Socio-Economic Impact of Flood on Ilaje Community, Bariga Local Council Development Association (L.C.D.A) of Lagos State.

This study evaluated the socio-economic impact of flood on the Ilaje community, Bariga area of Lagos. Floods are common natural disasters occurring in most parts of the world, resulting in damage and loss to human life and livelihood sources, deterioration of the environment and retardation of development. The problem which this study addressed is the impact of floods on the socio-economic livelihoods of the people of the Ilaje community, Bariga area of Lagos State. The study established that the Ilaje community, Bariga Local Council Development Area of Lagos, is a major area in Lagos State and has suffered a lot from flooding. A very high percentage of the sampled population confirmed that the study area, Bariga Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Lagos State, is a slum, and the people of the study area are aware that poverty, hunger and crime are socio-economic impacts of flood. Human impacts on river catchments influence flood behaviour. Land use changes in particular have a direct impact on the magnitude and behaviour of floods. The legislation lacked teeth, and environmental damage continued to worsen. It should be remembered, though, that the flood control measures were introduced in the context of the main priority of promoting environmental, social and economic growth, and were therefore designed to avoid conflict with that overriding objective.