We Don’t Want Another Festac Town —Magodo Residents

Unapproved structures threaten the beauty of Magodo GRA, Phase II, Lagos, write Solaade Ayo-Aderele & Samuel Awoyinfa

Driving through Magodo GRA Phase II is riveting. It is not necessarily because of the beautiful structures that are the lot of this highbrow area; rather, it is also due to the fact that the majority of the houses double as residential and commercial centres.

Some streets even feature informal mini markets where you have on display for sale items such as pepper, plantain and other foodstuffs. In the evenings when people are returning home, traffic sometimes builds up as motorists and pedestrians alike jostle to make their purchases.

Physically, Magodo Phase II comprises 21 zones, and many of the streets taper into closes or crescents. Since many of these closes and crescents also have security barricades, residents seem to live in a world of their own, and it seems the laws regulating certain activities do not apply to them.

For instance, at Agboola Ajumobi Close and Oluyemi Oshunkoya Close, parking vehicles on the street seems to be the norm rather than the exception. The houses are big and beautiful, but most of them lack parking spacesfor the inhabitants.

Worse still, the way the vehicles are parked on either side of the roads leaves no one in doubt about the hardships that other road users or even residents encounter whenever they drive through the affected streets.

From barbecued meat spots to schools, supermarkets, hair dressing salons, worship centres and boutiques, Magodo Phase II seems to be reeling under the weight of balkanisation of the original land use plan.

Some residents even went a step further, as some houses now have as appendages physical structures such as poultry, fish ponds, bakeries, and farms where animals are reared, among others, all of which not only pollute the environment with foul odour, but they also pose health risks to other residents.

Yet, going by the original intention — which the Chairman, Residents Association, Mr. Kunle Fashogbon, insists is unchangeable — Magodo Phase II is supposed to be purely residential, with designated areas for recreation and commercial activities.

Fashogbon makes no pretence that this sprawling estate has all the commercial and recreational centres that could serve the teeming residents, noting that it is one of the areas they want the appropriate authorities to look into.

Fashogbon, an estate surveyor and valuer, says, “An estate as sprawling as Magodo should have nothing less than two acres of land mainly for commercial and recreational purposes. The absence of these facilities is what is contributing to the illegal activities of converting residential apartments to commercial ventures as you are seeing.”

He notes that though private individuals and organisations attempt to provide recreation and commercial ventures, lack of parking spaces is a fallout of their activities.

Fashogbon says whenever these commercial outfits host an event, residents face the herculean task of meandering through the roads, as vehicles are parked haphazardly in available spaces, sometimes bringing traffic to a standstill.

Speaking to one of our reporters, the resident association’s Environment Secretary, Mr. Emmanuel Ekunno, recalls the battle the executive waged against illicit posters, overflowing waste bins in front of houses and vehicle abandonment, among others.

He discloses that the residents’ association executive had to enlist the help of the Ministry of the Environment to curtail the activities of some recalcitrant residents.

While he argues that though the issues are far from being resolved, the executive has succeeded in restoring sanity to how people relate with the environment, whether in terms of waste disposal or in the area of indiscriminate postal distribution.

To save the estate from becoming a dumping ground for all sorts of posters announcing one service or the other, Ekunno informs that the executive drafted a set of rules, tagged the Environmental and Commercial Policy, which are meant to defend the environment in line with the environment ministry’s objectives.

Again, to enforce compliance, the Environment Enforcement Team was constituted, equipped with patrol vehicles. Headed by Mr. Jack Ikpi and in alliance with officers of the Ministry of the Environment, this team drives around the estate at regular intervals, ridding the roads of abandoned or broken down vehicles, and generally monitoring how compliant residents are with the policy they had agreed to uphold.

The efforts have not been in vain, as the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency, in a letter dated November 27, 2013 and signed by the Head, Enforcement Department, Olamide Oyegoke, acknowledged the resident association’s efforts, urging it to continue to collaborate with the agency “to make Magogo Phase II clean.”

The executive officers express concern that the way some residents go about changing the physical outlook of Magodo GRA Phase II could make the enviable estate go the way of the Festac Housing Estate which, though was the pride of the nation in the 1970s, is now an eyesore and a den of criminals as a result of uncontrolled alterations and construction of illegal structures.

“If we don’t act now, the tendency is for crime rate to increase in this estate, and it might extend to neighbouring residential areas as time goes on, thus worsening the state’s security situation,” Fashogbon says; adding, “It was one of the reasons why we had to enlist the help of the Lagos State Building Control Agency.”

He appeals to the agency to work with the estate’s executive by giving them the opportunity to monitor the activities of developers who work in the estate.

“Our main appeal in this regard is that once the LSBCA approves of any structure, it should revert to the executive by allowing us to monitor the construction processes. That way, when approval is granted for the construction of a duplex, for instance, we will ensure that the master plan is complied with; so that you won’t find rows of apartments instead of a duplex that has been approved for an allottee,” Fashogbon pleads.

He also urges the Lagos State Government to provide essential social amenities in the estate. Noting that many roads are still untarred, he discloses that residents in each zone have had to contribute money to grade and tar their roads in order to make them passable.

He laments, “Magodo Phase II is supposed to be a site and service scheme; in other words, the government should provide social infrastructure such as water, light, good roads, etc.. But since this is not being done, we have had to resort to self-help, which sometimes task the residents financially, and some actually find it difficult to meet the financial demands. If government steps in decisively, residents will have a lease of life.”

Attempts to speak with residents who have altered their buildings’ layouts were rebuffed, as the security men claimed that their employers were not around; while those who volunteered a response only say they are already discussing the issues with the estate’s executive members.

An aged man, in an interview with one of our reporters, says he converted the front space of his building to a mini mart after his retirement and let it out so as to be able to generate regular income to shore up what he calls his “paltry pension.”

A female resident says the only option left for her after her husband’s demise is to earn money by converting the front space of the family house to a row of shops featuring a salon, mini boutique and floral retail outlet.

When contacted, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Toyin Ayinde, was said to be attending the state executive meeting on Monday; and, as at the time of filing this report on Monday evening, he had yet to respond to a text message sent to his phone.

Again, the Director, Press and Public Relations in the ministry, Mrs. Olowu Adekoya, confirmed that she had also sent a text message to him, intimating him of our reporter’s request. She said the commissioner promised to be available on Wednesday.

“The commissioner said he would be available on Wednesday; he has an official engagement on Tuesday (today),” she said on the telephone.

Meanwhile, an official at the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority, a unit under the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, who craves anonymity, says in highbrow residential areas like Magodo Phase II, provision can be made for other complementary uses if necessary permits and approvals are sought and obtained.

The source says, “There may be provision for complementary uses. There should be complementary services like laundry, supermarket, schools, hotels, etc., but all of these must be done within the necessary permit and approval.”

The official explains that if the complainants have specific names of landlords and the buildings that have been converted to other uses different from the original approval, they should forward such details to the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development and that they would act on it.
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