Lagos Community Pioneers AfDB’s Innovative Flood Solution

The Lagos State Government has become the first in Africa to implement the innovative SLAMDAM flood management solution, which is an easily deployable water-filled flood barrier, at the Omojuwa Estate in Kosofe Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.

The SLAMDAM project is implemented as part of the Adaptation Benefit Mechanism (ABM) Program by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) which aims to implement Innovative Solutions to Mitigate Flood Risks and Strengthen Resilience to Climate Change-Induced Flooding at the Community Level. The project is designed to implement a small-scale high-impact highly replicable climate change adaptation demonstration technique with a focus on the water sector in Nigeria.

The Brinker Consortium made up of Natural Eco Capital (Nigeria), Zephyr Consulting (Netherlands) and Slamdam BV (Netherlands) are the AfDB’s consultants implementing the project.

Speaking at the Omojuwa Estate formal flood-barrier equipment handover ceremony at the community, Director Lagos State Drainage and Planning Services, Engr. Tayo Fagbeku, who represented the Permanent Secretary, expressed delight at the development. “We decided to be part of this project because we are not averse to innovative ideas that will be of benefit to our people and contribute to the various solutions we have to manage floods in Lagos.
result of this pilot has been excellent and encouraging.”

CEO, Natural Eco Capital, Dr. Eugene Itua, pointed out that “This pilot started with Omojuwa Estate and Iponri communities in Lagos State. While Omojuwa is the first to complete the process, Iponri will follow soon. The mobile flood barrier (SLAMDAM), and other associated types of equipment are being given free of charge through the AfDB-supported project. One interesting aspect of this whole solution is that water is being used to fight water.”
Project Lead Consultant & CEO, Zephyr, Omar Saleh, speaking on the project approach and objectives, said the project location was selected through; interaction with relevant stakeholders, field visits and, hydrodynamic modeling software, followed by determining the deployment strategy and locations for the flood barrier, and finally designing the appropriate SLAMDAM technology for the location. The project also developed, and tested the ABM methodology, with an innovative method to support rapid mobilization of funding to further scale-up climate adaptive measures such as SLAMDAM.
The objectives of the project are to demonstrate the SLAMDAM technology, being a mobile flood barrier, as an effective solution to adapt to climate change-induced floods; and to test the ABM methodology in order to measure the certified adaptation benefits from SLAMDAM using a flood intelligence tool.
Charles Otabor, the community leader of Omojuwa Estate says, “We like the community approach of this project as we were involved from day one and even in the selection of the site. The project team has trained some members of our community as the initial crop of the Flood Response team. These first responders who have been trained with hands-on demonstration of the technology showed us that the technology is simple for anyone to use or deploy easily without a degree from the university. We pledge to utilize these pieces of equipment appropriately for the benefit of our community, and the people of Lagos State.