By NDUBUISI OKEZIE OKEH

LAGOS, mega-city with a population of roughly 18 million dominated by its system of islands, sandbars, and lagoons have had its share of the global apocalypse.  The city itself sprawls over four main islands: Lagos, Iddo, Ikoyi, and Victoria, which are connected to each other and to the mainland by a system of bridges.

All the territory is low-lying, the highest point on Lagos Island being only 22 feet (7 metres) above sea level. Today, the city of Lagos occupies 1,170 square km of land out of which 220 square km (18.9 per cent) is water.

Lagos is the most populous city in Nigeria and it is one of the fastest growing cities. By United Nations estimates, there will be over 25 million people in the Lagos area by 2015.

Thus, Lagos State constitutes the highest concentration of human beings in the smallest landmass in Africa. Results of observations indicate wide spatial differentials among the LGAs in terms of access to safe and unsafe drinking water. These differentials are also observed between slum and non-slum areas in Lagos State.

Seven LGAs including Agege, Amuwo-odofin, Ikeja, Ikorodu, Lagos Mainland, Shomolu and Surulere have tube wells as their major source of drinking water. Apart from Ajeromi Ifelodun LGA where 28.4 per cent and 11.4 per cent of the slum and non-slum areas depends on public tap, there is no other LGA that depends on the public tap system as their major source of drinking water signifying the collapse and non-functionality of the public water supply system in the city.

With respect to solid waste management, results of recent studies show that some of these wastes are disposed in the streets or burnt even in non-slum areas such as in Eti Osa and Kosofe, while slum residents in Apapa and Ajeromi-Ifelodun engage the service of garbage collectors. In consonance with global research findings, slum dwellers generate less of food wastes compared to non-slum dwellers in the city.

Lagos has open drains and narrow shallow trenches which are often clogged with discarded household or industrial appliances, sand, and refuse transported by flooding. When the drains are not cleaned, they are unsightly and exude unpleasant odours. Potholes in the streets, pools of stagnant water, and waste gushing from bathrooms and kitchens provide breeding sites for malarial mosquitoes and other spreaders of disease.

Clearing of drains

To improve drainage, many drains have been widened while the Lagos Drain Ducks Authority, an agency charged specifically with the responsibility of clearing the drains was created seven years ago. Major pollutants comes from its numerous industries which include both chemical and non-chemical manufacturing industries, its innumerable automobiles plying its roads and streets, Residential quarters, Administrative quarters, Its recreation parks.

Even science, man’s greatest weapon, agrees that for every action there is a reaction. The city has exceeded its carrying capacity for man’s countless schemes. Mother earth has opened its mouth wide releasing plagues on the surface of the metropolis.

The consequence is indiscernible. Every inhabitant is adjusting greatly to this wind of change. For those that cannot adjust relocation is the only option. A war must be declared on indiscriminate exploitation of the environment. Environmental groups must be established in additions to the existing ones.

The common objective of these groups would be to put to an end the environmental impacts of man’s activities on the terrestrial and aquatic environments. It’s time the government pays attention to this degrading ecosystem called Lagos.