Fresh facts have emerged that the pollution and contamination of Lagos State water bodies have reached their climax. Human faeces are now found in most fish caught from the rivers.
The state’s commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Hon Dayo Bush Alebiosu disclosed this to LEADERSHIP Friday in Lagos. In addition to the pollution and contamination of the state’s water bodies, illegal dredging and land reclamation in its waterways have become worrisome to the state government because of their imminent dangers.
He said, “We are identifying all the issues that put our lagoons under pressure. We know people who dump chemical waste and all sorts of bio-waste. We have people on top of our waters, who regularly pollute them by toileting on them.
“There were cases where tilapia fish were dissected in the Makoko area, and they saw fresh human faeces inside them. This is because the fish were feeding on the faeces; some would throw it away, and some would clean it because they couldn’t afford to discard it and buy a new one.
“So there are so many things, what do you think will happen when they consume things like that? And some people are not even aware of the cleaning techniques of fish, that is why some fish when you eat it, it will taste bitter; It means it hasn’t been cleaned very well so, imagine if it had faeces in it, there are people with such experiences, we are putting everything on ground, It is going to be an open door where we discuss everything, we address it, take it up and we push it beyond that.’’
To this end, the commissioner said the state government has concluded plans to hold a maiden stakeholders summit to raise awareness on imminent dangers in the nefarious act.
At the forthcoming summit, Alebiosu said, “We are talking to people who understand Lagos very well. We are considering bringing experts to us. They have a lot of data and an in-depth understanding of our waters, probably even better than we do.
“They have data; they have reports and many things like that, so some of the things they have discovered would be important for them not just to come and speak about it, but for all stakeholders to hear and understand the dangers they are going into. Of course, as we know, there is no illegal reclamation going on in any community that the community is unaware of, where did they come from?
“The importance of addressing coastal erosion is one of the things that will come up at the summit. Sometimes, when you do not see or experience something first-hand, there is always that tendency not to understand it in depth, and when you do not understand it in depth, you will probably not apply it within a particular time frame of what you ought to do. So, we are looking at bringing all stakeholders together, known and unknown stakeholders, people who participate in dredging.”
