Housing Deficit: Why Lagos Under-Bridge Dwellers Pay Hoodlums N500 To Pass The Night

As the housing deficit in Lagos State sits at 17 million, many residents of the state are yet to experience relief from arbitrary rent increase by shylock landlords and high fares by commercial transporters.

Some of the vulnerable residents and traders in the state have been rendered homeless and forced to seek alternative shelter under bridges and bus stops.

Lagos under-bridge and bus stops dwellers, Saturday Tribune of August 17, 2024 gathered, pay between N200 and N500 as cover charge daily to hoodlums for the protection of their personal belongings all through the night.

From the most isolated communities in the Centre of Excellence to the Island and the Mainland of the state, tenants are at the mercy of their landlords who issue rent adjustment notices, citing inflation, subsidy removal and unregulated food prices. The landlords latch on to the housing deficit to exploit their tenants.

In spite of the Lagos State government’s huge investment in the housing sector, housing deficit in the state sits at over 17 million with an estimated 500,000 people migrating into Lagos annually.

However, to address the housing gap, the state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has embarked on housing projects in various locations across the state, including Ibese Phase 11, Egan, Sangotedo, Epe and Badagry. However, in spite of this intervention, access to decent and affordable accommodation remains a mirage for low and medium-income earners.

LAGOS TENANTS NARRATE PLIGHTS

Ojodu Berger in Lagos is one of Nigeria’s busiest and most popular inter-state routes located along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway where several traders and buses bound for different states are housed in the large park located beneath the bridge. Srategically located between Lagos and Ogun states, the area boasts thriving residential, commercial and recreational facilities.

Speaking on the daily influx of people into Berger, a trader, Mrs Nusirat identified proximity to their places of work and inability to afford the cost of rent as factors responsible for increasing number of under-bridge dwellers in the axis.

According to her, people who sought to spend the night at bus stops pay between N200 and N500 daily, being the fee for security and space allocation.

She said: “Many of those you see trading on both sides of the bridge have nowhere to go to at night. Many of them sleep under the bridge and the reason for their homelessness is not farfetched; they come to work and trade at Berger from a far distance.

“They are from a neighbouring state and as such couldn’t afford the cost of transportation journeying to and fro every day hence their decision to sleep under the bridge and at bus stops only for them to return home at the end of the month.

“Another reason is the arbitrary increase in house rent. There is hunger in the land. Many people cannot afford to feed, not to talk of paying rent on accommodation and shops. They don’t have money to rent an apartment because rent is more expensive in Lagos than in other states. So, to manage this situation, some of them sleep in their cars while some sleep in the garage and at bus stops.

“They have become so comfortable living here to the point that when they eventually raise the needed amount to rent an apartment, they refuse to go because they feel it’s going to be a waste of money because they will continue to be paying house rent, electricity and other bills. But living under bridges and bus stops daily cost them between N200 and N500 which is less than N15,000 monthly.  There is a public toilet and bathroom nearby where they pay N100 to bathe and use the toilet. It’s all about survival.”

A commercial bus driver, Hamzat Waris, disclosed that many of those that spend the night at bus stops are travellers who don’t want to risk night journey.

He said: “The people sleeping under the bridge and at bus stops within the Ojodu Berger axis are travellers. They felt it is safer to sleep at the bus stops under the watch of the hoodlums than to be robbed while travelling during the night. They pay ‘cover charge’ to touts who protect them while they are asleep. Those tout collect N200 or N500 from them for sleeping under the bridge. They have no choice but to pay the money because they have nowhere else to go. Importantly, they cannot afford to rent an apartment because of the demands of landlords in the state.”

In Egbe-Idimu Local Council Development Area of the state, tenants are held in the jugular by their landlords. This explains the plight of Fatai Akanmu, a resident of Abanishe Street, Agodo, Egbe-Idimu, whose landlord increases his rent annually.

Akanmu told Saturday Tribune that he paid N270,000 for his one-bedroom apartment in 2021 only for his landlord to increase it to N300,000 in 2022 and N400,000 in 2023 and now N450,000 in 2024.

He urged the state government to introduce measures to curb the excesses of landlords and address the housing challenge.

He said: “Alimosho Local Government, specifically Egbe-Idimu LCDA, is populated with low-income earners. It is therefore worrisome that landlords in the area didn’t put this into consideration before they embarked on arbitrary rent increase. In my own case, within a space of four years, my landlord has increased my rent three times. I moved into the apartment with N270,000 but now it has been increased to N450,000. How do I cope with that with my wife and three children?

“I’m a trader. I sell planks, but given the harsh economic situation, many builders have stopped construction works. But here are landlords increasing rent and citing the new minimum wage of N700,000. The burden is too much for us to cope with which is why many people slump and die on a daily basis.”

A seamstress in the Agodo community, Egbe-Idimu Local Council Development Area, Hajiya Ajogbe Lawal, narrated a similar experience at the hands of her landlord.

Before the fuel subsidy removal, Hajiya Lawal had it rosy with her landlord but the relationship turned sour when she was served with a letter informing her of a 100 percent increase in her shop rent.

For her sewing business, Lawal maintains a 10-by-12 shop for which she paid N120,000 annually as rent. Meanwhile, with the expiration of her rent in September 2023, she explained, her landlord served her a notice of N100,000 increase, pushing her annual rent to N220,00. The shop owner cited fuel subsidy removal and hike in food prices.

She spoke to Saturday Tribune: “I am a tenant at a shop in Agodo community in Egbe-Idimu LCDA. I maintain a medium-sized shop on which I paid N100,000 annually. I have been struggling to meet up with the rent because patronage has been low, considering the poor state of the economy.

“But without any consideration for our plight, my landlord came to my shop and announced an addition of N100,000 which, according to her, took immediate effect. I was shocked. Sometimes in a month, I make less than N5,000 because our business is seasonal. She announced an increase of N100,000 and threatened all occupants to vacate her shops if we were not ready to comply. But after so much lobbying and persuasion, she reduced the rent from N220,000 to N180,000 with an instruction that we must all pay by the end of October.

In the last four months, it has been a festival of suffocating fees and price increases. There were increases in my children’s school fees and then there was hike in fuel and food prices and transport fares and now shop rent. It is ridiculous spending so high on petrol, food items and transport fares but more ridiculous is the arbitrary increase in house and shop rents.

“We are suffering and on the edge. We struggle to feed. We struggle to get transported from one place to another and now landlords are making life miserable for us with their senseless rent increase. The Lagos State government needs to wade into the housing crisis and the exploitative nature of landlords. There is no rent control mechanism, the landlords just increase rents at will without any consideration for the plights of the tenants. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu must do something to save us from the shackles of landlords in the state.”

Since he relocated from Kwara State to Lagos about five years ago, Shehu Amidu, who lives in the Ikorodu axis of Lagos State, has had his share of unpleasantness living in Lagos, especially at the hands of landlords.

He narrated how his landlord removed the door to his apartment for failing to honour an increase of N100,000 one year into his tenancy.

Amidu said: “I was forcibly ejected from my apartment in Ikorodu by my landlord who increased my rent after my first payment expired. I pleaded with him but he refused and decided to remove my door and later my window, believing that when mosquito bites became unbearable, I would leave. And true to his belief, I left when mosquitoes invaded the apartment.

“I left Ikorodu for Ebute-Metta only to be confronted with N100,000 after the expiration of my rent. Food prices are no longer affordable. One kilogram of Semo that sold for N1,200 some months ago now costs N1,900. Garri, rice and other staple food items are out of the reach of ordinary people. In the midst of this, the Lagos State government intervened with the distribution of food items, but how many residents can boast of receiving the palliatives?

“We are appealing for a positive turnaround because if this should continue, the consequence will be dire, especially among youths.”

For Gbenga Owotimo, a cab driver on the Island, increased in fuel price has adversely affected his business and his immediate family.

Speaking on how it affected his transport business, he said: “It is as if transporters are now working for fuel attendants because the bulk of the money we realise is spent on fuel purchase. Aside from this, the NURTW has fixed the transport fare which we dare not go above. So, there is no chance of increase in transport fare and this has affected the quality of life we live as family men and as sociable persons.”

On the volume of palliatives from the state and local governments, he said the two-kilogram rice bag, beans and yam flour palliatives were not commensurate with the amount of economic hardship inflicted on Lagosians by the fuel subsidy removal.

He said: “The council chairman on the Island distributed beans, rice and yam flour to some residents. I heard Governor Sanwo-Olu did the same, but considering the economic hardship caused by the fuel subsidy removal, how far can the palliatives go in lessening the pains of the masses?

“For me, before the palliatives came in, I was contemplating how to buy foodstuffs for my son who has just gained admission into one of the northern universities. I had to pack everything in the house for him to go and start while the rest of us sort ourselves out.

“But in all, what the government has done so far is not enough to address the hardship Lagosians are facing daily in the area of transportation and food price increase. As December draws near, I want to urge the government to open the borders and allow importation of rice from Cotonou since we don’t have sufficiency in rice production and a food crisis is imminent.”

A trader in Ikotun, Akanbi, sells loaves of bread at the BRT bus station. He lamented low sales since fuel subsidy was removed.

He stated that: “I have no shop of my own to sell bread. I have always been on the road, but as the prices of bread increase, people don’t patronise us as they used to.

“The irony is, as the prices go up, the weight decreases. This implies that a family of four that fed on N1,000 worth of bread loaf can no longer feed on the same size of bread because it now sells for N1,800.

“Aside from this, we have to pay the Agberos whether we make sales or not. I am not a trader, but I do afternoon shift selling loaves of bread at the bus stop. I only see an opportunity in selling loaves of bread because of the huge number of people living in Alimosho. So, I chose the bread business.

“Sales had been good until the fuel subsidy crisis. I enjoyed huge patronage from people closing from their various places of work and heading to their homes.”

A frozen foods seller, Mama Michelle, lamented a drop in her sales, a situation which she said had caused her turkeys, chickens and fish to go bad.

She said: “People no longer buy frozen food. They cannot afford to buy turkey because it now sells for N6,500 per kilogram while a chicken’s lap is N5,500 and beef, too. It is very expensive, but instead of buying this, many people go for dried fish. Even dried fish is not cheap, it is very expensive, too and this is causing these foods to rot. The removal of fuel subsidy has added to the economic adversity that is bringing untold hardship on the people. While parents complain they can’t afford to send their children to school again, private and public universities have increased their school fees.”

Mr Ayinde Omotayo shared his experience working as a storekeeper. He said: “We are rich in this country but due to corruption, there are setbacks.

“Before the new government, we could afford to buy petrol, but now, we can’t give as much as before. We should give thanks to God because in spite all things, He provides our daily bread. What we can ask from the government is to reduce the price of petrol and construct good roads. They should also empower farmers.”

Another respondent, Mr Saheed, said: “I am a driver. The economy of the country is bad. One cannot afford three square meals again. If you could afford one, you should give thanks. We don’t have money for contributions now; I can’t afford to pay my children’s school fees and house rent anymore.

We are just hearing of palliatives, we don’t know if they exist. Fuel subsidy removal and hike in petrol price have impacted the country’s economy negatively. My advice for the government is that they should not drag us back instead of going forward. They need to address the hunger.”

Mr Kazeem Salami said: “I am a businessman. This country is not going forward but backward. The government must implement the new wage increase and ensure same is implemented for those working in the private sector. They must also ensure price stability, especially house rent and prices of goods and services. We voted for them because we believed in them.”