The Nigerian Institute of Town Planners has called on the Federal Government to present a bill to the National Assembly for a national flood control law that will specify measures for flood control and funding in all communities across the country.
The institute noted that the ad hoc measures against flooding could not prevent a recurrence of the phenomenon, stressing that a strategic collective action was needed to prevent flooding in the major cities.
The President, NITP, Chief Steve Onu, who said this in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Friday after receiving a leadership award from Topleaders Magazine, stated that Nigerian cities were susceptible to natural disasters due to lack of planning.
Onu advocated for the planting of trees in cities to absorb excess carbon dioxide and reduce erosion, adding that development should be discouraged in flood-prone areas to avoid loss of lives and property during the rainy season.
He explained that Singapore was able to control flooding by building 7,000 kilometres of drainages and water channels, which gather flood water that would be kept in giant reservoirs and recycled for domestic use.
Onu noted that flooding could be prevented if the law on flood control was passed; adding that every community and city would then be empowered to take measures that could stop the phenomenon with adequate funding to back up any project.
The NITP president said his organisation was concerned about the security challenge facing the country, hence its decision to make security the theme of its forthcoming conference and to proffer solutions.
According to him, land use planning can reduce insecurity in the cities because surveillance and crime-prevention strategies can be implemented in well-planned urban areas, noting that the construction of high walls around homes amounted to a waste of land and resources.
Onu said, “Our cities are growing and they are susceptible to natural disasters, which occur due to the lack of planning. I expect the Federal Government to present a bill on national flood control to the National Assembly with provisions for building of canals and drainages by communities and cities backed by adequate funding.
“A country like Singapore harvests rainwater and recycle it for domestic use; about 17 reservoirs were built to collect rainwater and about 7,000km of canals collect surface water, so you cannot see flooding in Singapore. If such numbers of reservoirs are constructed, the issue of flooding will be forgotten in the country.”
The town planner blamed reclamation of the sea and blocking of natural waterways and estuaries for the ocean surge in Lagos.