By Akeem Awere

In the last few weeks, there have been emotional outpours, wailings and commiserations trailing the demolition of some buildings and settlements the Lagos state government termed illegally erected structures by some real estate developers in various locations across the state. In the wake of a demolition exercise that seemed to have attracted mixed reactions from a cross-section of the Nigerian population, the Lagos State Honourable Commissioner of Environment, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab was a guest of a popular program known as the ‘Morning Show’ on Arise TV. His mission was to elucidate and justify the demolition activities of his Ministry. The elan, eloquence, and brilliance with which the honourable commissioner responded to the questions posed by the panel of interviewers were quite impressive. However, the facts he presented before those media panellists were beyond many listeners’ verification capacity and assessment competence. During the interview, the honourable commissioner rightly asked the victims of the demolition exercise to take their matters before a court of law. My personal view easily aligns with that of the Commissioner in that respect, as I also believe that the court of law is the appropriate place where the weight of facts and shreds of evidence of a claim can be competently verified and determined. But most importantly, I am so delighted that the Honourable Commissioner readily responded to the question of the role and responsibility of government in addressing the humanitarian crisis that resulted from the demolition exercise. In my opinion, if truly the pursuit of happiness is the ultimate goal of individuals and governments, then, it should be incumbent on the government to explore ways and means of mitigating the adverse effects of the demolition exercise on the victims.

Back to the honourable commissioner, the gentleman got me dazzled. He swept me off my feet with his depth of knowledge. With astounding volubility, he intelligently and intellectually displayed an A-Z knowledge of the job he was employed to do. My greatest admiration for him came when he responsibly admitted the role and responsibility of government in assisting the victims of the incident.

Expectedly, in the thick of the controversy generated by the ugly incident, some canards and conspiracy theories have since emanated on social media regarding the incident. Outstandingly controversial among the rumours making the rounds is the perception of some observers linking the demolition exercise to a strategic intimidation and vengeful victimization of the Igbo people resident in Lagos for their role in almost costing the All Progressive Congress ruling party an electoral loss during the 2023 state and federal elections. Some have also explained the timing of the demolition exercise as the height of insensitivity of the Lagos State Government to the plight of a populace already ravaged by the Federal Government’s harsh economic policies. While one might tend to agree with the latter view, the earlier view linking the demolition exercise to a political vendetta is unlikely to hold water as many people from other ethnic groups also fell victim to the incident.

Having earlier highlighted my commendations and admiration for the Honourable Commissioner of Environment, it is also important for me to balance my analytical commentary with a few concerns and displeasure. Firstly, the Honourable Commissioner failed to respond effectively to a question about how the government intends to prevent illegal constructions and settlements in a world where the maxim of Benjamin Franklin, a former United States President, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is a pearl of proven conventional wisdom. I am convinced that if appropriate regulatory authorities had discovered these illegal structures and settlements at an early stage and swung into action, they would have prevented them from becoming homes to individuals and families, and as a result, the scale and magnitude of the demolition exercise and the consequent crisis would have been minimal.

Let us take a look at this, everyone knows that in Nigeria, It takes a year or two to build a sprawling estate like the one demolished at Mende in Maryland, Lagos state. Therefore, it would be somewhat difficult for appropriate regulatory authorities to claim that they had no idea that construction was going on at a site located inside one of the state’s urban localities. Since the breakout of this incident, the question that has been on the lips of many Nigerians is why the builders were not stopped at the time the construction was in progress. They have also been asking why the government had to wait until the time the buildings were erected and home to a sizable population. Victims and their sympathizers have also questioned the issuance of valid land and building approval documents to some of the victims by certain corrupt officials of some ministries concerned with building approval and construction. Also, Nigerians have continued to ask the Lagos state government about the aberration of collecting from time to time, land use charges and other related levies from the owners of illegally erected buildings. Some critics have brazenly compared this to a government collecting taxes on the proceeds of armed robbery. In saner climes, the government would have halted the construction of the buildings and made the property owners face the full wrath of the law.

In all these, I ask, where lies our government’s compassion in the face of untold economic hardship the people were already passing through? Destroying people’s homes at a time of severe and widespread economic hardship in a State bedevilled with accommodation shortages, without providing them temporary shelter appears to many as callous. Many people have argued that a State Government without a welfare or shelter scheme for the homeless should not be involved in throwing people out on the streets.

In the spirit of Benjamin Franklin’s popular maxim, it is expected that governments wherever in the world should endeavour to emphasize and prioritize the prevention of social problems over curative measures. Considering this, the Ministries of Lands, Environment and Physical Planning are expected to be largely involved in such prevention exercises. On the contrary, they have been turned into gold mines through bribe collection from real estate developers to give illegal approvals to construction proposals brought before them. Finally, the Honourable Commissioner on several occasions during the Arise TV interview, referred to LASSRA as the agency of the State Government responsible for taking care of the problems of the homeless within the state. The Commissioner’s claim about LASSRA might however be difficult to corroborate with any fact on the ground in Lagos State. Findings from a cross-section of Lagosians interviewed also reveal the Commissioner’s claim to be far from the truth. In conclusion, one can only hope that the promises made by the Honourable Commissioner in terms of rendering necessary assistance to the victims of those demolition exercises would not end up as rhetoric.

Akeem Awere is a news and current affairs analyst.