Demolition of illegal structures in Lagos
THE current rash of demolition of so-called illegal structures in parts of Lagos may be welcome, but it also compels care and even-handedness. The latest efforts intensified the other day when the Lagos State Environmental Task Force accompanied by policemen and hired welders destroyed illegal structures in parts of the metropolis, including Mushin and Isolo areas. The task force officials claimed that they were acting to rid Lagos of filth and unapproved development. The exercise resulted in the demolition of 40 structures ranging from containers to wooden and concrete structures.
Many of the affected persons claimed that they were not given any notice prior to the demolition and that they had no time even to remove their goods or alert their neighbours. A further twist to this exercise is the claim by some victims whose structures were demolished that they in fact obtained and were in possession of building plans validly approved by the Lagos State Development Property Corporation (LSDPC) and the Isolo Local Government Town Planning Department. Some are threatening to sue the Lagos State government for trespass.
About the same time as these events were unfolding, the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), a body responsible for the management of FESTAC Town, decided to embark on the demolition of illegal structures. In the case of the FHA, it would appear that notices ranging from seven to 14 days were given. The FHA began the demolition after consulting with the residents association in FESTAC as to how best to tackle the issue of illegal structures.
Again as was the case with the Lagos State task force, the FHA proceeded to destroy grinding mills on the side walls of houses, food sellers joints constructed on side walks, hair dressing salons, second-hand clothiers, barbecue stands, etc. But a representative of the traders claimed that there was in fact an interlocutory injunction restraining the FHA and its agents from carrying out any demolition until the substantive case had been heard in court. It would appear that the FHA was not aware of this order when it undertook the exercise.
Whatever may be the true position, a group of protesting women, some of them widows, went on demonstration to call a halt to the demolition. Others pleaded that with hard times confronting the average Nigerian, it seemed callous and insensitive to be carrying out these demolitions. They argued that it is not the poor people who blocked the drains but "big men" who had been allowed to erect mansions across drainage paths and subsurface electric pipes. It is especially regrettable that a market approved for FESTAC Town in the master plan on the Sixth Avenue has been converted to other uses.
Indeed, the city of Lagos is growing haphazardly in all directions without a restraining authority capable of imposing discipline. As a result, Lagos has become one of the world's worst planned cities. Even Yaba, Ebute Metta, and Ikoyi that were planned by the British in the colonial days, are today in various states of neglect and decay. The case of Victoria Island gradually acquiring the hue of a future slum with traffic jams is well known. Even the once pristine Falomo Shopping Centre has lost its shine. The truth is that things cannot just be left as they are. The city of Lagos has no open spaces for recreation. Even in highbrow Ikoyi, the famous Ikoyi Park has been built up. In today's Ikoyi, with the failure of regulatory bodies, bungalows, mansions, high rise apartments and shanties now co-exist, contrary to laid down planning regulations for the area. In Lagos mainland, practically every junction has become a market.
But pitched against these unfortunate developments is the issue of dishonesty and poverty. In Nigeria it seems that anybody can get approval to erect any structure. The sad example of Ikoyi is there for all to see. Painful as it is, we must support the efforts of those trying to sanitise the environment. In the case of Lagos, the task is much greater but for the exercise to have credibility it must not target the easy victims.
It must be seen to be even-handed and must include all those who have chosen to build on prohibited areas. The demolition exercise should target not just the poor but the rich, whilst compensation should be paid to all those with valid building approvals whose structures may have been demolished in error.
