Infrastructural
Decay!
Monday
We see so much decay in national monuments like the National Arts Theatre in
Lagos. The decay is so bad that a lot of its facilities have been rendered
useless. The National Stadium is another
structure that has decayed due to lack of required maintenance and update. A
lot of these buildings now resemble war torn bombed out structures. Even residential accommodation for Army,
Police and Naval staff, are not maintained and wear a dejected air of total
decay. When you drive past some of these barracks, you have to wonder if they
are still inhabited, windows are missing, plumbing and sanitary facilities are
nonexistent, the buildings have not been painted in decades, possible since
they were built
Games village, a small estate comprising blocks
of flats off Eric Moore street in Surulere, built to accommodate athletes, for the
National Sports festival in 1973, is on the verge of collapse and ruin. No
maintenance has been carried out on this estate whatsoever. It is a shame that so many national structures
that were built to better the nation, are being left to decay.
Tuesday
Squatters at
Apapa had a shock this week when bulldozers moved in to demolish their
makeshift homes under the Marine bridge and surrounding areas. Under orders
from the Lagos State Government, 7 days
notice had been given to squatters, some whom did not take this seriously and
were shocked when their temporary homes were destroyed. Apparently some people
have lived and conducted businesses under the bridge for over 20yrs! It is not
clear if alternative accommodation was provided for these thousands of now homeless
people
Wednesday
PHCN seems to be
tightening up their work practices and customer service delivery. Their subsidiary
company Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) have advertised information
in all media detailing how and where consumers can complain and what to expect
from their staff. They even go as far as providing names of persons to contact
for each area and their phone numbers/ email addresses! Should you not be able
to contact any of these regional officers, you can ring the head offices to
speak to the manager! They go further to
advice on payment methods and charges for prepaid meters. For further information
you can visit their web site www.
ekoelectricityng.com . I was
pleasantly shocked by this show of improving customer delivery in a government
institution. Well done!
Thursday
I was invited by
a developer to come to Ibadan to see some new developments springing up in the
city. I decided to brave my phobia for road travel and go along. The state of
deterioration of the Lagos ibadan expressway is being accelerated daily. The
condition of the road is so bad that I don’t think you can drive a few yards without
entering a pot hole. Thousands of tankers are dangerously parked on either side
of the road narrowing the road. The government should take hold of the
maintenance of this road and do something urgently.
Friday
The development
in Ibadan was of a very high standard comparatively to what you would expect in
that area. It is a development of 4 bed homes and 2 bed apartments in one of
the nicer areas of the city, Agodi. The developer already has experience of
developing in Lagos, in the Ikeja, VI and Lekki areas so has transposed his
experience and quality to Ibadan. Of
course rental prices are much lower and what you would pay N3m pa for in Lagos,
is only going for N1.5 or less there. Ibadan needs more developers like this as
the city is largely run down and full of old houses. There is potential here.
Until next week!
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