Oke-Afa slum could succinctly be described as an abnormal world where sane human beings cohabit with animals and relish in dirt, yet they are frequently exploited by government agencies as they go about their business of picking and selling scrap items, ALBERT UBA reports
It compares to Ijora-Badia, Ilaje in Bariga, Amukoko, Orile, Makoko and parts of Ajegunle in terms of dirtiness, lack of basic amenities such as health and educational facilities, pipe borne water, electricity and so forth. But two mosques and a church are located there to attend to the spiritual needs of the inhabitants. Notwithstanding the squalor status of the place, government agencies and traditional institutions in the state generate more than enough revenue daily from there.
The Guardian learnt that any item not sold is used internally. For instance, there is an electronic workshop in the slum that repairs discarded radio and television sets, after which they are used by the Dan Bowlers or sold to people within the settlement. Pieces of rug, chairs, beds and other household goods are mainly for internal use.
“Until Salisu and a few others took up the initiative to build private bathrooms and toilets, we bathed in the open and defecated in nylon bags and threw them into the canal or anywhere possible. At a time, the whole place was littered with human and animal wastes,” a resident who didn’t want to give his name said.
Marriages are also consummated in the slum and babies are delivered. Iyabo, a mother of three, sees nothing wrong in that. Lamenting the circumstances that forced her to relocate to the slum, she said: “I do not wish my enemy the problems that brought me here.” Fighting tears, she narrated how a combination of financial and economic hardship coupled with marital and family problems dealt her several devastating blows that shattered her life.
“Every week, we pay N40,000 to Kick Against Indiscipline , an agency of the state government in charge of sanitation. We also pay money to sanitary inspectors . The local council collects tax from us and we pay N200 levy daily per wheelbarrow that enters or leaves this market. When you add the market fines, levies and sundry charges by the landowners, the market administrators and others, you can imagine how much is realised from this slum,” he said.
The rate of arrest of scavengers by KAI operatives despite the weekly collection of N40,000 from them is also a source of worry to residents.
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