Railway demolition: Landlord, traders groan
The recent demolition of structures and sacking of traders on the Nigerian Railway Corporation’s corridor in Lagos and Ogun States, left bitter pills in the throats of victims, writes Femi Ganiyu
Last Monday, April 17, 2017, was a day traders and landlords on the corridors of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, NRC, will not forget in a hurry.
It was a ‘black day’ of some sort for them. This is because, these categories of people received an unwanted guests of demolition squad.
From Ijoko, Agbado Station, Ogun State; Agege to Apapa, Lagos State, the demolition squad that was aided by fierce-looking policemen was unsparing for them.
Shanties, wares, houses that the NRC, owners of the rail tracks, constructed by the British Colonialists in the 1880s and banqueted to us since Independence in 1960, it considered to have trespassed or built of their lands, were demolished.
Yet, as the demolition bade them farewell, at least for now, many other structures are still under threat. For example, Jollybells Group of Schools located within the precinct of the Agbado station, houses, churches and shopping complexes there have been marked for demolition, meaning in particular, that many schoolchildren would have their education distorted, if no immediate alternative arrangements are made by the owners to give them succor.
Cries, agonies were heard, as the squad moved swiftly, and like the canines of a lion, mowed down the illegal structures. Even, trees were not spared; neither were containers and other structures, which found themselves in the jaws and bellies of the caterpillars, simply became rubbles. Tears flowed freely, while gnashing of teeth, wailings characterized the scenes, propbably causing high blood pressure for others.
However, as landlords, traders and others gradually come to terms with the reality and agony of losing their houses and wares to the rampaging earthmoving machines, the long stretch of the Nigerian Railway Corporation’s corridor would not be the same again.
When The Daily Times visited the affected areas, many victims were still trying to salvage what is left of their properties; carpenters at Agbado Station, were busy removing planks and roofing materials, while several make-shift shops had been evacuated at Agege and Ijoko areas.
Interestingly, however, and as ubiquitous and never-say- die attitude of typical Nigerian traders, life had surprisingly returned to the rail tracks. Wares, like clothing, food stuffs, were openly displayed on the rail tracks, as if nothing ever happened there.
At the Ikeja rail lines, scores of businesses, including hawking, buying and selling took place without any hindrance. It was still business as usual there. For them, life goes on.
Indeed, residents of these railway corridor can now heave a sigh of relief. This is especially so because, hoodlums, women of easy virtue, armed robbers, weed smokers and gamblers had been displaced from there.
Investigations revealed that along these corridors, all these social and criminal activities had long been taking place there to the discomfort of residents and other law-abiding people as well. Now, they might have to look elsewhere to indulge in their games, while awaiting the long arm of the law to catch up with them some day.
This much was confirmed by a Police officer at the Agbado Railway Police Station, but who preferred anonymity, that they usually have cases of criminal activities to deal with in the area. Just as the station has also been marked for demolition, the officer said, “I am sure that a new and better(modern) station will be built; after all, it’s a Federal Government project.”
But, Agbado-Okearo Local Council Development Area, which was created by the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, FCA, last year, may be losing millions of naira in Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, following the demolition of houses ,shops and the displacement of traders, who paid, tenement rates, rent, permits, among others to the state/ council, as the case may be.
According to Pa Simon, a landlord, whose house was demolished at Agbado Station; “it was an agonizing day for him. There was nothing I could do when they came with Policemen. They just started demolishing the houses, as you can see. They told me that I won’t get any compensation for demolishing my house.”
He claimed to have been living in the house over 30 years ago, when he completed and moved in, adding that at his age (75 years), he is not in position to build a new house, but to simply relocate to his Abeokuta, his ancestral home.
A trader, Mrs. Joy Chukwudi decried the action of the NRC, lamenting that her source of livelihood as a trader has been lost. She said, “I don’t know what to do’ I have lost my shop and all the materials inside it; even the money (she didn’t specify) I kept in my shop had been lost to the bulldozers.”
While some affected people said, they were not given any prior notice to quit the area, it was learnt that this was not true, as NRC authorities were said to have given them over a year notice to quit the area.
According to the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Mr. Fedelis Okhiria, prior notices had been served on the affected landlords and property owners along the NRC’s corridors nationwide.
It was learnt, however that those with genuine Certificates of Occupancy, C of Os’ would get compensation, as against those without theirs.
According to a victim, who simply called herself grandma, “We were given notices to leave this place; in fact, more than a year ago, they have been telling us to leave.”
Over the years, the NRC had been carrying similar demolition exercises on illegal structures along its corridors. From 2009 till date several of such demolition exercises were carried out in Agege, Apapa, Unugu, Kano, among other places, even with dire consequences for the victims.
Already, the Chinese firms that would construct the new rail lines along the corridors, are said to frequent the areas these days, a sign that the Federal Government meant business?
Although, several attempts were made during the Military regimes of General Ibrahim Babangida, retd; to late General Sani Abacha to rejig the railway, using the Chinese firms, these efforts, were to say the least, not successful.
Even the civilian inheritors of government after the Military, such as former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo; late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Dr. Goodlucck Ebele Jonathan could not rescue the NRC from going down the hill, despite sinking billions of dollars into the organization to make it work.
Rather, corruption, delays, pilfering and abandonment, continued to be its bane, forcing the Federal Government to again re-invite the Chinese engineers to rework on it this time around, with substantial financing from China’s Exim Bank.
Realizing the importance of railway to the economy, the Federal Government, recently inaugurated the ground-breaking ceremony of the Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge Railway Line.
President Muhammadu Buhari, represented by Vice President Profesor Yemi Osibajo, who performed the ceremony in Lagos, on March 7th, 2017, said it was making the effort to modernize the railway in order to stimulate better transportation of people, goods and services; and impact the Gross Domestic Product, GDP, significantly, just as Buhari had itemised the rail sector in his 2017-2020 Economic Growth and Recovery Plan.
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi said that “The project is the segment two having completed Segment one , which is the Abuja- Kaduna, of the 273 km of the Standard Gauge Railway Track in Lagos.”
He added that,” The scope of the Lagos-Ibadan Railway Project involves ancillary facilities, which include, cost of eight railway stations at Agege, Ikeja, Kajola, Papalanto, Abeokuta, Omi-Adio, saying, it would greatly enhance export and import trade of the country, while thanking the Chinese government for their support.
Other support services to the project, Amaechi said, included, water supply; power supply; rolling stocks; equipment, just as he envisaged 3.2 million tons of goods/cargoes per annum, and that passenger services can take 16 pairs of passenger trains, among other things.
From 1960 till late 1990s, NRC had played key role in the nation’s transport business and economy; carrying tons of goods and transporting millions of people. Suddenly, all these gains nose-dived, leaving carcass of its old self: abandoned caches, dilapidated structures; job losses, non-payment of pension to retirees, deaths, change of personnel/management, among other socio-economic challenges plaguing the organization.
As the NRC begins to show that it meant business, what Nigerians want is a sustained effort to achieve this goal.
But is the Federal Government and the NRC ready? Time will tell.
