Ogun-Lagos boundary residents lament neglect, underdevelopment, poor amenities
Daily Trust on Sunday in this report examines the plight of Lagos-Ogun boundary communities and how the lack of development has affected livelihood in various Ogun communities bordering the nation’s commercial nerve centre in Lagos.
“If we were given the option of choosing to be in Lagos State or Ogun, we would not hesitate to choose the former. Unfortunately, Ogun will still count us to be part of the state although we don’t feel the presence of government here,” a resident of Olambe, a border community in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, located between the state and Lagos said, lamenting the neglect, underdevelopment and inequality the people are suffering.
Right from border areas, the spectacles of inequality are visible as the roads are in a terrible condition and economic and social activities are impaired.
From Akute, Ajuwon, Alagbole, Oke-Aro, Agbado, Lambe, Ayobo, among other communities bordering Lagos State, cries of marginalisation, underdevelopment and lack of government presence have been the order of the day.
Although majority of them earn their living in Lagos as civil servants, businessmen or artisans, high cost of rents has prompted them to settle in Ogun State, where rents are relatively cheaper.
For instance, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Lagos, including places like Ojodu, Ikeja, Agege, among others, is between N1.2million to N2million, according to the Nigerian Property Centre. So, areas like Ikeja GRA, Magodo, Ogudu GRA, among other highbrow places in Lagos metropolis, are definitely not for an average civil servant earning a minimum wage or a struggling businessman. For instance, a twobedroom flat in Ikeja GRA costs between N7m to N8m.
So residents of the Lagos-Ogun boundary communities have been driven to their present locations, not by their own making but the economic conditions they have found themselves in.
Mrs Funmi Oguntade, a resident of Lambe, said her husband worked with the Lagos State Government and managed to build a three-bedroom apartment, where the family lives after relocating from Oregun. She said they bought the land in 2006 at N350,000 because land in Lagos was too costly. Our correspondent learnt that while a plot of land at Lambe is now between N3m to N5m, a half plot goes for N20m in Ojodu, Lagos.
“Everything here is wrong; you can’t see any development around. You can’t get Uber or Bolt around here. Many things you take for granted in Lagos are totally absent here. People don’t come here. We are totally neglected. You can’t see any supermarket here; what you see are mini shops and their items are very expensive,” she lamented.
Mrs Oguntade also lamented that the political class neglected them; hence many amenities taken for granted in Lagos are lacking in the neighbouring communities under the jurisdiction of Ogun State.
Lambe is just one out of many Ogun communities bordering Lagos State, with visible sights of underdevelopment.
Navigating the Akute-AlagboleAjuwon axis from Ojodu in Lagos, visitors will better appreciate the plight of the residents. While part of Ojodu falls under Lagos, another significant portion of the community belongs to Ogun State and is controlled by Ifo Local Government, which collects taxes on a daily basis. Here, bad roads stare residents in the face.
From Akute bridge, after Yakoyo, also in Ogun State, the construction of a 42-kilometer Sango-Ojodu-Akute-Alagbole highway in Ifo and Ado-Odo/Ota local government areas, which has been abandoned for over a decade, has worsened the plight of residents.
Similarly, the Ajuwon-Akute road is a deathtrap, forcing motorists and residents of the area to abandon their vehicles and rely on public transportation.
When our correspondent visited Ajuwon, many vehicles were seen struggling to navigate the rough terrain. From Akute-Ajuwon and Alagbole-Ajuwon, potholes and ditches fill everywhere. In fact, many vehicles got trapped several times at Ajuwon bus stop owing to the deplorable state of the road, which residents said had denied them many opportunities.
But the situation is not the case in the neighbouring Lagos State, where majority ply their trade, so they feel dejected, scorned and neglected by the Ogun State Government.
Residents of the area lamented that the Ogun State Government had been concentrating development in Abeokuta the capital while neglecting border communities. The state government, however, denied the allegation.
Lagos-Ogun Joint Commission fails to take off after 2 years
On May 2021, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State and his Ogun counterpart, Dapo Abiodun, signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the Lagos-Ogun Joint Commission.
Part of the MoU was to empower Lagos State to build roads and other infrastructure inside Ogun State territory.
Governor Sanwo-Olu said, “The joint memorandum of understanding is a sustainable development agenda under which Lagos and Ogun states will combine resources to meet our present socioeconomic needs and prepare for the future.
“We have nothing to lose but a lot to gain by synergising efforts with Ogun State in the areas of infrastructural development (boundary town roads, waterworks, mass transportation), as well as revenue and taxation (including PAYE remittances, and boundary town revenue management and collection).”
Other areas the MoU will address include trade and investment, resolution of boundary disputes, security, including intelligence sharing and gathering, environmental and physical planning activities, including urban renewal, emergency and disaster management, inland waterways management and traffic management, and agriculture, food security.
Sanwo-Olu said a joint committee would be established “that will implement the terms of the MoU” pending the approval of Lagos and Ogun states Houses of Assembly.
The establishment of the commission has lingered for the past two years, dashing the hope and expectations of the affected residents of Lagos-Ogun communities. Findings by our correspondent in both Lagos and Ogun Houses of Assembly indicate that both states are yet to send a bill to give legal backing to the MoU.
This is partly why nothing has been achieved in terms of advancing development in Ogun communities bordering Lagos.
Bad roads still litter the borderline communities, social amenities are barely in existent; and residents said this had taken a toll on their socio-economic standing compared to their neighbours in Lagos.
Checks by our correspondent showed that apart from the major Lagos-Abeokuta expressway, Lagos State has fixed the network of roads in its domain, leaving those that fall under Ogun untouched.
In April 2018, former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos commissioned 21 boundary roads, including Ikola road with Odo Obasanjo Bridge - 6.4km (from Ipaja/Command to Ilo River); Ogunseye Road—1.75km (from Ajasa/Command to Ikola Road); Oko Filling Road - 1.5km (from AIT to Ilo River).
Others were Osenatu Ilo road - 620m (from Ibari Road to Ilo River); Amikanle road - 3.1km (from AIT to Ogunseye Road); Aina Aladi Road - 1.9km (from AIT to Ilo River) and Aiyetoro road with a bridge- 1.4km (from New Market/ Ishefun Road intersection to Ilo River).
Musili Ojo, a resident of Ajuwon said, “The major problem we have here is the state of our roads. We can’t go out with our vehicles again because the roads have become unmotorable. It is even worse when it rains. Many people who have their cars can’t even take them out because of the state of the roads. If the roads are in good condition, it would help to improve our standard of living.
“You will never see things like this in Lagos State. Again, we don’t have social amenities around here. I know that majority of our problems will be solved if the roads are in good condition.
“In the entire Ajuwon, we have just one health centre, and it can’t even do many cases.
“This road has been like this for years. We have been filling it on our own as a community but we can’t do much at our level. We usually fill the ditches with stones and sandbags.”
Our correspondent reports that as at 2012, the population of Akute and Ajuwon was about 150,000 but it has quadrupled as more people have relocate to Lagos. For instance, Ajuwon alone has three development centres, with each of them having 40 community development associations. Each development centre is estimated to have 10,000 residents, translating to about 400,000.