Save our buildings from imminent collapse

ooJakande residents cry out over allocation of floodway to school
WHEN in 1983, about 324 residents were allocated houses in Zone 27 Jakande Estate, Oke -Afa, Ejigbo, Lagos, under the state’s Low Cost Housing Estate scheme, they were happy that their accommodation problems were over.

Under the scheme, the estate had well contoured parks and roads with entrances and markets clearly delineated, making it a delightsome place. People praised the then governor, Alhaji Lateef Jakande and wished to own a flat.

However, 32 years on, what used to be a serene environment and a delight to behold had been turned into a slum occasioned mainly by what the residents called indiscriminate allocation of lands by Lagos State Building Investment Cooperation (LBIC) in defiance to the master plan.

The residents, under the auspices of Landlord and Resident Association, Zone 27, Low Cost Housing Estate, Jakande Estate, Ejigbo, Lagos, said the haphazard allocations had adversely affected buildings in the area because of lack of road and waterways.

In the time past, protests by residents against such reckless allocations compelled the LBIC to suspend such practice in the area. But recently the allocation of the only flood way in the area to a school, KINTOBS Academy by LBIC, which has started construction works at the site, sparked fresh protest by residents.

The chairman of the Landlord association, Mr. Gabriel Fasunloye and the Secretary of the zone, Comrade Olusoji Dada-Ayodele, said the protest was hinged on the fear that, if allowed to stay, the blockage may lead to the collapse of their buildings following the deplorable environmental condition of the area.
The landlords complained bitterly about the allocation of the only flood way in the area, which is causing more harm to the dilapidated blocks of six units of three bedroom flats in the area.

According to them, the said land is a small space between block 485 and 487 of about 198sqm, which originally on the master plan was supposed to be the zone’s entrance but now encroached into through the allotted land.

According to Comrade Olusoji Dada-Ayodele, similar allocation in the past led to the collapse of Block ‘M’, when LBIC allocated a flood way to a school named KEMBOS School at the end of Church Street.

He stressed that this point was earlier directed to the executive director of LBIC, Alhaji Jinadu, by the chairman of the panel of enquiring into buildings collapse in Lagos State sitting at city hall, Lagos Island.

Comrade Ayodele, who also lamented the deployment of police officers attached to the Lagos State Environmental Task Force to harass and brutalise innocent residents, who are against the erection of such structure at the place, urged Governor Akinwumi Ambode to investigate the matter and sanction those found culpable.

The Landlords also urged the governor to intervene to avert a repeat of history, as the residential area has become a restless area due to the indiscriminate allocation of land by the Lagos state Building Investment Co-operation.