Mixed reactions as Fayose’s bulldozers pull down houses

In Ekiti State, Governor Ayodele Fayose is no longer in the good books of many residents as he doggedly forges ahead with his determination on what he called the modernisation of the state.

The governor is not without his admirers on his resolve, though. With Fayose’s modernisation commitment has come the demolition of many houses, with its attendant agonies to many landlords and families. By Wednesday April 4, 2018, no fewer than 300 houses, by the account of the state government itself, had been demolished across the state to pave way for the government’s beautification and expansion projects.

Some beneficiaries, the government disclosed, received between 100,000 and N2 million as compensation, depending on the nature and size of their affected structures.

Since the governor assumed his second term in October 2014, he has been reiterating his determination to execute projects he believes will leave a lasting impression on the consciousness of indigenes of the state. Many still remember the dualised roads, markets and other people-oriented projects Fayose executed in his first tenure as governor between 2006 and 2009.

The governor explained that his administration conceived the current exercise as part of its urban renewal programme aimed at giving Ado Ekiti, the state capital, and other major towns in the state a facelift to position it well in the comity of beautifully developed states in Nigeria.

Areas that the government’s bulldozers had pulled down structures included Ado Ekiti, Ikere Ekiti, Efon Alaaye, Omuo Ekiti, Ise Ekiti, Emure Ekiti and Ijero Ekiti.

The government said it had paid a total of N400m as compensation to people whose houses were demolished, and would be paying more as demolitions continue.

The exercise, which affected no fewer than 80 houses in Ado Ekiti, sparked, at a point, a row between the state governor and the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe, over the alleged refusal of the governor to give prior demolition notices to owners of the demolished structures and non-payment of compensation to the victims.

Last month, the monarch invited Gov Fayose to his palace for discussion on a litany of protests his subjects had been trooping to his palace to register over the manner their properties were demolished, allegedly without any prior notice.

While the first-class monarch was telling the governor his opinion that the demolition must have “a human face”, Fayose sprang up, declaring,“Kabiyesi, do not even mention that we should not demolish! Do not raise it at all! We should tell ourselves the truth. I will demolish. The houses you are talking about are ancient and dilapidated shacks.

“Excuse sir, let me tell you, awon ti mo wo yen, comma ni o! (Those I have demolished, you’ve not see anything yet!) The dual carriageway will pass through Oke Ila. Tell the people in those areas, this is the Panadol they have to swallow. There is no way we will not fight. What needs to be done must be done. I should not be threatened with votes.

It is God who makes things possible. I should not be threatened at all. And those that have not been compensated, owo die die wa fun won (we have small money for them).”

One of the victims of the demolition exercise, Mr Kayode Aloba, who claimed his house was pulled down at the Okeyimi area of Ado Ekiti, said, “In a smuch as we all want development, the government should have given us enough notice to look for an alternative. Yes, he paid us compensation, but it was a far cry from the present economic realities.”

Aloba lamented that occupants of demolished houses in the area had been occupying their properties for years only for the government to suddenly render them homeless. He pleaded with the government to construct houses and sub-let them to those affected as a palliative measure.

But for two residents in Ado Ekiti, Mrs Abeke Olaiya and Madam Gbeminiyi Aluko, Fayose deserved a high mark for having the courage to demolish old and dilapidated buildings in the city. The two women, however, advised the governor to give those affected by the demolition enough compensation to enable them build modern, befitting houses.

Aluko said, “We are not against the demolition of these old buildings. In fact, it is true that many of them are not only outdated, they are poorly built and decaying. But we frown at a situation whereby the governor wants us to rebuild our old buildings.

He is not giving us enough money that can build modern buildings in this age.”

Pa Amodu Aliu, who resides in Okeyinmi, said, “A question is: As cosmopolitan as Lagos or Ibadan are, don’t they also have

roads,” he said.

The Sarkin Kasuwa, Wakili Istifanus, expressed hope that the government will live up to its words and compensate the affected traders because they were not properly informed about the demolition.

The Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Oti Ovrawah, said the commission will invite “all those” involved in the demolition.

Ovrawah, who was at the market, said, “We came here to protect their economic life and their human rights.”

She said there were various procedures to be followed before demolition and the commission will seek to know if the procedures were followed.

She said the protest will also be investigated.

Meanwhile, the Coordinator of the Satellite Town Development Department (STDD), an agency of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Tanko Yamau, has said farmers affected by the relocation of the Gosa market will be compensated.

Yamau said all the economic trees on the land owned by farmers were assessed before the land was cleared to make way for traders.

He said the farmers could not be compensated before the trees were cleared because the FCTA did not want to deny residents the opportunity to trade in the market on the day of the demolition.

“The farmers will count all the trees in their lands as economic trees and will be paid. The payment will come after the clearing, but the record will be there. We don’t want people to be denied the opportunity to trade in the market, that is why we are clearing without paying compensation and by the grace of God compensation will be paid after the clearing,” he assured.

“We have set up a committee to arrange how to move other markets on the roadside. It is not going to be immediate, but a gradual process. We must locate a new site and clear it before moving other markets,” he said.