Children Chant ‘our Community’s Our Home’ As Lagos Lawmakers Visit Makoko

By Elizabeth Osayande & Ifunanya Ndigwe

LAGOS—THE murky waters of the Makoko waterfront were stirred yesterday by the desperate chants of displaced residents, especially school children, who gathered at the edges of the lagoon to welcome members of the Lagos State House of Assembly.

Arriving as part of a fact-finding mission under the Committee on Rules and Business, the lawmakers were greeted by the children from the Makoko Gunuvi Students Association, who sang the national anthem and chanted, ‘Our community is our home, help us protect it’, as they held placards pleading for government mercy.

The visit, referenced in an official notice, followed an urgent appeal against the ongoing mass forced evictions and demolitions threatening tens of thousands of lives in the Makoko, Oko Agbon, and Sogunro communities.

Beyond the 100-metre mark

The “bone of contention” remains a high-voltage power line that runs through the waterfront, as the government maintains that residents must not build under the cables for safety reasons. However, community leaders allege that the demolition crew went far beyond the agreed-upon safety zone.

While the agreement was a 100-metre clearance from the pipeline, residents claim the government has already demolished structures up to 522 metres away.

Corroborating this claim, Baale of Oko Agbon, Emmanuel Shemede, lamented the humanitarian crisis now unfolding on the waterfront.

Shemede said: “Many people are now homeless; they are sleeping in their canoes, both children and women. The government came, and they started demolishing our houses beyond what we had agreed on. Although we are not fighting the government, we are trying to find a solution.”

Lending his voice to the plea, a community representative, Mr Kojo Phineas, demanded immediate compensation for livelihood losses and emergency temporary shelter for those whose houses were demolished.

He further alleged that the community has faced brutality and theft from unknown persons during the chaotic exercise.

Tension at the waterfront

The inspection, however, was not without drama, as a rift broke out among the Egun-speaking locals.

A heated confrontation ensued when a young man began threatening an alleged “traitor” in the same boat with the lawmakers, almost causing the breakdown of law and order.

To avoid a full-blown violence, the committee members were forced to bypass the section and continue their assessment from the other side of the community.

Present during the visit was the Yaba LGA Chairman, Mr Adebayo Adefuye, who joined the delegation alongside various government agencies to witness the extent of the displacement.

Addressing the crowd after the inspection, Chairman of the Committee, Mr Noheem Adams, called for calm and ordered a “status quo” to remain, halting further demolitions for the time being.

Adams said: “We cannot decide anything today, as today is just for us to come and see, but we are appealing to everybody that the status quo should remain. If the government respects the decision of the House of Assembly, then the people, too, should respect the decision.”

A community in limbo

For the residents of Makoko, they insisted on their demands for the rebuilding of demolished structures and the provision of settlement for those displaced. Student leader Agbola explained that Makoko serves as a collective name for several water-based communities, emphasising that for his people, the water is not just a location but their entire heritage.

The atmosphere in Makoko was filled with anxiety, as the fate of the Lagos waterfront now hangs in the balance of a definitive meeting scheduled for Tuesday, February 10, at the Lagos House of Assembly, where a final judgment on the inspection findings will be made known.

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