Displaced residents pay price of Ajegunle’s renewal

As at the end of May 2019, Funmilayo Afolabi and her husband had been unable to pool funds to rent a new apartment in Ajegunle, Lagos’ bustling urban slum. After their former residence, a dilapidated bungalow, was sold for N13 million in November 2018, their new landlord gave them until May to move out, with a stern warning that he would detach the roof if they failed to honour the date.

At the expiration of the deadline, Afolabi had only N40,000 when housing agents were demanding N200,000 to cover rent, agreement and commission. At the same time, the eldest of her six children, a student in Osun State Polytechnic, was making request for money. She started considering Okokomaiko, a Lagos suburb, where a selfcontained apartment could go for N90,000. In fear and disorientation, she began to pack her belongings in handy fashion and kept them with friends.

However, like light at the end of a tunnel, a N100,000 loan came from a microfinance bank. She was lucky enough to find another apartment on the same street she

had lived since 2002. To refund the loan, her obligation is N19,500 monthly for the next few months.

The acquisition of Afolabi’s former residence for full reconstruction by a new landlord is a prototype of the growing pattern of urban renewal spreading in low-cost areas of Lagos, such as Ajegunle.

Such redevelopment in urban slums does not merely involve demolition and construction of better structures which tend to be costlier. Displacement is a key feature that silently relocates many into more underdeveloped and underserviced communities in Lagos,

Businessday’s investigation found.

Tenants who fall victim of this are often faced with the harsh effect of short notice. They are faced with the problem of distance between the potential new apartment and their workplaces. Parents worry about the new school to re-enrol their children and bother most about affordability. Should their effort to obtain another apartment in Lagos fail, some victims of

displacement are sent back as far as their hometowns to start a new life.