Lagosians living around Sangotedo, Awoyaya, Lakowe and beyond has been struggling with long slow traffics for some months as a result of heavy construction work going on along the Ajah-Epe expressway. This development is welcomed by some but not to all. We will look at both sides and see it’s benefits and it’s disadvantages to Lagosians and Nigerians at large.
Since commissioning the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Ibeju Local Government Area has attracted a lot of attention locally and internationally. Value of real estate has significantly risen as a result of mega construction work going on within and around the Lekki Free Trade Zone. Conveyance of raw materials and finished goods to and from the Lekki Free Trade Zone is the major life-line to the sustainability of the project. Due to the establishment of sea port and airport projects, what is left are road networks. This means a major fortune to property owners within the locality and neighbouring environs.
As much as this is a good economic boost for the country, not everyone is profiting from this. Many lower-middle class households and low class households living within the locality are either tenants or squatters. House rents have reportedly risen by 60% the past four years. The more developed the area, the more expensive it is to live. Squatters are often forced to evict illegally occupied properties to make way for highly charged residential and business properties.
Since the government has no laid down plan for settlement of lower class Nigerians into low cost housing facilities, it remains a hopeless situation for struggling Nigerians. The Lekki Free Trade Zone is big development for Lagos state and Nigeria but the masses must also be taken care of with proper housing scheme initiatives to benefit from the wealth buried in the Lekki Free Trade Zone.