Living in Jankara: Disease epidemic looms

By SUNDAY ANI (nichsunny@yahoo.com)

On Boxing Day, December 26, 2012, when the four-storey building at 44 Ojo Giwa Street, Jankara in Lagos Island Local Government Area, went up in flames, and affected o about 13 other buildings within the vicinity, the media as well as several government agencies and Nigerians were attracted to the area.  The fire, which was alleged to have started as a result of a spark from the fireworks packed in one of the shops, exposed the good, the bad and the ugly of living in Jankara. Media reports also revealed that the proximity of one building from the other within the area exacerbated the fire incident.

However, when Sunday Sun visited the area, it was discovered that life was hellish for the residents who are at the imminent risk of disease epidemic if urgent step is not taken. This is because the Onijegi Canal which opens from the Ojo Giwa Street through the Jankara extension and emptied into the lagoon by Adeniji Adele area of the Island is a health disaster waiting to happen. Sources informed our reporter that all the drainages in the Island are channelled to the Canal, which in turn empties into the lagoon at Adeniji Adele. 

But, as terrible as life appears for the residents of Jankara, they have accepted their lot in good faith. The Canal is an eye sore and indeed the first ugly site to catch the attention of a first-timer. People who visit the market as well as traders have all converted the Canal to urinal even as lock-up shops are glaringly facing it.

According to a 22-year-old furniture maker, Saheed Bamgbose, the state government used to clear the canal twice in a year but in 2012, it was not cleared even once. He added that traders and residents of the area tried to clear it last year but because they didn’t have the right equipment to do that, it appeared as if nothing was done. The stinking odour emanating from the canal as this reporter was seated speaking with the young Bamgbose whose carpentry shop was facing the open canal was enough to cause diarrhoea.

Checks revealed that apart from the canal, which poses serious health hazards to traders and residents, accommodation is another major problem in the area. Although, Bamgbose told our reporter that nobody lives inside the Bombata market, a survey of the market revealed that so many people actually use the lock-up shops that have no ventilation as their living places.

“This Bombata market closes by 6:00pm and anybody who wants to go inside after the closing hour would pay N20. The same punishment applies to a person who stays inside the market beyond the stipulated time. So, nobody is allowed to live inside the market,” he informed.

But when our reporter confronted him with his findings, he admitted that some people actually live inside the market but that it is due to lack of accommodation and because they wouldn’t want to be driven out, they live it utmost secrecy.

Speaking about the housing problem, the wood worker said: “Accommodation is too expensive here. A room in a face-me-I-face-you kind of building is N80, 000 per annum; a room and palour mini-flat goes for N200, 000 per annum while a flat of two-bedroom hovers between N400, 000 and N450, 000 per annum. And you have not talked about the agreement and agency fee.”

Investigation also revealed that not only are houses very expensive in the area, they are also not standard rooms. Residents alleged that developers who engage in renovation works always use the opportunity to reduce the sizes of the rooms just to maximize profit. This, according to residents, has made life very terrible and added to their troubles because not only do they not have enough space to keep their property, they also do not have enough air as the rooms are too narrow.

But when Bamgbose was asked why he has chosen to live in a place where the rooms are too narrow and very expensive, he said: “Many of us are just managing here because we don’t have any alternative. We live here because of our business. Personally, I live here because I don’t have the strength to be coming here from places like Ikorodu. And for those coming from Ikorodu, do you know how much they spend every day on transport? It’s too much and I don’t have that kind of money. Apart from that, when you add the hold up on the road, you would prefer to live here and endure the suffering.”

Further checks by Sunday Sun revealed that the Jankara market after which the area took its popular name was demolished in March 2009 and ever since then, the promise of rebuilding the market remains a stillbirth. The open place that used to be the almighty Jankara market has been converted to cloth spreading field where both professional launderers and domestic washer men spread their clothes under the sun. Bounded by Idumagbo, Ojo Giwa and Princess Streets, the field remains desolate even as residents eagerly wait for government’s action soon.

But, business activities boom at the Jankara extension which is in two ways. The first one, which consists of about 50 lock-up miniature shops, is built between the canal and the back of Bombata market starting from Ojo Giwa Street and joining the ones at the back of Princess Street. The second one consisting of about 20 lock-up miniature shops runs from Adeniji Adele to Idumagbo by the back of the buildings on Princess Street.

Speaking of Jankara extension and Bombata market, a middle-aged man who doesn’t want to be named said they became handy when the main Jankara market was demolished in 2009. He added that aside the constant noises from the loud speakers at the various mosques around the area and business men who sell music videos, the activities of the ‘area boys’ add to their sorrows. He revealed that when the ‘boys’ engage in street fight, which according to him, could break out at any time, the effect is always devastating because they use bottles, cutlasses, knives and other deadly objects.

But Owoeye Oladayo, a mattress seller on Princess Street would not agree that activities of the area boys constitute any threat to them. He said the area boys as constituted today are members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, who according to him, conduct themselves very well nowadays. To him, the dark days of the area boys are history.

He however, agreed that the cost of accommodation was the greatest problem residents contend with. Speaking on the high rent, he said: “One room is N100, 000 per annum and you are expected to pay for two or three year in advance. A room mini-flat is between N170, 000 and N180, 000 per annum with the same two or three years advance payment.”

He also lamented that developers are ripping them off by reducing the sizes of the rooms during renovation and still charging high rent on those sub-standard rooms.

Sunday Sun’s investigation showed that despite lack of accommodation and high cost of rent, noise pollution, filthy environment, the activities of the area boys and compacted building styles prevalent in Jankara, residents have accepted their fate, though armed with a ray of hope that government would one day remember them and come to their aid.