THE pivot and very womb of central Lagos is undoubtedly Lagos Island. It is the heartland of our ancestors. It is the centrality of our beginning, the core provenance that defines our cherished heritage.
It is the home of our great men and women.
It is the origin of all the Obas of Lagos, from Ado Keme, Gabaro, Akinsemoyin, Ologunkutere, Dosunmu Akam? ?kun, Oba Oyekan, to the present ?ba Akiolu.
It is here that sprang Alhaja Pelewura, Alhaja Ala?? Oke, Olaniyonu of Isaleko-Offin, Dawodu, Kosoko, Olusi, Doherty, J.K. Randle, Fashina, Olayeni, Olanrewaju, Bank Anthony, the Coles of Olowogbowo, the Williams, Taiwo Olowo, Salawu Ado-Dosunmu, Bello Fashola, Shitta Bey, Alli-?l?k?, Gbajumo, the George family of Evans Street, Agunbiade alias Baba O?a, L.J. Dosunmu, Alfa Momoh Tinubu, Dr. Maja, the Rhodes family, I.S. Adewale, Gbajabiamila, Oki, Fashina, Muritala Animashaun, Landude, Smith of Oke Arin/Alakoro, Pa Dallas of Evans Street, Herbert Macaulay, Fashanu of Isalegangan, Jinadu of the Faji enclave, Okunnu of Isaleeko, Savage, and so many other illustrious men and women of distinction who actually built Lagos and gave it the magnetic commercial allure that still remains the envy of the world.
It is the home of the famous Pelewura Market, which now lies in ruin and is a severe eyesore. It is the abode of the once prosperous Jankara Market, which presently festers as a glaring, perpetual wasteland of unrelenting misery and unceasing economic chaos amid a growing rot of decay and abandonment by successive local government leadership.
From the far fringes of Lafiaji in the east to Sandgrouse, Okepopo, Campos, Itafaji, ?nala, Ar?l?ya, Idumayingbo, Dosunmu, Idum?ta, winding across Tinubu Fountain in the west, hurrying toward the choked huddle of Balogun, the cluttered largeness of Isal?-?ffin, Oke-Arin, and the tumultuous stretches of Apongbon on the western edge of Lagos Island, our beloved and once-beautiful pride of place is gradually deteriorating into an unrecognisable, distorted landscape of lost hopes, perished dreams and shattered vision.
It is now a place of moribund lives, where septic waters run across homes, where the stench of putrid, clogged drainages hovers from living spaces into schools, into mosques, into churches and through the derelict, muddy, flooded, crumbling expanses of the streets and markets.
It is here the grim stare of poverty confronts us all, in the abject faces of unemployed youths taking refuge in drugs and illicit activities, where both young and old are resigned to lives of despair and penury, where the very harsh symbols of irredeemable destitution imperil the essentiality of existence.
This is the ugly face of our new Lagos Island. We now invite Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to embark on a physical, working tour, a determined and thorough evaluative examination, with the ultimate resolve to rehabilitate and cleanse the dirt and odium pervading our ancestral home.
We at De Renaissance Foundation, borne upon the common bond of our ?m? Eko Pataki ethos, now respectfully task the governor to visit the aforementioned neighborhoods and streets not in the screened, intimidating distance of an endless convoy of Sports Utility Vehicles, but rather in the intimate proximity and humbling embrace of the common man’s tricycle, popularly known as K?k? Marwa.
Yes. Let the governor remove himself from the elite-based promotional agenda of water sports or Formula One-style, Hollywood-themed events and subject himself to the harsh and worsening realities of our people’s lives.
We do not ask him to demolish or eviscerate our heritage, as is currently being done with the ancient Itafaji Market. We do not ask him to remove our people from their ancestral homeland. We are surely not against modernisation. But modernisation does not, and should not, entail the destruction of cherished ancestral structures and spaces.
The Vatican City is about 2,000 years old, and no one has ever suggested its replacement with modern architecture. So too with the Élysée Palace or the 300-year-old Buckingham Palace.
The megalithic temple in Turkey is about 11,000 years old and is still standing, fit and firm, preserved through strict renovation whenever necessary. No one has ever called for its modernisation. It is considered a national treasure. So too is the 7,000-year-old megalithic temple in Malta.
What we request is restoration, renovation, a cleansing that does not destroy our history. We expressed the same in our recent intervention regarding the proposed demolition of the old Randle Hospital.
Everywhere in the enlightened world, a people’s heritage is never allowed to decay. Such places are treasured, revered, respected, iconic places of pride, like Stonehenge in England (about 5,000 years old), the Colosseum in Rome (almost 2,000 years old), the Pyramid of Djoser in Egypt (about 4,600 years old), the city of Jericho on the West Bank (9,600 years old), and the ancient Tower of Pisa (about 850 years old).
We remember vividly some decades ago when there were suggestions to straighten the Leaning Tower of Pisa, to eliminate the tilt. The Italian government rejected the suggestion outright and instead engaged in renovation and structural reinforcement. Today, it still leans. That is preservation. That is the appreciation of a historic monument.
We have gone to this length to illustrate how iconic structures are often embraced as historic treasures that remind a people of the creativity and ingenuity of their ancestors. We do not disdain our past. We are proud of the attainments of our ancestors.
While we agree with Governor Sanwo-Olu that those who deliberately built on canals and drainages in Festac, Alaba, Trade Fair and other areas are scofflaws, our concern here is the preservation of our own Lagosian ancestry, against the seeming indifference of our elected government. The governor should kindly hasten this pro-people’s tour to protect our endangered ancestry. As the saying goes: a stitch in time saves nine.
We believe it is the duty and responsibility of government to protect and serve its people with diligence and passionate candour. This is the moment our own governor should stand up firmly and courageously and yield genuinely to the yearnings of our people.
Now is the time to rectify and mend the broken places. Now is the time to restore our pride of place, as anchored by our ancestors.
Major-General Olanrewaju (rtd), former GOC, Third Armoured Division, and former Minister of Communications, is the Alternate Chairman, De Renaissance Foundation.