keishik: I keep wondering why Fashola hates the poor so much, not content with destroying poor and innocent peoples properties on land he's carrying over his insanity to the lagoon?
Sometime ago there was talk of converting the Makoko settlement to some kind of African Venice and you'd expect the hypocrite to embrace the idea but no way, this one went on a rampage weeks later destroying peoples homes in a senseless rampage that left entire families drifting in the lagoon for weeks without end. They've managed to gather their lives back and just when the future of their children seems to be under real helpful consideration, the pauper - hating governor is about to roll out the marine bulldozers again!
When in a few years this ids that are about to be denied basic education start robbing and bombing the rich hitherto pampered by Fashola and his band of elitists I hope his asslickers will recall how they all gradually sowed the wind. God help us all.

wesley80:
Perhaps you should first learn how to spell the name of your country.

aniiii: I dunno about other women

But I love sucking

I've got very strong jaws as well

An excellent gag reflex to top it!

Sucker for life

Behind bobo: For those talking about drowning and human waste,if you vist Makoko you'll understand better.Their houses are built on stilts(drums being used for the new development being more stable).The kids and every one else live in wooden houses built on water,their schools and markets are also delapidated wood structures on water.Human waste from the community goes into the water.The school is not being built for those who hitherto had theirs on land but for children who had been attending school on that same water body in poorer conditions.Kids never drowned there prior to the project because thats their life.So this project is not out of the blues but an effort to improve the living standard of the community.
The only reason the development may be stopped is if the government has plans to demolish or relocate the Makoko community.

alaoeri: Op ask yourself is the place fit for school or is this the kind of school u attended?

effisyman: But really, is it safe studying on that thing?

whirlwind nko?

Michaeljones36:

The state government is probably planning to relocate the Makoko community.

Why? For all the reasons you named. Using the local water as a toilet, and trash heap, is the most obvious reason they should be moved.

Paentera: What suitable alternatives is the LASG providing for these water people of Makoko?

wesley80: Lagos To Demolish Ultra Modern Makoko Floating School



vanguardngr.com/2013/04/floating-school-for-makoko-slum-residents/floating-house/

wesley80:
Oh come on! What rules are we talking about in a city with one of the most expensive real estate in the world where thousands still have no choice but to live on shacks built on lagoons and drinking from same water they poo on? What rule permits the existence of that kind of inequality?
Someone steps in the gap trying to do what the govt. ought to be doing and its termed illegal simply because Fashola is trying to build a city that PRETENDS not to have a poor populace and you think you can justify it? Come on now!

Rossikk: Demolish the entire Makoko and send everyone back to their villages to farm. Or back to Togo where I hear many of them are from. That's MY solution. EVERY single structure in that place is an illegal structure that would never be tolerated by any modern nation, including those trying to lecture Lagos on how to approach the issue.

Onegai:


Thank you for this. As we ship them off to their villages, where they cannot afford to support themselves or their families

The only way to keep yourself safe is for your neighbour to be safe. Fashola is doing what Mayor Bloomberg did for NY (gentrification by force), and the poor are suffering. He's too busy ensuring he's pandering to the wealthy and creating new criminals, when he should be looking for ways to employ them and give them low-income housing. Go see the countries with low-crime rate, there's high employment even if the cost of living isn't high. But yeah, poor people aren't human to us church-loving people, amirite??

Again, that was sarcasm.

Rossikk:

Why not? Are the farms dead? How is farming worse than what they're going through there? In their villages they have homes. A well built hut in the village is a lot more liveable, comfortable, dignified and hygenic than a shack built of nylon and cardboard hanging over a lagoon.




Excuse me. I'm sorry but not everyone can wake up and say they want to move to Lagos. If you can't afford it, stay back in your village or move to a nearby town that's cheaper. It Is GREED and NAKE.D DISREGARD FOR THE LAW AND FOR DECENCY that makes people leave wherever they are to go and live in Makoko.

Onegai:


Thank you for this. As we ship them off to their villages, where they cannot afford to support themselves or their families, some in dejection turn to worshipping false prohets, others turn to prostitution, a lot of them, utterly demoralized, listen to some madman who blames a westernised living for the fact that Community is no longer scared in our culture, no-one takes care of them or cares and they should form a terrorist organisation to gain their self-respect back at the expense of our lives. Now, where have I heard this before...

Oh right. The Northern Nigeria

You couldn't tell I was being sarcastic, right?

The only way to keep yourself safe is for your neighbour to be safe. Fashola is doing what Mayor Bloomberg did for NY (gentrification by force), and the poor are suffering. He's too busy ensuring he's pandering to the wealthy and creating new criminals, when he should be looking for ways to employ them and give them low-income housing. Go see the countries with low-crime rate, there's high employment even if the cost of living isn't high. But yeah, poor people aren't human to us church-loving people, amirite??

Again, that was sarcasm.

naptu2: Once again, it's not about rich vs poor. My best friend owns a salon on Victoria Island. She is certainly not poor. One day government officials came and gave her a notice that she must knock down her wall and part of her building. Why? Because the law says that you cannot build within a certain distance from the canal. Government officials later came to knock down her wall and part of her building.

There's a saying "you can't use your reggae to disturb my blues". You can't say that, because you want to build a home for yourself, you should block the storm drains and expose me to flooding. The government will not allow you to do that.

So, what impact does Makoko have on flooding in Onike, Akoka, Iwaya, Somolu, etc?

Also note that it's not the entire Makoko that's being demolished (Makoko has existed for a long time). What's being demolished is the Makoko Extension, which is a more recent development.

[size=14pt]Fashola explains current government intervention in Makoko[/size]

Tuesday, 24 July 2012 09:18 Agency Reports

Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola, on Monday explained why his administration has to intervene in the Makoko fishing community in Lagos Mainland, saying it had become necessary to halt the continuous expansion of the community into the lagoon with its negative impact on the environment.

Addressing scores of Makoko residents who came to the Lagos House, Ikeja to appeal for a reconsideration of the decision to demolish parts of the fishing community, Governor Fashola explained that while the state government was finding a solution for residents within the recognised boundaries, it would not allow further expansion of the community.

Fashola said sequel to several meetings with leaders of the community and an agreed boundary set, the state government had been working in the area to find solution to the difficulties which the indigenous residents encounter by way of providing basic infrastructure and amenities to uplift the standard of life of the people who, according to him, have been there for a long time.

Continuing, the governor explained that rather than maintain the established boundary, what had happened over the years was a rash of illegal shanties which expanded towards the Third Mainland Bridge and underneath the high tension electricity cables across the area.

Expressing the readiness of his administration to meet with genuine representatives of the community, Fashola advised them to be wary of people who are profiting from their difficult situation. He also advised the community to resist being used by people who want to take advantage of them, adding that some people were already collecting grants from the outside world under the guise of helping them.

The governor noted that piling saw dust on the lagoon, discharging wastes in it and blocking the discharge points for storm water had contributed to the flooding in places like Bariga, Shomolu, Ebute-Metta, Ogudu, Owode, Ajegunle and Ikorodu, among others.
“The truth must be told; some people are benefiting from your difficulty and that is the truth. They are taking advantage of you in the guise of being your friends.

They are taking all sorts of grants purporting to help you but it never gets to you. But as your government, we understand the challenges you face there and we are working to solve them”, the governor said.

According to the governor, who said the primary concern of his administration is to uplift the standard of living of the indigenous members of the community which has existed for over 60 years. “Now, as we are finding solution to the boundaries we recognise, we will not allow further expansion”.

“We owe you a duty, but we also owe the greater part of Lagos a duty. That lagoon is the only lagoon where we drain water during rainy season from Akoka, Bariga, Shomolu, Oworonsoki and from Macgregor Canal. The lagoon is shrinking because they are expanding and building into it; it has to stop”, the governor said.

Fashola said the way forward was for the leaders of the community to team up and meet the state government to find a lasting solution to the problem, adding that he is currently working with people within and outside the country to find a way to expose the community as part of the culture of Lagos where the indigenous people could live in a clean environment with clean drinking water and other basic amenities while they also engage in their fishing occupation.

He said the doors of the government were open at all times and that he would welcome such a team as appointed by the community to find lasting solution to the problem, adding that the community’s peaceful approach would lead to much more progress.

Governor Fashola explained that the state government has no problem with those living within the recognised boundaries, adding, “We are working to provide water, schools, libraries and so on for you. But those who have just come must leave. That is the reality”.

naptu2: Also note that, under federal regulations, it is illegal to build structures under high tension cables.

naptu2:

http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/news/latest/41677-fashola-explains-current-government-intervention-in-makoko