Lagos Island’s Aroloya is more than a street name — it’s a litmus test. For residents, the everyday reality is stubborn and elemental: intermittent or absent piped water, blocked and non-functioning drainage channels that turn rain into filth and floods, and inner roads so eroded they impede commerce and emergency access. Those problems persist despite more than two-and-a-half decades of uninterrupted governance by parties in the AD→ACN→APC political lineage. The question is blunt and urgent: Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, what are you doing about it?
The reality on the ground
Walk Aroloya after the rains and what you see is predictable: households wading through sewage-tainted water; traders with drenched goods; motorbikes skirting deep ruts where roads once were. Many residents still depend on private boreholes and water vendors because piped water is unreliable — a reality Lagos State has repeatedly promised to address but which continues to frustrate everyday life. Recent state announcements show Lagos is planning interventions — including concessioning mini and micro waterworks to private operators — but those plans have yet to translate into a visible and consistent improvement for thousands on Lagos Island.
What the government is saying — and what’s been promised
The Lagos State Government has in 2025 publicly reiterated plans to ramp up potable water provision, piloting public-private partnerships for mini and micro waterworks as part of a broader strategic plan. Officials have also publicly committed to distribution network overhauls and to engaging private investors to rehabilitate dysfunctional waterworks. Those policy moves are important, but for neighborhoods like Aroloya, policy announcements must be matched by rapid operational delivery — functioning treatment and distribution, reduction in non-revenue water, and clear timelines for when taps will run consistently.
Floods, drainage failure and climate pressure
Lagos’s drainage crisis isn’t new; it’s aggravated by rapid urbanisation, blocked canals, and the increasing intensity of seasonal rains. In 2025, the governor himself acknowledged that floods displaced thousands of people and affected tens of thousands across the state — a reminder that drainage failure is a matter of public safety, public health and economic loss. For coastal and island communities, poor drainage compounds the daily hardship: waterlogged streets spread disease, destroy livelihoods and deepen poverty. Unless dredging, canal clearing and sustainable urban drainage systems are implemented and maintained, Aroloya will remain a recurring emergency zone.
Roads: more than inconvenience — economic damage
Bad inner roads cut into the fabric of micro-commerce. They raise transportation costs, disrupt access for customers and suppliers, and discourage investment in affected streets. When the same neighbourhoods that generate tax revenue cannot reliably access water and have impassable roads, the social contract frays. Lagos has plans for dredging and large infrastructure projects (for waterways and transport), but those big projects must be complemented by focused, visible maintenance and rehabilitation for inner-city roads on Lagos Island. The people of Aroloya need potholes and ruts fixed, kerbs and gullies rebuilt, and a maintenance plan with citizen reporting and public accountability.
Why incremental promises won’t cut it
Policy speeches, project launches and high-level summits are necessary. But they do not replace steady service delivery. The state’s move to involve private partners in mini/micro waterworks could be transformative — if concessions are transparent, tied to performance indicators, and include safeguards for affordability and access by low-income residents. Likewise, flood management requires not only periodic dredging and one-off interventions but an ongoing maintenance regime, spatial planning enforcement, and the resourcing of drainage agencies so they can act before disasters occur, not only after.
A constructive checklist for immediate action (what Aroloya residents and Lagos need now)
1. Rapid-response drain clearing and debris removal on Aroloya and adjoining streets, with progress publicly reported within 14 days.
2. Emergency road patching and temporary leveling of critical stretches to restore commerce and emergency access.
3. Fast-track pilot water connections from rehabilitated mini/micro waterworks to priority households and small businesses, with free water buffing stations where necessary.
4. Transparent PPP contracts: publish concession terms, targets (liters/day increases, reduction in outages), penalty clauses and expected timelines.
5. Community reporting portal linked to the Lagos State drainage and water agencies for real-time complaints and status updates.
Final word — governance equals delivery
Politics is not just about which party occupies the government house — it’s about what those in power deliver to the citizen on a Monday morning when the taps are dry and the gutters are full. Aroloya’s residents are not asking for miracles; they are asking for functioning services that every modern city must guarantee: clean water, passable roads, and drainage that keeps homes and livelihoods dry. Governor Sanwo-Olu’s administration has outlined policies and partnerships that could solve these problems — but the test is in execution, speed, transparency and measurable results for communities like Aroloya.
If Lagos is to maintain its reputation as Nigeria’s commercial heartbeat, it must ensure that the heartbeat reaches every street — not only the skyline. Aroloya deserves nothing less than urgent, demonstrable action.
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