Housing and decent accommodation remain a major challenge in many urban and mega-cities across the world.
In Lagos, the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria, the surging population that is estimated at over 22 million people poses a very big challenge.
People in their hundreds of thousands cannot afford shelter over their heads, and this has forced many to take refuge in several under bridges scattered across Lagos.
On Wednesday, May 1, 2024, the Lagos State’s Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, writing on his X handle, revealed how the state government discovered 86 partitioned rooms under the Dolphin Estate Bridge, Ikoyi, on Lagos Island.
The revelation sparked mixed reactions among Nigerians.
While some wanted to know who the landlord was, others wondered how people live under the bridge, and what life looks like for such persons.
Most of the under bridges in Lagos are dangerous as they are inhabited by roughnecks who carry out several criminal activities, ranging from snatching of handbags to picking-pocket, raping of women and sometimes, even killing innocent passers-by, especially those who pass through such areas late in the night.
The day’s outlook of some of the under-bridges belies their true nature, which only materializes at night. Filled with a potpourri of activities, they boom as many people move up and down, to and fro, while others hang around standing, sitting and even lying down.
Each person you find around and within the vicinity has one or two things for being there. As people hustle and bustle, commercial transporters discharge commuters at some of the spots, thereby heightening movements and activities around such places.
While the serious minded Nigerians mill around such spots, struggling to find their way, the roughnecks also mill around but without any effort to get out of the place. To them, they are in their comfort zone. They always wear tell-tale tags.
They appear frail, shabbily dressed, disheveled, red-eyed and sometimes lethargic. They are very testy and speak in deep, baritone voices that scare the dare-devil out of first-timers.
For instance, at Oshodi under bridge, where what could be described as youth gang obtains, particularly at night as they gather in groups on the median of the Agege Motor Road, they have added to their numbers young impressionable boys, whose age ranges between 10 and 17.
They are either standing, sitting on the road median or walking aimlessly to and fro without any destination in mind, only waiting for the right opportunity to waylay their victims.
If you are a private car owner and your car mistakenly develops a fault at any of the under bridges like that of Oshodi, Mile 2, Alapere, Ojuelegba, Apangbon, Obalende, Ijora and others, at night, they would swam on you like bees and if you don’t have enough cash to settle them immediately and seek their assistance to either push the car away to a point of safety or get a mechanic to fix it, the car would be vandalised.
To an observant passer-by, the presence of such categories of persons at some of the under bridges is a clear indication that such places would be very dangerous at certain hours of the day.
But, many people do not take note of the presence of this class of people. They are the people that make such spots thick. Around midnight when the bustle and hustle seem to have eased off, the chicken would come home to roost.
The place would be invaded by youngsters, who have found a comfortable abode in the place. Those who were hanging around during the day and others who would come from other places would all converge on the spot.
At that hour, all the rickety abandoned vehicles as well as those waiting for the next day’s job, make-shift shops, kiosks and other near-safe containers around become their sleeping joints.
For instance, at Mile 2, the number of people, who sleep under the bridge and the BRT bus-stops at night, presents a lucid picture of the precarious housing deficit in Lagos. They are in their numbers but they disappear as soon as the next day breaks. It is similar in most other spots scattered across the state.
Speaking about the children, whose activities have become so prominent in such areas, an elderly man, who works with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Oshodi branch said: “Just check from under this bridge down to the point where the BRT buses stop and up to the point where one of the new generation banks is situated and you would marvel at the number of the under-aged boys working as bus conductors at such ungodly hour of the night.
“They are not even afraid of anything. Most of the drivers they work with are hemp-smokers, who drive like there is no tomorrow and the boys don’t give a hoot. I understand that most of them are street children, who left their homes to live this kind of Spartan life.
“They fend for themselves. They are exposed to all kinds of dangers, which sometimes lead to their death without the knowledge of their parents.”
DAILY POST investigation revealed that some of them did not plan to be living under the bridge but circumstances forced them to such a life.
Speaking on the development, a lawyer, Mr. Supo Oladeinde, decried the acute shortage of accommodation in Lagos, a development he said had led to many people living under the bridge.
He stressed that considering the influx of people to Lagos from all parts of Nigeria and even from the neighbouring countries, the Lagos State Government should take a deliberate step to embark on a massive housing programme for the populace.
“The kind of housing I am talking about is not the one where the government will build 10 or 15 blocks of flats and sell a flat for N10 million and above.
“I am talking about low-cost housing estates like the ones the late Lateef Jakande did when he was governor of Lagos State. But for the estates that Jakande built across the states within only four years in office, the accommodation crisis in Lagos would have been worse than what we are experiencing today.
“So, the state government should emulate him and even surpass his records. I also encourage the private developers to think of building low cost housing estates that will be affordable to low income earners and petty business people.
“When there is a concerted effort by both the government and private people to build affordable houses, then the issue of people living under the bridge could be addressed.
“Apart from those living in compounds without toilet facilities, those who live under the bridge constitute a larger chunk of those who engage in open defecation.
“They pollute the environment and create health hazards for others. So, apart from engaging in various forms of criminal activities, they are equally a threat to the environment and people’s health,” he said.
