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| State of majority of the buildings in the estate: Photo by Olusesan Ogunyooye |
When Governor Lateef Jakande proposed and delivered
about 20,000 units of low cost housing estates in 1980/82, little did he know
that; one, there shall be none of its kind in the country 30 years after; and two,
that his legacy can be murdered, at least, during his life time.
One of those
estates is the Lekki Jakande Estate. Olusesan
Ogunyooye Writes
A foot path ‘decorated’ by abandoned vehicles; jarring noise of grinding
machines greets passersby; and popular hip hop music oozing from a rickety Ken
Wood speaker animates the market by the road side. Heaps of refuse contest for
attention from the very dirty, dilapidated high-rise, buildings mostly with
brown rusted roofs. This sight ‘disfigures’ the aesthetics of the coveted, high-brow
Estates that lace the controversial Lekki Toll Road. Welcome to Lekki Jakande
Estate, where residents live in squalor!
As I wonder how to sail the messy, blackish, stagnant water that carpets
the foot path, two women just walk past – straight into the water. One of
them even has a baby strapped to her back. As I kept hanging to the only
piece of dry land under my feet, one concerned shop keeper urges me to ‘enter
inside the water. Just remove your shoes, don’t worry, you would not fall
down’.
