Mr Jubril Alase is a victim of the Lagos State government building demolitions which were commonplace during the administration of the former governor of the state, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN).
Alase moved to the Ajegunle-boundary area of Lagos after his building was demolished. He said he found solace living in the slum and has been there for over 16 years.
However, he lamented that many dwellers lack the basic social amenities.
He narrated: “I built my house, but it was demolished during former governor of Lagos, Babatunde Fashola’s tenure in 2008. That was how I came to start residing here. In this community, there is no clean drinking water, and no good roads, even when the government starts construction of roads, it doesn’t complete it. The drainages here are bad!”
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The imagery of communal living in slums in Ajegunle, dubbed AJ City, has remained unchanged over the years. It is infamous for its poor environment, insecurity, and overcrowding, with hundreds of dwellers along Goriola Lane, Ajibola Odunsi Ojora Streets and other adjoining streets facing looming health risks from a filthy Odo-Ayeke canal.
These communities lack proper waste management, potable water, and sewage systems.
Our correspondent discovered that these streets serve as homes for some of the residents, who were rendered homeless following the demolition of their houses by the Fashola’s mega city drive.
Ajegunle is an eyesore with the entire bank of the stretch of water covered with refuse, contaminating the air with its oozing stench.
The canal has become a cesspit of defecation, which streams into the water channel.
The residents, while speaking with Weekend Trust, complained of government’s negligence.
Alase, who has witnessed the government’s intervention from both the military and civilian leaders said, “the canal has been here since ancient times and what I can say is that the water used to flow very well during the era of the military, but since the time of former governor Fashola, things changed
“Also, an abattoir was situated very close to the canal, so refuse is thrown into the canal which causes the grass to grow faster”.
Alase, who is quite popular in the area and is fondly called the Chief Slum Dweller, said that despite exposure to the filthy environment, residents hardly fall sick.
He said: “My advice to the government is that they should come to the aid of the people and build good drainage, linked to the canal.”
Criminality in Ajegunle
Mr Morgan Okehie is another resident, who said that he was born and bred in Ajegunle.
He reminisced over how AJ formerly used to be known for breeding talents in both music and sports.
But like Alase, Okehie raised the alarm on how the communities in AJ have become a hotbed for criminal activities, attributing it to the government’s inability to capitalise on that communal strength and turn the town into a hub for creativity.
Okehie said, “I would say that Ajegunle was like any other place you can think of or compared to in Europe or America because the lifestyle in Ajegunle here was 24-hour activities. Before you can wake up at about 2: am and go get something you want to eat.
“But these days the difference is very glaring for us because insecurity, especially cultism in Ajegunle, has brought those lifestyles that we used to enjoy to a halt. I believe the government itself has not helped matters because we expected the government, and the security agencies to be more proactive in combating this kind of situation.
“What about the sports activities in Ajegunle? Like the prominent names that we have heard in football, in the national teams then, like Samson Siasia, Taribo West, and Emmanuel Amuneke. We have numerous names that played in the national team sports, especially football, which is one of the things that we used to enjoy in Ajegunle. These people were products of Ajegunle.
“But it is no longer there because all these activities I just mentioned have been neglected by the proper authorities. Secondary school activities that someone like me gained from back then, are no longer there. The Principal’s Cup is no longer there too. The school curriculum of sports is no longer there. The negative influences that corrupt the youth that we have today are due to the absence of these activities.”
He urged the government to revive the talent hunt programmes to maximise the creativity strength of the youths. He said such activities will also foster growth in slum areas.
“I believe the drive should come from the government, either from the local or from the states, whichever one. I believe a strong drive should come in to combat this. I believe Ajegunle has a future. I believe if channelled properly Ajegunle can be a city where when you come into Lagos, and one or two areas are mentioned, Ajegunle will be among,” said Okehie.
He further noted: “The reform should come by empowerment and by encouragement. We have hyperactive children these days in Ajegunle. They are always up and doing.
“But is it in the proper positive direction? No. I believe the government can come in this area. Maracana is there. There is nothing wrong with Ajeromi-Ifelodun as a local government council, having a Football Academy, and having a Theatre Group.
“Having a place where the youth of today can channel their energy positively. That is one thing I believe the local government through the state should be able to do one step at a time.”
Insecurity cripples social cohesion in Ajegunle.
Josephine Itgbu, a groundnut seller, said that since the dredging during the administration of the former governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, the canal has been a nightmare, oozing stench and becoming a dump site for cart pushers.
Itgbu said: “In the time of Fashola, this place wasn’t like this, it looked very good. People used to do environmental work every Thursday but ever since Fashola left, everywhere has become dirty. This canal causes people to be sick because the dirt is too much.
“Everywhere, people throw sachets and plastic containers into the canal after they are done drinking their water. So in this Ajegunle, we need the intervention of the government and well-meaning individuals to take care of Ajegunle.”
Itgbu, a grandmother, stressed that the slum is gradually losing its social cohesion due to incessant criminal activities, adding that her work tool was stolen by unidentified persons.
“By the grace of God, I am living well, nothing happened to me but these Ajegunle boys are all thieves. Yesterday, when I went to Boundary, people were crying because thieves burgled their shops. When people are sleeping, these boys will be roaming around, searching for where to operate. This is where I now dry my groundnut. This is a new drum. I borrowed it from my former neighbour. The old drum was stolen. Immediately finished using it, I used to quickly return it to…
LAWMA accused of lack of efficiency
Another resident, Mr Felix Tegugu, accused the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) of being inefficient.
Telugu, visibly vexed, said: “The problem about the canal is that LAWMA just collects money from the residents and doesn’t work and thereby forces the people to lodge their dirt into the canal.
“The best thing I suggest the government do is after dredging the canal, they can employ a law enforcement agency that would be stationed to prevent people from dumping dirt into the canal. We pay N2,000 monthly by force whether the vehicle is available to evacuate the dirt or not.”
‘Many residents don’t patronise PSP’
A LAWMA official who does not want his name mentioned said that residents preferred to dump their waste in the canal rather than patronising PSP.
He said: “There has been a high level of decadence over time, largely from the populace. Generally, people staying around the canal prefer to dump waste into the canal, rather than patronising PSP.”
He said the Agency had met with the environmental officers at the Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Area and that more sensitisation needed to be done to educate the residents.
“We have had issues of poor responses, especially people living around the canal. So what we have tried to do is to have meetings with the local government with the Supervisor and HOD for the environment because LAWMA alone cannot handle these issues. It is collective.
“We need to get the buy-in of the people, community Development Association (CDA), so that if we come out with the stakeholders of the government, it will be easy for us to get to the people and get a level of compliance from them,” said the LAWMA official.
He continued: “But truly, the nature of the country is even making it hard for people to pay for PSP, so that is one of the things we are also struggling with, but we need to tackle it headlong. What we need is sensitisation.”
He added that the Adopt-A-Bin strategy would be put in place and that there was a need for a behavioural change to achieve total cleanliness in the slum.
He also said: “We are also looking at the Adopt-A-Bin process. It will help people a lot. We are trying to reach out to companies who can just take a street, get wheeled bins, and provide for residents there. So the problem of taking waste to the canal will be eliminated.
“We have to change the habit of seeing the canal as the immediate option to dump our refuse instead of patronizing PSP. We have our LAWMA advocacy team as well who will come and do extensive sensitisation.
“With the current situation, we can’t even do enforcement there. We must be very careful and conscious. So we need to talk to people, to let them see the environmental ills and effects while providing alternatives for them.”
There was no reaction from the state government on its plan for Ajegunle. Efforts to see the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, were futile as the Head of Public Affairs in the Ministry, Kunle Adesina, directed our correspondent to the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA).
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