Last week we published “When Lagos State Government self-destructs...” based on the complaint of Mr Yacoob Abiodun, a passionate urban development planner and advocate for safe and wholesome environment who retired as a Director in the Federal Civil Service, that the Magodo master plan was being bastardised.
I have known Abiodun for more than 20 years. In fact, he contributed a chapter titled “Housing delivery in Lagos metropolis: Challenges of the next millennium” to my book “State Administration and the challenges of the 21st Century: A case-study of the Marwa Years in Lagos: 1996 – 1999”
Abiodun has also been a fervent reader and ardent contributor to my columns. Any time, any day, he is an editor’s delight. When you get his script, you simply “para and go” unlike some contributors who give you migraine before you make any sense out of their write-ups.
His latest intervention on the Lagos environment titled “Magodo greenbelt development: A physical planning taboo” indicts the Lagos State House of Assembly. Its leg being held to the fire, the House must speak!
I have been involved in advocacy to get Lagos adopt a permanent solution to the incessant flooding of Alapere in the Ketu area by lining the Alapere canal with concrete walls rather than the continuous dredging and clearing of the canal which, over the years, have turned a little flow of water over which residents jumped from one side to the other, into the river it has now become.
This is a clear case of the canal encroaching on its environs and not the other way round. It is akin to the mountain going to Muhammed and not Muhammed going to the mountain, as they say.
I met ex-Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode over the issue and he gave promises before his second term ambition “kaput”. I must express my gratitude to colleagues who made that meeting possible: Tunji Bello, then Secretary to the State Government but now Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources (second term! I reserve further comments!!); Steve Ayorinde, Commissioner for Information and later for Tourism; Kehinde Bamigbetan, special adviser who later succeeded Steve in the Information portfolio; and Chief Press Secretary, Abib Aruna.
Steve never met me at PUNCH newspapers where he also edited the paper but always calls me “boss”. Once, I asked him why and he reminded me that while he was at the Guardian, he had been sent by his editor to interview me while I was editor of The PUNCH. Possibly, I acted professionally but importantly also because Steve is a good guy. Yes, no one is perfect, I know, but there are so many people you placed your neck on the chopping block for that never returned, like that sole Samaritan leper out of 10 did to Jesus, to say “hi”!
I trust that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, continuing where Ambode had stopped, will line the Alapere canal with concrete walls as well as pave Bakare and Owo-ade streets. There are enough good people in the Sanwo-Olu cabinet to nudge him in that direction: Tunji, for instance; and my brother, Gbenga Omotoso, the brand new Commissioner for Information, whose professionalism, humility and goodly heart have not stopped surprising me. Many thanks!
Last year’s flooding at Alapere was bad as in bad; real bad. My church was badly affected and I can count the number of times we were able to access the church for service throughout the rainy season. Locals said one big man, a former member of the Lagos State House of Assembly recently promoted to the National Assembly, began to sand-fill a portion of the Alapere wet-land, thereby diverting flood rains that would have found their way into the lagoon into people’s homes. Big men and their ways!
When, recently, “kata-kata” go bust in the same Lagos State House of Assembly and bosom friends became sworn foes at daggers drawn – with the man alleged to have diverted flood rains into Alapere homes and his proteges reportedly at the receiving end – not a few said Karma had come to judgment!Abiodun weighed-in on the side of keeping the Alapere wetlands free from building obstructions in those trying periods. Many thanks, sir!
Since we published Abiodun here last week, this time on the Magodo wetland, the issue has gone viral. Interestingly, the first response came from Tunji Bello; he said quite emphatically and without mincing words: “As far as the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources is concerned, no physical development or construction will be allowed there because it is our responsibility to preserve the wetlands in the state. That is our position. And it remains so” Thanks, Tunji!
Next was Mr Kayode Komolafe (KK), Deputy Managing Director of This Day newspapers: “I suggest you discuss this important issue of the environment with our brother and friend, Tunji. I have forwarded your beautiful column to him, too” I told him Tunji had even sent in a reply. Many thanks, KK!
After this came a torrent of statements:
“This is a good one. Nigeria makes one sick. This generation is cursed. According to Soyinka, it is a wasted generation – Ranti Ajeleti.
“Many thanks for the wonderful public service. May God continue to reward and uphold you! - Wale Are Olaitan, former Vice Chancellor, OOU, Ago-Iwoye
“I know the area you are referring to and I believe the area will be flooded if the developer is allowed to have his way but, then, this is Lagos and this is Nigeria where our rich men believe that "oro t’owo ba se ti, ile l’o n gbe" - Tubosun Kwadjo.
“You have said your own! I hope and pray they listen. - Pa Ezekiel Odeleye.
“I continue to wonder when double standards amongst government officials, the Lagos State Government and residents will end! This is not the very first time such blatant and senseless approvals are given, albeit in some questionable quarters, for the development of estates in Lagos. It has happened in Lekki-Ajah, Badore and Alimoso axis of Lagos where free-flow of flood was mindlessly impeded by the construction of estates. What you find out is that at the completion of these estates, most Lagos State officials in the civil service and the political leadership are beneficiaries of plots of land in those estates! There are others springing up gradually now. And I hereby refer to the estates at Ilubirin (before Obalende end) and another at the tail end of Iyana Oworonsoki). By the time these estates are sand-filled and building construction starts, residents of Ijeh in Obalende and Oworo-Isale will run for dear life because of flooding! For now, it really appears there is nothing the residents of these areas could do since their petitions and inter-faces with the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and that of Physical Planning and Urban Development have come to nought!!! - Kunle Adepitan.
“Apt and brilliant! – Deji Osho.
“God help our people from selfish leaders! - Patience Ayodele.
“The piece is refreshing and reveals a lot about government and governance. There is more to that project. The concerned residents and stakeholders should not hesitate in approaching the court. – Lanre Alabi.
“Disaster waiting to happen! – Bunmi Awonaya.
“This is a classic patriotic defence of our environment against abuse by law-breakers who claim to be law-makers. - Michael Awe.
“It seems people living in Lagos do not understand the terrain on which they reside. Each time I hear of typhoon, flooding and such things destroying life and property in other parts of the world, I always thank God for His mercy over us in Nigeria, most especially Lagos. In any nation where material benefits are elevated above life, such is always the case. The only challenge is that when it happens, those who did not buy will pay for it. The issue being raised in this publication is a serious one that the powers-that-be should not piffle over. If your relation is eating harmful insects and you fail to warn him, his unusual breathing in the night will not allow you sleep. It is better to make hay while the sun shines. – Deolu Olaoye.
“Welcome to Nigeria, the land of impunity where money and power do the talking! The Assemblymen did not rely on any lily-livered experts; rather, they coerced and manipulated them to render a pre-determined report, just as it happens in Nigerian courts! The residents should just go and seek interlocutory injunction. If they explore the option of filing a petition to any government agency that is already compromised, the developers will continue with the project while a ruse of a public hearing goes on. You never can tell: the hand of the ‘Big Man of Lagos’ may be in this! They should make this issue so sensational that it becomes internationalized. - Sola Atere
NEXT WEEK: The beef of the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development – as we publish his own response - and allied matters; possibly including his response to Kunle Adepitan above.