Three years ago, life gave a different meaning to 13-year-old Esther Olanrewaju. The peaceful neighbourhood in Gafar Street located in the Igando/Ikotun Local Council Development Area of Lagos State where she lives with her grandma gave her joys playing with her peers until a worrisome incident occurred.
She lost her right arm to the gully in the bad road in her street. Narrating her ordeal in tears to our correspondent, Olanrewaju said she lost the arm when she fell into the gully in the neglected community.
Olanrewaju said, “That day, I was sent on an errand. My grandma asked me to get pure water for her so I slipped into it and I was rushed to the General Hospital, Igando. It happened one Friday in March 2019. I can’t remember the exact date anymore.
“I was sleeping when my grandma called me from her shop outside. She asked me to get pure water for her from a shop not too far from ours. I collected the money with excitement and fled. It started to rain on my way back and I quickly ran towards our shop. While I was trying to avoid the rain and a large pit nearby, I stepped on a plank in front of our shop and I suddenly slipped and fell into the gully. I could not stand so people rushed out and carried me but the pure water weighed down my left hand.’’
She further stated how the development prevented her from physical activities with her mates.
Olanrewaju added, “Before, my friends and I used to play together but now I rarely go out to play with them. I am not the way I used to be. I’m always sad since the day I lost my arm because I can’t really do what other people with two arms do.’’
Our correspondent gathered that the incident was considered to be minor until it landed the teenager in a hospital where the arm was eventually amputated.
Esther’s grandmother, Adiatu Obalanleke, who also spoke with our correspondent lamented the amount spent to treat the teenager’s arm.
She said, “The money we spent was more than N300, 000 because after the arm was amputated. We spent more money on pints of blood and drugs. In fact, we spent N7, 500 daily on the medicine she used. When she fell we took her to a neighbour who administered drugs for her but we noticed on the third day that the arm had swollen. On Sunday, we took her to the general hospital and we were told that there was no option than to amputate the arm.”
Olanrewaju’s plight mirrors the hardships suffered by residents of Gafaru Street, Igando/Ikotun LGA of the state. These agonies are attributed to the deplorable road which has become a threat to the residents.
Gafar Street which has over 300 houses with more than 500 residents is a major area with neighbouring areas such as Abaranje and Ijegun in the Ikotun axis of the state. It also has 13 other streets and serves as a link road to about 12 other roads. But the havocs wreaked by the deplorable road in the street are a worry to many people. It’s a community characterised by peace and offers a potential booming environment for traders but hampered by dilapidated roads.
Saturday PUNCH noticed during a visit to the area that the bad road leads to the backyard of the popular Synagogue Church of All Nations.
A resident of the area, Olufowobi Ishola, lamented the condition of the road, saying he developed knee pains while plying it some months ago.
He said, “We have about 11 to 12 roads linking Gafar Street. I started experiencing knee pains when I relocated to the area. Are we not human beings too? Someone once asked me if the area had a council chairman. There are also heaps of refuse on a local bridge in the area. People dump refuse there during rainy season and the foul odour permeates everywhere.’’ Some other dwellers who spoke to our correspondent bemoaned the poor state of the road.
A bad road worsened by flooding
As the situation persists, the rainy season, over the years, has not been a good time for the residents as the abandoned road is often flooded, taking over the entire road. Residents are usually afraid of going out whenever it rains. It was gathered that the condition of the road also made some people flee the area, while some landlords sold off their property and tenants failed to stay after expiration of their tenancy.
Residents told Saturday PUNCH that floods had injured some and swept others away in the community.
The adverse effects of the flood could also be sighted on the road as ditches in various sizes and depth littered the community. A locally-made wooden bridge constructed through communal efforts by the dwellers had also felt the anger of floods which ravaged the area.
The gullies dotting the area are used by the residents as dumpsites. Our correspondent observed heaps of refuse in more than five gullies on the bad road. A young boy was seen hastily dumping a bag full of refuse and fleeing after sighting our correspondent.
Residents also fear a possible outbreak of diseases as the refuse emanated stinking odour seeping into homes in the area.
More lamentations
A septuagenarian and herb seller, Noimot Abdulsalam, is one of those who have suffered hardship in the area due to the poor condition of the road.
Abdulsalam said that she sustained a knee injury whose treatment gulped almost her life’s savings, after she slipped from her shop while trying to avoid a bad portion of the road. She added that traditional bonesetters treated the knee yet the pains persisted.
The woman who became emotional while speaking with our correspondent, pleaded with the government to fix the bad road, adding that its deplorable state was causing them hardship.
The woman said, “We suffer a lot in this area. The hardship is too much. The government sent people to assess the road but thereafter nothing was done. During the rainy season, we can’t go out. We always find somewhere else to sleep. I sustained a knee injury when I slipped while trying to avoid a bad part of the road. I have taken many drugs for it to heal. The knee still pains me. It’s been four years now that the four rooms in the house I stay in were abandoned. No one wants to rent them because of the bad road.”
She added that floods swept two unidentified schoolchildren into one of the gullies and another man lost his life on his way to work while trying to jump over a gully.
Abdulsalam noted, “A pregnant Togolese woman carrying a bucket of water on her head slipped and fell into the gully and died. There was a time two schoolchildren fell inside the gully when it was raining. One of them was found but the other one has not been seen till date. Another man who was going to work slipped into a gully and died. His corpse was later found in a gutter down the street. We have had many tragic cases caused by flooding and bad road in this area.’’
On her part, a fish seller, Adiatu Obalanleke, narrated how she escaped being swept away by the flood surging from the road, adding that it prevented her from entering her shop for almost four hours.
She recalled that a wheelbarrow rolling in the flood nearly injured her after damaging the plank she stepped on while trying to get access to her shop on that rainy day.
Obalanleke said, “I’m tired of living in Gafar Street. Many incidents have happened there. Government officials came to map out the houses as if they wanted to do something. Nothing came out of it. The road was not this bad until some people made drainages along the drains.’’
A woman in her mid-thirties who spoke on condition of anonymity noted that four rooms in their house remained unoccupied as tenants refused to rent them.
She added that potential tenants often decried the terrible condition of the road.
A trader identified only as Mrs Onyirionu lamented that customers shunned the place due to the poor condition of the road.
Onyirionu said, “I have been in the area for six years but customers complain that there is no vehicle to bring them to my shop. Sales have dropped considerably. Flood also spoilt the road.’’
Motorists, motorcyclists shun road
A commercial motorcyclist otherwise called Okada who refused to give his name said the bad road forced them to stop plying the road and taking residents into the street.
He said, “I can never take passenger into Gafar Street. The situation there is pathetic.”
Another tricycle rider at Gafar Junction identified only as Qudus also stated that the situation of the road was the reason tricycle riders wouldn’t take passengers into the street.
“I hope you have seen the road, A bicycle can’t pass through that place and it’s been like that for a long time. I pray Governor Sanwo-Olu remembers us here too,” Qudus said.
CDA’s fruitless efforts
The Community Development Association noted that several efforts including different letters written by the community leaders to the state government over the deplorable road yielded no positive results.
The residents, who noted that houses and fences were seriously damaged during rainfall, sought an active solution to the problem.
Speaking with our correspondent, a pioneer vice Chairman of the then Alimosho Local Government, Alhaji Ibrahim Gafar, who the street was named after, said he used to maintain the road before he developed eye complications.
He said, “I am the owner of this street and I was once a vice chairman of the local government in 1991 when it was newly created. From the Gafar bus stop to the stream, there is a gully that can swallow a car. The road has been neglected by the government and nothing has been done about it.
“I used to maintain the road after I left office but due to my poor eyesight, I stopped working on it. What the government tells us is that it’s not in its budget. We keep hearing that for a long time. When I was in government, if we didn’t put something in the budget, we wouldn’t do that thing. The road is a state road yet they say it’s not in their budget.”
He further said that some government officials had been to the area for assessments yet nothing had been done.
Gafar added, “Some officials came to mark out the areas they wanted to demolish. When they were doing the Ijegun road, I met with the contractors and they marked it out as part of the work they would do alongside the one of Ijegun. All of a sudden, they said it was not part of the contracts given to them and that they cannot do it.’’
Also, the acting Chairman of the CDA, Mr Kehinde Sanusi, decried the state of the road, stating that the community had not enjoyed any dividends of democracy.
He noted that the condition of the road worsened with the construction of Abaranje/Ijegun road.
Sanusi said, “Since the inception of democracy in Nigeria, we have not enjoyed it at all. The road was tarred but by the time they started constructing Abaranje/Ijegun road, they diverted erosion from there to Gafar and it eroded the road. There are gullies all over the place now. Vehicle owners cannot bring them in or take them out of their houses.
“We started writing letters to the state government during the administration of Babatunde Fashola. But nothing came out of them. Some landlords have sold their houses and left the community.”
On his part, the CDA Secretary, Mr Busari Balogun, noted that the only feedback received from the state government was when drones were used to capture the road sometime in 2021.
He added that since then nothing had been done towards fixing the bad road.
Balogun added, “Government actually responded to the several letters. They only brought drones and captured the area sometime ago. The exercise was done twice. The road has been like this for over 20years.’’
Experts’ views
Speaking on the issue, a Professor of Architecture at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Anambra State, Eziyi Idem, blamed the government for its failure to engage a proper urban planning system, adding that urban areas in developed countries were properly planned and managed.
He further said that specialised government agencies should ensure enforcement of the guidelines for building structures in the country, while blaming individuals for their poor environmental consciousness.
Idem stated, “Flooding is one of the natural disasters that do happen and it is precipitated by human activities. This is caused by lack of drainage facilities and improper maintenance of the existing ones. When run off has become excessive, it translates to flooding. It affects several aspects of human lives; the situation, economic, and environmental aspects.
“Economic activities are affected in terms of losses of property and lives, human displacement from their homes and businesses. That affects their means of livelihood. The environment will also be affected. Infrastructures and buildings are affected so such an environment becomes dangerous because it makes it difficult for people to access most parts of the city. When it occurs, there is adverse effect on vehicular movement and the environment will not be balanced.
“The basic function of the environment will be adversely affected because there is a tendency of having epidemics. The rain water will tend to spread disease-causing microorganisms.
“The government is to blame because they have not engaged the right urban planning system. If you look at some other climes where there are urban areas, they are properly planned. They have provision for storm water, drainage facilities and other things. In Nigeria, we hardly have such even when there are master plans, they are not properly implemented.’’
The don further said that individuals should also be blamed for poor environmental consciousness, adding that people dump refuse in drainage channels not minding that the act would later affect them.
In his contribution, a medical doctor, Dr Olushina Ajidahun, identified some of the possible aftermath effects of bad roads and flooding in a domestic, urban area.
He noted that residents in an environment taken over by flood were prone to waterborne diseases ranging from malaria, cholera, skin diseases to food poisoning among others.
Ajidahun stated, “Flood causes increase in waterborne diseases. Diseases such as malaria, cholera, etc, and food poisoning, skin diseases will break out, leading to a total increase in hospitalisations.
“When people dump refuse in water bodies, it prevents a normal flow. Water will not be able to flow. As doctors, we have guidelines for what normal water should be. It should be odourless and colourless so when people dump refuse in it, there are chemicals that are dumped into the water bodies too and this can make water bodies more toxic.
“This also affects the normal aquatic life. There are some organisms that live in water that we need, so dumping refuse in water may cause the organisms to die and it will adversely affect the ecosystem. The ecosystem becomes unbalanced and tough. Such an act will make the water unsafe. Everybody should be blamed for the act while awareness should be carried out on these things. People need to understand that there is something called, ‘safe refuse disposal system.’’ Some people even dump their faeces inside water bodies. This is bad.
“Government and communities need to make adequate waste disposal, refuse bins, etc, so that people can safely dispose of their refuse. Laws that prohibit indiscriminate refuse dumping should be enacted by the government. When people are arrested and fined for violating such laws, they will stop dumping refuse inside water bodies and canals.’’
Another medical practitioner, Dr Tosin Ilorin, explained that environmental pollution could lead to an abrupt reduction in life expectancy, stating that it was the bedrock providing life support for every human society.
She said, “The environment provides a life support system for every human society. The life support system is built and sustained by natural resources found on air, land and water. These resources include fresh/safe water, fish, arable land, plants, animals, mineral resources and air etc. People derive their living from life- sustaining resources. Once the sources are polluted, it becomes injurious and detrimental to human health, thereby threatening man’s existence.”
Ilorin stated that uncultured management of the environment could pose a great danger to the country’s economy, noting that such activities would impede the ecosystem’s ability to perform its functions in human societies.
She said, “Environmental pollution leads to destruction of crops and aquatic life through the contamination of water bodies, ground water and soil. This invariably causes food insecurity; a situation whereby food is not available for men both in quality and quantity at all times needed. When water bodies are affected, survival of aquatic life is threatened.
“It costs human lives, reduces people’s ability to work, and affects vital products such as food. It reduces the ability of the ecosystem to perform functions needed by societies.
“Burning gas, coal and oil results in three times as many deaths as road traffic accidents worldwide and it is estimated that air pollution has a $2.9tn economic cost, equating to 3.3 per cent of the world’s Gross Domestic Product. In 2020, pollution causes billions in damage to the environment and health. Air pollution kills seven million people each year according to the World Health Organisation and the deaths cost the global economy $225bn in lost labour. When water bodies are affected, the cost to treat such water is enormous which invariably affect the affected country’s GDP.’’
Ilori added that critical attention must be paid to reducing environmental pollution to increase the life expectancy of the populace and ensure quality health for all.
Responding to the waste matter in the community, Managing Director, Lagos State Waste Management Agency, Mr Ibrahim Odumboni, said that the district head in the area was addressing the refuse challenge.
Odumboni said, “I can’t give you a full reaction. I think the head district is addressing that issue at the moment but we will hold a meeting on it.’’
However, a few days after, a leader in the community told our correspondent that LAWMA workers came to the area to clear the refuse.
Govt reactions
Efforts to get the comments of the state Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Ganiyu Johnson and his counterpart in the Ministry of Environment, Mr Tunji Bello, on the matter were not successful. They both didn’t pick calls made to their mobiles and had yet to reply to text messages sent at the time this report was filed.
But the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, who responded to text messages after calls to his mobile, said, “Sorry, I can’t talk right now.”
Also, Chairman, Ikotun/Igando Local Council Development Area, Lasisi Akinsanya, didn’t also pick calls made to his mobile and didn’t reply to text messages sent.
In his reaction to the development, a member of the state House of Assembly representing Alimosho Constituency II, Mr Kehinde Joseph, stated that the plights of the residents should be a top concern for the state government to urgently consider.
He added that though concerned officials from the state government had been there to evaluate the situation, contributions were also made at the recently concluded stakeholders’ meeting in the state for the fixing of the dilapidated road.
Joseph said, “The case was presented to the ministries of works and environment. It was part of the submissions I made at the recently concluded stakeholders’ meeting in the state. I am aware that officials of the state ministry of environment had been to the area to assess the situation. But they have yet to award the contract.
“Government is aware that people are getting sick even the residents, especially landlords will tell you that government officials have been there. I was surprised because I was told the road would be awarded by the second quarter of this year but they have yet to do so. Building demolition will be done in the area because the road was mapped in such a way that it will lead to Ejigbo road and Isolo.’’
The lawmaker further noted that the residents forwarded one of the letters written on the matter to him and he presented it to the House.
He noted, “The residents will tell you officials of the state government came twice to make a survey of the place. Doing that is not what we’re looking for. What everybody wants is action. They needed to allow people to know that truly they meant business.”
Besides, Director, Public Affairs in the state Ministry of Environment, Kunle Adeshina, decried residents’ carefree attitude to refuse disposal in the area.
Replying to an inquiry by Saturday PUNCH on the issue, Adeshina, frowned at what he described as inadequate maintenance of public property by citizens of the state.
He said, “Ghosts are not dumping refuse inside those canals, it is the residents of the area doing so. If there are canals, are people supposed to drop refuse there? It’s not the governor that came from Alausa to drop refuse there. Maybe I will ask the engineer to check the area.
“There are three types of drainages. If they are tertiary and meant to be in front of the houses, they are supposed to be built by the local government. It’s not our responsibility. But I will find out from the engineers to know Gafar Street, the canals and refuse there including those responsible for it. People cannot maintain what the government has provided for them and they keep complaining. Why can’t we be watchmen or dogs over public infrastructures in our areas?”
