Water provision in Lagos and the need for consistency (2)

In the first part of my article I compared the transformation of London in the 19th century from a pestilential pit to the modern city of today. I was making the point that this was a long-term project across multiple political administrations. Much of this infrastructure was built using private funding but with government-backed guarantees. The sums were huge. For example, the main sewers built between 1859 and 1865 cost £4.2 million that would have been the equivalent of around £5 billion in today’s money. There was no simple agreement on funding solutions and political outcomes. London was awash with the same self-interest and politicking we see here today. It is pertinent to note that the same government or political parties did not achieve this transformation. From 1827 to 1874 the UK had 20 different prime ministers from three different parties. Even the system of government for London changed three times in 1835, 1855 and 1889. Again, I quote from the same source:

“Local government in the metropolis was indeed diverse. This meant that both incompetent and competent authorities, honest and small, rich and poor, existed cheek by jowl…. Many complained, with good cause, about the state of their bins, or the mud on their streets, or their neighbour’s cesspool; but the self same people might deny that they should have to pay sewer rates; or that they should contribute towards financing the drains of Londoners in the next parish, or even the next street” (Dirty Old London, The Fight Against Victorian Filth. Lee Jackson; Yale University Press, 2014).

Corrupt state and local government officials and residents not willing to accept their responsibility or pay their taxes are a common source of complaint in Lagos. So, I take you back to the question I posed at the onset of this column, ‘Does it seem strange that I refer back to the history of London to provide some hope and balance when thinking about the future of Lagos?’

There are lessons to be learned, some of which are applicable to our current political environment. Some issues go beyond partisan politics, vested interest and personalities – or they should do! What London’s development does demonstrate is that despite corruption, inefficient government, self-interest, greed and sheer inertia, it is possible to create order out of chaos and cities out of slums. Candidates ‘trashing’ incumbents and their track records should remember that ‘going back to square one’ or ‘reversing years of neglect’ should not be the death of long-term vision. Large scale projects, particularly those that need to attract long-term financing, need to be seen in a strategic context and treated on their true merits, not by their partisan credentials or political opportunism.

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I doubt whether there can be a single Lagosian, by birth or residency, that does not see the need for a visionary approach to the development of this city – not just for this strip of coast but the economic health of the whole country. I hope that whatever the outcome of the eventual elections at both the federal and state level, the winners see the virtue of consistency where it is merited and the continuation of what has been started until completion.

Finally, having made one particular argument, let me articulate another. I have reasoned that taking the example of London’s development, we should not despair at the size of the mega city task. However, recognising we should take a long-term approach to achieving our vision is not to suggest time is on our side. The core forty or so years of development in London is not available to us. The scale of Lagos’ population and the resulting pollution, particularly that which results from the toxicity of modern life, is our ticking time bomb. Shayo Holloway said recently that even our current water supply is under immediate threat. Our boreholes are becoming salty from proximity to the sea and as toxins seep into the water table, heavy metals and other dangerous pollutants are becoming ever present. In addition, the proliferation of boreholes and the extraction of water from aquifers are causing land subsidence and collapse.

Global warming and rising sea levels might seem a distant reality but they are a clear and present danger to a city so close to the sea and with so low a profile (versus sea level). Years of ineffective regulation of industrial waste, the growing proliferation of e-waste (dumped TVs, computers, white goods and phones) and insufficient sanitary planning and controls in Lagos mean if we do not address pollution this city will start poisoning its population. Already, anyone eating fish caught in our local lagoons and rivers will be digesting toxins well in excess of legal limits anywhere in the west. Already, children living near dumps and landfills are contracting cancers from as young as four years old.

So, the message becomes even stronger. Not only will taking a partisan short-term approach to Lagos’ and Nigeria’s infrastructural needs be wasteful and chase away investment, not only will it continue to stunt the development of our human capital, it will swiftly condemn our dreams for a beautiful Lagos Mega City into a toxic, poisonous nightmare.

Keith Richards