You know I kinda laff when people who live in Ikate say they live on the island.
I will just look at the mumu and say under my breath then what do you want people who live in Ikoyi crescent or Bourdillon to now to say.
The lekki dream is dead. It was a euphoric attestation to new wealth. One morning we woke up and a newfound land was discovered. Affluence spread and the new yuppies moved there in their droves.
Lekki with its unplanned layout and boisterous and loud new tenants was never a prospect for me. Some of us saw thru the maze and concluded that in less than 20 years we would be having another surulere or Bariga in our hands.
As I drive thru Ikate, I think of Lagos with pity. Is this part of the mauch vaunted Lagos master plan?
Rickety Estates clustered amongst themselves in various state of disrepair. Plumbing falling off, plaster falling off and drainages, that existed blocked and dirty.
This madness is a result of an incestuous and corrupt marriage between landowners, government, and greedy and thieving developers.
Land in Lekki is gold. Valuation still ramping up in a meaningless race towards Golgotha.
This situation has thrown the need for control and regulation to the winds. So in this slum instead of collapsing towers as is the case in the richer neighborhoods of Ikoyi, what you get is a myriad of filthy barracks that makes the legendary Nigerian police barracks look like fancy towers in Ibiza.
Ikate is the hub of the dirt. It’s breezy corridors attract all sorts of dark soldiers. Crime is high and prostitution and drugs are the mainstays.
The further you go, the worse it gets. By the time you are getting to Osapa London and Alpha beach u are wishing u had remained in Shomolu and yet they will say, ‘ we live on the island’
Lekki phase 1 remains 40% slum. Terrible drainage, damaged roads, and wobbly infrastructure.
You will still find an oasis of class though, like Nicon Town where you would think you are in Beverly Hills. But the drudgery around it has made many of its inhabitants contemplate movement to the paradise called Banana Island and the like.
Lekki is a collapsed dream. Dead to Lagos and a huge disappointment. It’s even sad that we had to drive away the people of Maroko whose ancestral hold of the land didn’t stop the pillage to foster in Nigeria this babel of dirt called lekki.
This was not the Lekki Chief Awolowo had in mind when he blessed the land for providing succor during his brief stay in the colonial prison in its bowels.
Awo would today cringe at the smell that comes out of the gutters of Lekki and beg God to forgive those who say they have the Masterplan with which in their greed and urge to dispense favors in a rent state, have turned this dream into a hell.
Please leave me for the mainland, if na Ikate be Island.
You know I kinda laff when people who live in Ikate say they live on the island.
I will just look at the mumu and say under my breath then what do you want pple who live in Ikoyi crescent or Bourdillon to now say
The lekki dream is dead. It was a euphoric attestation to new wealth. One morning we woke up and a new found land was discovered. Affluence spread and the new yuppies moved there in their droves.
Lekki with its unplanned layout and boisterous and loud new tenants was never a prospect for me. Some of us saw thru the maze and concluded that in less than 20 years we would be having another surulere or Bariga in our hands.
As I drive thru Ikate, I think of Lagos with pity. Is this part of the mauch vaunted Lagos masterplan?
Rickety Estates clustered amongst themselves in various state of disrepair. Plumbing falling off, plaster falling off and drainages, where existing blocked and dirty.
This madness is as a result of an incestuous and corrupt marriage between landowners,government and greedy and thieving developers.
Land in Lekki is gold. Valuation still ramping up in a meaningless race towards golgotha.
This situation has thrown the need for control and regulation to the winds. So in this slum instead of collapsing towers as is the case in the richer neighborhoods of Ikoyi, what you get is a myriad of flithy barracks that makes the legendary Nigerian police barracks look like fancy towers in Ibiza.
Ikate is the hub of the dirt. It’s greezy corridors attracting all sort of dark soldiers. Crime is high and prostitution and drugs being the mainstay.
The further you go, the worse it gets. By the time you are getting to Osapa London and Alpha beach u are wishing u had remained in Shomolu and yet they will say, ‘ we live on the island’
Lekki phase 1 remains 40% slum. Terrible drainage, damaged roads and wobbly infrastructure.
You will still find oasis of class though, like the Nicon Town where you would think you are in Beverly Hills. But the drudgery around it has made many of its inhabitants contemplate movement to the paradise called Banana Island and the like.
Lekki is a collapsed dream. Dead to Lagos and a huge disappoint. It’s even sad that we had to drive away the people of Maroko whose ancestral hold of the land didn’t stop the pillage to foster on Nigeria this babel of dirt called lekki.
This was not the Lekki Chief Awolowo had in mind when he blessed the land for providing succor during his brief stay in the colonial prison in its bowels.
Awo would today cringe at the smell that comes out of the gutters of Lekki and beg God to forgive those who say they have the Masterplan with which in their greed and urge to dispense favors in a rent state, have turned this dream into a hell.
Please leave me for mainland, if na Ikate be Island.
Duke of Shomolu
