities.
The British government launched a new Urban Climate Action Programme (UCAP) to support the cities and regions in developing countries most impacted by climate change to accelerate their transition to net zero.
Backed with £27.5 million of new UK government funding as part of the UK’s International Climate Finance commitment, the programme will support cities across Africa, Asia and Latin America to take action to tackle climate change and create a sustainable future, by helping them to become carbon neutral by 2050 and prepare low-carbon infrastructure projects.