Lagos Under Threat of Coastal Erosion – Fashola

Governor of Lagos, Mr. Babatunde Fashola has said that Lagos state like any other states on the coastline is under threat of erosion due to rising sea level.
Fashola who was speaking at an occasion to mark the 2014 World Environmental Day said no nation is completely free from the negative effects of climate change, adding that rising sea level has become a constant threat to every coastline.

Fashola who spoke through Commissioner for Special Duty, Dr. Wale Ahmed said the reality is that no nation, however large or small, developed or underdeveloped, wealthy or poor, can escape the impact of climate change.

“Rising sea levels threaten every coastline. More powerful storms and floods threaten every continent. Drought and crop failures deepen hunger and conflict in places where hunger and conflict already thrive. This in turn affects productivity of the population and thus economic recession. The problems may seem daunting, but they are not insurmountable.

“The choice is ours: to form a global partnership to care for earth and one another or risk the destruction of ourselves and diversity of life. The current reality of unsustainable pattern of development is largely threatening human existence and this has become a major source of worry to discerning minds around the world.”
Fashola said fundamental changes are needed in our values, institutions and ways of living to mitigate the negative effects of global warming; even as he said his administration is not leaving anything to chance, given the peculiarities of Lagos as a coastal state and its vulnerability to flooding, arising from climate change.

“Indeed, our own example in Lagos State is a clear case of resilience and innovation in tackling the challenges confronting our development as a coastal megacity. Over the past decade, in addressing climate change, we have institutionalized the tree planting campaign and have planted over five million trees so far.”

Earlier in his welcome address, Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello said the focus of the 2014 Wo9rld Environmental Day was to assess the vulnerability of small island developing states to environmental challenges, especially climate change.

“It is sad to note that environmental challenges have for long been trivialized until the world began to witness unprecedented ecocatastrophes. The manifestations of these across the globe could be seen through desertification, cyclones, Tsunamis, global warming, flooding, diseases and other natural disasters.

“The dire consequences arising from long neglect of the environment have therefore brought global leaders together from across Europe to America, Asia and Africa, in the quest for seeking panaceas necessary for averting further disasters.”