“I hold that man to be right, who is more in league with the future” – Henrik Ibsen, 1828-1906.
Ibsen, a Norwegian philosopher, was one of the founders of a branch of study called FUTURISM – which encourages people, governments, businesses, schools and society to make deliberate attempts to consider the unknown future. I was fortunate to have been sponsored for a Summer Course in Futurism in Boston in 1966. Among the first takeways from the course are the notions that nothing remains the same for ever; and what is regarded as an asset today might become a liability without notice.
For most of the last century, advanced nations preached the sermon of low population growth and discouraged families from having lots of children in order to steadily increase per capita income. Today, populations are falling in China, Japan, South Korea as well as several countries in Europe. Why then has celebration turned to alarm? The answer to that question will be provided soon. But, one thing is clear. The advanced countries regarded low population growth as a perpetual policy to be adopted until the fallacy of that assertion hit them like a ton of bricks. For futurists, nothing in life is ever settled forever.
Entire mountains and hills have been removed by quarrying to provide granite for construction of roads, buildings, airports, stadiums and bridges – whenever it is in society’s interest that they be removed. The sky has not fallen anywhere on account of redeploying any asset – land, waterways etc – for another more desirable purpose. In fact, progress and development consist basically of altering the uses for which society utilises its resources.
MORE NOISE LESS REASON
“Our lives begin to end; the day we become silent about things that matter…” – Rev (Dr) Martin Luther King, Jr, 1929-1968.
I was not amazed about the raging noise generated by the demolition of some areas of Makoko. The loudest noise emanated from the usual quarters. Before addressing the misguided and mischievous notions being advanced by “Know-nothings”, it might be of interest to place the current efforts to re-invent Lagos State and position it for the rest of the millennium in the context of other courageous initiatives made in the past; something which those who don’t wish Lagos well cannot understand.
Before Makoko, there was Maroko. When former Governor Raji Rasaki took a look at Maroko and decided to demolish the sprawling waterfront ghetto, the measure received a few applauses but noisy condemnation from campaigners for human rights and lovers of the poor. Who, in his or her right senses, would prefer the old Maroko to what exists today? The initial loss of accommodation by a few thousand individuals now provides shelter, jobs and security to over two million people – in addition to fattening the pocket of the state and Federal Governments. I was among the minority of media commentators who endorsed Rasaki’s development programme. I can still talk about my role. Who among those who opposed it can confess to their short-sightedness?
My first trip to Yenagoa, Bayelsa State was in January 1976 – long before the state was created by Abacha in 1996. Yenagoa, at that time, would be regarded as the community which mostly resembled Lagos city and state. All of it sitting on pockets of islands surrounded by water. Fishing boats were tied everywhere. My last trip to Bayelsa was in 2019, after about nine former trips on official duties. By 2019, virtually all the fishing boats had disappeared. Most of the waterfront communities had been demolished and the narrow two-lane road leading from the Warri-Port Harcourt highway had been transformed into a six-lane highway; replacing several riverine rural communities. Undoubtedly, more waterfront settlements would have disappeared for the new airport to be established.
The late Governor Audu Bako of Kano State (which then included Jigawa), in my opinion, ranks among the six greatest state governors in Nigerian history. When he embarked on transforming Kano State into an agricultural and food self-sufficient state, creation of dams and irrigation schemes were the first things he embarked upon. Creation of dams at Bagauda, Tiga, Rano etc, resulted in displacement of several rural communities. Violent resistance and even casualties occurred. Audu was determined. Go to Kano now.
Sanwo-Olu already ranks among the best six governors Nigeria has ever produced. None of them – Audu Bako, Sam Ogbemudia, Sam Mbakwe, Lateef Jakande and Victor Attah – escaped campaigns of calumny while in office.
GREAT DEVELOPMENTS ARE TEMPORARILY DISRUPTIVE
“You can’t make omelets without breaking eggs.”
Most of us have heard that statement before. Unfortunately, people and whole communities, while accepting that fact, invariably want other peoples eggs to be broken – not their own. Almost everywhere in the world, development programmes have been resisted by people who stand to lose to the project. Landlords, and even some tenants, forced to start all over again mobilize to stop or divert the project. Selfishness, on the part of individuals or groups, is often coated with language suggesting humanitarian concerns.
Even when government announces its intentions and readiness to pay compensations in advance, the announcement is frequently ignored. Sometimes, a few fraudulent individuals apply for and collect the compensations and still refuse to move until the bull-dozers move in. Then, the lies start rolling out to the media. The usual statement is “No notice was given”. When that fails to fly, the next ploy is “government should have provided alternative accommodation”. As a last resort, prominent individuals are enlisted; fed half-truths and outright falsehood and they intervene without checking with government officials. What is happening in Makoko right now provides a case study of what can happen when ill-motivated individuals oppose governments and draw high profile individuals into the conflict.
OBY EZEKWESILI INTERVENTION
“The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously” – US Senator Hubert Humphrey, 1911-1978
The open confrontation between Governor Sanwo-Olu and former Minister Oby Ezekwesili is one of those open conflicts which should not have occurred. But, having occurred, they force other people to take a stand – as I am doing now. As a general rule, it is my strong belief that any governor, as the Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of his state, has wide latitude in determining what is in the best interest of the people who elected him. Only the representatives of the people in the state House of Assembly can query him if his measures are deemed detrimental to the state. Outsiders in a democracy are entitled to their opinions, but, the governor has more information on which to base decisions than anyone else. It is doubtful if Ezekwesili, as governor, would accept dictation from anybody else. We know what happened when she was Minister of Education and the attempt to privatize Unity Schools.
That said; it is still true that “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing”. I doubt very much Madam Oby received all the necessary information on the matter before jumping into the fray.
To begin with, anybody claiming that either short or notice was given to them is a bloody liar. “We were given no notice” is the falsehood most deployed when structures are eventually demolished after notices, as a personal experience revealed.
One of our buildings in Lagos Island was marked as unfit for habitation. Quit notices were promptly issued to the tenants; rents were waived for six months. Everybody stopped paying rents; but nobody moved out. The next notice from Lagos State came three years after. Quit notices again went out. Nobody moved; nobody paid rent. Lagos State took out advertisement in the PUNCH listing the building among 180 others to be demolished. Still nobody left – until the day demolition started. Without exception, all the tenants told the same story – “No notice was given to us”. If the truth must be told, Lagos State bends over backwards to issue several notices before taking action.
WHY MAKOKO MUST GO
“God offers to every mind its choice between truth and repose. Take which you please; you can never have both” – Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882.
To be continued…
FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER AT DAVOS
“An excellent plumber is preferable than an incompetent philosopher. A society which shuns good plumbing, because it is a humble profession and embraces shoddy philosophy, because it is exalted discipline, will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water” (quoted from head) – Gardiner, US Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, 1965.
Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister was on CNN January 21, 2026. He was asked a question which, in my opinion, he should have expected – “How many bandits were killed in Trump’s airstrikes?” More than six weeks after the strikes, a top Nigerian official could still not provide a definite answer to that question. He rambled on and on. I switched off. Is this the best we can do? Professor Akinyemi, please talk to Ogapatapata.
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