By Henry Akubuiro

Dateline: Sunday morning, First Gate, Festac Town, Lagos. Sunday service bells tolled in the distance alongside voices of worshipers from the Maza Maza end. A stream of vehicles filed out from the popular federal government housing estate and gradually merged into the Lagos-Badagry Expressway. They were either going to church or just visiting; typical of Lagosians on Sundays. The flashy cars told you the residents hinted of an affluent neighbourhood, but the reality within told a different story.

If you were thinking of well paved roads and best of social amenities befitting of the vehicles streaming past you, you had another thing coming on Festac Town: everything that glitters isn’t gold.

By the left side of the road immediately after the First Gate, commercial motorcyclists, popularly called Okada, lined up, waiting for passengers desirous of a ride. Nearby were grimaced touts, sitting like kings and selling tickets to the okada riders and the tricycle (keke) drivers occupying the opposite side of the road. Years ago, this sight was unthinkable.

In the late 1970s and 80s, Festac had a beautiful gate house where visitors coming in would first stop for enquiries before being allowed to enter the vicinity. Flowers and trees adorning the major roads were lush with a paradisiacal tinge, and the air smelled wooingly to visitors.

A well planned community, Festac Town was built in a grid network consisting of seven major roads/boulevards or avenues from which minor roads and closes  extend, namely 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Avenues. While the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 7th Avenues surround a portion of the town in a seemingly connected and accessible, rectangular road network, the 3rd and 5th avenues run parallel within the community, just as the 6th avenue is accessed through a connecting bridge from the 1st Avenue. Most closes run into beautiful cul-de-sacs. The 1st, 2nd and 7th avenues, referred to as the First, Second and Third gates respectively, are the gateways to the community, as well as the Festac Link Bridge via the Amuwo and Ago axis.

The metamorphosis of Festac Town

Festac Town wasn’t originally a residential area for the public. In 1977, Nigeria hosted the second edition of World Africa Festival of Arts and Culture after the inaugural edition was held in Dakar, Senegal in 1966. To prepare for the 45,000 guests and workers to participate in the festival, the Nigerian government developed the Festac Village, which was to become Festac Town. Before the start of Festac ‘77, 5,000 housing units, made up of multiple story buildings and bungalows, were built by the Nigerian government. By the end of the festival in 1977, the housing units had grown to 10,000 with state of the art facilities. Nowhere in Africa boasted of such clusters of model housing units built out of a swampy area.

The roads were well paved, built to last for decades with drainages, well fortified against flooding and natural disasters. Electricity wires, unlike today, were laid underground. The National Theatre, which hosted the event proper, was built with the same taste as the Festac Village, which housed the teeming delegates from all over Black Africa.

The original housing units in the old Festac Village were stereotypical buildings. At the end of the festival, they were auctioned to individuals through ballots, but it retained its status as a federal government housing estate. By then, Festac had the latest electrical generators, a well equipped police station at 2nd Avenue, a fire station, health centres, recreational facilities, banks and postal services. The Nigerian government was riding on the oil boom of that era, and wanted to leave a post-colonial legacy of infrastructural development.

Before handing over the housing units to individuals, there was an agreement between the government and the former preventing the renting and disposing of the properties to third parties. Today, most of the original Festac Village buildings have changed hands many times.

From Paradise to Golgotha

When Saturday Sun reporter visited Festac Town, sighs and curses filled the air from commuters. A mere seven-minute ride from the 1st Gate to the 2nd Gate took almost an hour to complete for a short distance route!

The Festac police station is located on 2nd Avenue, but passing through the road has become a nightmare. Holes as deep as craters from Kiev and other war-torn theatres in Ukraine littered the roads when Saturday Sun visited. Some measured up to four feet deep. A significant portion of the roads before and after the police station had been cut off, abandoned by commuters, who now drove one-way or sought alternative longer routes within the community. Stagnant pools of water could be seen on the road as vehicles snaked slowly to afford being trapped in. It didn’t rain today, but there was no place for the one that rained before to go.

Haruna Adamu, a roadside yam seller along the road lamented to Saturday Sun: “This is not good at all. The portion of the road opposite us has collapsed for over a year now. When it rains, all of us close shop, for the rain would reach our knees. Most times, vehicles move to our own side of the road to pass, for their vehicles will be swallowed by flood if they don’t do that. I pray the government would remember Festac and fix the roads. It’s no longer funny.”

Kingsley Azuka is a car dealer, whose face betrayed no emotion when Saturday Sun visited for an on-the-spot assessment on the deplorable road condition in Festac Town and how it had impacted sales. He bemoaned: “We are not selling cars again since the road became very bad. We have patched the roads on our own before, but it’s not everything we can do on our own. It’s the duty of the government to fix the road. Car buyers are no longer coming to patronise us, because there is no road to pass to get to us. How long will this thing continue?”

Worse still, one portion towards the end of 2nd Avenue has been closed for repairs by the Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Council for over three years now, according to a respondent, Yosin Yomi, a motor mechanic, and had remained so since then. Three trips of sounds had been heaped on the road for repairs since, but nothing had been done.

A tour of other roads in Festac Town presented a gloomy picture. The 3rd Avenue looked beautiful with private duplexes and terrace buildings, but the road was in bad shape. It was cut off about three years ago before some remedial work was done. Today, potholes dot the entire road, making it hard to drive. Over 20 potholes were counted in a distance of less than two kilometres.

Besides, as you drove round, you noticed many areas had been commercialised in Festac Town. Almost all the ground floors on both sides of 21 Road had been turned into business centres. On 5th Avenue, plazas were springing up for commercial purposes. Also, there were new illegal commercial structures everywhere, and Festac Town was supposed to be fully a residential area!

Some remedial work had been done, though, in some portions of the collapsed roads in Festac Town. A particular spot along 22 Road was filled with ordinary white sands to curtail the impact of the failed road. In the next few days, it would likely wear off and expose the cosmetic approach to road rehabilitation.

At 71 Road and the adjoining 72 Road, a strong Hausa community had sprung up, lighting up the Sunday evening with songs, drums and dances. Hundreds of commercial motorbikes (Okada) could be seen parked by the roadsides. These motorcycles had become accustomed to the gallops on Festac Town, but business must continue. Their shock absorbers and bolt joints would pay the ultimate price.

Seventh Avenue didn’t fare better than other roads here with worn out roads and potholes limiting the movement of vehicles as pools of water formed at different portions of the road. Evidently, little attempts had been made to rehabilitate the road.

Lagos-federal government

However, there was a glimmer of hope in 2020 when the Federal Government and the Lagos State Government agreed to address the degeneration of infrastructure in Festac Town. It was the outcome of a meeting between Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Managing Director of the Federal Housing Authority, Senator Gbenga Ashafa.

A statement by the Lagos State Government said it was an end to the disagreement between the state and the federal government over the matter. The governor described the development crisis in Festac as “unpleasant,” while blaming the population explosion for the degeneration of the neighbourhood. Festac Town is estimated to house over two million residents. This was an area originally meant for 45,000. The governor also disparaged property developers in the area for distorting the original master plan of the area.

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He said, “I think we can still correct this irregularity and regenerate the entire area for healthy living and business, now that the Federal Housing Authority is headed by a highly knowledgeable indigene of Lagos. Once the federal government is ready, Lagos State will cooperate fully and work through our Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development on an agreed plan.”

Two years later, it appears none of the parties is ready to change the deplorable conditions of Festac Town. A resident living on 21 Road, Chidi Efenomokwu, who spotted Saturday Sun reporter at the flooded entrance of the street, had only lived here for a year, but was already becoming fed up.

He lamented: “There are many bad spots along this 21 Road, but doesn’t cost the government anything to do minor repair works, even if it is going to last temporarily for a year or two. Rather, they are interested in collecting money from shop to shop.”

Lest we forget, the first sight that would greet you on entering 21 Road was an abandoned white bus in the middle of the road encircled by weeds. To your right were three other vehicles by the road side. Obviously, the place had been converted to a mechanic workshop.

Efenemokwu concurred: “These vehicles were not here before. When this road became bad, some mechanics turned the roadside to mechanic workshops. The local government authorities are aware of all these things, but they have turned a blind eye. No mechanic can come to your neighbourhood and start doing all these things. If they don’t collect money from them, I strongly believe the mechanics won’t try to convert these places to workshops. The local government should tow these vehicles away to their office, and let their owners tell them what these vehicles are doing here.”

The disenchanted resident also blamed fellow residents for the rot in Festac Town. “The problem with Nigeria is maintenance culture. If you go inside Festac Town, you will see some dilapidated structures not fit for human habitation, but you see people living there. Look at grasses growing on the road here; nobody is cutting them. In the olden days, you wouldn’t find this kind of thing here. What you would be seeing would be flowers and trees.”

Saturday Sun gathered that residents of Festac Town rarely performed sanitation exercise, which had contributed to the filthy environment.

Sewage system collapse

The sewage system has totally collapsed here. For the Festac 77 buildings, rot and decay were self-evident in some of the closes visited. Residents had no option but to throw away filth into the gutters on the main road.

Efenemokwu noted with regret: “The big gutters by the roadside are also blocked. It is the duty of the local government to clean them up, but they are not doing anything about it. Everywhere is smelling.”

Some of the old blocks bore visible signs of dilapidation. The paint had since worn off, revealing jagged edges and rotting iron bars used in building them. Tenants even threw used water sachets from up and littered the ground. “If you report to the local government, they won’t do anything. This also has health implications. It is capable of creating a cholera outbreak any time soon, because everywhere is littered with filth,” he said.

The chairman of a block in a close off 21 Road, Asiedu Michael, had lived in Festac for decades, and likened the difference between Festac of yesteryears and that of today to the gap between the moon and the earth.

“There are many differences,” he said. “These blocks were owned by the government before, but now it has been sold off to private individuals, and most of the buyers resold to other people. These ones (the later owners) are the ones who spoiled Festac. Many relaxation spots have been converted to makeshift stores and shops by individuals, causing Festac to become crowded and overpopulated, contrary to the master plan.”

There are also security concerns nowadays. In those days, one could come into Festac any time he liked.  Now you can’t stay out beyond 9 pm or 10 pm. You will be robbed. Like security, overpopulation is a big issue. In some places, about 20 people would be living together in one room.

“I am not talking of one apartment, but one room. Every day, you will see new faces. That makes Festac to be crowded. Things have deteriorated. Anybody who tells you things are getting better is telling you lies,” he told Saturday Sun.

Added to the motley of problems in Festac is power supply. Some residents who spoke to Saturday Sun said getting power seven times a month had become a luxury here. Ashiedu remarked: “So most of us rely on generator sets to power our light, and these generators are not good for the health, because of carbon being pumped into the air. If everybody puts on his generator, the noise will be unbearable.”

Another painful aspect of Festac Town is that pipe borne water is no longer in existence. Unfortunately, when individuals drill boreholes to provide their personal water, the government officials still come around to collect money. “They won’t approve it if you don’t pay them to drill the borehole,” Asiedu said. “And most of those who bought the houses, C of Os haven’t been given to us. You have to bribe before they give you C of O. After paying for C of O, you still go to Abuja to get the Cof O.”

What can be done to restore Festac to its former glory? Asiedu said there should be a concerted effort by different levels of government.

“If we have a listening government that listens to people, these things are easy to solve. If three of these tiers of government can do their work properly, it can return to its glory. Festac is federal housing. In a normal state or nation, anything that has to do with Festac has to do with the federal government.”

The local council at Amuwo-Odofin has also been fingered for dereliction of duties, especially in not doing enough to sanction residents defacing the environment. The disturbing smell of sewage had totally eclipsed the aroma of Festac Town of old

A river of shit and filth on 111 Road

In front of a compound, near FTMC Oba Bi Olohun Kosi Mosque on 111 Road, Saturday Sun reporter saw faeces, toilet and bathroom water flowing freely to the road to form a rivulet in the neighbourhood, producing a splendiferous stench. Looking up in bewilderment, you would see tenants at the balcony relaxing, unperturbed, and passerby wading through the mess. They had become accustomed to it over the years.

A tenant, Jackson, said the residents had tried their best to repair the problem, spending a fortune many times. But he said it has kept recurring because the larger source of the problem has not been addressed.

Festac Town, as it was originally, had an underground sewage system. Water and toilet from the building flowed from an underground channel to a different destination. Sadly, the channels had been blocked, and the undesirable had come to find their way to the open, disturbing all.

Wisdom Anibueze, who had lived in Festac Town for 16 years told Saturday Sun: “Some of the walkways you see beside buildings and along the road in Festac Town are underground gutters, but many of them are filled, and nobody is draining them. There are places with exchanges for lights, all of them are now disused. Because the sewage is blocked, they now burst and flow onto the streets. Festac Town needs to be rescued urgently.”

Between the slums of Ajegunle and Festac Town, there is little to choose these days. Residents of Festac Town and visitors would be glad to see Festac Town return to its lost glory.