THE recent Id-el-Fitri tragedy at the Lagos Bar Beach in which 10 picnickers were swept away by the surging waves clearly underscores the fact that our beaches are wild, undeveloped and as such uncontrolled or mismanaged. It also rekindles the fear many people have that the beach is a dangerous spot since anything could happen to a picnicker from being robbed by all kinds of nefarious elements that besiege the place to being swept away by the waves like the unfortunate victims.
This is not the first time that people are swept away by the waves at the beach without rescue from any established authority. During festivities like Christmas, Easter and the various Muslim holidays, thousands of picnickers flood the beaches to have fun. But it is also at such times that some unfortunate ones get swept away by the waves. There is hardly any statistics of the number of people that have drowned at the beach but one thing is clear, anyone going to the beach as it is now is doing so at his or her own risk. People drown and there is no compensation or anything like that.
Because our beaches are undeveloped, a lot of odd activities are carried out there. In the case of the Lagos beaches, religious rituals are a common activity. It is common to see different kinds of white garment church adherents flocking the place day and night to perform all manners of religious rituals. Besides, lunatics, the destitute, prostitutes and criminal elements invade the place to perpetrate their nefarious activities. In the course of carrying out these activities, the beach environment is desecrated and rendered unwholesome. Our beaches are very untidy and unattractive.
As a matter of fact, Nigerian beaches are among the most polluted in the world. The reason is quite obvious. There is no conscious management of the beaches. Nobody is in-charge. It is a free-for-all affair at the beaches. None of the coastal state governments has thought it wise to develop its beaches resources. Hence, our beaches are like jungles.
Some months ago, I visited the Alpha Beach on the Lekki axis of Lagos State to see things for myself. I was dumb founded with the eyesore called Alfa Beach. The environment is littered with all kinds of rubbish. The entire place is unkempt showing that no one is in-charge. The place oozes stench as organic materials discarded by the hordes of people using the place decompose. There is no organisation or control whatsoever.
While I was there, a child was nearly swept away by the surging waves but for the quick intervention of an onlooker who quickly rushed to drag the child out of the water. The child was surfing along with her mother and other siblings without inkling that the place was dangerous. As soon as the child was rescued, the woman and her children quickly left the place in fear. The Bar Beach tragedy reminded me of that incident. The question is why should people be allowed to risk their lives at the dangerous waves without restriction from the authorities?
From the Alfa Beach I drove to the Kuramo Beach where I saw substandard development of a sort. Like at the Alfa Beach, I paid a fee before being allowed in. That is okay since properly developed beaches generate revenue. But the Kuramo Beach is a world of its own. There are eating and drinking joints all over the place. I was told that business booms mostly at night. That is when the patrons who have closed for work have time to spend at the spot. Since I went during the daytime, the place was calm with few people visiting. The business owners took time to relax presumably after a hectic night work and getting ready for another busy night.
All this is happening because our beaches are seen as common resource, which any person or group could use and abuse without restriction. But resource management principle holds that any resource that is left to be used by all without restriction suffers what is called "tragedy of the commons". The death of the picnickers at the Bar Beach could as well serve as a factor that would spur the Lagos State Government and its partners to re-double their effort in developing the beach and making it an attractive waterfront for tourists. That would in turn generate revenue for the state.
Worldwide, beaches serve as exotic places, especially when they are developed and managed properly. In that regard, they serve as tourist centres attracting tourists from different countries. In countries where tourism is consciously taken as a viable source of revenue, the beaches are developed with opportunity for various types of sun sport of sea-based recreational activities. In a country like Kenya, for instance, where tourism is the second largest revenue earner after agriculture, the coastal beaches of Mombassa are among the finest in the world where tourists troupe yearly to have fun. I am certain that the tragedy that occurred at the Lagos Beach couldn't occur at Mombassa simply because there are rules and regulations for using the beach, which is strictly observed.
What that means is that one can't just head to the beach for picnic and engage in any activity without regulation. In such beaches, there are clearly designated areas where the public is allowed to use. There are boundaries where people shouldn't go because of the strength of the waves. In all the places, water guards patrol and are readily available to ensure that people are not flouting the rules or overstepping boundaries. In the event that someone is swept away, there would be trained water guards at hand to do rescue operation. But none of these is available at our beaches.
The poor state of our beaches is a clear indication that lip service is paid to tourism in Nigeria. All the talk about making Nigeria a tourist destination is empty because there is no evidence to that effect. If we want to develop tourism in this country, then it should start from somewhere. Something like the beaches is a veritable platform that could be used like in other countries. Nigeria has 800-kilometre coastline that is lying largely wild and undeveloped.
The Bar Beach stands out among a host of other beaches dotting our coastline because it is perhaps the most visited. Its location in cosmopolitan Lagos gives it an advantage. Over the years, the contention between the Federal and Lagos State Government over who should take charge of the beach affected its development. But with the issue sorted out and the beach handed over to the Lagos State Government, the onus lies on the state authorities to do something to reverse the persistent ugly side of the beach. The beach should be given a face-lift to make it a truly tourist attraction.
The development of water-based activities at the beach is better done by private developers. There are a host of activities that could be developed to serve as tourist attraction. But most picnickers like to enjoy the surfs from the sea without knowing the dangers involved. There should be rules and regulations guiding the use of the beach.
For effective services, the place should be handed over to private people to develop and run. The role of government should be to issue guidelines and ensure that quality services are rendered. For one thing, the scandalous state of our beaches is a metaphor of several other sectors of the economy that are wasted. The Lagos State Government should guide against tragedies happening at the Bar Beach, especially during festive periods when the place is flooded with picnickers.
