The only crime in Nigeria is to be poor

Thousands of people have been made homeless as the Ambode led government accelerates its plans to make a new Lagos a reality.

Yesterday's latest attack saw more people flee from Otodo Gbame in canoes as their homes burnt. Some of the residents of the shanty town were shot, and one person was confirmed dead.

The Lagos state government defended the measure taken with Otodo Gbame. According to the state government, the shanty town is being demolished because it is illegal and a hideout for militants.

Granted these are good reasons but it is not enough to leave innocent people homeless with nowhere to rest their heads. In Lagos, no one speaks up for poor people. The reason why these people lived in an illegal shanty town is because of the housing problem in Lagos.

In this dear city of ours, there is a housing deficit of 2.55 million as of May 2016. The Lagos state government needs to build 187,500 housing units every year till 2021 to cancel this deficit.

The Minister of Works, Housing and Power Babatunde Raji Fashola in June 2016 revealed that Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt would need more houses because of people migrating from rural areas to these cities.

Fashola, however, did not state if the housing plan for Lagos will tackle the deficit problem by 2021.

In January 2017, World Economic Forum (WEF) described Lagos as the fastest growing city in the world with 85 people coming into the city every hour. By the end of this year, 744, 600 would have moved to Lagos.

The Lagos state government evidently has not done enough to deal with housing problem in the city. Instead of addressing this, it has decided to sweep the problem under the rug and build a new shiny city reserved only for the rich.

Lagos is marching towards a mega city. Eko Atlantic and the Lagos Free Trade Zone point to that. The sad thing about this ambitious plan that it has no room for the hardworking and average people in the city.

Shanty towns in Lagos exist because of the housing deficit that the state government refuses to do anything tangible about. For those who can afford to rent apartments, Shylock landlords demand they pay two years in advance. The state government has yet to curtail this practice.

On the other side of town, Victoria Island, Ikoyi and Lekki are swamped with empty houses, flats and apartments. No one can live in them because the rent rates and prices are outrageous.

The common man is becoming an endangered species in Lagos. No one here thinks about the common man. If you live in a shanty town, the elitists who want to build their own Dubai will burn your home while you sleep with your family. No one will speak up for you.

When you can afford a decent house, your landlord will hit you with rent fee, agent fee, and other miscellaneous crap designed to milk you dry. The sad thing is the government will not come to your aid. Rather they will leave you at the mercy of greedy landlords.

Even if you are rich, are you rich enough to live in the overpriced homes in Lekki, Victoria Island or Ikoyi? Most likely not. The middle-class man and the poor man are being chased out of Lagos. No one speaks for them. No one fights for them.

The only crime in Nigeria is to be poor. You can be corrupt and would not end up in jail. You can kill someone and walk the streets like a free man. If you are poor, however, you are treated like scum. Your hard earned money is taken away from you. Your home will be taken from you. Everything you've worked hard for will be taken from you.

Lagos belongs to the rich who act like gods. Lagos belongs to the powerful who want to create a new wonderland at the expense of millions of people who call it home.