9jaRealist:


No, it was not...
There was NEVER any promise to return the displaced to Maroko.

Maroko was deemed largely unsafe and a den of thieves (and of course it was both)...
But the primary reason it was demolished (and only a military man could have done it) was the many of residents were legally SQUATTERS!

Btw, whatever one may say about their relocation to Ikota and Jakande...
Those places were still much BETTER than the tin and wooden shacks at Maroko.

To make omelettes, you gotta break some eggs...
There's hardly any development without some form of dislocation, we just have to minimize the impact.
>

Lastly, the third mainland bridge.

Yes, a lot of people do not know that you were instrumental to the construction of the famous Third Mainland Bridge, tell us the full story

By the way, I am very much in support of what Governor Ambode did, by speaking up about his frustration concerning the Airport/Oshodi Expressway. Sometimes, you need to blackmail the Federal Government to get some of these things done. I did the same thing with the Third Mainland Bridge.

I remember General Babangida had come back from a trip and I had gone to receive him, despite the fact that we were using siren, it was tough passing through traffic because we passed through Yaba to Dodan Barracks.

So when we got there, I saluted and turned back. I could see that he was looking very unhappy. Akhigbe had tried with the issue but the next day, I went to Babangida and said, sir this traffic situation is bad, can you please let us sit down and discuss how to finish this bridge.

General (Mamman) Kotangora, who was the Minister of Works, said the end, that is the Oworonshoki side is a built up area and it will be impossible to navigate it. I said sir, can you please give me the map, they said it is with Julius Berger.

When I left there, I went to Julius Berger, I got the map, and in the process of checking that map, I saw the Coastal Road up till Calabar, that was how I began the Coastal Road. That map is there, we can still look at it. So I went to him and said, Sir I know this is a Federal Project but it is my people that are suffering, can we do this 50-50. If we can’t pay, you can take it from source.

That was how we then introduced the Development Levy, it was for the Third Mainland Project mainly. That was when Gani Fawehinmi took me to court. I was not bothered because I knew we were doing something that will benefit majority of Lagosians.

We then started work, we had got half of the way, I think that was around 1989, I believe I had just lost my wife. Babangida now said, there was no money. I said that is not possible. I told him, I have been to Abuja, I saw what is happening there, so I told him: the method you are using in Abuja, let us use it in Lagos, even if we are going to use oil to exchange for the funds because Lagos was too critical to the nation’s economy.

Bode Emmanuel used to be the Chairman of one of the construction companies, that is how we became close. I told him you are a Lagosian, please let you company continue the job, we are working on payments, I also called Julius Berger and gave them assurances. There was one Dafinone that also came to our rescue, we then also told Government to collect some of the money from source too.

That was why I was on that site every day to ensure that work was going on as scheduled.But we had a problem at Oworonshoki, one Baale and one Imam, came, they were complaining about the houses that were in the right of way, I told them, please this road is greater than all of us, nothing must stand in its way.

They were still complaining. I just kept quiet, I went to the Army Engineers, I think Ihejerika was in charge of the Army Engineers, I told them I want that place cleared for the road in 24 hours. I told them that they should clear everything on the path of the bridge on the weekend, so that they cannot go to court and stop us. Fadayomi was my Commissioner of Justice and Baba (Teslim) Elias was with us, I also went to Rotimi Williams, they said start the operation by Friday and before they can go to court on Monday, you have completed your operation. I loved that idea.

I was happy with the kind of advice I got . Just as we were talking, one man came in from Julius Berger, a very nice man that I worked closely with during the project.

He said, I should not use Army Engineers that there was another way we can do it, that if we use the Army, we will be blackmailed.I said I don’t care. We cleared the bridge area, there were no houses for many metres, but today, the plan was to allow space in case there is future expansion.

But today I have seen houses on both sides, when I noticed that Ambode was doing some work there, I thought he will bring down those houses, that is the difference between the civilian and military government. We do not care about re-election, we just get the job done.  When we cleared the place, off course, the people went to court, but the deed had been done and that was how Justice Esho used the word Executive Rascality, and you the media starting singing about it, but we did not let that disturb us. Today, we are all enjoying the Third Mainland Bridge.

 

Another thing we did that made me happy was those beggers we cleared in Ebute Metta and sent them to Kano. I read the Quran very well, there is nowhere where you should be a beggar permanently. Sanusi said the right thing. How come there are no beggers littering the streets of Saudi? I saw them as a nuisance dirtying the state, I was happy that Babangida did not react when I took that action.

Now, lets talk about Maroko, the every contentious issue, what made you take that decision

Honestly I have no regrets for what we did at Maroko.That area I know very well, Victoria Island stopped at Adetokunbo Ademola area, the other places was marshy land. We used to carry out training exercises there. General Garba used to take us there anytime we had promotion exams because that time in the Army, you cannot move up except you pass your exams. I don’t know what operates there now.

The place where I stay now in Lagos is part of the extension. Anyway, I had planned to begin some redevelopment in the area, but one of these days we went to Epe, and Babangida was in the vehicle. We were returning at about 8pm and we were attacked by robbers.

Before them, I had been getting terrible reports from the area and on two occasions, I have had to ensure that the Inspector-General removed the DPO of the area.

Anyway, we were returning from Epe, we passed the first wave of attack, and then there was this terrible one around the present Lekki Phase one. We heard gun shots. I asked my Oga (Babangida) to continue, I jumped out of the vehicle and confronted them. We pursued this people and they all ran into Maroko.

The next morning, I called the Baale, I ordered him to fish out those people, he began to give excuses. I kept quiet but later went to apologize to Babangida for the incident.

Before taking the Lagos appointment, I had asked Babangida that he must hold me responsible for any action I take. I am a very principled person, even my children know this, and when they complain, I tell them once a soldier, always a soldier. Anyway, I went to Babangida, I told him sir this Maroko incident, I said I wanted to level the place. He said Rasaki, you cannot do it. I said have you forgotten about our agreement, he said, no don’t do it.

At that period, I called Mr Adeyemi, he was Permanent Secretary of Environment in Lagos State, he said he cannot do it  and that baba Jakande tried but he failed. I said me, I am a soldier, I am trained to make the impossible possible.

I said I have heard you sir. Babangida was travelling outside around that period, I called my group, I have a team of officers that I trained at NDA.I went to signal, I went to Armoury, I told them by Monday morning, I don’t want to see Maroko standing.

Babangida was going for two weeks so I gave the people, one week notice, we went again on Friday and by Monday, we levelled the place. What we saw was shocking, we saw shallow graves, we saw fake hospitals, I wanted to prosecute the Baale but for the plea of Oba Oyekan.

We moved some of the residents who had genuine papers to Abesan Estate. Whatever you say about it, you have to give it to Babangida, when the people like Oniru family, Dideolu Estate came with their claims, he said we should give the land them. Look, we demolished houses owned by military offices too

So that was how we did Maroko. I have no regrets at all.If we did not clear Maroko, the people in Victoria Island and Ikoyi would have had no rest.I did it with good conscience.

I think Fashola should have done same when he wanted to flush out Makoko. That shanty is not benefitting anybody.

So how do you feel when you pass through the area today

I feel very happy that the shanty town has become modernized and decent.

Have you heard that you had a nickname, who build this gadder

(laughs heartily) Of course, I heard it and when I checked the dictionary. I discovered that there was nothing wrong in what I said since gadder and bridge mean the same thing, I am a telecommunications engineer, so I just laughed over it.

Any regret?

Yes, I was not happy that we were not able to do the Ijanikin Road to meet the Ring Road. I had just six months.We wanted to do a road passing through the (Federal School of Arts & Science) FSAS pass the Officers Mess all the way to Niger Dock Area. Babangida said I should award the contract. I used to drive around myself and I see things.

The road was to cost N2.2billion at the time. That would have solved the problem we have today at Mile 2. That is what I see that Ambode is doing and I commend him. We were to also do the 4th Mainland Bridge.

Are you happy when you come to Lagos these days

I am happy because each time I come in, there is always something new.

So Lagos is 50, what would you like to say to Lagosians

I congratulate Lagos. My Lagos of the future is a Lagos that looks like Sweden or Denmark. By improving the human resources in Lagos, developing ICT Industry and improving the Acquatic Economy.I have travelled very wide, and seen things, I believe with the IGR of Lagos, Lagos would be a Mega city

Lastly, there was an issue you brought up at the CONFAB on special status for Lagos

Yes, I am a strong advocate for a special status for Lagos. I want us to have 50 oer cent share of whatever monies we make here in Lagos. Look at NPA, the ship for instance, it is the people of Lagos that bear the brunt of the environmental pollution. The useless smelly oil, the fumes etc. So why can’t Lagos have 50 per cent of the money realised from this activity. We were the first to put up a decree on environmental pollution.

I kept speaking to Babangida about it and they eventually said they were working on ecological fund.I did not receive it, but Otedola did. When Tinubu came, I used to tease him that he should have gone to join the army, he did a lot of things, without caring about the political implication.

We also fought for Population to be added as criteria for sharing, Lateefat Okunnu was my Deputy then, she was in the Federal Ministry, and brought her experience to bear.

How come you are not in politics, like other Generals

I tried it but I have seen that it is not for me. People do not like men like me who are principled with intergrity. Also, I am a man of tradition, I cannot stomach the way these young boys are abusive and the general lack of discipline, when we used to go to Baba Adedibu’s house, you will see all these boys jumping on his bed, doing all manner of things, dirtying the whole place, When I was involved, they all wait outside my gate. My wife and some of my children are there.

That is enough, we will contribute from where we are.

naptu2:
That was not the primary reason that it was demolished. The man that demolished it has stated the primary reason why it was demolished and that was because it was a den of robbers. In fact, Governor Rasaki narrated an incident that occurred when he and President Babangida secretly went to inspect projects at Epe. They were attacked by armed robbers on their way back (near the present Lekki Phase 1). He wanted to dethrone the Baale because of that incident.

Brigadier Rasaki said that he repeatedly asked President Babangida for permission to demolish Maroko because of the robbery issue, but Babangida refused to give him permission because of the people that will be displaced. However, when Babangida went on a one week trip out of the country, Governor Rasaki used the opportunity to demolish the place.

There were lots of buildings at Maroko that were made of bricks and concrete. It wasn't a stick shanty. In fact, some of the people that were relocated had multiple storey buildings at Maroko, but they ended up having to stay in stick shanties at Ikota and Jakande (because they were allocated flats that had not been built).

Governor Otedola said that the demolition of Maroko was done in error and he promised to give them back their properties (those that had evidence), but he said that he would give them back the land through the Oniru.

Several of the residents there had title to the land. There were many squatters, but there were also many people that owned land there. For example, St Theresa's Catholic Church was a fully built brick building at Maroko, but they were reduced to having services under a rafia canopy at Ikota. Ditto for St Kizito's Clinic.

I'm not for or against the demolition, but history must be told correctly.

9jaRealist:


If the highlighted is factual...
Then it merely proves that at the time of the demolition, it was NOT planned/promised that occupants would be returned.

Granted that these events happened well before my time, but I have personally seen documentation even preceding Raji Rasaki's administration to evict the Maroko population as squatters. Even Maroko residents themselves have at best argued from time to time that not "all" of them were squatters, but rather that "some" of them bought land from the Oniru family. Nonetheless, it's not disputable that MAJORITY were squatters.

Anyway, most of us are here to LEARN, so I am glad to have learned some new facts that I was previously unaware of. Thanks!
>

naptu2:
My brain was almost fried between Thursday and Friday because I couldn't remember the name of that hospital.

I was thinking about the fact that all those institutions had become nomadic institutions and that's when I remembered the hospital, but I was frustrated because I could not remember the name of the hospital. The hospital is, of course, Ifeoluwa Hospital. It was owned by a very nice woman called Mrs Marquis (may her soul rest in peace) and they used an orange and white Land Rover Series as their ambulance. Apart from the main road into Maroko, all the other roads were not tarred and it felt like you were driving over hills and valleys. In some places it felt as if the hills and valleys were composed of beach sand and that explains why they used a Land Rover as their ambulance.

Ifeoluwa Hospital moved to Jakande after Maroko was destroyed. They started over in one flat, but they eventually bought over the entire building that they were in.

St Kizito's Clinic was run by an Italian NGO and some of their doctors were Italian (I remember Dr Nikki). They obviously received a lot of funding from Italy and they were able to build a much bigger, better and finer building in Jakande after Maroko was demolished. That clinic was probably the finest building in Jakande.

St Theresa's Catholic Church was a huge brick building at Maroko when I went there in the early 1980s. The next time I went to the church (after the destruction of Maroko), it was basically people gathered under a canopy of palm branches. The floor was covered with concrete, but that was the only part of the "building" that was made of concrete. They were trying to raise money to build the church building and they kept their equipment in a nearby house in the meantime.

I went to that church one day in 1991 and then I did some charity work there between 1993 and 1997. They had a proper roof and concrete walls by the time I stopped going there in 1997, but their walls were not painted.

I wonder where those institutions will move to this time.

Electricity supply at Maroko was pretty poor. I remember that an enterprising person, who had a diesel generator, was selling electricity to residents of Maroko. NEPA officials went there with policemen to arrest the man c1988. I felt that NEPA was wrong because the man would not have succeeded in selling electricity to people if NEPA had done its job. The arrest was shown on the NTA News.


Quite a few residents of Maroko sold fish at the Sand-Fill Market that I wrote about earlier.

The Lekki Expressway was quite different at that time. There was no such thing as traffic once you've gone past Maroko. There were often little traffic jams around Maroko because of the Sand-Fill Market and because of the police road block at Maroko Police Station, but the road was totally free once you went past the police station. People used to race and learn how to drive on the Lekki Expressway.

In fact, the expressway was so empty that you could see the water mirage in the distance when driving on that road.

Once (c1984) we were searching for the new beach (Lekki Beach) and we drove for a long time until we came to the end of the expressway (it hadn't been completed at that time). We saw two men sitting at the end of the road and we told them that we were going to Lekki. They asked (in Yoruba) if we were going to Lekki where people go to receive breeze or if we were going to Lekki where people eat beans. We laughed and told them that we were going to Lekki where people receive breeze.

What they were asking was whether we were going to Lekki Beach (where people receive breeze) or to Tekunle Prison (where people eat beans).

johnie:
Hi Naptu2,

I took a sabbatical from Nairaland but had to chip in when I saw this thread.

I am wondering, just wondering.

Could this planned relocation (eviction) have anything to do with the recent attack on Circle Mall (ShopRite) during the recent xenophobia saga?

Without a doubt, that area had been a hot bed a number of times with hoodlums attacking travellers on the expressway from time to time.

I see a lot of similarities between the Maroko incident and this one.

1. Hoodlums from the community attack people on the main road.
2. Government says they would relocate them to save them from environmental hazards.

Hmm, just wondering.

naptu2:


The other thing that annoyed them was that Babangida visited Maroko a few months before the eviction. He commissioned the Peoples Bank at Maroko and at Ajegunle. At Maroko, he promised to develop the place for the residents and he said that he would send Governor Rasaki to the people. That's one of the things that angered them.

Homextras:
The location has always been too juicy to leave alone. The relocation is going to be permanent, who them dey deceive? Is that the only jakande estate in Lagos in need of repairs... Vultures..