A Better System In Place...

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Infrastructure? There are so many of them right now that we need, we could start rattling off their names and this post would be in no way ending. There are so many things we need as a people, sadly though, we seem to be saddled with a government that does not really care enough about us. They simply do what they want and do not care at all about the needs of the masses.

Well, it’s really sad because we really have needs. We need good roads and good healthcare, we need better schools and we also need a police force that we can trust and rely on. We need to be able to go to our government and lay out our grievances and expect them to work on it with immediate effect. But that’s not going to happen, is it? Because they are who they are, the government will only do what they want to do, regardless of how it affects the masses.

As per what is needed, I’ve gone through a number of posts and I’ve seen majorly the same thing for Nigerians. Good roads, power, good hospitals, and even schools. Here that I’m currently staying, we need all of them, but I’m sure that the ones we have are manageable for now. One infrastructure that we do need, is a good drainage system.

One of the reasons that we experience flooding in this country is not usually because of bad roads, it’s because we have bad drainage systems and it’s inconsistent across the country. In some places, there are good drainage systems, in some there is nothing at all. And then some places do have the drainage system but they’ve been blocked by plastic and debris accumulated by the residents of the area over the years.

Without a good system, when the rains come, there will be nowhere for the water to go, so it accumulates and causes floods. That is why even in developed areas where all the roads are properly tarred and fixed, we still experience flooding. It’s because there is no channel for the water to escape.

I feel that we should focus on this even more than roads because one thing that ruins roads the most is stagnant water and finding a way to make sure that water gets off the road is important. Where I stay currently, our streets don’t even have gutters or ditches, so when it rains, all the water collects on the ground and stays there. The amount of flood that day will be heavily dependent on the level of rainfall that we get.

Sadly though, it’s not just here. That’s how it is in so many parts of the country. There are some gutters that are nothing but jokes. Some gutters are so dry and clean when you open them simply because somewhere down the line, they’ve been blocked and can’t be used to their full potential.

The government really needs to step up for this. Focus on building a good drainage system, a network that would work either all over the state or all over the country. I’m sure that if they really want to do it, they can link up all the drainages and sewers so that they can be emptied into the same place. Maybe the ocean, maybe the river… just something.

Also, there needs to be proper orientation. People have to learn to stop throwing their garbage into gutters and ditches. Throw your garbage in your own dustbin and dispose of it properly, there needs to be heavy fines for defaulters. Maybe then, people will see the need to stop such dirty behavior.

I don’t know if it’s still in place, but there was a time when in Lagos, there used to be waste bins scattered all over major roads. You wouldn’t walk a few paces without coming across them, you then throw your garbage into them and continue on your journey, instead of throwing them on the floor or into the gutter. This is something that other governors need to emulate. We also need a better garbage disposal system, because many people resort to throwing things in the gutter simply because they have no other option.

We need better options. As you’ve seen, there are layers to this thing. Stopping this flooding issue will take the collective effort of the government and all it needs are pretty simple things. If the government does that and gives us a working drainage system, just maybe this flood of a thing will become a thing of the past.

Thank you for reading. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below, I would love to know what you’re thinking. Till we meet in the next post.

This post is inspired by the second topic of this week which is Just One Infrastructure. Feel free to try it out.

N.B: All images used in this post are mine. The thumbnail was designed using Canva.