An investigation into the impacts of dredging on aquatic and terrestrial lives in Oto-Awori local council development area, Lagos state, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the impacts of dredging on aquatic and terrestrial lives in the Oto-Awori Local Council Development Area (OALCDA) of Lagos State, Nigeria. Descriptive Survey Design was adopted for the study. The target population of the study comprised all the residents of OALCDA. Two hundred respondents were sampled using a simple random technique. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was personally administered by the researcher and collected by him. Seven research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. Frequency count, bar chart, percentage, and mean were used to answer the research questions while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using t - test and Chi-square. The findings of the study were as follows: plant and animal species were high before the commencement of the dredging operation, but became low after its commencement. The main reason for embarking on dredging operation in the study area was found to be for monetary gain from the sale of excavated materials. The relationship between aquatic organism loss and dredging was found to be significant. It was therefore recommended among others that there should be pre and post-dredging environmental impact assessments to better understand the extent of impacts of dredging on living things and the environment, and proper awareness should be created on the consequences of dredging operations. The elected chairman of Oto-Awori Local Council Development Area and his team should raise awareness among the people on the impact of their actions on both aquatic and terrestrial species and initiate a comprehensive remediation program with stringent monitoring. Higher institutions within the study area should partner with relevant bodies to organize seminars on educating the residents on what dredging is, the purpose of dredging, and its impacts on the ecosystem as a whole, since the loss of medicinal and research species has an efficacy impact on the teaching and learning of science.