Bukola Adebayo, West Africa Correspondent, Thomson Reuters Foundation stated that forced demolitions across Lagos State are displacing families, disrupting education, and highlighting the city’s deepening housing crisis.
Speaking In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Sunday, Adebayo who has been covering demolitions across Lagos since 2016, said these actions have consistently lacked a human face and fall short of global standards for resettlement. “It is time for us to start adopting the global standards of doing things if we want to say we’re a mega city.”
Adebayo explained that evictions must follow international best practices providing adequate notice, consulting with residents, arranging resettlement, and compensating for lost property and infrastructure. “It is well known all over the world. It has been practised. It has been done without rancour in many countries.”
She warned that the effects of demolitions extend beyond the immediate loss of homes. Schools, churches, and other community structures are often destroyed, leaving children’s education in jeopardy. “She warned that the effects of demolitions extend beyond the immediate loss of homes. Schools, churches, and other community structures are often destroyed, leaving children’s education in jeopardy.”
Addressing claims by Lagos officials that NGOs, particularly those funded internationally, are fueling protests, she said.”Without due respect to the governor and the commissioner, I doubt if there has not been an outcry, protest from local NGOs, international NGOs, I doubt we’ll get the kind of response that we’ve had from the governor and we’ve had from the commissioner on this situation.”
Adebayo noted that international pressure often drives government responses, highlighting examples of waterfront communities in other West African countries. ““During the Ansar’s protest, a lot of attention came when the international media started focusing on these issues. It’s not a strategy, it’s not a playbook, it’s just what has been noticed.
Internationally, Nigeria is not the only country with waterfront communities. I’ve been to the waterfront community in Gambia. I’ve seen the ones in other parts of West Africa.
And we have seen government intervene in terms of infrastructure, in terms of schools, in terms of health facilities in those places. And there are agencies all over the world, the UN Habitat, for instance. They are set up to look at people that have been marginalised in countries all over the world.
And they work with NGOs all over the world to intervene in those countries.”
She stressed that urban housing in Lagos remains inaccessible for many residents, including middle-class workers. “Even if we are talking about people working in banks, are you able to afford some of the housing, the housing sort of projects coming up in Lagos? I have people, I have friends that have been looking for accommodation for three years now because they cannot, and they are not working in, they are working in good places, but the cost of renting in Lagos actually needs to be addressed.”
“Even if all of us here agree that rent in Lagos has increased by 20, 30%, 300%, 400%, somebody the other day was telling me in confidence that their rent had jumped from 1.5 million to 4.5 million. And they were being given three months to pay it all. It was, it’s just pretty ridiculous. So where are we going? Because it’s not just the poorest now, even middle class people cannot afford homes, That is why some of them are sleeping in boats.”
Adebayo criticised government planning and urged authorities to integrate resettlement strategies before evictions. “Even just the conversation we’ve had now, we’ve already preferred a solution. I would have thought that’s the solution that would have come before even informing the community about eviction.”
She suggested that alternative resettlement sites, such as Badagry, could provide waterfront communities similar to Makoko while respecting residents’ livelihoods. “Should that have been one of the ideas that should have been suggested in this consultation? Again, in the consultation, you must discuss compensation. That’s resettlement. It must go hand in hand, We’ve already said Badagry here. There are people It’s a border town, Is there waterfronts there? There’s water in Badagry, like you said. These are fishing communities.”
Highlighting legal and property rights concerns, she said long-term residents, including non-Nigerians, face barriers to purchasing land, leaving them vulnerable to repeated evictions. “But if you are being told that you are not Nigerian, you can’t buy a piece of land. That’s another challenge that they face.”
“What about those who are actually not Nigerians? Can we say somebody that has lived in Nigeria for 40 years is not Nigerian? That’s another question.”
“The ability to purchase land should not be limited to only Oyibo expatriates. Because Chinese people are purchasing land.”
Adebayo emphasised that urban planning must balance the city’s growth with social equity, recalling previous demolitions. “When Otodogbame was demolished, these were informal settlements. In demolishing that place, what has replaced the structure there? Are we saying that this is not a city for poor people? Are we saying that this is not a city where carpenters should be? Are we saying this is for where plumbers should be?”
She also highlighted the need for transparent data collection on residents before evictions and warned against the government making decisions without fully understanding their social impact. “If the government says they want to evict or demolish a section of a place, and you estimate the number of people that will be affected, you should have that data. There’s no excuse. Do you have data of those who are genuinely, or shall we say legally, resident there?”
Erizia Rubyjeana
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