300,000 slum-dwellers in Lagos risk homelessness as govt abandons mediation process

The fate of over 300,000 slum-dwellers scattered in various waterfront communities in Lagos hangs on the precipice as the state government, dramatically, withdrew recently from a court-ordered mediation process aimed at finding a peaceful resolution of its case with these informal settlers.

Late last year, after trying unsuccessfully to engage the state government to avert threat of eviction issued by the state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, 15 waterfront communities under the aegis Nigerian Slum/Informal Settlement Federation approached the Lagos State High Court to seek protection of their fundamental rights.

In January this year, the state high court presided over by Justice S.A. Onigbanjo, finding that demolitions on short notice without providing alternative shelter for persons evicted was in violation of Section 34 of the 1999 Constitution, ordered the parties to attempt mediation through the Lagos State Multi-Door Court House.

The slum-dwellers came to mediation process in good faith and put forward workable proposals regarding alternatives to demolition and forced eviction that could address the various excuses the State Government has tried to use to justify its intention to demolish their homes.

This was in spite of government’s demolition of one of their communities, Otodo Gbame, forcibly evicting 4,700 residents in violation of a court order. They still came back to the roundtable on March 29, 2017 to hear what the state government had to say, but got more than they had expected.

“It was a great shock to us that the state government decided to unilaterally withdraw from the mediation process which has put-paid the possibility of any resolution through dialogue”, the communities lamented.

Megan Chapman, Co-Founder/Co-Director, Justice & Empowerment Initiatives, noted in a statement obtained by BusinessDay that  this step was also at extreme odds with the public statement made by the state Commissioner for Information  affirming government’s “unflinching commitment to the development of  the state as an ideal megacity that is sensitive to the needs of the public as well as open and continuous dialogue.”

 According to him, waterfront communities across Lagos are home to hundreds of thousands of hard-working, law-abiding citizens, pointing out that this is where they live and where many of them work and their businesses – from fishing to sand dealing – as well as their labor add to the Lagos economy. They are the engine of the Lagos economy and they have a right to the city.

“Since last year, the state government has tried to offer so many excuses for wanting to destroy our  homes and take over the waterfronts. We have proffered alternative ways of resolving each of these concerns, but it seems the government is not ready to listen nor is it really dedicated to trying to find lasting, citizen-centered solutions to complex urban problems”, the slum-dwellers lamented.

Chapman reasoned that evictions do not make Lagos safer. “Instead, they push the urban poor into deeper poverty through homelessness and loss of livelihoods. Worsened poverty only exacerbates crime. Evictions are not the answer. The people need to partner to find lasting solutions to insecurity.

Evictions will not make Lagos the “ideal megacity” it aspires to be. Lagos is a megacity by virtue of its population. The urban poor are part of that population. It seems that Lagos wants the urban poor to simply disappear, but they cannot and will not disappear.

The communities argue that  if they had support and partnership from our government such as can be seen in other megacities in the global south, government could develop them through in situ slum upgrading and social housing.

“Indeed, federation is building community-financed environmentally sustainable toilet solutions to improve sanitation and public health in our communities. Federation is developing a social housing scheme and planning toward in situ slum upgrading. We are learning from the successes of peers in cities around the world”, they said.