Yinka Olatunbosun
hFACTOR in partnership with Heinrich Boll Stiftung is set to screen an earth-shaking documentary film in Lagos. The docu-film is centred on the social impact of evictions with a view to question whether the developmental goals behind demolitions and evictions are indeed in the interest of the public.
Titled, “Dispossess: Evictions for Development?’’ the documentary reveals how Lagos state government, in its bid to build a mega-city had executed major evictions of people from their homes and places of work to make room for such developmental projects. On Friday July 30, the exhibition hall of the National Museum, Onikan will be populated by stakeholders drawn from the real estate developers, Lagos State government, traders’ associations, advocates and journalists as there would be conversations after the film exhibition. For over ten years, market places and informal settlements in Lagos had been demolished and replaced with real estate or ultra-modern market structures that are hard to attract traders and customers.
To this end, a presentation titled “Four Myths on the Lagos Land and Real Estate Market will feature an Associate Professor of Urban Planning, University of Lagos, Dr. Taibat Lawanson as well as the Founder and Director of research and policy at Spaces for Change, Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri. In addition, a panelist session will discuss the concept of development in the context of economics and public interest. The movement artist, Hermes Iyele, who featured in the documentary would also stage a performance on the abuse of public and private landownership after the screening.
“It is going to be an on-going campaign. We have a one-year agenda,’’ the legal officer, hFACTOR, Dolapo Osunsina said. She further remarked that the real estate development in Lagos is tilted towards the elite. “It is not about how do we generate social values. A lot of people don’t have access to these infrastructures. How do we ensure that the private and public sectors are working together to ensure that social values are generated? In developing these structures, government have to complement what is on ground. It is about consulting the residents, the users and letting them have a say in developmental matters.’’
The Space Manager, hFACTOR, Tushar Hathiramani noted that creative thinking is necessary in the process of real estate development that matches the needs of the people. Citing the crisis of land as an example, he said one of the objectives of setting up hFACTOR is the artistic transformation of unused public spaces and engage local communities.
hFACTOR is a collective made up of Tushar Hathiramani, Dolapo, Bubu Ogisi and Osione who collaborate with people everywhere to uncover creative possibilities from under-utilised physical and conceptual spaces. The collective is concerned with issues such as youth empowerment, employability, education programme and FRAT, that is a biennial art incubator programme and festival.
