The Lagos State Government some weeks ago embarked on the demolition of buildings found to have contravened environmental laws. The Ministry of Environment and Water Resources explained that it was an attempt to restore sanity and find a solution to flooding in a number of areas.
The exercise, which depicts the commitment of the government to clear drainage routes to ensure a cleaner environment, has received widespread commendations and criticisms within and outside Lagos. It is, however, appropriate to point out apparent flaws.
After he was sworn in, the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, announced a campaign against illegal structures, stressing that they would no longer be tolerated; but lately, the handshake of the ministry is going above the elbow, a situation that must be checked.
There are speculations that some politicians are using the ministry to fight perceived enemies in the same All Progressives Congress (APC) party, perhaps in a bid to weaken certain people preparing for the Local Government elections that will be held in the coming year.
Insiders are suggesting that the pattern is clear political victimization and the first phase is intra-party while the next phase will be inter-party. It is important to call the ministry, whose activities lately show vendetta, to prioritise professionalism and due diligence above media publicity.
The first casualty of what has been described as targeted onslaught is the Chairman of Oshodi Local Government, Otunba Almoroof Kehinde Oloyede, whose properties were broken into by the agents of the Ministry of Environment and pulled down despite not being on the canal! This can be verified.
Video shows those who earlier measured the land confirmed the properties were not on the way of the passage. They said to create more space, the fence, the only marked item, would be affected. Curiously, in the course of demolition, the whole property was bulldozed whereas other buildings on the same line had only their fences demolished.
Information gathered is that the action, which might be strange to even Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, could cause internal wrangling within the APC. The last time the party lost seats in Oshodi was when the now LG Chairman was forced to defect to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015; it was the first time the APC lost the House of Representatives and House of Assembly elections.
At this juncture, I will recall the statement of Segun Jokolo, former Community Development Association (CDA) Chairman of Cluster One Estate, Lekki, where the recent enforcement occured. Jokolo raised the alarm that the demolition exercise is becoming a weapon, adding that the move of the Commissioner and his team was deliberate.
During a discussion on the matter, he said: “That is not the natural channel of the canal. Look at the properties behind the one demolished, I mean the white ones, why didn’t they touch the main buildings? They only took out the fence. In the worst case scenario, the driveway would have been enough but they went ahead to demolish two of the buildings. I do not see fairness in that.”
Furthermore, it is worthy of mention that this same property was marked “Free From Government Acquisition” in the certificate issued by the Office of the State Surveyor General in January 2023 (REF: SC/2182/002030). A discerning mind would ask: Did the government certify a land sitting on a canal?
The efforts of the government to make the state cleaner should be done with caution. We just read about the sad story of an ex-serviceman whose property was demolished to create additional space for an agricultural processing hub belonging to Lagos State. The old man, now homeless, is seeking compensation.
The authorities should stop acting reckless to avoid being labelled as authoritarians; all well-meaning individuals and organisations should speak out. If the demolition in Lagos is to clean up the environment and drainages, the people should see it as such as against the seeming witch-hunt.
Bunmi Obarotimi is a media practitioner and good governance advocate
Email: bunmiobarotimi@gmail.com
Bunmi Obarotimi: Demolition in Lagos: Environmental cleanup or persecution
