Tokunbo Wahab, the Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, made a suggestion that unlicensed builders whose homes are demolished would soon be required to reimburse the cost of the destruction.
Wahab made this revelation on Tuesday in response to a tweet from Ola Kasali, who used the handle @Olakaslas on X (formerly Twitter) to voice his opinion that someone who criticized the Lagos State Government for recently demolishing buildings in the Mende estate at Kosofe Local Government Area of the state ought to be held accountable for the costs associated with demolition and cleanup.
On July 29, 2008, Ms. PO Emuze, the District Officer of Kosofe District at the time, signed a building development permit issued by the Lagos State Physical Planning and Development Authority (KS07/DO/375/45/109) and shared it with the Managing Director of Legrande Engineering Services Limited. The photo waa shared by Ilemona with the X handle @I_am_Ilemona.
The letter read, “I am directed to inform you that your application for development permit has been granted approval under the provisions of the Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law 2005. Physical Development Provisions.
“You are, however, advised to maintain the conditions given in the Development Permit and comply with the conditions stated by the Ministry of Environment.”
Ilemona continued by asking why the properties in the estate were being demolished despite a building permit having been signed sixteen years prior.
Dear @I_Am_Ilemona, I have had to ignore a lot of people taking foolish stances about the Mende issue. Let me take a few minutes to educate you again. Wahab responded in a lengthy tweet.
“First, the tweet you mischievously attached this document to was my response to your attention-seeking tweet, just as this one about Ikota, where some other people also encroached on the canal’s right-of-way. This has since been removed, and construction of the drainage channel is currently ongoing.
“In your very shallow opinion on Mende, take your time to read item 3.0 of the document that you posted, stating, and I quote, ‘You are, however, advised to maintain the conditions given in the Development Permit and comply with the conditions stated by the Ministry of Environment.’ The question now is, were the conditions met? No! The condition was simple: to leave a certain metre away from the beacon.
“The Developer who is sponsoring many of you knew what he was doing. He went ahead, encroaching on the part for which he was not approved. If you build beyond the approved plan, you have violated the conditions of approval, and your approval becomes entirely invalid. As they say, ‘The wheel of justice may be slow, but one day, it will grind to a halt.”
But he pointed out that the state has moved past the period of “anyhowness,” saying, “We cannot be complaining about a problem and still complain about the solution.”
“At some point, we’ll get to that!.” Wahab responded.
The demolishing of certain buildings in Arowojogbe in Mende estate has been initiated by the Lagos State Government.
When footage of the exercise surfaced on social media, the demolition infuriated the locals.
Wahab gave a detailed explanation of the demolition’s purpose, stating that it was done to prevent the entire mainland from flooding.
The commissioner stated that the buildings that were demolished were situated on the System 1 drainage right of way, which leads to the Odo Iya Alaro River.
