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<\/p>\nCommissioner for the Environment, Dr. Samuel Babatunde Adejare, stated that Lagosians living along the plains of the Ogun river had to suffer the hardship brought about by the recurrent flooding<\/a> of the river.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Experts have expressed concern over insufficient yearly financial budgetary support to maintain basic hydrological services and data collection activities in the country.<\/p>\n They argued that the situation is putting Nigerians\u2019 lives and infrastructure at risk and limiting the potential for better and informed decision -making. The egg-heads, who expressed their frustrations in a communiqu\u00e9 issued\u00a0at the end of\u00a0a two-day Stakeholders\u2019 Summit\u00a0 \u2018On the Negative Impacts of Ogun River on Adjoining Towns and Villages in Lagos\u00a0State, called on relevant government officials to ensure\u00a0adequate\u00a0financial budgetary allocations\u00a0 for hydrological services.<\/p>\n They\u00a0stressed that\u00a0flood prevention and management efforts can only be achieved if interdisciplinary and inter-governmental approaches are adopted, and affected communities\u00a0sensitized of potential and actual risks in order to induce their pre-cautionary actions as well as nature conservation measures are adopted.<\/p>\n The experts also urged the Federal Government to\u00a0partner with the Lagos State Government for further studies to better understand the tidal effect of Lagos Lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean on the flood plains.<\/p>\n According to them, flooding in Lagos can be attributed to natural and anthropogenic causes, with the Natural causes including\u00a0the flat topography, coastal location, low elevation relative to Mean Sea level, climate, hydrology, and soil characteristics whilst the anthropogenic causes include haphazard land-use and physical planning.<\/p>\n While\u00a0linking\u00a0 changing climate\u00a0 being experienced in\u00a0 the country as responsible for the extreme weather events such as floods, the experts\u00a0 said\u00a0 NIMET is willing and ready to partner with the Lagos State Government to provide site specific climate services to support the State\u2019s efforts towards addressing the perennial flood issues.<\/p>\n Earlier, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode said that the summit was aimed at mitigating the effects of the flooding of Ogun River plains and maximizing the benefits derivable from the river basin, which includes transportation, fishing\/farming, power generation and water supply.<\/p>\n The governor, represented by the Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Samuel Babatunde Adejare, stated that Lagosians living along the plains of the Ogun river had to suffer the hardship brought about by the recurrent flooding of the river, owing to the discharge of water from the Oyan dam being managed by the Ogun-Oshun River Basin Development Authority.<\/p>\n He said that the operational activities of Dams, being subject to vagaries of natures, sometimes produce unpleasant consequences to the immediate environment.<\/p>\n [ad_2]
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