Environment
Expert Urges Responsible Waste Management
An environmentalist, Dr
Bolanle Wahab, says responsible behaviour will build resilience of Lagos residents to flood disaster.
Wahab of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Ibadan, said this in Lagos during a City Resilience Workshop tagged: “Local Governments and Communities Working for a Climate Resilient Lagos.”
The workshop was organised by the Coastal Cities at Risk (CCaR-Lagos) led by University of Ibadan.
The CCaR is a five-year programme under the International Research Initiative on Adaptation to Climate Change (IRIACC).
The research project seeks to strengthen the capacity of four coastal megacities of Lagos, Bangkok, Manila and Vancouver to effectively respond to climate change and its impacts.
Wahab said that building resilience of Lagos to flooding would begin at the local government level.
According to him, recognition that risks and vulnerabilities for the various aspects of climate change in cities are shaped by local contexts and influenced by the actions and inactions of local communities.
He said that communities were key actors in building climate resilience based on their invaluable source of knowledge embedded in unique social, cultural, economic, political and physical realities.
The expert said that public and private agencies and community development associations must be in the vanguard and watchdogs in their respective localities to check unlawful actions.
“All of us must appreciate that we are stakeholders, we are contributors to flooding incidence in Lagos because solid waste is a driver of flooding.
“If we all engage in responsible waste management at household level by reuse and reducing the amount of waste generated and conversion of waste to gas, there will be less waste for the government to carry and the drains will be healthier.
“I do not usually buy fresh plastic bag whenever I go to the market to buy anything, I take the ones I have at home, if more people do this our environment will be better.
“The city will be resilient and healthier, not many houses will be flooded or collapse again and the livelihood of the people will be protected and secured.
“Our drains will be empty and storm water will be able to flow freely, but when we continue to choke the canal and drains with solid waste there will be flooding because rain will always fall,” Wahab said.
According to the expert, responsible behaviours in urban planning and development and in building sustainable infrastructure were crucial to resilient building in the state.
“If we must build bridges and culvert, they must be built to standard, built in anticipation of development that will take place in the next 10 years and the amount of groundwater that will pass through.
“We must learn to landscape. Most people do hard landscaping; they concrete the entire square metre of their compound, they do not plant grasses and percolation is inhibited.
“When we do this we are not creating a resilient community. We continue to be more vulnerable, exposed and we will keep having problems with flood.
“Agreed, Lagos is a low-lying coastal state and because of that we should not continue to exacerbate the situation by clogging the drains and erecting illegal structures,” he said.
He also advised residents to imbibe the culture of rain harvesting and conversion of collected rainwater to domestic use thereby reducing the volume of water fetched from well and borehole.
The Lead Researcher of CCaR, Dr Ibidun Adelekan, said that identifying and understanding the vulnerabilities of various communities would assist in addressing flood issues in the state.
Adelekan said that resilience could only be achieved through cumulative contribution of multiple interventions and actions overtime.
Dr Mayowa Fasona of the Department of Geography, University of Lagos, said that government should collaborate with the private sector in strengthening knowledge of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction for sustainable socio-economic development.
“Flooding will always occur in Lagos because of its coastal nature.
“As human, we have no power over nature, but we can change our attitude to reduce our exposure and vulnerabilities to its shocks and fast track our recovery systems,” Fasona said.
President, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Mrs Margaret Oguntala, has inaugurated the construction of 18 units residential terrace in highbrow Alausa area of Lagos toward bridging the nation’s shelter gap.
Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation has launched the 1GOV Enterprise Content Management System (ECMS) to enhance digital governance and improve service delivery.
The launch, held on Thursday in Abuja, marks the ministry’s transition from paper-based operations to a smart, integrated and technology-driven work environment.
The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, said the deployment aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
Utsev said the system would improve data management, streamline workflows and strengthen transparency and accountability across the ministry.
According to him, the ECMS will enhance productivity, preserve institutional memory and reduce operational costs in the ministry.
Launching the platform, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, said the initiative is a major step in public sector reform.
She said the ministry’s mandate affects Nigerians through water supply, sanitation, irrigation, river basin development and climate resilience programmes.
Walson-Jack said the 1GOV ECMS enables secure digital records management, automated workflows, electronic approvals and real-time collaboration across MDAs.
She added that the deployment aligns with the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021–2025 and the directive for full digitalisation by December 2025.
“Effective governance cannot afford delays caused by manual bottlenecks or avoidable inefficiencies,” she said.
She directed that all official correspondence in the ministry must henceforth be processed through approved digital registry channels.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Dr Emanso Umobong, said the system would eliminate workflow inefficiencies and improve service delivery.
She urged staff to fully adopt the platform and engage in continuous capacity building.
Research shows that local communities and citizens living at the grassroots, particularly women, are directly impacted by the environmental degradation, flooding and others that result from these manifestations.
In the light of this, non-governmental organisation, Ese Usamali Foundation For Rural Development (EUFORDe), has held a forum for women and other members of oil impacted communities, tagged: ‘Voices from the Grassroots,’ and aimed at building their resilience and mitigation efforts against climate change and environmental degradation
The forum, with the theme: ‘Building Resilience for Oil Spill Impacted Ahoada Communities,’ organised with support from Global Green Grants, was held in Ahoada Community, Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State, on December 5, 2025.
Executive Director of Ese Usamali Foundation For Rural Development, Mercy Elemchukwu-James, said women are at the forefront of efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change and environmental degradation.
The event, therefore, was “designed for community women impacted by oil spills, flooding and other environmental degradation,” she said.
Community women were enlightened by resource persons on new opportunities for sustainable agricultural practices and water management techniques that cushion the impact of oil spills.
Lectures were also delivered on Self-care and Trauma-care, with focus on physical and mental health of the population, and increasing access to health-related resources and services; as well as on Food security and women’s critical role in decision making in oil spill and flood situations in communities
Elemchukwu-James pointed out that the event created a forum for stakeholders, civil society actors and others to dialogue on measures at advancing inclusive and sustainable livelihoods of community women.
She stressed the need for collaborative efforts towards achieving mitigation efforts, while underscoring EUFORDe’s commitment to “fostering partnerships as a critical driver for achieving a healthy community and sustainable development.”
Elemchukwu-James described participants’ design of ‘Community Resilience Plan,’ to manage and combat environmental degradation and crises, as part of achievements recorded at the event.
The forum also witnessed the launching of EUFORDs’ Center For Resilience and Rights.
“This center is established to build resilience as Trauma-Care for victims of environmental degradation, support for survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and a platform where victims of environmental injustice and other GBV cases can seek redress,” Elemchukwu-James said.
Participants celebrated the milestones achieved and charted a path toward greater impact in the coming years. They also described the event as “an inspiring and transformative experience.”
Elemchukwu-James said the awareness creation workshop “reaffirms EUFORDe’s mission to create an equitable society in which the rights and capacities of women, youth, children and underprivileged are integrated in the socio-economic planning and development of communities, for the attainment of equity and peace.
-
Featured3 days agoFubara Redeploys Green As Commissioner For Justice
-
Sports16 hours agoAFCON ’25: Osimhen Not Worried By Yekini Comparison, Pressure
-
Sports16 hours agoOgoni Nation Cup : Coach Praise Players In spite 2-0 Loss
-
Business16 hours agoKALCCIMA PROMISES KALABARI ECONOMIC GROWTH, INAUGURATES NEW EXECUTIVES
-
Sports16 hours agoChelsea Set To Part Ways With Maresca?
-
Politics17 hours agoYou Have No Power To Drop Me, Ekiti PDP Candidate Tells INEC
-
Sports16 hours agoRemo Stars set for Ikenne return
-
Nation16 hours agoChristians Convert To Islam or die As ISWAP burns down Christian village
