The Lagos demolition is indeed piecing chisel trough many hearts.
Indeed, the pain of losing a property, which must have taken years of hard work to build, is unimaginable, and the Lagos State Government is fully aware of this.
You see, in the past few weeks, Lagosians have witnessed numerous demolitions of properties, leaving many with uncertainty.
In fact, many people had publicly expressed fears. They said they were scared of investing in Lagos, as it could be demolished at any time.
There are also speculations that the demolition is targeted at a certain tribe. Well, let’s leave this story for another day.
The Lagos State Government is aware of the concerns raised by Lagosians.
As a result, the Lagos State government wants Lagosians affected by the ongoing demolition of houses in some parts of the state to apply for compensation.
Compensation
The Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, made this known during an interview on Friday.
Wahab noted that the “Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration empathises with the residents”.
Also, it will treat each application on a case-by-case basis.
He said: “Compensations are based on application and they are profiled and treated on a case-by-case basis.
“Those involved, let them apply, don’t limit the application of compensation to just Mende Villa, and then we take it to the governor for approval.
“This is a government that has empathy for the people. Let us accept it, climate change is real. Let us embrace it and not let emotions take over.
Foul Play
“Compensation is based on rights, as a state I know how much we are giving out to the people of Ilasan Jakande.
“I won’t mention but over two thousand persons are being given compensation, squatters that are not allotees are being given compensation to find a place to relocate to”.
The commissioner said the demolition was enforced rapidly because the government discovered foul play by the developers or homeowners.
He added that “the home owners were engaging the government but they failed to tell the tenants, we found out but we didn’t wait in our offices, we came out to them.
The Right Thing
“We had served them contravention notices, we are engaging the stakeholders, it’s been on for the past 7 months and we will not start enforcement until we are sure we have spoken to everybody.
“We are not afraid to enforce our laws.
Also Read: Landmark Beach: 5 Facts About Ongoing Demolition You Probably Didn’t Know
“On those people that we demolished their houses, for me as Tokunbo Wahab I feel bad because I’m human, I saw people that were distressed.
“However, I’ll rather let those people be distressed and save the lives of 22 million Lagosians from flooding.
“When they say Lagos will go under in 50 years, should we fold our hands and watch it happen?
“We are choosing to do the right thing and it is painful at times to do the right thing”.
