Published 1/11/2009 1:23:00 Sunday Punch
Oshodi: Loved by few, dreaded by many
Sam Awoyinfa
OSHODI, situated in the Oshodi/Isolo LGA in Lagos State, conjures different images in the minds of the residents of Nigeria‘s commercial capital. To the landlords, who have houses in this settlement, it has been a bitter-sweet story. A sweet story, because those who put their property up for rental to traders smile to the banks each time payments are made. But it is a bitter experience when the ‘demons‘ at Oshodi decide to possess the miscreants, who have seen the area as their territory and fiefdom.
To the residents, who have had a raw deal in the hands of those miscreants, who dispossess people of their valuables such as jewellery, mobile phone handsets, cash and other personal effects, even in daylight, it is a dreaded zone. Oshodi assumes even a more notoriety, when one considers the occasional, but bloody clashes by the factions of National Union of Road Transport Workers, who saw it as one of their ‘cash cows.‘ In one of the violent clashes that happened last year, cutlasses, knives and other dangerous weapons were freely used. Some innocent residents were caught up in the melee; some died while those who were lucky escaped with injuries.
What about the gridlock normally caused by commercial bus drivers, who pick passengers in the middle of the road, and also make U-turns there?
What really makes Oshodi popular? Oshodi is a major bus terminus to other areas of Lagos such as Mushin, Mile 2, Iyana Ipaja, Ojuelegba, Lagos Island, etc. Again, inter state buses from Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Osun, and the South-East region have found the terminus irresistible. More importantly, Oshodi has become a commercial nerve centre, where businesses of all sorts thrive - both legal and illegal.
But on Sunday January 4, 2009, Oshodi woke up and discovered that it has lost some of its notoriety. The shanties that provided cover for the miscreants were pulled down, and burnt. Also, the makeshift stalls under the bridge, where traders had carried on their business suffered the same fate.
In fact, all illegal structures were not spared. The men of the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment, Kick Against Indiscipline, and the police, accompanied by bulldozers and other earth moving equipment, had moved in around 3am, and demolished all illegal structures on sight.
Since that exercise, some Lagosians are already hailing Governor Raji Fashola for taking a decisive action to clean up Oshodi. On the other hand, the displaced traders are singing a different tune.
Kemi Ololade, who worked with Flour Mills, Apapa, will not forget the nasty experience she suffered at Oshodi Bus Stop in 2007. She narrates to SUNDAY PUNCH how she was robbed at the bus stop while waiting to catch a bus to Gbagada.
”It happened in 2007; I was waiting to board a bus to Gbagada at Oshodi around 8pm on that fateful evening, when three young men emerged from nowhere. Before I knew what hit me, they started frisking me, and they dispossessed me of my handset, cash and jewellery,” she explains.
Ololade is full of commendation for Fashola on his resolve to sanitise Oshodi and other notorious spots in Lagos. She stresses that she is yet to shake off the shock she experienced during the attack.
”I commend Gov. Fashola for demolishing all those shanties and shacks in Oshodi. Those miscreants use them as hideouts, from where they pounce on unsuspecting commuters at the bus stop,” she adds.
Austin Oniyokor, a journalist with a national newspaper along the Fatai Atere Way, Oshodi equally appreciates the free flow of traffic on the Oshodi end of the Lagos- Abeokuta Expressway. At times, he says, he spends more than an hour from the Sogunle area before he gets to his office, which is less than five minutes drive from the same point.
”The Molue and Danfo drivers were a law to themselves at Oshodi. They make illegal U-turns and pick passengers in the middle of the road with reckless abandon. So, valuable time is wasted in the traffic, and one is sapped physically,” he notes.
But he is now singing a new song. ”Nobody needs to tell you that Oshodi is now changed. There is no more endless traffic on that route, and you can see the law enforcement agents ensuring that everything is in order,” he says.
When the SUNDAY PUNCH correspondent visited the place on Wednesday, the Molue and Danfo drivers, who would have blocked the road, were seen maintaining a single lane, on both sides of the road, avoiding obstructing the traffic.
Also, the men of Lagos State Waste Management Authority were busy sweeping the streets, and removing the debris occasioned by the recent demolition exercise. The burnt particles were being cleared and hurled into their trucks.
A caterpillar was at work under the bridge, crushing and levelling the land bordering the rail line.
Besides, the law enforcement agents were equally on hand to maintain law and order. This is not the first time bulldozers will be visiting Oshodi.
The late Minister of Works, Gen. Abdukareem Adisa, in 1996, rolled out bulldozers, while he was bent on demolishing illegal structures under the bridges in Lagos, which he said, were veritable hideouts for criminals, and were causing physical damage to the facilities. And Oshodi was one of the spots his bulldozers visited. But the lack of continuity in most government policies saw under the bridges once more brimming with shanties and all manner of shady characters shortly thereafter.
However, the traders that were displaced from under the bridge, the rail line and other illegal structures, were seen milling around in groups, discussing their plight, and pondering on what next step to take.
Mrs Christiana Akiode, who claims she sells rubber slippers by the roadside, confides in SUNDAY PUNCH that the mega city dream of the state governor must be supported by all, but she pleads that he (Fashola) must do it with a human face. According to her, she feeds her four children from the proceeds of the business, and she pays their school fees.
”My first child is 20 years old; she is in the higher institution. I pay her school fees from the proceeds I make from this business. You can see that this is a small business, and I cannot afford to take up a lock-up shop, where they charge N10,000 per month. The governor should help us by constructing low cost stalls for people in our category,” she pleads.
The chairman, Unity Traders, Oshodi, Mr. Christopher Azubike, equally agrees that the governor means well for the state, but he says they did not receive any formal notice before the demolition. He explains that he and other members of the association are still confounded and cannot think of what to do next.
He says, ”We voted for the governor; we even had to close the market when he came here to campaign. We share his mega city dream, but he should help us. He should give us another place, which is affordable to our members. We cannot afford the N15,000 per month lock-up shops at Bolade.”
He appeals further, ”Next (this) week, our children will resume in school, and we must pay their school fees. This is where we make the money to pay such fees, and now that the place has been demolished, we are in a limbo. Only God can help us.”
Mr Oluwole Olugbesan, another victim of the demolition, explains that apart from his two children and wife, who he feeds from his corporate shirts and wear business, he is responsible for the school fees of his younger brother, a law undergraduate at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye.
Messrs Chike Nwaeze and John Akumefuna, who equally suffered the same fate, are also literally on their knees, begging.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Muiz Banire, while reacting to the demolition exercise said that ”it is a matter of policy of the Lagos State to ensure that all major highways are cleared of the menace of street traders and miscreants.”
On the plight of Oshodi traders, he said they had been offered alternative sites, including a large expanse of land near Ilasamaja. And for those traders who are still carrying out their business in unauthorised sites, Banire added that the action would be extended to other markets in the state and warned traders against returning to the highways.
On the whole, one can conveniently say for now that the jinx, which has held Oshodi in perpetual grip of confusion and rowdiness, has been broken.
