We are gradually becoming a nation of lawbreakers. Some have attributed this development to people’s lack of confidence in the elite whose laws are our laws. Many believe they make laws not to serve the overall interests of the public, but to protect the interest of group members.
For instance, it is generally believed that our lawmakers deliberately inserted lacunas in the Abuja Urban and Regional Planning Act which but for Nyesom Wike’s ongoing demolition would have allowed politicians who illegally took over Abuja green belt, and shanties dwellers, who illegally erected structures on land earmarked for public use by government to stay in court for up to 15 years.
Following Minister Wike’s last week’s demolition of Ruga illegal settlement, at Wuye, harbouring more than 10,000 illegal occupants, human right group led by Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as ‘VeryDarkMan’ (VDM), and Deji Adeyanju, a lawyer and activist, led the protest of the displaced people. Adeyanju, celebrated by the media as ‘a foremost human right activist, just about a year after leaving law school but dismissed by Nyesom as “an idle hand who became civil society activist after failing to secure his support for the national publicity secretary of PDP”, demanded the minister’s sack. Rather than deny Wike’s allegation, Barrister Adeyanju, who we now know is a PDP card-carrying member while wearing human right activist cloak, has been slandering and calling Wike names.
And this is despite the fact that Abba Garo, the spokesman for the victims of Ruga demolition whose crusade Adeyanju is leading, has admitted that the displaced occupants could not lay claim to the land which he also noted had been demolished 22 times, with occupants returning to rebuild “because they have no alternative accommodation”.
Nigerians are also aware that despite the heterogeneity, there is no part of Nigeria where outsiders are not welcome with open hands as long as they respect the values and culture of their host communities. It is therefore unimaginable that immigrants will move to Benin, Yola or Sokoto and start erecting structures without approval of the local authorities.
The only exception is perhaps Abuja where Garo admitted they have continued to break the laws ‘because they have no alternative accommodation’ and Lagos where immigrants destroy the lagoon shorelines with shanties. The promoters and enablers of criminality in the case of Abuja and Lagos are attention-seeking civil society groups and a section of the media that intend to impose their warped view of society on the rest of us. Otherwise, the idea of urban immigrants resorting to self-help is alien to our culture.
The good news about Abuja however is that demolition Minister Wike, whether you like or not, has said no amount of blackmail was going to stop him from pulling down other illegal shanties and structures constructed on Abuja’s green areas. According to him, “If anyone builds on a green area without the necessary approval, then too bad. Those structures will be brought down; certainly, yes, they will be demolished without compensation to those who encroached on public land”.
Femi Falana, (SAN) and a respected human right crusader has however condemned, the minister for his decision to demolish illegal shanties he described as ‘private properties. According to him, the demolitions are not authorized under the Urban and Regional Planning Act applicable in the FCT because “In the FCT, if a house has breached the law, the case must first be taken to the Urban and Regional Planning Board. If the property owner loses, they can appeal to the Urban and Regional Tribunal. If that fails, the case may go to the High Court, where an order for demolition may be issued.”
For him, Wike’s demolition of shanties is ‘alien and primitive’. He is therefore insisting the minister must follow provisions of Abuja municipal laws.
Dear esteemed readers, let me end this piece by sharing with you our encounter (The Guardian Newspapers) with shanties illegal dwellers. In the late eighties, Lade Bonuola, Guardian editor-in-chief and managing director had secured some acres of land in OPIC, Isheri for the Guardian. In 2005, we decided to allocate the plots to senior editors and other category of staff that had put in between 15-20 years of service. Ogun State Surveyor General’s office facilitated distribution of Certificate of Occupancy to beneficiaries after payment of necessary charges by OPIC.
The demand for additional payment by (Omo onile), land owners, was met and documented with a recorded video. Today, almost 20 years after, while building of all types have been erected on those plots by shanty dwellers, none of the over 100 legal owners, has had access to his plot.
If ending the above madness that today defines Lagos and Ogun in Abuja is part of the goal of Minister Nyesom Wike who has already said ‘no amount of blackmail, intimidation, and abuses will deter him from “protecting lives and property in the FCT and ensuring that Abuja was one of the best cities in the world’, he has my back in the battle he has already launched against Abuja vultures.
