In its quest to make the state very safe to all residents, including school pupils, the Lagos State government, has recently embarked on some channelization exercise of about 370 out of the total 623 primary and secondary schools, which have been identified to be prone to flood.

The exercise, it was gathered, was aimed at combating the perennial flood related problems in the state.   

When speaking on the flood control project, the Commissioner for  Environment, Mr Tunji Bello, during an inspection tour of some of the projects located at Sari-Iganmu in Apapa-Iganmu Council of the state, disclosed that, “Year 2012’s de-flooding of schools’ programme by direct labour was part of measures by the state government to combat and minimise the negative effect of flooding confronting most of the schools located on flood plain.”

Also, according to the commissioner, the project was meant to, among other things, enhance social economic activities in the state, curtail a situation whereby learning periods are disrupted by rainwater during the rainy season, halting the erosive threats posed by storm water on buildings, as well as ensure a general conducive learning environment in those schools during the entire academic calendar.

Mr Tunji Bello therefore gave the assurance that on completion, flooding that had been plaguing the affected schools, as well as the host communities in the state would be a thing of the past.

Some of the schools visited and which were at various levels of completion, include Araromi Junior High School, Iganmu Junior Secondary School, Araromi Senior High School, and Sari-Iganmu Junior High School.