Properties turn rubbles as Lagos seeks to enhance mobility

In its bid to enhance urban mobility, the Lagos State government’s bulldozer is demolishing homes and businesses and turning them into rubbles in order to create setbacks for urban road reconstruction.

The government’s bulldozer has passed through various parts of the state, leaving in its trail, ugly sights of broken walls, chopped buildings and rubbles of what used to be people’s stalls and shops along the roads.

Most recent places that have received this unwelcome visitor are Allen Avenue down to Opebi area of the state; Ogba and Itire-Ijasha-Cele under bridge axis, where this reporter gathered that the aim is to create a road that will connect Ojuelegba to Cele Express, along Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.

When this reporter visited Allen Avenue-Opebi Road, it was observed that the demolition affected both sides of the road as both the new and old buildings, big and small ones that were too close to the road were not spared.

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The scale of demolition in this particular instance is huge. Some residents of the place and shop owners who were seen rebuilding what, according to them, is “where the law permits” told this reporter that they had nothing against the government’s action, especially as the aim is to make the place better.

However, one of the business owners, who was also affected, was so pissed up with the demolition exercise that he posed a lot questions, calling out the state government officials to explain to him and other people in his shoes why that action had to be carried out at that time of the year.

The Allen-Opebi demolition was done towards the end of 2024 and that was why the business owner, who did not want his name mentioned, wondered, “Why would you choose to demolish houses and shops at this time of the year?”

“Out of the whole days of the year, you chose to carry out your demolition during the festive season when people are expected to make sales and recoup whatever losses they’ve incurred in their business. Why did you choose to carry out this task at this time of the year?” he queried.

The business owner recalled that government’s intention was brought to his attention two weeks earlier, noting that government wanted to reconstruct the Opebi-Allen road and it would affect some part of the properties in that area. “I do not have a problem with what the government is proposing to do, but I have a problem with the timing,” he lamented.

He noted that Christmas season was festive season and people were supposed to be in a joyful mood.

“You asked us to invest in Nigeria but you turn around to destroy our investment. How do people in diaspora have trust in a government that cannot provide ease of doing business? I’m so pissed right now and as a citizen of Nigeria and a resident in Lagos state, I demand an open plan of when the Opebi – Allen road construction would start and finish,” he said.

The state government, according to a report on the visit of Oluwaseun Osiyemi, the commissioner for transportation to the area, had hinted on paying compensation for demolished properties.

The report said that as part of the ongoing junction improvement works at Opebi-Allen Road to complement the Odo-Iyalaro Bridge, “Osiyemi conducted a site visit to inspect the progress of the project and also assess demolished properties for compensation; ensuring fair settlement while improving traffic flow and connectivity in Lagos.”

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Building demolition has become a major feature of Nigerian cities, especially Lagos and Abuja, where housing and homeownership situations are dire.

According to Timothy Nubi, director, Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development, University of Lagos, “Despite the poor state of the nation’s economy and hardship faced by majority of citizens, Nigeria has seen more bulldozers than cranes in recent years.”

Nubi described this trend as troubling, noting that it reflects the imbalance between demolition and new construction. He noted further that between 2022 and 2024, about 10,000 buildings were demolished in Abuja alone, representing trillions of naira in value destroyed.