By Kingsley Adegboye

THE Lagos State Government has said that it can pay compensation to the displaced people of Badia East, referred to as Oke Ilu Eri in Apapa-Iganmu Local Council Development Area only on compassionate grounds. This, according to the state government, is because structures demolished in the area were mere shanties that cannot be valued.

Lagos State Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Mr. Lawal Pedro, SAN who represented the Chairman, Exco Committee on Badia East, and Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of Lagos State at the stakeholders’ meeting of the Technical Committee on Badia East last week disclosed this.

Pedro who said there were consultations between the state government and community leaders including the Ojora of Ojora land, Oba Fatai Aremu Aromire before the eventual demolition of the area in February this year, pointing out that besides the stakeholders’ meeting to chart the way forward as regards the redevelopment of the slum community, there will be verification this week after which report will be written and sent to the government for necessary action.

One of the victims and her child

Verification exercise
According to him, the deliberation at the stakeholders’ meeting and the findings of the verification exercise will form the basis of the report of the Badia East committee which will be sent to the government for implementation, stressing that until the report is ready, nobody can do anything now as regards issue of compensation. He argued that the structures demolished by the government were shanties without legal titles and their value cannot be ascertained, reiterating that the government can only compensate the affected residents on compassionate ground.

The State Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Bosun Jeje noted in his speech that the essence of the stakeholders’ meeting was to look into the complaints by the various interest groups following the clearance of the illegal structures in the area and report back to the government. He added that the housing project to be constructed at the site is to align with the government’s efforts towards making Lagos a mega city.

“To be able to achieve our vision of making Lagos State Africa’s Model Mega City and global economic and financial hub that is safe, secure, functional and productive, in this instance, requires a collective effort. We must ensure eradication of filthy, unhealthy living environment.

“Let me therefore enjoin all of us gathered here to see this occasion as an avenue to rub minds on how we can collectively move the state forward in her quest to create a more livable environment for her citizenry”, Bosun said.

The Special Adviser on Housing to the governor, Mr. Ajao explained that the state government is proposing to develop the land at Badia East measuring about 10.04 hectares into a modern housing estate comprising 1008 housing units under the Lagos Home ownership and mortgage Scheme, HOMS.

He disclosed that the estate will comprise 29 blocks of multi tenement apartments and also a block of shopping/office complex. “Each block comprises 48 units of the following house types, 12 mini flats, 12 units of one-bedroom, 12 units of two-bedroom flats and 12 units of three-bedroom Maisonettes. The Development is proposed for execution in phases in order to minimize the impact of displacement on the people as this would be gradual. The first set of six Blocks comprising 288 units is expected to be completed by December 2014”, the Special Adviser noted.

In his remark, the Ojora of Ojora land appealed to the displaced people to cooperate with the government in order to move forward, pointing out that going to court as some people have done will not help matters. He said the place is known to be a slum, and it cannot be left the way it is, urging those who had plots of land should go to the committee set up by the to resolve issues.

Making his observations on the issue, the chairman of Apapa-Iganmu Local Council Development Area, Adesola Adebayo said the situation at Badia can be likened to that of Maroko then. He added that Maroko’s demolition happened under military rule, which explains why the land owners lost out in the redevelopment of the place. He said because this is democratic dispensation, and considering the fact governor Babatunde Fashola to be a compassionate person, he believed that the displaced people of Badia will not be treated like the Maroko land owners.

According to Adebayo, “Badia is central to Lagos metropolis, and it cannot be left out of development. Let the government consider our case as regards whether we have C.of O. or not. They say when a man has lived in a particular place for long, he or she becomes part and parcel of the place. We are asking for favour on compassionate ground. Let some of the housing units to be built on the land be given to the displaced persons while the government should equally look into the cases of those who were left when the government compiled the list of the affected people, as some of the affected people were not around when the exercise was being carried out”,