Reign Of Forced Evictions And Nigeria’s Housing Shortage—-By; Jerome-Mario Chijioke Utomi
Nigerians, particularly many residents of Abuja, woke up recently to a reported threat by the new Minister for the Federal Capital Territory Nyesom Wike, to demolish any building that contravenes the Abuja master plan. Wike, going by media reports said; “If you know you have built where you are not supposed to build, it will go down. Be it a minister anywhere, be it an ambassador… if you know you have developed where you are not supposed to, your house will go down” he declared. Additional information that trailed the declaration further revealed that the proposed mass demolitions would affect approximately 6,000 buildings in 30 areas of the FCT.
Essentially, while the declaration looks good in principle, especially as the federal government and the FCT authorities are ‘blessed’ with the constitutional right to enforce all physical laws within the Federal Capital Territory, there exists on the hand, several reasons that qualifies the Minister and his action as a public office holder that is not ready to study history, study the actions of their predecessors, to see how they conducted themselves in order to discover that the eviction option is not the solution to achieving organized city but can only aggravate the situation as it renders victims homeless, destitute and vulnerable to violence, theft and rape.
Tragically unique is the awareness that the Minister is contemplating demolition/forced eviction at a time when Nigeria is reportedly grasping with an estimated 28 million housing deficit, a condition which indicates that the country needs at least 28 million housing units to provide adequately for the population-and requires an estimated sum of N21 trillion to provide housing units to fill the deficit.
Aside from this new awareness that the nation’s housing sector needs an investment of over N21 trillion to build sufficient housing for entire population and may require an annual average rate of N7.47 trillion credits, for three consecutive years to provide the needed 28 million housing units for the population, that is, if the population remains constant over this period, one other point that Minister Wike probably failed to remember before making that declaration was that the factors responsible for this growing housing shortage which has recently grown from a simple to a more complex problem includes; slum demolition and forced eviction, increased poverty, urban migration, mortgage inefficiency, urban expansion and overpopulation among others.
Again, separate from the fact that aforementioned poor public leadership orientation in the country has reportedly resulted in a situation whereby the housing deficit in the country increased from 7 million in 1991 to 28 million in 2023, which signifies a 300 per cent increase over the period, doubling the increase in population, as the population increased by 148 per cent while the housing deficit increased by 300 per cent, what the present piece of information tells us is that as a nation, we don’t need to be experts in physical planning, urban renewal/regeneration or possess town planning master plans designed by global best brains, before we can know that demolition/forced eviction is a counter-productive strategy.
As an instance, Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, in the name of restoration of the Abuja Master plan demolished thousands of houses within the FCT and thousands in the satellite towns, which left many families stranded and unable to regain their balance till date.
Going by a report put together by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and available in Nigeria media space, Malam El-Rufai, as the FCT minister, displaced about 700,000 people and destroyed an estimated 200,000 properties during his tenure between 2003 and 2007. The commission found that the demolitions were carried out without adequate notice, without providing alternative accommodation, and without compensation for those who were displaced. The body also said that the demolitions were often carried out in a violent and discriminatory manner’.
Sounding impenitent over his tenure, the former minister said in his 627-page book tiled, ‘Accidental Civil Servant’, said: “For me, restoring order in the chaos that we found in many aspect of living in Abuja at the time, was simply consistent with my personal philosophy in life, a preference for rules and orderliness- a burden that I needed to discharge personally so I could sleep well at night. It was without question worth giving four years of my life pursuing. Therefore, I have no regrets for attempting to do what we did. We did what we believed was right at the time.”
In the opinion of this piece, the question that begs for an answer from El-Rufai is: since after that wanton demolition and thoughtless disruption of peoples’ means of livelihood, has the Abuja Master Plan truly been restored? If yes, why is the present administration still pushing for demolition and forced eviction? Is that not a sign that demolition/forced eviction is but a prescription that only addresses the effect of an ailment while leaving the root cause to thrive?
Without waiting for answer(s) to the above question, existing reports at the public domain show that about 2 million Nigerians have been forcibly evicted from their land or residence across Nigeria in the last 10 years. Many of these evictions, it was noted, were carried out in the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja.
More specifically, it was in the news that between 2003 and 2008, over 800,000 people were forcibly evicted from the FCT by the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA). The evictions, as observed by a commentator, were presumably carried out to implement the Abuja Master Plan, the infrastructural developmental blueprint for the Federal Capital, Abuja.
Also disturbing is the information that ‘most of these forced evictions are carried out by the authorities in disregard of their obligations under “international and domestic laws, and in direct violation of court orders-and laced with brutal force, often resulting in injury, death, massive destruction of property, homelessness, miscarriage, trauma, loss of livelihoods, separation of families, and children deprived of access to education’.
Definitely, in physical terns, this piece lacks the capacity to hold or prevent Nyesom Wike’s bulldozers from achieving forced eviction in the FCT despite the administration’s non-recognize that globally, shelter is one of the most basic human needs and has a profound impact on the health, welfare, social attitudes and economic productivity of the individual and also one of the best indications of a person’s standard of living and of his or her place in society’. But one thing stands out; Lagos state experience in the present circumstance remains a sterling example that forced eviction has done the nation more harm than good-and in most cases compounds the problems it was meant to solve.
This sad narrative about Lagos started in July 1990, when Raji Rasaki in his capacity as Military Governor of Lagos State and Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) as Military President for yet to be identified reasons destroyed Maroko. Seven days from the day it was announced on radio was all it took the military government to pull down the whole of Maroko. Over 300,000 people that inhabited Maroko then lost their homes to that experience.
Going by reports, Maroko was a sub-city within Lagos. It was peaceful and very popular. The places now called Oniru Royal Estate; some parts of Victoria Island and Lekki Phase 1, were formerly known as Maroko and it was inhabited by mainly low income earners. Maroko prided itself with over 150 streets and houses owned by ten thousand landlords. The people were happy and judiciously self sufficient!.
Even the dawn of democracy in May 1999, did not bring a shift in paradigm as successive democratically elected governors beginning with- Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu (May 1999 to 2007, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), 2007 to 2015, Akinwunmi Ambode (2015 to 2019) and presently Mr. Babajide Sanwoolu, stuck to the practice.
At each electioneering, intending governors present baskets of manifestos with promise to make Lagos a more human-friendly, livable state as the loudest. But contrary to that expectation, documented experience reveals that between 2003 and 2020, demolition/forced evictions of citizens without alternative accommodation has characterized every administration in the state. To achieve this heinous objective, the government has a way of tagging the targeted community as a highly populated urban residential area consisting mostly of closely packed, decrepit housing units in a situation of deteriorated or incomplete infrastructure, inhabited primarily by impoverished persons.
Under the above excuse, the following Lagos communities has between 2003 and 2023 partly or wholly fallen under the bulldozers of the Lagos state Government; Makoko community, Yaba, Ijora East and Ijora Badiya, PURA-NPA Bar Beach, Ikota Housing Estate, Ogudu Ori-Oke, Mosafejo in Oshodi, Agric-Owutu communities, Ageologo-Mile 12, communities along Mile 2 Okokomaiko and lately Oworoshoki, to mention but a few. As if that was not enough trouble for the poor Lagosians, in 2016, the then governor of the state of Lagos, Akinwunmi Ambode, vowed to evacuate all waterfront shantytowns — a population totaling about 300,000, according to the Nigerian Slum/Informal Settlement Association.
More devastating is that a few months later, 30,000 people lost their homes when one of the slums, Otodo Gbame, a poor fishing community close to the up market southeastern district of Lekki, was razed. During the reported demolition of Makoko community on the 17th July, 2012, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) stated that a letter from the Lagos state government was served on residents the previous week, giving them 72 hours to vacate their properties. The Lagos state authorities further noted in that Letter that the illegal constructions in Makoko constituted an “environmental nuisance, security risk and an impediment to the economic and gainful utilization of the waterfront” and undermined the “megacity status” of Lagos.
Adding to the woes of the evictees is the Lagos state government’s ‘love’ for disobeying court directives and non fulfillment of their promises to resettle those evicted.
Illustratively, aside from Raji Fashola (SAN), immediate past Minister for Works And Housing, and former governor of the state promising to build housing units that would accommodate the evictees, it was also in the news that at the Supreme Court, Abuja, in the year 2002, The Lagos state government through the then Lagos state Commissioner for Justice, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, now Vice President of Nigeria, accepted responsibility and promised the evictees 1,000 housing units every year, till the whole former house-owners of Maroko are fully resettled.
He admitted that though, government acquired Maroko town in 1972, it again relinquished the acquisition in 1977; thereby confirming that Maroko was not under government acquisition when it was demolished in 1990. But regrettably, till this day, nothing has been done by the state government or his agents to remedy the situation or fulfill the promise made.
The above sad account, like what Minister Wike is trying to ‘achieve’, is an emblem of governments that are unmindful of, or deliberately decided to ignore the clarification by the United Nations Independent Expert on the Right to Development, that for a programme to be tagged development, it must require a particular process that allows the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, as well as civil and political rights, and all fundamental freedoms, by expanding the capabilities and choices of the individual.
Even as this piece centres on the non- infusion of human rights principles, the international convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Ratified by Nigeria in 1993), is one document that probably did more than anything else to capture the gully of disappointments and many sins of successive administrations in the state against the evictees.
It recognized that globally, forced eviction is a brazen violation of the right to life, right to fair hearing, right to dignity of the human person, the right to a private and family life, and the rights to property guaranteed by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the African charter of Human and peoples’ Right (Ratification and Enforcement Act 1990). Similarly, the United Nations Human Rights Commission Resolutions 1993/77 and 2004/28 affirm that when forced evictions are carried out, they violate a range of internationally recognized human rights.
These include the: Human right to adequate housing; Human rights to security of the person, and security of the home; Human right to health; Human right to food; Human right to water; Human right to work/livelihood; Human right to education; Human right to freedom from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment; Human right to freedom of movement; Human right to information; and, Human right to participation and self-expression.
While it has reported repeatedly that clearance operations should take place only when conservation arrangements and rehabilitation are not feasible, relocation measures stand made, UN Resolution 2004/28, recognized the provisions on forced evictions contained in the Habitat Agenda of 1996, and recommended that, “All Governments must ensure that any eviction that is otherwise deemed lawful is carried out in a manner that does not violate any of the human rights of those evicted.” It will be highly rewarding if the state government internalizes these provisions and develops processes or processes that allow the realization of economic, social development of the state in a way that protects the rights of the people.
Tragically unique is that on one side, Nigeria’s housing sector is in complete crisis, on the other hand is that the country has a very bad history of forced eviction.
The questions therefore are; how does the Federal Government hope to address Nigeria’s housing sector when according to reports coordination and communication between federal and state governments seems lacking? When Landlord-Tenant relations are loosely governed and laws that should regulate and protect the right to housing are not enforced? How is the government at both state and Federal levels planning to mitigate the suffering of Nigerians when there is no social housing and homelessness is escalating, with no emergency housing options for those in acute need? Why is forced eviction always the most attractive before successive administrations in Nigeria?
As the nation, particularly public office holders, ponder on the above questions, there are reasons to underline some truths the Federal and state Governments urgently need to acknowledge.
First is that Nigeria’s developmental arrest is attributable to the nation’s exemplary neglect of the housing sector. And for meaningful development to be recorded there must be aggressive social housing in the country. This must be seen as a national project, a sincere and a fundamental undertaking aimed at realistically examining and genuinely resolving, long standing impediments to housing cohesion and harmonious development.
Most important is the need to recognize that stakeholders are worried about the legal framework for land administration, especially the Land Use Act (LUA). Says a report, the existence of the Land Use Act is exacerbating the pressures on the housing sector. The manner in which the LUA has been used has resulted in severe consequences for the enjoyment of the right to housing. The LUA vests State Governors with significant management and administrative powers. Governors can grant rights of occupancy and also revoke them based on an “overriding “public purpose”. It makes land title registration cumbersome and extremely onerous to perfect.
As an incentive to addressing Abuja physical planning challenge, this piece holds the opinion that the FCT Minister should cast a glance at how a ‘famous’ slum challenge was creatively handled in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, without displacement or eviction of the original occupants. Instead of removing the favelas,- a people initially considered/described as illegal occupants, many of the government’s policies were made to focus more on improving the infrastructure of the people/the area. The Inter-American Development Bank for example, funded a US$180 million “slum to neighborhood” project in 1995, which sought to integrate existing favelas into the fabric of the city through infrastructure upgrading and service development.
The project involved 253,000 residents in 73 favela neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro. When a favela was selected, a master plan for upgrades was drafted and community organizations were contacted and asked to provide their input. When the final plan was approved, incentive plans were implemented for hiring construction companies that employed local community workers.
From Brazil to Spain and South Africa, the story and experience is the same. Comparatively, when one juxtaposes the above accounts as recorded in Brazil, with what THE Federal Government is planning to re-enact in Abuja, there exists a gully of difference. Essentially, aside from the imperative of drawing useful lessons from Brazil experience, this piece would also appreciate the FCT Minister and other state governors reputed for forced eviction, like Lagos explain whose responsibility is it to provide infrastructures; government or the people/residents?
For me, providing answer(s) to the above question will redefine as well as address government’s relationships with the people on issues of physical planning and urban re-generation, usher in eviction-free co-existence while sending new lessons to other states in the country and of course the Federal Government reputed for practices of forced evictions.
This is important as no state in Nigeria can boast of clean hands when it comes to issues that have to do with forced eviction and housing shortages. In fact, if what overtly happens in Lagos and FCT is a challenge, what is covertly going on in states such as Delta, Ogun and Rivers among others qualify as a crisis.
God bless Nigeria!
Utomi is the Programme Coordinator (Media and Policy), Social and Economic Justice Advocacy (SEJA), Lagos. He could be reached via: jeromeutomi@yahoo.com /
