By Ishaya Ibrahim
A non government organisation, Spaces for Youth Development and Social Change, has launched a report tagged, public-private connection in urban displacement, a case study of Lagos State.
The report traces the history of land ownership in Lagos, which began with a prince of Ile-Ife, Olofin Ogunfunminire and his 11 biological and adopted children called the Idejos or White Cap chiefs, all of whom owned large swathe of Lagos land.
They are; Olumegbon, Oniru, Elegushi, Onikoyi, Oluwa, Onisiwo, Ojora, Onitolo, Atomire, Onitana and Oloto.
The report also located other land-owning families in Lagos who are either children of Olofin but are not classified as Idejos or some other migrants different from those of Olofin, who settled in areas such as Mushin, Oshodi, Isolo, Shasha and many other communities. Their ancestry is traced to the Awori tribe of Ogun State.
The report noted that public land acquisition by government, which the constitution bestows with the overriding power of acquiring land for the public good, reduced the expanse of land at the disposal of key land owning families.
“The entire Ikoyi, for example, the customary heritage of the Onikoyis, was acquired by the colonial government,” the report noted.
The report also addressed the plight of informal settlements, many of whom have become victims of displacements from either government or the powerful land-owning families.
“The Idejos and other first settler families lay claim to substantial portions of the land in Lagos. The status of the Idejos as the owners of certain land estates in Lagos has been affirmed in a line of Supreme Court cases. As a result, any person living on those lands, unless the lands were previously sold to other parties or acquired by government, ought to be able to trace their right to live on the land to the relevant land owning family,” the report said.
For the government, it could displace informal settlements by invoking the law which gives it the right to acquire land for the overriding interest of the public.
The report said the Raji Rasaki-led government demolished the Maroko community on July 14,1990 on the ground that the residents were exposed to flooding because the settlement was contagious to water.
Also, the current Lagos State government also sacked the 50 year-old Otodo Gbame community, despite court order restraining the state from doing so, on the ground of health and security concerns.
The report recommended to the Lagos State government to have a housing plan for both the rich and poor as a matter of human rights.
Founder of Spaces for Change, Victoria Ibezim Ohaeri, said the gap in data, especially on displacement related issues, informed the choice of the research theme.
Before the launch of the report, Spaces for Change held a town hall on improving community relations with security agencies. Heart wrenching tales of abuses by security agencies, especially the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), were discussed.
Representatives from the Lagos government, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and Community Development Associations (CDAs) in Lagos, were in attendance.