Dr Babatunde Ajayi, the General Manager(GM) of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), has said that six communities had been wiped out on the shores of the coast of Lagos.
The situation, according to the GM, was caused by ocean surge resulting from climate change.
The LASEPA boss revealed the situation while speaking as a guest speaker on Climate Investment, which was a sub topic at the second annual symposium organised by the Department of Finance, School of Management of Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State.
The symposium with the theme “Public-Private Partnerships in Climate Finance: The Role of Governments and Impact Investors,” was held within the university’s campus, has the President of the Chatered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Prof Deji Olanrewaju as Special Guest and the Unit Head Consumers Proposition, Access Bank Plc, Mrs Adaeze Ume and Dr Femi Ademola were other guest speakers at the event.
Ajayi said, “On the impact of climate change, I can speak for Lagos because I am in Lagos, I work in Lagos and for Lagos.
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“The impact of climate in our city in Lagos is so obvious, so visible. Starting from Okun Aja, Mowo Kekere, Mowo Nla and all of those communities, they are on the shores of Lagos.
“If you are not afraid of the boat, if you get down from the beach or Eko Atlantic and you go through that ocean corridor, surge has put out a lot of communities.
“People who used to live 150 to 200 metres into the current ocean had been displaced, though they were born there.
“These people, who were 50 years at least, were born more than 50 metres away from where they were standing now. You can see there are significant impact of climate change in Lagos in particular.
“There are coastal erosions, very obvious, very visible. We are always trying to evacuate people trying to resettle them. This is an aspect of climate investment.”
On climate financing, Ajayi said Lagos State just got $260,000 from Japanese Government two weeks ago, adding that the state just started implementation of the project for which the money was meant.
Declaring open the symposium, the Vice Chancellor of Babcock University, Prof Ademola Tayo, emphasised the need for both the public and the private sector to mobilise resources to stem the ugly tide of climate change.
Story was adapted Thisday.
