MAKOKO’S DEMOLITION: SAFETY OVER SENTIMENT

The demolition is guided by safety concerns and urban necessity, argues ADEKUNLE AKINMOSA

The recent demolition exercises in parts of Makoko have once again thrust Lagos into the familiar eye of controversy. Predictably, some people and organisations have raised the alarm, aligning on emotion, to frame the exercise as an assault on the urban poor. However, beyond the outrage lies a more sober truth which is that the Lagos State government, under Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is confronting a long-festering safety and environmental challenge that no responsible administration can continue to ignore.

Makoko has always occupied a peculiar place in Lagos’ reality. Part slum, part symbol, it has been romanticised by outsiders and weaponised by critics as evidence of state neglect. But Makoko is also a densely packed settlement built largely on stilts over water, with little regulation. Fire outbreaks, building collapses, water pollution, disease outbreaks and security concerns are not mere possibilities there. They are real dangers.

In recent years, Lagos has witnessed tragic incidents arising from unsafe structures, illegal developments and environmental degradation. From collapsed buildings on land to fires in congested settlements, it is clear that unregulated habitation kills quietly until it kills loudly. Many of the waterfront structures in Makoko were constructed without regulatory approval and lack basic safety standards. And particularly for buildings under high-tension cables, the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) has repeatedly warned residents of Makoko and other high-risk zones to vacate such buildings, citing risks such as electrocution and fire.

Reacting to protests against the demolition, Sanwo-Olu promised the exercise is not a land-grab as being bandied by some non-governmental organisations.

“I have been accused of destroying Makoko” he said to select Managing Directors and Chief Executive Officers at a recent meeting organised by the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF).

“You will notice shanties sprawling by the Third Mainland Bridge. The challenge is that they were expanding at an incredible speed and getting dangerously close to the bridge. There are also high-tension power lines underneath. I cannot sit back and watch a disaster happen where hundreds of lives could be lost in a single day. What we did was simply to push them back. For six years, a United Nations agency promised to support development if I provided funds. I did, but they never returned. Just last week, they admitted they had no money. Of what benefit would it be for the government to dislocate people? It can only be for their safety. We will not sit back and allow a tragedy to occur and then be blamed for inaction. Some NGOs collect thousands of dollars from donor countries, making videos of children missing school, only for pecuniary gain. It is a shame.”

The Sanwo-Olu-led administration has repeatedly emphasised that Lagos cannot continue to grow chaotically. With a population pushing past 20 million and expanding daily, the state faces pressures unmatched anywhere else in the country. Urban governance in such a megacity is not for the faint-hearted. Allowing unsafe communities to persist because they evoke sympathy may appear humane in the short term, but it is very irresponsible in the long run. When tragedy strikes, as it inevitably does, the same voices condemning demolition are often the first to ask where the government was. The criticism from some NGOs failed to engage with this reality. Advocacy that begins and ends with “don’t demolish” but offers no viable alternative for ensuring safety, sanitation and environmental protection is incomplete at best.

It is also important to dispel the notion that the Lagos State government acts with reckless disregard for human consequences. Over the years, successive administrations have engaged communities, issued notices, marked buildings and warned occupants long before enforcement actions are taken. The Sanwo-Olu government has continued this approach, combining urban renewal with resettlement discussions and, in some cases, compensation. That these measures may not satisfy every advocacy group does not make them insincere.

There is also a deeper danger of institutionalising informality. When illegal settlements are allowed to persist, they send a message that rules are optional and that the state lacks the will to enforce its own laws. This does not empower the poor. Rather, it traps them in precarious living conditions while encouraging further unregulated development. Over time, the cost of regularising such areas becomes astronomically higher, both financially and socially. Clearing unsafe structures, though painful, creates the opportunity for planned redevelopment.

Governor Sanwo-Olu’s broader urban agenda provides important context here. His administration has invested heavily in transport infrastructure, drainage systems, road expansion and climate adaptation projects. These initiatives are interconnected. A functional drainage system cannot coexist with unchecked construction along waterways. Flood mitigation efforts are undermined when canals are blocked by illegal structures. The Makoko demolitions, viewed within this framework, are not isolated acts but part of a larger attempt to impose order on a city that has grown faster than its institutions.

Critics often ask: why now? The honest answer is that Lagos no longer has the luxury of delay. Climate change has intensified rainfall patterns and rising water levels threaten coastal communities. What might have been manageable decades ago has become untenable today. None of this is to suggest that displacement is trivial or that affected residents should simply accept their fate. Empathy must remain central to policy execution. It is good this angle is being pursued by Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly. Speaking recently at a meeting between the Makoko victims and the Lagos State government, Special Adviser to Sanwo-Olu on E-GIS and Urban Development, Dr. Olajide Abiodun, said the demolition was to rebuild Makoko for the people of Makoko.

“Mr Governor said that the Lagos State government is committed to the redevelopment of Makooko for the people of Makoko,” he said.

“Not for somebody else.”

That rebuilding of Makoko is expected to cost the Lagos State government two million US dollars.

If advocacy groups truly seek the welfare of Makoko residents, the conversation should shift from opposing demolition outright to demanding transparent resettlement frameworks, affordable housing solutions and livelihood integration. Government action and civil society pressure need not be mutually exclusive but they can and should reinforce each other. In defending the Makoko demolitions, the Lagos State government is not rejecting compassion but redefining it in more sustainable terms. Compassion that tolerates danger is sentimentality.

Cities that are admired today for their order and safety and resilience all passed through phases of difficult urban reform. Lagos is no exception. The Makoko exercise, controversial as it is, reflects a government grappling with the hard questions of how to protect lives, manage growth and prepare for a future where improvisation is no longer enough. There is no way Makoko as it was growing without order could have been winged into a decent enclave in the modern Lagos story.

In the final analysis, the debate should not be framed as government versus the poor. On that fundamental point, the Lagos State government’s actions in Makoko, guided by safety concerns and urban necessity, deserve not just scrutiny but a fair measure of understanding. Governance is about making decisions. Choices must be made, often between two hard outcomes. Kudos to Sanwo-Olu for making the call and leading the charge to reimagine Makoko.

Akinmosa writes from Lagos