Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has strongly criticised the Lagos State Government over the demolition of structures in the Makoko area, questioning the legality and moral basis of the exercise.
In a detailed memorandum addressed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Ezekwesili described the demolitions as cruel and dehumanising, characterising them as a form of state-sponsored oppression against vulnerable communities.
She expressed concern that some of Nigeria’s poorest citizens are being subjected to hardship under the guise of public safety and urban renewal initiatives.
Raising broader issues of governance and citizenship, Ezekwesili questioned whether Lagos operates as a society of equal citizens or as an environment where economic considerations are placed above human dignity.
According to her, Makoko residents—many of whom depend on fishing, informal trading, and small-scale businesses for survival—are not illegal occupants but Nigerian citizens whose rights have been repeatedly eroded because of their socioeconomic standing.
She argued that prolonged neglect and recurring demolition exercises have entrenched a pattern in which poverty is effectively treated as a reason to deny people their citizenship rights.
Ezekwesili disclosed that community leaders were initially informed that only buildings located within a 30 to 50-metre safety corridor around high-tension power lines would be affected. Based on this understanding, residents reportedly cooperated with authorities.
“A government that changes agreed terms in the middle of an operation and expands demolition boundaries without prior notice is not enforcing the law—it is abusing its authority,” she said.
She further alleged that the demolitions resulted in loss of lives and likened the operation to a forceful land takeover intended to benefit elite interests.
Ezekwesili insisted that the actions were not genuinely driven by safety or urban planning concerns, but instead amounted to what she described as a deliberate “class cleansing” of low-income communities from prime waterfront locations.
She warned that the demolitions have sparked a humanitarian crisis, leaving thousands of families displaced, disrupting children’s education, and exposing vulnerable groups to hunger, illness, and insecurity. She maintained that once government actions create homelessness, the state assumes an immediate constitutional and moral obligation to provide protection and support for those affected.
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