LAGOS: Beyond encomiums: Honouring Jakande by rescuing his legacy projects

In the morning of February 11, 2021, a little after taking his breakfast, the bell tolled for one of Nigeria’s most enduring political force Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande (LKJ). He was one of the last titans of the Second Republic (1979-83) governors. His tenure as governor of Lagos State still ranks as the best in recent times. If any politician deserved to be called ‘The Moderniser of Lagos’ Jakande it is. He merited the title than any other politician who has presided over the affairs of the state.

His barely four years and three months tenure witnessed lots of developments, physical and infrastructural growths of the state that has not been replicated on the same scale even by those who have spent longer years and terms. The revenue that the state got then was used to establish lasting legacies such as building of mass housing estates and schools across the state, a massive state secretariat in Alausa, the founding of the Lagos State University Ojo, as well as the Lagos State Television which pioneered 24-hour television viewing in the country at weekends.

He was such a visionary leader that opened up Lagos from all angles; Victoria Island, Lekki corridor, Banana Island, and others. Surprisingly, Jakande does not own a single plot of land in all these choice areas that he opened up unlike our leaders of today.

In celebration of his landmark achievements in the state, Naija Times presents this investigative piece to challenge present leaders not to allow LKJ’s legacy fall into disrepute.

                                        –Olayinka Oyegbile

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Jakande Estates: 40 years on, iconic Lagos housing property succumbs to neglect, rot and decay

• Residents bemoan poor maintenance culture, LBIC’s poor services
• Insecurity, overflowing waste systems pose threats to residents  

THE construction of blocks of flats across Lagos at the time was massive. It was not just in a location. Sixteen of such estates were constructed by the then Lagos Governor, Alhaji Lateef Jakande. It was a landmark achievement during the Second Republic. And till date, the feat has not been replicated or matched by any governor that has administered the state.

  He dubbed them low-cost housing estates, but over time, the estates have been renamed Jakande Estates by residents and beneficiaries. Jakande who governed the state on the platform of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) was visionary and strategic about the locations of the buildings. All of them were on the outskirts of the then Lagos metropolis. And true to his vision, the houses were low cost and provided succour to the poor and middle class. But that was 40 years ago. 

The overthrow of the Second Republic civilian administration by the military through a coup threw spanner in the wheel of progress in some of the developmental strides of the then civilian government. And Lagos seems to be the most negatively hit, because the coup, which brought Major General Muhammadu Buhari, as he then was, stopped the plan to build a fast rail line called Metro. Aside halting such an iconic project, which would have addressed the suffocating traffic in the megacity, the military junta upended further plans for the then ongoing construction of low-cost housing estates across the state.

Ironically, four decades after, the estates have not been well maintained by successive governments. The story of government failing in the provision of basic infrastructure in the estates was the same across board.  

 All over the estates, it was same narrative. Central sewage systems have collapsed, wherever they existed in most of the estates visited. Added to this is the reality of the Lagos State Water Corporation not supplying the estates water even when the corporation’s reservoir is located within or opposite some of the estates. The entire ambience and atmosphere of the estates have changed greatly from the original plans, as illegal structures, mainly kiosk and shops have been indiscriminately erected. 

As a result of the serious dilapidation of the structures and eyesore of deteriorating facilities, the estates have lost their aesthetics. 

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LAGOS STATE REACTIONS

Speaking on the allegation of neglect by residents, Lagos State Commissioner for Housing, Moruf Akinderu Fatai said the state government was working on rehabilitation of existing estates.

He stated that most of the estates are managed by Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC), which he claimed is being repositioned to be effective in discharging its mandate.

“Every year we budget money for upgrading of existing estates but we can only do so much due to paucity of fund. We are surely working on solution. But it is also not true that they have been totally neglected as we respond to their concerns in most cases.”

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Ilasan Housing Estate, Ajah

THE most affected by successive governments’ inability to sustain the lofty idea of the Jakande housing projects is the Ilasan Housing Estate, Ajah, where some of the buildings remain uncompleted 40 years after. Successive governments in the state did not improve the state of facilities beyond how they met it. Ajah and its environment are low lands and swampy areas, so having Ilasan Housing Estate sited on a low land was not out of place. The plight of the residents has been compounded by the lack of drainages in the estate. So, when it rains, the whole place becomes water-logged, which is made worse with the fact that there are no outlets to drain the water out of the community. This has forced the poor residents, evicted from Maroko, in the bid to overcome the yearly flooding the community experiences, to engage in self-help. Such self-help efforts include filling the roads and reclaiming land within the estates with all sorts of materials, including refuse, which have further degraded the estate. The roads have thus become marshy, filthy and dirty. Most of the roads have no drainages. Each block of flats now constructs its own septic tanks to take their excreta and waste water, while some channel their waste water into makeshift drainages constructed by the residents. 

A few buildings were found to be in good shape, while others are not. Those in bad shape look like abandoned structures. This is beside the fact that the topography of the estate has been distorted, with many makeshift buildings erected in different parts. A common sight also is the array of makeshift wooden bridges used as walkways into many of the blocks of flats, especially when the community gets flooded.

A former president of Landlords Association in the Ilasan Housing Estate, Alhaji Tajudeen Jegede, said the residents have not had it good, since they were brought into the estate from Maroko. He complained that instead of the government to help alleviate the plight of residents, it has been worsening things. He lamented that the route through which rainwater flows out from the community had been blocked by a fence and market constructed by the government.

He added that many who were relocated to the estate were made to do the finishing jobs, noting that the estate was still under construction when it was abandoned. Jegede further expressed dismay that successive administrations have repeatedly promised to improve the state of infrastructure, but nothing has been done. He alleged that instead of fixing the problems in the estate, government officials responsible resorted to threatening residents who complain with evictions. 

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Adeniji Adele Low-Cost Housing Estate

THE reality of the residents of Adeniji Adele Low-Cost Housing Estate is almost similar to those of Ilasan Housing Estate. Although they were not relocated from Maroko, the residents have been experiencing flood too. They blamed the government for their present challenge, pointing out that the sandfilling of Ilubirin had compounded their plight in the form of worsening the yearly flooding in the area. 

At the estate, smelly and stinking waste-water could be seen flowing from the big drainage that passes through the estate into the homes. The area is also a low land. To put the stagnant water at bay, some residents constructed a barricade around the ground floor. As a result of flooding and land filling by some residents, the surroundings of most of the ground floor of the blocks of flats by the big drainages that pass through the estate have been partially submerged. Some of the residents of the estates even had to find houses elsewhere because the ground floor of the buildings had sunk so low with just metres above the ground level.  

Alhaji Razak Noibi, a resident of the estate and Chairman of the Community Development Committee bemoaned what he described as the unperturbed attitude of the LBIC. He said the lack of services and maintenance was the reason resident discontinued paying any fees to the company. He expressed dismay that the LBIC had never on any occasion deemed it fit to come for maintenance of facilities within the estate. Noibi further decried the horrible state of the estate, which he said had been so degraded that one would wonder if human beings live there.

He expressed faint hopes that Governor Sanwo-Olu would regenerate the area as promised. He said though former Governor Fashola made a similar promise, he never fulfilled it before he left office.

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Abesan Low Cost Housing Estate, Ipaja

AT Low-Cost Housing Estate, Abesan-Ipaja, the President of the residents’ association, Michael Kehinde captured the extent of dilapidation, rot and decay in the estate in an interview.

According to him, the estate is peculiar because it is not fenced, making it porous and open to encroachment. He said as a result, residents  have had to live with a high-level insecurity within the estate. “It is on record that strange people come in to attack residents with machete in the early hours of the day and late at night.  Just about recently (late last year) at two separate locations within the estate, residents were wounded as a result of machete cuts inflicted on them by criminals. It is a common feature and what makes it easy for the perpetrators is that the estate is very porous, as we have no control over how people come in and go out.”

Kehinde added that vehicles come in unhindered as public transport, pick passengers and take them to dark places to maltreat and rob them. 

“Still on the issue of insecurity, our estate became a thoroughfare when the main road was under construction. Before then, the estate was not a thoroughfare. But since the completion of the main road, things have not changed. That is part of the problem we are facing right now, as trucks refuse to use the main road for whatever reason, even at midnights. There is also Okada riding in the dead of the night. Added to these is the menace of smugglers, who at odd hours of the day, recklessly drive through the estate. Thieves also come in the midnight to steal generators, air condition and engines.”

 While some other estates like Ilasan and Adeniji Adele Low-Cost Housing Estates do not have drainages, that cannot be said of Low-Cost Housing Estate, Abesan. Ironically, despite that, sections of the estate still get flooded. 

The residents’ association president attributed it to the non-linkage of the drainages, as they were constructed to encircle each sector or zone within the estate. 

“The drainages were not linked to one another, which makes it impossible for water to flow out, when it rains. As a result, there are a lot of places with stagnant dirty water after rains. That brings me to the level of dirtiness within the estate. Our estate is highly dirty and efforts by the residents to do some cleaning were frustrated by outsiders, who drive in at odd hours of the day to dump refuse, particularly around our high school and stadium; all these make the estate dirty.”

Although the estate is close to a mini-water works station belonging to the Lagos Water Corporation, it has no access to potable water. It relies on self-help for its water needs.  

“The estate has no public water supply, so the water we use is products of self-effort, each block of flats dug separate boreholes. Consequently, people are building chambers which overflows every time, making the estate very messy,” he stated. 

On why facilities within the estate are dilapidated, he put the blame on the state government and LBIC for failing in its duty.   Kehinde said though residents are expected to pay maintenance fee, for almost 40 years of the existence of the estate, at least 38 of these years, LBIC has not maintained any part of the estate. 

“Hence, the people discontinued paying the fee. LBIC is complaining of non-payment of these fees, while people are saying they are no longer paying, because LBIC has not been forthcoming in maintaining the estate. 

“It is a similar situation with the insurance premium; the residents discontinued payment, because all those who have suffered one form of negative incidents like roofing sheets being blown off by storm, or cases of apartment being razed by fire, were never compensated. 

“There is another aspect that makes it difficult for residents to pay. If for one reason or the other, somebody has not paid for a year and such residents now decide to pay, LBIC would start asking for arrears. The question is, will LBIC go back to repair what was damaged during the years the premium was not paid. The answer has not been positive from LBIC, hence people are not paying, including the current premium.” 

A public park for commercial vehicles had been constructed in the estate. But the residents have been unhappy about this, which is the reason the residents association wrote the local council on the need to move it away. This request was however rejected by the local council. 

  Kehinde further disclosed that the association requested that the park be moved, because it poses huge security threat to the residents. 

His words: “About three years ago, a public garage was opened in our estate; prior to that time, there was none. And we insisted that according to the design, a public garage was not to be allowed in the estate. But the local council, for whatever reason found it convenient to open one in our estate. When it turned out to be a danger, because it is the commercial vehicles, motorcycles and tricycles that criminals were using to come into the estate to commit crime, we cried to the council that the garage be removed. The local council still refused.”

Except for Mile 2 and Iponri Estates  which can boast of some good roads, all other Jakande estates’ roads have deteriorated. Surprisingly, the last time some of the roads were constructed or reconstructed was over three decades ago.  

Kehinde said the roads constructed when the estate was built were never revisited for either maintenance or reconstruction. He added that there were about two or three roads that were not constructed then, they have been left in that state. “Those constructed when the estate was put in place have become dilapidated and now constitute death traps to the residents. Unfortunately, nobody has come up to do anything for us. The story of neglect similarly affects the estate at night. There is no illumination, due to the absence of street lights. Specifically, 5th Avenue Road has become a death trap, which is dreaded by residents. Government wanted to reconstruct it; it started, but did not complete it, leaving it worse than it met it.

“In addition, there were places marked for some other facilities when the estate was being constructed, which have now been converted to other uses. These include spaces for facilities like library, and fire station. Up till now, we have no library. After cries and persuasion, we have been able to get a fire station. We have a primary and secondary school; in fact, the primary school is a den of robbers. Often when the school closes, these robbers move in, when it is time for school to reopen, they leave the premises. 

“And it is from there, they plan their operations. When we trailed them and found they are within the school and invited security agents, they quickly fled, because they know all the routes. This has constituted a serious headache to us.”  

The resident also revealed that the estate sewage system was in a state of disrepair and an attempt to put it in order some years ago during the Fashola administration ended with the effort being abandoned. 

This situation he said, led residents to individually build septic tanks. “Initially, some residents were trying to pass their toilet pipes into the drainages, but we discouraged and stopped that.” 

Another pointer to the neglect of the estate would be gleaned from the reality of its Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) being under construction seven years after it started. Even more pathetic is the fact that the structure, which is being constructed is already showing signs of collapsing.

“There are about 6,000 flats within the Jakande Estate, besides the adjoining estates, like King’s Court, Amosu, and others. In all, there are about 7500 to 8000 flats. Yet we have no fully functional health institution. A past chairman of the local council made effort to build one, but the project has since been abandoned. We are crying to the government to come finish the uncompleted job. I wish to emphasise that if that place is completed, we would have not less than 12,000 families using the facility. The health centre was constructed to roofing stage, but because it was abandoned, the building is gradually decaying and collapsing. So, they should help to save the place before it goes worse than what it is now,” Kehinde said.  

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Oke-Afa Low-Cost Housing Estate

FOR residents of Oke-Afa Housing Estate, there is something to cheer in the fact that the main road into the estate had been reconstructed in addition to the fixing of roughly one kilometre of the three kilometres of roads within the estate. But overall, the estate bears its own tell-tale signs of government neglect. 

The President of the Oke-Afa Estate Residents Association, Alhaji Chief Olawale Salami said the community has a circular road that is not motorable, but the council chairman constructed about a kilometre, with almost two kilometres left in its impassable state. “The aesthetic of any estate is the beauty of its roads,” he said.

The residents of the estate are also not happy with the demolition of kiosks and shops carried out within the estate on November 4, 2016, by the immediate by administration. 

Salami said: “The previous government came to destroy our neighbourhood shops, with a promise to plant trees and flowers on the cleared areas, but that was not done. Only for this year, an emissary was sent to inform residents that shops would be built on the cleared areas though at a higher cost. This was around the time I came on board, and that situation gave us a problem.

“We organised stakeholders’ meetings and the resident rejected the idea because the pains of the previous destruction led to some deaths and some others who lost their businesses were so badly affected that they came down with stroke. Be that as it may, we have been communicating with LBIC and the issue is under control. We sent an emissary to our local representatives at the state and federal including the council chairman. We are still on it, as it has not been totally resolved. I was one of those who suffered losses from the demolition exercise. After retirement, I built a shop for a business centre, but when they came in 2016, the shop was destroyed alongside the equipment in it. I could not rescue anything; were it not for my children, I would have gone to the village, because it really affected me psychologically.”

Salami further said night marauders have continued to be a source of pain in the neck of residents, who come to vandalise cars and steal, but often run away once residents blow their whistles.

But that has changed, as those who come to attack the residents at night these days, often come with guns, challenging the residents to come out and confront them whenever they are vandalising cars or stealing. 

 Salami said: “We are strategising and making efforts to halt it. All issues of security are being discussed extensively as we deliberate of them. We have reported to the council chairman, who is cooperating with us on this issue. 

 “Another big challenge is the primary school because the place has turned to robbers’ den and spot for smoking Indian hemp. The roof top has been blown away by strong wind. The dilapidated state of the school is another thing entirely. So, we have sent emissary to government to come and repair the school. In the whole of Ejigbo and Oke-Afa, there are two secondary schools, one here and the other in Ejigbo, for a population of over a million. What I am saying in essence is that, majority of students leave this environment to school in Isolo, every morning, contributing to the traffic gridlock. There is a space to construct another secondary school within the complex of the existing one. I thank God for the foresight of Alhaji Lateef Jakande, who provided spaces for various developmental efforts. So, our secondary school can still accommodate another secondary school to make life meaningful for the students.”

On its damaged sewage system, Salami said series of letters had been written to the Lagos State Ministry of Environment, notifying them of the breakdowns, but nothing has been done yet. 

  “If it is functional, it is the best system that makes environment clean, because of the sloppiness and flatness of some places within the estate and the fact that the pumps are no longer functional, we have breakdown here and there, which makes the environment dirty. I pity those living in Zone, 17, 18 and 19, whose buildings are tangential to the sewage itself. Can you imagine the mess and odour they have to live with?” 

 Salami, like other presidents in other estates, complained about the failure of the Lagos Building Investment Corporation, which he blamed for reneging on its statutory responsibility to carry out repairs when the need arises, despite the fact that residents paid their maintenance fees.  

“I have a personal experience. My roof got blown off sometimes in early 2007, I did it myself, because if you do not do it, when another rain comes, it will destroy your property. So, the response to repair and call to duty is called to question.”

 He also admitted that LBIC complained that residents do not pay maintenance fees, but the process of payment was made cumbersome, because residents were expected to go to Alausa CBD area, where the LBIC office is located to pay.

“The transport cost is not less than N1000. Since LBIC abandoned its office within the estate, many residents were not ready to waste money, transporting themselves to Alausa, especially as many of us are pensioners. They want us to risk our lives to go there. Some allotees do not have legs again. If they want to get anything, LBIC should collaborate with the residents’ association in each estate to collect the fee or establish a revenue office in the estates. 

“Initially, the payment was done here and we were paying. Even the shops within the estate then, they organised and approved it and we paid a token to them.” 

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Amuwo-Odofin Low-Cost Housing Estate, Mile 2

 FOR residents of Amuwo-Odofin Low-Cost Housing Estate, Mile 2, the issue of insecurity is one of the major challenges they have to grapple with. The President of the Landlords and Residents Association, Prince Adeyemi Ailara, in an interview, disclosed that the alarming level of insecurity has been a cause of sleeplessness for residents. 

 “I grew up here, had my primary and secondary school education here. The state of insecurity is alarming. I could remember vividly when we were so young; the estate was fenced with barbwires. We also had mobile policemen at both ends of the estate. There was a barricade that prevented articulated vehicles from coming in. Then, the Mile 2 commercial vehicle park was not this close to us. Now, there is a thoroughfare allowing vehicles to drive through the estate. This has led to a constant siege of noise pollution with vehicles blaring their horns even at odd hours of the day. There have also been a lot of hoodlums coming into the estate freely in addition to the menace of articulated vehicles being parked indiscriminately on the road, thereby blocking free flow of traffic.”

Ailara informed that another challenge was the issue of the drainages and canal in the estate. He said they used to be desilted twice in a year, but those efforts are now in distant memory because even when the residents write to the appropriate authorities, help does not come on time. 

“Desilting does not come early enough. It is only when we have blockages that government will come around, after much complaints. 

“In the area of sewage, some of the blocks of flats now pass their human wastes into the gutter, because government came to pull down the central septic tank with a promise to erect a modern one, which it has not constructed. Opposite the Mile 2 Estate is a Lagos Water Corporation mini-water works station, but the proximity does not translate to residents of the estate having access to potable water.  

Ailara said: “It is no news that almost all the blocks of flats have one or two boreholes. Some residents could not even erect boreholes, because of the underground soil in such area produces coloured water with zinc. At the earlier stage of moving into the estate, the Lagos State Water Corporation was supplying water, which did not require re-boiling to drink. Now it is each building for itself when it comes to souring for water.” 

 The leader of the estate’s residents said payment of insurance premiums and maintenance fee stopped, because the appropriate authorities failed to keep their side of the bargain. “Initially, we do pay, but residents stopped paying. We have several flats razed by fire that have not been reconstructed. But we are discussing to smoothen things out.”

He, nonetheless, said over the years the two parties have crossed each other’s path. “There were rules and regulations guiding residents. Along the line, some of the residents did not abide by these rules. One of them is the erection of kiosks and shops. And I will not blame the residents, it was due to bad economic situation in the country, so you will expect such.

“My suggestion on that is, if it can be officially endorsed and organised, with LBIC giving a prototype of what structures to put up as kiosks and shops, the result will be better. I say so because with the little interaction, we have had, the LBIC made us to know that the building of kiosks is degrading the beauty of the estate, so they do not want all manner of structures to be springing up.”  

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Iba Low-Cost Housing Estate, Ojo

ANOT

HER of the iconic Jakande Estates is located in Iba town, under Ojo Local Council. Unlike Amuwo-Odofin Housing Estate, where its central sewage system has collapsed, Iba Housing Estate never had one.   At different points within the estate, damaged and uncovered septic tanks could be sighted with their content spilling unto the roads.

The President of the Residents Association, Kunle Aribikolasi JP, said the challenges residents are contending were mainly caused by the decay of infrastructure. He said the estate roads are bad, though the local government often makes some effort to reconstruct the main entrance road.

He disclosed that the estate was designed to have a central sewage, but along the line, it was cancelled and each block of flats built a septic tank.

“Unfortunately, for residents, this is a swampy place, so no matter the level of energy put into evacuating the septic tank, it gets filled almost immediately with an overflow. Over the years, the buildings were not properly managed by the Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC). Residents accused the company of abandoning the maintenance of the estates, with the company’s focus being exclusively on how to get money from residents.

 “For example, majority of the residents of the estate stopped paying insurance premium. This is a block of six flats, any fire incident will affect the others. If you go out now, the flat above got burnt about five years ago. Others repaired theirs, but one of the residents failed to repair his flat and the flats directly under and adjacent it are having issues, as rainwater drips into their apartments.

 “This is part of what LBIC ought to be doing. If everybody has insurance for their flat, the flats would have been rebuilt. But because of lack of monitoring and supervision, 90 percent of the residents no longer take insurance for their property. So, when there is any problem, there is nothing to fall back to. And that is why majority of the flats are dilapidated and it is affecting the structures.”

 It was found that the estate has been highly commercialised like other estates. Unlike the other estates in the state where illegal structures have been pulled down by the authorities, the ones in Iba Housing Estate remain standing.

 Aribikolasi is, however, not happy that structures especially kiosks and shops have been indiscriminately built within the estate

“This has turned the community that should naturally be a residential place to a commercial area. Majority of these shops and kiosks owners claimed they got approval from LBIC or LSDPC. Some of the kiosks and shops owners are residents, others are not, but there is no proper control in the erection of these shops and kiosks.”

 He further revealed that occasionally, the estate gets flooded, but the water flows away after rain, though this might take some time. He added that the residents also had to cope with insecurity, which he claimed is promoted by the activities of members of neighbouring communities.

 “The estate has a secondary and primary school, but the neighbouring communities do not have any government schools, so everybody wants to come into the estate. That is the reason they created many illegal inlets and outlets. Recently, we tried to block these illegal entrances, but heads of the neighbouring communities seriously resisted it, because it would be difficult for the pupils and students to access their schools through the main gate.

 “Our neighbouring communities like Igbo-elerin, Ibatedo, and Ipaye do not have primary or secondary schools and these are big communities. For their trading activities also, they come to the estate and the result is that these activities pose security threat to the residents. Notwithstanding, we have had to find a way to manage them. We are up to the task and we will ensure that the area is well secured.”

Another resident of Iba Housing Estate, Idowu Odutejo, added his voice in lamenting the LBIC neglect of the estate. “When residents have problem with roofing sheet, it is usually a major issue among flat occupants, especially if the roofing sheets got blown away; LBIC is usually slow in effecting repairs, if it will even do at all.” 

He revealed that sometime ago, LBIC pledged to change the roofing sheets to asbestos from zinc roofing sheets. The resident informed that while the company changed some, others were not replaced, which made some residents to stop paying the insurance and maintenance fees.

“And the occupants of the top most floors often bear the burden alone, which should have been a shared burden if the insurance and maintenance fee were in place. This year alone, I have repaired my roofing sheet seven times despite the fact that I have changed it to asbestos,” he said.