Opinion: Lagos, land grabbing and the law

by Ibironke Oluwatobi O.

Lagos is a model state in the gallery of the country. People have assessed the state with different lenses. These assessments have won different titles for the state. Some call Lagos, the commercial capital of the country because of the rich vein of commercial activities in the state. Others that have been enthralled by the level of hospitality they met in the state deduced the title ‘home’ for Lagos from the shibboleth “Eko Ile” meaning Lagos is home. The allure of the state has drawn people from outside and other parts of the country, like soldiers of fortune to seek the pastures of Eko. Albeit this has caused an imbalance in the rural-urban drift in the country, it has immensely boosted the organs of Lagos.

According to New York Times, Lagos is the biggest city in Africa with a population of over 21 million people. This figure means Lagos alone acquires about one-ninth the population of the thirty-seven sections of the country – including the Federal Capital Territory. The enormity of Lagos in population size allows the advantages of municipality to play. The state is subject to high volume of commercial and social activities. These activities have made Lagos a leading state in the country. An additional appealingness to the charm of the state is the stride of its government towards developing the mega city. The Governor Ambode led administration has done commendable work in revitalizing security in the state. Law enforcement agencies in the state have been equipped with gadgets and others necessary materials to dutifully perform their tasks. The government’s approach towards the welfare of workers in the state has also brought a sense of satisfaction.

Other landmarks of the state government are in the areas of road and transportation network. The government assures that it has a plan for the mega city. Traffic and environmental laws have been made to help the state towards the fulfillment of this goal. The latest step by the Governor Ambode led administration towards fulfilling its goals for the mega city is the establishment of the Neighbourhood safety Corps and Property Protection Law. Basically, this law was made to curb land grabbing in the state. This move reflects the consciousness and pragmatism of the government in developing Lagos with mega city features. After all, land grabbing is not a feature of leading cities around the world. Although, land grabbing exists in other part of the country, it was rife in Lagos. Extortive thinking inspired its invention. Until the establishment of the law, it was often conjectured that the headquarters of land grabbing is in Lagos.

A mass of fraudsters amassed wealth for themselves by extorting people in the state through transactions involving land and property ownership. The rampancy of their activities scared away investors. However, because of the state’s charm of commerce and its repute as the land of opportunities, the migration pattern continued in its favour. This translates into high level of competition for space in the state. Land grabbers saw this as an avenue for excessive profit and extortion, thereby threatening business operations and investments in the state. Before, land grabbing was almost unchallenged. It is now banished by the law. Shortly after the establishment of the law by Governor Ambode, the task force set-up to enact the law has started to field hundreds running to thousands of petitions. This shows that residents in the state have been anxious about the establishment of the law, hoping that it would serve as a potent tool to challenge the menace and extortion of land grabbers.

It is however noteworthy to point that prior to the establishment of the law, numberless land disputes and property ownership cases have been reported to law enforcement agencies and taken to court but the efficacy of the process has been unimpressive. It is common knowledge that land grabbers connived in the past with some arms of law enforcement agencies to operate. The judiciary system has also been faulted for passively allowing the activities of the land grabbers. In instances where some of the cases make it to court, the cost and delay of justice makes it a pyrrhic victory for some complainants, while some others lose in both ways. For this reason, faith in the process waned. Now that an official law against land grabbing has been passed by the government, lagosians are only showing renewed faith in the law and the task forces. It is expected that the same spirit of justice and fairness that gave birth to this law would be passed into the law enforcement agencies to challenge land grabbing and other illicit activities. Establishing a law is just half the job, enforcing the law is the other half that qualifies the worker for wages.

In the case of the government of Lagos state, the part of abolishing land grabbing that guarantees success is the enforcement of the law through the enforcement agencies and task forces. Establishing the law would not see the back of land grabbers in the state, they would surely test the waters. The enforcement agencies would be tested with bribes and pay offs, if these corrupt offers are pocketed then the law would be diluted. It is a common practice with law enforcement agencies to make a bidding war out of petitions and complaints, between complainant and the defendant. This practice usually offers an option to justice and an average man would take that option over justice.

According to Dr. Rami Kalazi, “without justice, people will lose their trust in everything except for weapons”. Indeed, if the law does not serve justice and faith in it is lost, repelling investments would not be only problem, violence is also inevitable. For the government of the state to record success with this law, and welcome more investments in the state, enforcing the law is principal. It is recommended that the job of enacting the law should be handed to credible and incorruptible group of people. The task forces should be trained and monitored in carrying out their assignment. It is also necessary for effective feedback channels to be made available to the general public. These measures would ensure that the assignment of enforcing the law is carried out with positive energy and rectitude, creating an environment of increased opportunity and smooth run of business in the state. A law guided Lagos would be an attractive hub for investors and visitors. Other states in the country can adopt similar methods in abolishing welfare and business threating activities, the country at large would benefit from active law establishment and enforcement.

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Op–ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija

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