Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The interaction between the warm, humid maritime tropical air mass and
the hot and dry continental air mass from the interior gives the region two
contrasting seasons; a wet season, which usually lasts from April to October;
and a dry season, which lasts from November to March (BNRCC, 2012). In
the wet season, two rainfall peak periods are experienced-in the months of
May to July and September to October. These peak periods are when acute
flooding hazard usually occur in the state and this heightened by the poor
surface drainage structure of the coastal lowlands (BNRCC, 2012). The mean
annual rainfall for the state is roughly 1,657 mm with a consistently high
temperature (about 30°C for the mean monthly maximum).
The actual population figure for Lagos State is disputed between the
officially presented total by the National Population Commission of Nigeria in
the 2006 census exercise (which is 9,113,605) and a far higher figure claimed
by the state government (which is about 17.5 million, based on the parallel
count conducted simultaneously by the state during the National Census
exercise). In this chapter, the official 2006 National Census figure (9,113,605
people) is adopted. Despite this, the region remains one of the most populous
and fast growing state in the country. At 3.2 growth rate, UNFPA population
projection for the region is 11,867,082 and 12,252,970 in 2014 and 2015
respectively (http://nigeria.unfpa.org/lagos.html).
Using the UNFPA projected figure for 2014, the population density is
currently about 3,098 persons per km 2 . This has serious implication for the
available urban land, management and the implementation of the existing
urban design, because such uncontrolled growth has led to the development of
slum villages and illegal structures and numerous disordered settlements.
Consequently, it has accelerated indiscriminate land reclamation, the
encroachment of residential and economic activities into natural water paths,
wetlands, river valleys and extremely low-lying lands and floodplains. For
example, the Makoko slum water community that falls within the Yaba
development area is completely resting on the waters of the Lagos Lagoon
(Figure 2). Its population is estimated to have approached 85,840.
2.1. Flood Hazard in Lagos State
Over the years, flooding has become a major natural disaster ravaging
Lagos State annually. The primary cause of floods in the region is heavy
rainfall which increases the quantity of water discharged from rivers and
lagoons thereby overflowing its channels and floodplains.
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