The Africa Green Economy and Sustainability Institute (AGESI) has cautioned against the continued denial of flood risks facing Lagos, calling on authorities to take urgent measures to address the growing crisis in Nigeria’s economic capital city. 

Eugene Itua, AGESI’s executive director, made the call as floods hit several parts of Lagos. 

The institute pointed out that the claim that flooding is a new phenomenon in Lagos negates the fact that it has recurred annually since 1968, with the exception of the 1973 Sahelian drought year.

“As floodwaters continue to threaten the lives, livelihoods, and safety of more than 20 million Lagos residents, a new, comprehensive educational exposition is pushing back against emerging narratives that label the city’s flood history as a ‘convenient lie’,” AGESI said in a statement on Wednesday. “A cornerstone of the exposition is the dismantling of the myth that Lagos flooding is a recent phenomenon.”

The statement also cautioned against claims that the recent flooding in Lagos was single-handedly caused by the newly constructed Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, reiterating that the flood crisis stems from decades of verifiable climate data.

The institute, however, listed climate change, ocean subsidence, infrastructural hubris, urbanisation, and improper waste disposal as the combination of factors that have contributed to increased flooding in the state. 

It warned that constant flooding poses a significant economic threat to Nigeria, citing a World Bank report showing that exposure to floods, erosion, and pollution in Cross River, Delta, and Lagos states cost the country $9.4 billion in 2018 alone. 

“According to World Bank data cited in the exposition, floods, erosion, and pollution in Cross River, Delta, and Lagos states cost society an estimated $9.7 billion in 2018 alone, equating to 2.4 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP. 

“Furthermore, over 1.35 million people in Lagos are currently exposed to the 10-year flood hazard zone,” the AGESI statement explained. 

AGESI appealed to decision-makers to take urgent action against flooding in Lagos, including data and early warning systems; infrastructure accountability; the establishment of financial safety nets; and the restoration of natural wetland buffers, which act as the city’s natural sponges.