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Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, UniLag VC

UNILAG waterfront needs shoreline protection – VC cries out as fence collapses

Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, UniLag VC

 

By Chinyere Nwachukwu
Lagos, Oct. 20, 2021
The University of Lagos’s waterfront is in need of urgent adequate shoreline protection as its ageing perimeter fence has collapsed, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, said  on Wednesday.
Ogundipe made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
The rains that Lagos and its environs have experienced possibly due to the impact of climate change and subsequent higher-than-normal discharge of the rivers emptying into the lagoon, possibly led to the collapse of the already aging perimeter fence and embankment with  imminent security issues and attendant ecological pertubations.
“In the morning of yesterday, Oct. 19, the chief security officer of the university called my attention to the sad development.
 “We quickly rushed there to carry out an on-the-spot  assessment of the collapsed perimeter fence on the waterfront.
Ogundipe appealed to the  Federal Government to urgently come to the aid of the university in that regard.
“We need reconstruction of the embankment,” he told NAN.
According to the vice-chancellor,  the waterfront of the university is  subjected to wave actions and coastal erosion which are associated with risks of land loss, damage to coastal infrastructure and flooding.
He said that the university  had maintained an embankment on the shoreline and waterfront serving as perimeter fencing and ensuring that coastal erosion and occasional flooding were addressed.
The Lagos lagoon is part of the lagoon complex which comprises a  network  of  nine  lagoons namely: Yewa,  Ologe,  Badagry,  Iyagbe,  Lagos,  Kuramo,  Epe,  Lekki,  and  Mahin, stretching from the Republic of Benin.
 “It  lies behind the barrier beach and extends for 210km along the coast.
“The Lagos Lagoon is, on the average, about two to four metres in depth, but it is 10 metres deep at the entrance at the Commodore Channel around  the Lagos Harbor, which empties the lagoon into the Atlantic Ocean,” he noted.
He added that the Lagos lagoon was bound in the south by  the  five   cowrie  creeks, in the   Eastern   flank   by   the   Palavar   Islands, the northern end  by   Ikorodu, and on the  western border, by mainland communities.
Ogundipe said that  the Lagos lagoon waterfront with usefulness as a tourism resource is considered a major artery in the water transportation architecture of Lagos metropolis.
“In this light, the university of Lagos waterfront has already been earmarked for construction of a jetty by the Lagos State Government under the leadership of Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
“The lagoon is flanked by tidal wetlands and swamps.
“This comprises of the waterfront, known as university of Lagos Waterfront, shorelines of Ilaje-Bariga and shorelines of Makoko community,” Ogundipe said.
He added that water from the Atlantic Ocean moved into the lagoon during high tides and receded during low tides.
According to him, it is affected by a powerful longshore drift and also fed by several rivers such as  Ogun,Ona/Ibu, Oshun, Shasha and Oni.

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