If there is anyone who wants to know why Lagos State was ranked recently by The Economist Intelligence Unit of The Economist magazine as the third worst city for humans to live in the world, there is no better place to go, perhaps, than Ijagemo, a community left abandoned over the years by the government.
Recall that the latest 2018 Global Liveability Index released by The Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Lagos 138 out of the 140 cities surveyed. According to the ranking which was based on such indicators as Social Stability, Healthcare, Education, Culture and Environment and Infrastructure, Lagos was rated 38.5 points out of a score of 100. It only outperformed the Bangladeshi city of Dhaka and the war-ravaged Syrian city of Damascus.
Some African cities that performed better than Lagos in the ranking were Dakar (Senegal), which was ranked 131 out of 140; Algiers (Algeria) — 132; Douala (Cameroon) — 133; Tripoli (Libya) — 134 and Harare (Zimbabwe) — 135.
According to the survey, “Each factor in a city is rated as acceptable, tolerable, uncomfortable, undesirable or intolerable. For qualitative indicators, a rating is awarded based on the judgment of in-house analysts and in-city contributors.”
Arguably, the “in-city contributors” that assessed Lagos could have endured the nightmarish and traumatic experience of visiting Ijagemo prior to filing in their report, as I did recently, or encountered someone who lived or knew another living in Ijagemo. Whichever way, there is no way any city assessor will visit that part of the so-called Lagos mega city without turning out a damning verdict.
Interestingly, the state admitted in May it “achieved an average monthly Internally Generated Revenue of N34bn in 2018 compared to monthly averages of N22bn, N24bn, and N30bn in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively.” Quartz Africa claims that, “With GDP in 2014 pegged at $90bn, Lagos’ economy stands as the 7th largest in Africa- bigger than Cote d’Ivoire and Kenya, two of the continent’s most promising economies.”
Not unexpectedly, the Lagos State Government through an op-ed article written by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Kehinde Bamigbetan, in The PUNCH, August 27, 2018, retorted that, “Ranking 138th among business locations across the world is the recognition that Lagos has left behind millions of many other cities, including the federal capital, Abuja, to be among the 140 demanded by businessmen. And that is enough reason to conclude that the allegedly worst city among the world’s best 140 is, indeed, better than the rest.”
This chest-thumping notwithstanding, it is both depressing and disappointing that the seeming prosperity of Lagos exists side by side a hell hole called Ijagemo, a hugely populated community in the Ijegun area of Alimoso Local Government Area. In case you did not know, Alimoso is the most sought-after constituency in Lagos politics given its large population which it has used to determine the outcome of political contests in the state. Before elections, the area is courted by the numberless politicians, but has been neglected in the provision of critical infrastructure, social amenities and anything of note to indicate it is located in the self-styled Centre of Excellence.
The road to Ijagemo is no road at all. It is a disaster, a pathway to agony and pain, better experienced than described. And it is in Lagos, as someone joked! When I set out that Saturday morning to visit a relative in Ijagemo, I never bargained for what I saw. Driving through the pothole-ridden Isolo road to Jakande Estate gate was a self-inflicted punishment, to myself and my car. But that pales into insignificance when compared to the road to Ijagemo. The only respite was the long stretch of well-paved road from Jakande Gate to Ijegun last bus stop through Bucknor and Isheri, all densely populated settlements on that axis, said to have been constructed by the Fashola administration. Apparently, the unfortunate residents had hoped that the state government would look their way after rehabilitating the Ijegun road. But that was not to be.
As a resident observed, one government after the other in the state, since 1999, had made promises to construct the road but year in year out, the same story of neglect subsisted. Perhaps, they are only useful to vote during elections, but not good enough to be rewarded with the so-called dividends of democracy. They live on the margins, with no road, no market, no evidence of governance of any type from any level.
From Ijegun last bus stop, the visitor is welcomed to hell. The looks on the faces of the residents by the roadsides or those on the back of motorcycles, the only means of transport that move residents to either Ijegun or Ikotun Egbe, speak volumes. They are looks of resignation to official neglect, experience of three tiers of government without any governance that impacts or responds to their needs.
It is not that Ijagemo residents have not cried to the relevant quarters to come to their rescue and fix the only connecting road to the outside world. They have wailed, but they haven’t been heard. And if government has heard them, there is no sign of any action. Mr. Amos Goodluck, an orthopaedist, who resides in the area, lamented in a feature report published in New Telegraph, March 28, 2018, that, “There was a time the government promised to construct a bridge for us over the river down there but we have not seen anything since then. If they had made that construction, we would have been able to access other areas like Ojo cantonment, FESTAC Town and others but they didn’t do it.” He revealed that the last time the road had any form of grading was 10 years ago!
How the Lagos State Government mouths its commitment to the realisation of what it calls a smart city initiative with a place like Ijagemo on its map beggars belief. What is smarter than bringing the full force of governance to bear on people living on the fringes, like Ijagemo residents, by constructing their only link road?
It goes without saying that Ijagemo road is a metaphor for discriminatory governance in Lagos. It is debatable if the state government could have allowed the roads in areas like Ikoyi, Ikeja, Surulere, though there are many roads in deplorable conditions in recent times, to be in such a state.
If there is a parting gift Governor Akinwunmi Ambode could be remembered for in his memorable single-term stint, methinks rising to the pleas of the Ijagemo residents for the construction of that seven kilometre road could be one. Leaving some parts of Lagos feeling that they are only useful during voting is not the best of legacies. The road to Ijagemo should be a delight, not a disaster to the residents.
(jnwokeoma@punchng.com. 07085183894)
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