On Sunday evening, the commissioner for the environment and water resources, Tokunbo Wahab posted a video on X showing a flooded street. “Yesterday in Athens, Greece,” the post’s caption read.
While the video was indeed of a street in Athens, the flooding occurred last September, not “yesterday” as claimed by the Honourable Commissioner.
The Commissioner did not apologise for the factual error but doubled down with his retweets, suggesting that the video had been posted as a reminder that climate change is real.
He also posted a video of heavy flooding in parts of Thailand. “The reality of climate change,” the caption said.
Over the past couple of months, Mr. Wahab has led a campaign to ‘clean up’ Lagos, announcing plans to ban single-use-plastics, implement a waste to energy project and tackle the unhealthy practice of dumping solid waste into flood water.
On Monday, the commissioner posted a video of a free-flowing drainage beside a “popular market”.
“It is a confirmation to the work the Lagos State government is doing in keeping our environment clean at all times,” Mr. Wahab said. “We recognize that more works still needs to be done across the state and we are not dropping the ball.”
Indeed, the effects of climate change on Lagos, a coastal city bordered by the Atlantic, are no doubt deleterious. The deputy governor, Obafemi Hamzat, recently described it as an existential threat. “If we do not move water, water will move you,” he said.
In that light, the recent moves by the environment ministry to remove illegal structures and ensure a clean environment should be applauded but only cautiously. What does it say about Mr. Wahab’s character, that after he was fact-checked on the Athens timeline, he did not apologize for the error? Or are facts no longer sacred or expected from a public official of his standing?
Mr. Wahab has previously claimed that the public will always distrust the government, no matter their intentions. But it is the little lies and the lack of gumption to acknowledge errors – such as in the Athens case – that erodes public confidence. A public official who prances around on X making non-factual claims should be regarded suspiciously, even when they appear to be working in the public interest.
