The bulldozers of the Lagos State Government are extra busy these days. First in Ijora-Badia, a sprawling shanty town, which is adjacent to Orile and Costain train stations, and later in the more upscale Itun-Omo Estate, in Odoragushin area of Epe, rumbling and rampaging bulldozers moved in, reducing hopes, dreams and futures to rubbles. In both cases, the government of Lagos State states unequivocally that, “Our intervention is a strategic one, to upgrade the quality of life.” But the affected communities are as bemused as they are traumatised. The refrain on every lip is “We voted for this government. Is this what we will get in return?” There is much wailing and gnashing of teeth among the landlords and residents who are saying with one bitter voice, “Fashola has finished us.”
The saying: “It is easier to destroy than to build” cannot be more apt. What took over a decade to build in Itun Omo Estate in Odoragushin Community of Eredo Local Council Development Area of Lagos State, was reduced to rubbles in less than eight hours. The once lively community was reduced to ground zero. No fewer than 100 buildings were felled by rumbling and rampaging bulldozers of the Lagos State Government. Expectedly, the landlords and residents did not find the fate that befell their community funny.
