The Sinking of a Megacity: Venice or Menace? -By Ajiboye Amos Olakunle

From the bustling, waterlogged streets of Somolu and Ipaja to the submerged expressways of Oshodi-Apapa, the wallowing of Lekki and Ibeju-Lekki, and the threatened tarmac of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos has once again been brought to its knees by the annual rains. Families are trapped on the upper floors of their homes, businesses have been crippled, and the dreams of countless residents have been washed away. The most painful image from the latest deluge is not a stranded car or a flooded mansion; it is the viral footage of a young child being carried through brown floodwater and lifted onto the roof of a makeshift building. That child is the human face of failure. There was no rescue boat in sight, no organized evacuation team, and no emergency shelter. Only frightened residents, desperate neighbors, and the thin line between survival and tragedy remained. While the rains are a natural phenomenon, the catastrophic flooding we witness year after year is a man-made disaster, a direct consequence of a culture of impunity, greed, and state failure. We must hold the government and those who contribute to environmental degradation accountable. This is not just an act of nature; it is an act of negligence, and it is time we demand better.

The narrative that Lagos is simply a low-lying coastal city destined to flood is a convenient lie perpetuated by those who benefit from inaction. Yes, the city’s geography and the reality of climate change pose significant challenges, Lagos is hemmed in by the Atlantic Ocean, lagoons, creeks, and wetlands, and heavy rain often coincides with high tide, slowing the discharge of stormwater but the devastation we see is overwhelmingly the result of human actions, or rather inactions, by the state and the careless actions of its citizens. Climate change, however, must not become an excuse for decades of poor governance. Global warming may intensify rainfall, and rising seas may slow drainage, but neither causes refuse to be dumped in gutters, buildings to be approved on waterways, nor wetlands to be reclaimed for estates. This is the Lagos contradiction: expensive towers above, broken drains below; luxury estates behind high walls, floodwater at the gates; roads commissioned with fanfare yet rendered impassable after a few hours of rain. The city is building faster than it is planning and expanding faster than it can drain. The latest flooding swept across Lagos. Gbagada, Mushin, Oshodi, Ikeja, Surulere, Agege, Alimosho, Ikoyi, Lekki, Ibeju-Lekki, and Ikorodu were severely inundated. Roads became rivers and homes became holding ponds, proof that a deluge does not respect either postcode or property value.

The government’s primary responsibility is to protect its citizens. In this, it has catastrophically failed. The most immediate cause of the flooding is the inability of the city’s drainage system to handle the volume of water. The government’s “year-round clearing” of drainages is clearly insufficient and reactionary. The primary bottleneck is that high lagoon water levels prevent stormwater from emptying into the ocean, a design flaw that demands a long-term, engineered solution, not just periodic desilting. The government has failed to invest in a modern, resilient drainage network capable of handling the city’s rapid urbanization and intense rainfall. Even more damning is the revelation from the Minister of Works, David Umahi, who stated that the flooding is partly due to the non-implementation of the Lagos State master plan. He noted that there are designated drainage outlets that have not been developed, meaning the very blueprint for flood control exists but has been ignored. This is not a failure of resources; it is a failure of will. The government must declare flood prevention a national emergency. Drainage systems must be cleared before, during, and after the rains. Illegal structures obstructing waterways should be demolished without political interference. Environmental laws must be enforced without fear or favour, while emergency agencies should shift from disaster response to prevention.

The government’s failure extends to waste management. The city’s drainages are choked with non-biodegradable waste, plastic bottles, nylon bags, and other refuse that turns water channels into solid barriers. The Lagos Waste Management Authority has been unable to enforce proper disposal practices effectively. The Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Dayo Bush-Alebiosu, has bluntly identified “bad habits” and “illegal reclamation” as the core problems causing perennial flooding. This is a direct indictment of the government’s inability to change public behavior through consistent enforcement and public education. Citizens have no excuse for turning drains into refuse dumps, but the government must provide reliable waste collection, adequate transfer stations, recycling facilities, and consistent enforcement. Responsibility must flow both ways. The health argument is stark. Flooded homes and blocked drains create breeding grounds for waterborne and vector-borne diseases, pull household funds toward medical care, and strain public health facilities. Community action therefore promises both prevention and fiscal relief: fewer floods mean fewer illnesses, lower medical bills, and a healthier workforce, a virtuous cycle that benefits households and government budgets alike.

The flood is a direct consequence of the government’s failure to enforce its own urban planning laws. Developers, often with the complicity of state officials, are allowed to build on floodplains and wetlands, which are nature’s first line of defense against flooding. The ongoing sand-filling of communities, which obstructs natural canals and water flow, is a prime example of this destruction. This must stop. The government must demolish structures illegally built on waterways and enforce strict zoning laws without fear or favour. Residents of Ikota and the Lekki axes have sent passionate SOS messages, blaming the recurring flooding on illegal structures built on canals and drainage channels, particularly System 156 and 157 channels. They have accused developers of blocking waterways and the state government of failing to enforce its planning laws. Environmental advocates warn that Lagos is heading towards a major disaster unless canals are urgently cleared and illegal encroachments stopped. Every illegal structure is a ticking time bomb for nearby communities once the rains return. Buildings obstructing essential waterways should be removed through a transparent, lawful process. Yet enforcement must not become another war on low-income residents. The government cannot demolish informal homes while granting waivers to politically connected developers. Where relocation is unavoidable, compensation and humane resettlement must follow.

While the new coastal highway may be a convenient scapegoat, it is a symptom of a larger problem. The government is focused on grand, expensive projects that serve the elite while ignoring the basic, unglamorous work of maintaining the city’s drainage and waste systems. Both Governor Sanwo-Olu and Minister Umahi have dismissed claims that the highway caused the flooding, blaming blocked drains, coastal geography, and heavy rainfall instead. Umahi argued that the highway was designed to improve drainage and facilitate the evacuation of floodwaters from shoreline communities. However, the fact that the government had to call a press conference to deny the allegations shows how deeply public trust has eroded. The government’s focus on mega-projects while failing to maintain basic infrastructure is a betrayal of the people. The construction debris from the airport’s remodeling that blocked drainage and caused flooding at the airport is a perfect example of how projects are prioritized over public safety. When the government itself engages in activities that obstruct water flow, it sends a dangerous message that the law applies only to the poor and powerless.

While the government must be held to account, we, as citizens, cannot absolve ourselves of blame. Our culture of indiscriminate waste disposal is a primary contributor to the flooding. We clog the gutters that are our only defence against the water. We are complicit in our own suffering. Activists and civic leaders have highlighted this, noting that in communities across Lagos, waste is often carelessly discarded into canals and waterways that are essential for managing seasonal water flow. We must adopt a new environmental attitude, a “mental shift” where we see our environment not as a dumping ground but as a shared home that we are responsible for protecting. As one government official noted, when people are told not to dump refuse in drainage channels, it is not for the government’s benefit but for that community’s own good. When your houses are flooded, you are the one that will have health issues. People need to understand this fundamental truth. The change must begin with each of us, in our homes, our streets, and our communities. We must become the guardians of our environment, not its destroyers.

The government must move beyond mere pronouncements and half-measures. The state must listen to its citizens and implement an activist-driven, multi-pronged strategy. This means upgrading and expanding the drainage network, not just clearing it. It involves the construction of retention ponds to hold excess water and the implementation of green infrastructure solutions that allow water to be absorbed back into the earth. Lagos needs a drainage and flood-control system designed for the climate of the future, not the rainfall patterns of the past. This means larger storm drains, retention basins, pumping stations, tidal gates, flood barriers, and regular maintenance. The government must work with NGOs, churches, and community leaders to launch a massive sensitization campaign. We need to change our culture, and that starts with relentless public education. The Citizens-Led Accountability Mechanism project, which empowers youth aged eighteen to thirty-five to serve as climate change advocates in flood-prone communities like Lagos Island and Apapa, is a model for this. The goal is for the people themselves to own it because citizen-led action is the only way climate solutions can last.

There must be real consequences for breaking the law. Individuals and corporations who dump waste illegally or block waterways must face severe penalties. The government must show it is serious about protecting the city. Planning approvals for wetlands and floodplains should be reviewed, and environmental impact assessments must serve as genuine safeguards rather than mere paperwork. The government must restore and protect our wetlands and natural water bodies. These are not “undeveloped” wastelands; they are critical infrastructure for our survival. Nigeria must also begin to de-emphasize Lagos as the near-exclusive center of economic opportunity and address the dangerous overconcentration of people and property. Sea-level rise is now a long-term reality that will persist for generations. Lagos must be defended, while new institutions, industries, technology clusters, and housing are deliberately channeled towards well-planned inland regional cities as part of climate adaptation. This is not about abandoning Lagos but about creating a more balanced and sustainable national development strategy that reduces the pressure on a single, vulnerable coastal megacity.

The future of Lagos is at stake. Year after year, governments allocate billions of naira for erosion control, drainage construction, and ecological intervention. Yet every rainy season exposes clogged drains choked with refuse, illegal structures defiantly occupying waterways, collapsed drainage networks, and urban planning that exists only on paper. Public officials rush to inspect flooded communities only after lives have been lost and properties worth billions destroyed. This ritual of reaction instead of prevention is unacceptable. The government must act now, not with promises, but with a clear, funded, and enforced plan to save our city. We, the people, must also rise to the challenge, change our ways, and demand accountability from our leaders. The flood is not inevitable, but the suffering will continue if we do not act. The image of that child lifted above the floodwaters should trouble every official responsible for Lagos. We may praise the neighbor who helped, but ordinary people should not have to become their own emergency services. As Lagos goes under, governance must rise. The time for accountability is now. We demand action, not excuses. We demand prevention, not reaction. We demand justice, not indifference. The waters may recede, but the memory of this disaster must remain until the government fulfils its sacred duty to protect the lives and property of the people it serves. The sinking of our megacity is not inevitable, but it will be permanent if we continue down this path of negligence and impunity. Let this be the moment when we finally say enough is enough.