By Femi Aribisala
HIP, hip, hip; Hooray!
Lagos is now going to be a megacity. Under the able leadership of Governor Babatunde Fashola, the apostle of good governance, Lagos is undergoing a major makeover. The Atlantic Ocean will be banished, to be replaced by Eko Atlantic; a shimmering new 3.5- mile island built literally on the water behind a “great wall of Lagos.” Greenery has suddenly appeared in Lagos, displacing the concrete jungle. There are now parks with manicured lawns. There are now tree-lined roads. Pot-holes are now being tarred. Sidewalks are now provided for pedestrians.
*Eko o ni baje
In the middle of this transformation, a new immigration department has been opened in Lagos. “Illegal aliens” are being expelled and are shipped back to their homelands in the dead of night. New visitors may have to obtain visas to come here.
All this makes it imperative to determine who exactly is the Lagosian? Who is entitled to enjoy the new amenities that Governor Fashola and his team of dedicated public-servants are bringing to Lagos? Accordingly, a battle royal has emerged for the rightful ownership of Lagos. Some are insisting Lagos is no man’s land.
Others are discovering Lagos as their fatherland. But there is no question that the government has already determined the precise identity of the true Lagosian.
As far as the Lagos State Government is concerned, the true Lagosian is not the Yoruba man or the Igbo man. Neither is he the Hausa man or the Fulani man. The true Lagosian is the rich man. The poor have been served quit notice. They are no longer wanted in Lagos. Fashola’s resounding slogan is “Eko o ni baje,” which means Lagos will not go to the dogs. The poor are considered the dogs of Lagos. In that troublesome capacity, they can have no place in Lagos, if Lagos is to become the megacity of Governor Fashola’s lofty dreams!
*Action Governor: For some strange reason, Lagos has tended to have better Governors than most states of the federation. But if you were to ask me who is the best among all the Governors of Lagos, I would answer you without hesitation. In my opinion, it is Governor Babatunde Fashola. Fashola is a man with a vision. He is a man with a purpose. He is a man clearly able to translate ideas into weapons. He has transformed and is transforming Lagos right before our very eyes.
But I have a nagging suspicion that the reason why I am so readily persuaded by Fashola’s virtues might not be unconnected with the fact that I am not a poor man. The poor themselves may have a very different point of view. They are probably likely to insist that the best governor in the history of Lagos is Lateef Kayode Jakande; alias “Baba Kekere.”
I am not a poor man by Nigerian standards. Therefore, I do not presume to speak for the poor. But then, increasingly, I am beginning to wonder who exactly speaks for them in Lagos. One thing is certain, Fashola speaks primarily for the rich; and this is not good enough. In the Lagos of today, the poor have no voice. Fashola’s laudable policies are too one-sided. They are tailor-made for the rich: and are grossly disadvantageous to the poor.
*Relocating the poor: I don’t have to be poor to know that the poor are increasingly unwelcome in Lagos. The genius of Fashola is to relocate them to the outskirts of the city. If they are non-indigenes, they are relocated back to their homesteads. The systematic ridding of Lagos of the poor is a longstanding process. The poor were shipped out of Maroko. It has been replaced by Oniru where apartments go for an average of 2.5 million naira a year.
Slums in Mushin, Oluwole and Makoko have been demolished. The residents were evicted from their homes, with no talk of rehabilitation. Markets in Tejuoso, Yaba and Oshodi have been demolished and rebuilt. The new stalls are beyond the pocket of the earlier poor occupants. Everywhere in Lagos, the poor are becoming persona non grata.
In places like Ojota, Makoko, and Ijora-Badia East, the poor residents have been evicted from their homes. In some cases, they were given only 72 hours notice to leave. In Makoko/Iwaya, the government’s quit notice described them “environmental nuisances” that “undermined the megacity status” of Lagos. It stated that their menial existence was detrimental to the government’s determination to beautify the Lagos waterfront.
*Eko Atlantic: As the poor are being squeezed out, so is more leg-room being created for the rich. The Eko Atlantic project is the epitome of this. It involves dredging 140 million tons of sand from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean to subdue the sea and create nine million square kilometers of prime real estate, protected by an eight metre-high wall, vaunted to last 1000 years. When completed, the project will boast residential areas, offices, shops, and leisure facilities for 250,000 people, with another 150,000 commuting to work. To have a foothold in this brave new world, you will need a cool 300,000 naira for just one square metre of land.
However, what Lagos desperately needs is not a “Manhattan island” that will cater primarily for the rich.
Massive low cost housing
What Lagos needs is massive low-cost housing to accommodate millions of slum-dwellers. The state government itself acknowledges that Lagos has a housing shortage in excess of five million. By its own estimates, it needs an annual growth of at least 200,000 houses to keep up with the population growth. In spite of this, it touts a six billion-dollar white-elephant project that ignores this urgent need of the poor masses in favour of one that caters to the rich few.
*Ban of Okadas: I hate okadas. They are a menace on the streets. Even the sidewalks are not safe from them. Okada riders are a law unto themselves. They obey no traffic rules. They imperil their clients by taking dangerous risks. The mortuaries and hospitals are filled with those who have lost life and limb because of their recklessness. But I will be the first to admit that one of the reasons I am able to hate okadas with so much passion is because I have a car. I don’t have to take okadas and have never ever taken them.
Governor Fashola also has a car. So it does not surprise me that, like me, he is also fed up with the menace of okadas in Lagos. Therefore, recently an edict was passed banning them in most areas of Lagos. The government refused to provide alternative means of transportation for those who don’t have cars before banning the okadas. This oversight translates into contempt for the poor. I don’t have to be poor to recognise that it has been disastrous.
Since the banning of the okadas, I have repented of my earlier hatred of okadas. No matter that I wind up my tinted windows; the better to enjoy the air-conditioning in my car, I cannot remain oblivious to the mass of humanity in Lagos now constrained to walk for miles or stand for hours at bus-stops, waiting in readiness for the battle ahead when it will become necessary to fight for the few spaces available in the few buses when they finally, finally, arrive.
Let’s face it; with the okadas gone, the poor in Lagos don’t get home until midnight and then they have to set out for work by 5 a.m.; and that is if they have a job. I asked a lady in my neighbourhood supermarket how much she makes as a cashier. She told me N20,000 a month. I don’t know how anybody can survive in Fashola’s Lagos with such a salary, especially since over 50 per cent of that goes for transportation alone.
*Paying tolls: The new departure in Fashola’s Lagos is that people now have to pay for driving on tarred roads. If you are one of the poor residents of Ajah, Badore, Elegushi, Ajiran, Sangotedo, Abijo, Ibeju, and other communities in Eti-osa, Epe and Ibeju-Lekki local government areas, you will now have to pay tolls for leaving your house to head for the Lagos mainland and pay again for going back home. On the Lekki expressway, no less than three tolls are envisaged for just a 50- kilometre stretch of road.
The Lagos State Government is only interested in exploiting the poor in this area, and there are literally millions living there. There is little or no government infrastructure there. There is no general hospital, and no low-income housing scheme. No sporting or recreational facility. No public transportation system. No public water works: just the payment of tolls. The original idea was to develop a coastal road as an alternative route to the tolled road, but this has not been done.
*No petty-trading: So how can the poor make ends meet in Lagos? With okada gone, and excluding outright crime, one option is petty-trading Lagos-style.
Street trading
This entails turning the streets into one big supermarket, and training for the 2016 Olympics by running after cars in order to sell something as menial as groundnuts. But even here, you are likely to be confronted by the long arm of the law. Street-trading is frowned at in Lagos. The “Kick Against Indiscipline” brigade will seize your goods if they get hold of you.
The Arab Spring outburst in Tunisia started because the goods of a poor street-trader, Mohamed Bouaziz, were confiscated by the police. That act brought the man to the end of his rope. He bought a jerry-can of petrol and set himself on fire. Those sympathetic to his plight took to the streets, and the upshot of this was the overthrow of the government.
Lagos, Nigeria may not be Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia. Nevertheless, Governor Fashola has a legacy to protect. Rather than this new policy of banishing the poor to Siberia, Fashola should sit down and fashion comprehensive policies that take into consideration their acute suffering in Lagos. If he does not, his disregard of the poor will soon overshadow his remarkable achievements in Lagos State.

They are free to leave lagos

shina419: They are free to leave lagos

Both you and the OP wey carry 419 for una NL handle go soon answer Query for oga Seun hand, because we the association of Crime Fighters wan invite EFCC come this Forum.

Being poor is a state of mind.

They oppose development and when left alone, they don't mind to keep breeding and increasing their number of illiterate kids that grow up to be "area boys", expanding their shanties and ghettos till they grow into embarassing sizes, asking for hand-outs and free everything.

They're also quite dirty. They see a large body of water and to them its a refuse dump and toilet meanwhile, an enlightened person sees it and sees a beautiful view worth paying for. I cringed yesterday at how dirty one of the newly constructed pedestrian bridges was made dirty at their trading activities on it.

They need enlightenment but for the LASG to carry that out, their number has to be reduced to reasonable numbers that can be adequately catered for.

Why are they so many?? That's a question for the past rulers to answer but they must not stand in the way of a new Lagos, rather they should position themselves to benefit from its numerous employment opportunities by trainning themselves in chosen fields, not hoping they're left alone to continue wallowing in ignorance.

#The hard truth.

shina419: They are free to leave lagos

Tis one we de stay for Ajegunle hut follow de make mouth

chukwudi44:

Tis one we de stay for Ajegunle hut follow de make mouth

must u stay in lagos by force

This aribisala is full of bull crap.
Poverty is not an excuse for lawlessness and lack of orderliness .

Eko Atlantic :probably the most strategic project embarked upon by fashola.
The target :200,000 resident -mostly well to do who will employ gate men ,housemaids,cleaners etc.most of these jobs will go to the mostly ,poor economic refugees from laggard states.
Hotel and hospitality -will create jobs which will probably go to same type.
White collar jobs- will provide a base for the regional headquarters of many international bluechip companies .
N.B : I cannot even afford the place but that does not stop me from being forward thinking.

Makoko- many of the residents of Makoko and the other ghettoes leave behind a serene village environment and farming to migrate to Lagos .
Lagos already has more than her fair share of the poor and cannot keep allowing the ghettoes to expand continuously .makoko used to be a serene waterfront settlement .Now,Cartels of landlord who do not even live there collect rents from lands which does not belong to them

True lagosian (real definition as defined by the way the Yorubas are treated elsewhere)
A true lagosian is someone whose ancestry can be traced to Lagos by several generations.
A True lagosian is a person who was born and raised in Lagos and whose parents are from the SW or Dahomey
The following exception may be accepted regarded as a lagosian
someone who has lived in Lagos for at least 30yrs and does not constitute a burden/nuisance on the state.
Bear no ills against the kingdom in the SW to whom the sovereignty of Lagos is derived.
Someone born and raised in Lagos , can speak yoruba language fluently and
pledge allegiance to the crown .
Someone of good behaviour .

THE REST ARE JUST RENTING UNDER THE ONE NIGERIA MONIKER


BAN ON OKADA.
okada ,keke napep ,church and mosque have turned most nigerian to functional lazy mumus.
WHY NOT FARMING?
THEY SHOULD TAKE THAT OKADA TO ABUJA ,ENUGU OR KANO.
If you cannot find a proper niche in Lagos apart from okada and keke poverty,ship out.

LOW COST HOUSING
build it on water or in the air?
By the way ,who told the aribisala that the SW want to attract more poverty .we have our own share of poverty already.we do not want to continue attracting more.even the socalled middle class are living right on top of one another.a significant share of our available social services is being consumed by outsiders.
Low cost housing belong to osun ,ondo ,ekiti states.Apart from those who fall into the definition of a true lagosian ,no free lunch for anybody.

DEPORTATION
We cannot continue to accept the poor ,the helpless and be also be expected to accept the lunatics.
Deportation was done everywhere.
ARIBISALA SHOULD EITHER

PUT UP
SHUT UP
OR
SHIP OUT

THE TRAINS OF PROGRESS IS MOVING ON

bloggernaija: This aribisala is full of bull crap.
Poverty is not an excuse for lawlessness and lack of orderliness .

guy all what he said are true go for medical check up

The New Lagos Mega City isn't for the Lawless...

The New Lagos Mega City isn't for Miscreants....

The New Lagos City isn't for "Human-Nuisance"...

If you fall into any of the above categories, go back to your village before Fashola go send you there without a farewell party..

ba7man: Being poor is a state of mind.

They oppose development and when left alone, they don't mind to keep breeding and increasing their number of illiterate kids that grow up to be "area boys", expanding their shanties and ghettos till they grow into embarassing sizes, asking for hand-outs and free everything.

They're also quite dirty. They see a large body of water and to them its a refuse dump and toilet meanwhile, an enlightened person sees it and sees a beautiful view worth paying for. I cringed yesterday at how dirty one of the newly constructed pedestrian bridges was made dirty at their trading activities on it.

They need enlightenment but for the LASG to carry that out, their number has to be reduced to reasonable numbers that can be adequately catered for.

Why are they so many?? That's a question for the past rulers to answer but they must not stand in the way of a new Lagos, rather they should position themselves to benefit from its numerous employment opportunities by trainning themselves in chosen fields, not hoping they're left alone to continue wallowing in ignorance.

#The hard truth.

Why not entirely dismissing your assertions because you are viewing it from your own perspective...how about putting yourself in the shoes of these guys

How about what the writer said...build low cost houses for these guys...you don't just demolish their slums without providing alternatives...
Remember how the transport commissioner was stoned and booed at Gani's memorial...that goes to show you the discontent about the transport situation in Lagos

Finally if u are very close to Fashola,tell him this
"...Fight POVERTY not the POOR..."

Lagos city ,Its a sin to be poor

I am surprised at the responses here. If this had been written about a PDP governor, these same goons will twist their mouth and say something else, but because its against the almighty Fashola, then, the poor are miscreants. No hope for Nigeria with these mind sets.

awodman:
Why not entirely dismissing your assertions because you are viewing it from your own perspective...how about putting yourself in the shoes of these guys

How about what the writer said...build low cost houses for these guys...you don't just demolish their slums without providing alternatives...
Remember how the transport commissioner was stoned and booed at Gani's memorial...that goes to show you the discontent about the transport situation in Lagos

Finally if u are very close to Fashola,tell him this
"...Fight POVERTY not the POOR..."

how can Fashola Fight poverty when our mind also is poor ,tell me

bloggernaija: This aribisala is full of bull crap.
Poverty is not an excuse for lawlessness and lack of orderliness .

100% correct. He always gives the distinct impression of writing to be populist. What I have read from him routinely lack depth, logic and critical thinking. Well, he is ultimately entitled to his opinion.

According to the world bank, 6000 people move to Lagos EVERY DAY (source at bottom). Meanwhile, Lagos is the smallest state in the nation.

No landmass can survive the influx of that many people, period! On the same day that Fashola deported some 70 people, 6,000 new Nigerians (from all over Nigeria and other countries) moved in without jobs. They build illegal houses under bridges, in the lagoon, on top of sewers and drainage pipes, in the middle of roads, on the beach, in garbage dumps, all with the dream of "making it" in Lagos.

Any honest person must remember that the "rich" and middle class that live in Lagos are not mysteriously appearing from other planets. They are being made in Lagos. These are the children of formerly poor Lagosians who with good education and Lagos' positive business environment are able to find jobs and BECOME rich. That is the goal of development.

As much as I hear whining about Lagos, I NEVER hear complaining about the other 35 Governors in Nigeria and their failure to provide adequate opportunity for their people. Opportunity that would remove their need to move to Lagos in the first place.

Let me make this very clear. The population of Lagos (21 million according to the LASG) is almost equivalent to Ghana (25 million). Fashola is running a country. With a population of 21 million, Lagos would be the 54th largest country in the world, right behind Australia! Google it. Name ONE country that allows 6000 people to move into it everyday without visa and without jobs. Of course none of them do, and we all understand why. It is simply that no nation could support it. Lagos is not different.

In fact, China has a similiar problem, and guess what, you need a visa to move from rural China to a big city. The difference is that they are trying so hard to spread development around their country while Nigerian politicians are busy fighting for 2015.

No matter how many poor Nigerians become rich and middle class due to the positive environment that Fashola creates, it will never match up to the amount of people that want to come live here.

Lagos cannot physically support this many human beings, even if they were all billionaires. Fashola has a responsibility for the welfare of the people in his state. It is a job that I believe he takes very seriously. If he feels the best thing for ALL Lagosians is to ban okadas, deport beggars, plant trees, have environmental days, charge tolls, etc, then I support him. And all the bad belles can go to hell!

Eko oni baje o! That is a promise!

Source: www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/04/06/lagos.megacity.commuting/index.html

i_laugh: I am surprised at the responses here. If this had been written about a PDP governor, these same goons will twist their mouth and say something else, but because its against the almighty Fashola, then, the poor are miscreants. No hope for Nigeria with these mind sets.

it's bcose pdp gov are crook

No matter how developed a City might become, it is Unlawful for its government to prioritize her inhabitants by their Social status, i hope someday those people in Abuja wont do the same, forgetting the fact that the money spent on it's development was the same poor Tax payers Money.

Fashola is a failure

I am yet to see the developed Lagos that is not meant for the poor..

malc619:

If you fall into any of the above categories, go back to your village before Fashola go send you there without a farewell party..

The world is a global village.

awodman:
Why not entirely dismissing your assertions because you are viewing it from your own perspective...how about putting yourself in the shoes of these guys

How about what the writer said...build low cost houses for these guys...you don't just demolish their slums without providing alternatives...
Remember how the transport commissioner was stoned and booed at Gani's memorial...that goes to show you the discontent about the transport situation in Lagos

Finally if u are very close to Fashola,tell him this
"...Fight POVERTY not the POOR..."

Trust me, No one can fight poverty better that one'self. They must never wait for anyone to do it for them.

I bought a large number of tiles this week and the igbo guy i bought it from didn't even have tiles, all he had was his brains. He negotiated the price, took the payment, wrote the receipt and went to order from a warehouse, simple. He made a profit out of nothing other than sitting in front of a shop with borrowed samples displayed.

That's smart, someone like that can never be poor. He didn't wait till he had a container full of tiles before his business kicked off.

The guys currently tiling the floors had the choice of being area boys but they rolled with their friend that had the skill, they learnt it and they're currently earning their pay.

Its a 19 year old girl that handles my painting. She learnt the skill while her friends were busy prattling away about boys and she now handles jobs worth hundreds of thousands. Who wouldn't want to encourage her??

The future belongs to people like that. They're from far less priviledged backgrounds than you can imagine but they know where they're going.....Imagine they now get the job to tile a building in Eko Atlantic in the future......that's because they already have a skill to sell.

All those selling N2,000 worth of pepper by the roadsides are'nt serious about elevating themselves out of poverty yet. When they're ready, they'll think harder. The Government have their part to play but they themselves are the most important value in the equation.

deeptesting: I am yet to see the developed Lagos that is not meant for the poor..

go for eye check up

ba7man: Trust me, No one can fight poverty better that one'self. They must never wait for anyone to do it for them.

I bought a large number of tiles this week and the igbo guy i bought it from didn't even have tiles, all he had was his brains. He negotiated the price, took the payment, wrote the receipt and went to order from a warehouse, simple. He made a profit out of nothing other than sitting in front of a shop with borrowed samples displayed.

That's smart, someone like that can never be poor. He didn't wait till he had a container full of tiles before his business kicked off.

The guys currently tiling the floors had the choice of being area boys but they rolled with their friend that had the skill, they learnt it and they're currently earning their pay.

Its a 19 year old girl that handles my painting. She learnt the skill while her friends were busy prattling away about boys and she now handles jobs worth hundreds of thousands. Who wouldn't want to encourage her??

The future belongs to people like that. They're from far less priviledged backgrounds than you can imagine but they know where they're going.....Imagine they now get the job to tile a building in Eko Atlantic in the future......that's because they already have a skill to sell.

All those selling N2,000 worth of pepper by the roadsides are'nt serious about elevating themselves out of poverty yet. When they're ready, they'll think harder. The Government have their part to play but they themselves are the most important value in the equation.

You wouldnt want to think that there is nowhere in the world where Government prioritize it's inhabitants based on their social status, Why propagate about it, if he wants to make Lagos hard for the poor then he should make it hard by raising the standard of Living and social amenities rather than this preaching of a thing that has no meaning other than ethnic rivals between various tribes.

eddiebruk:

You wouldnt want to think that there is nowhere in the world where Government prioritize it's inhabitants based on their social status, Why propagate about it, if he wants to make Lagos hard for the poor then he should make it hard by raising the standard of Living and social amenities rather than this preaching of a thing that has no meaning other than ethnic rivals between various tribes.

There's nothing he has done that has promoted friction between ethnic lines.

As far as I'm concerned, every tribe has been affected by his policies, positively and negatively.......Its just how some of the leaders of chose to react to them.

Raise the standard of living in a city like Lagos?? Pls enlighten me on how he can acheive that.

Welcome to lagos, get rich or go home!

ba7man: There's nothing he has done that has promoted friction between ethnic lines.

As far as I'm concerned, every tribe has been affected by his policies, positively and negatively.......Its just how some of the leaders of chose to react to them.

Raise the standard of living in a city like Lagos?? Pls enlighten me on how he can acheive that.

If he doesn't know how to raise the standard of living then he is not fit to be a Gov, was Lekki and the rest of Banana Island built by robots..? if there are more standardized and better environment, when the Ordinary poor man sees that he cannot afford the cost of Living in Lagos, he is then left with no choice than to leave for his Village, you don't force people out of a city, you let challenges of living there depends on their will of hard-work or laziness.

malc619: The New Lagos Mega City isn't for the Lawless...

The New Lagos Mega City isn't for Miscreants....

The New Lagos City isn't for "Human-Nuisance"...

If you fall into any of the above categories, go back to your village before Fashola go send you there without a farewell party..

You mean Osun and Ondo vilages?

Femi Aribisala always on point pls who can disprove what the man says ?

Thank God poverty is not ethnic, regional or tribal thing, it's cut across all tribe& regions. While his policy's & law which aimed at stifling the poor out of lagos affects the the "alien" so it's affect the indigenous Yorubas who constitute 70% of lagos poor population. So in this scenario I am tempted to ask, is the poor indigenous lagosians considered aliens in they own fathers land?

Rubbish..... Arrant nonsense mtchewwwwwwwww no b only megacity

shina419: go for eye check up

You that has good eye sight please show me the developments other than uncompleted projects that as at the time of this report are merely existing on papers and jingles of noise on radio and television..I beg park your Keke well make I reverse my private jet joor!

eddiebruk:

If he doesn't know how to raise the standard of living then he is not fit to be a Gov, was Lekki and the rest of Banana Island built by robots..? if there are more standardized and better environment, when the Ordinary poor man sees that he cannot afford the cost of Living in Lagos, he is then left with no choice than to leave for his Village, you don't force people out of a city, you let challenges of living there depends on their will of hard-work or laziness.

How do you upgrade an environment that's already illegally occupied?? Their shops are built on the drains, road medians, the set-backs are already filled with their shanty homes??.....heck, there were roads in Lagos that were blocked due to trading activities.

They occupy every little spare space they can see till they were living under bridges......where do they keep coming from??

The lands most of them live on were illegally occupied so the LASG has no one to answer to if they decide to bulldoze them. That's what they attempted and everyone started screaming "War against the poor".