Ikoyi blindness
The lyrics are as pertinent today as they were then. Driving round Ikoyi last night, I had the familiar thought: this is where the elite live? The roads are black at night (none of the street lights work, and there is seldom power). Our host in an otherwise-lovely Bourdillon apartment has not had water for SIX WEEKS. The roads in Ikoyi are pretty bad - on the East side of Kingsway (where the Governor and the DG live) they are passable (but expect a bumpy ride), meanwhile, Ikoyi West of Kingsway (in the direction of Obalende) are Martian (in fact, there are probably smoother roads on Mars). Visitors who knew Ikoyi 20 years ago are unfailingly shocked by the state of disrepair the neighbourhood has fallen into. It seems the residents of Ikoyi are blind to the state of disrepair around them - or is it that they are powerless to make a change?
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5 comments:
Ikoyi is arguably the most expensive block of Real Estate in Africa. I don't get it are we nuts???
How it works is this - if you want good infrastructure around where you live, get a politically influential person to live there.
Unfortunately, it looks like all the politically influential people have emigrated to Boring Capital.
"Lagos is getting better, believe it or not"
is what you said on my blog when i said Lagos sucks. The place is drowning in its own bullshit, it doesn't matter if you live on the island or the mainland, everything is falling apart. Given the opportunity I'll rather live in Abeokuta or Ibadan rather than any part of Lagos.
No Jay..Its not that they are blinded to make a change..Its more because they blinded by the "fools pradise". Afterall, In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king"!!
The concept of community living, collective responsibility and proper maintenance culture got thrown out of Lagos' window a long, long time ago.
Lagosians and many other Naijas will ensure that the confines of their personal compound/property/home is clean, neat and tidy; yet as soon as they step outside their gate will proceed to spit on the ground, discard all manners of food and beverage wrappers outside their car windows and pee wherever they feel like it!
That is why even in expensive, old Ikoyi where so many rich people live and own property, the roads, lights and buildings (at least on the outside) remain in such horrible conditions. And if you think Ikoyi is bad, wait to you see GRA Ikeja. Can we say from grace to grass?
When they are tired or the place has been run to the ground, they will, like viruses that consume and spread, simply relocate to the newest refuge for the posh, e.g. VGC, or Abuja.
Tinubu has been governor for two terms, yet Lagos remains filthy, every major road or intersection is a mammy market, and area boys continue to reign supreme, destroying perfectly good roads so they can slow down traffic and "tax" or rob them. Too sad mon amie, too sad.
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