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Over the years, the population boom in Lagos, the commercial nerve centre of the country has put undue pressure on government and individuals as the demand for housing continued to rise far and above what the urbanised areas can offer. This could be one of the reasons for the high number of slums within the precincts of the city of Lagos.
A few years back, it was rumoured that the state advised many residents who were finding it difficult to live in the state to go back to their home states and was even ready to assist them with a paltry sum to aid their return to their home states. As more and more people find their ways into the state; the urban slums become settlements for those who are determined to remain in the state and eke out a living.
In the remote areas of Ikotun, Ejigbo, Majidun-Ikorodu, Ogba, Kio-Kio village, Pako and the popular Ajegunle, there are residential areas where dwellings are unfit for human habitaion. A visit to the hinterlands in many of the above areas would reveal the inhabitable, cramped, poorly ventilated and unclean environment where many live, where families bear and raise children and socialise. Saturday Vanguard visited these areas and files in these reports.
Majidun, Ikorodu
Majidun, Ikorodu area of Lagos area is populated mostly by the Ilajes who dwell in houses that were not only poorly built but over-crowded.
Some of the residents who spoke to Saturday Vanguard maintained that the seemly crowd at the time of the visit was as a result of the demolition along the Ikorodu road to pave the way for on-going road construction in the area.
"People lately found accomodation here because of the demolition that affected them as a result of the on-going construction of roads." That reason may not also be tenable for the poor housing structure in most parts of the area. Houses were carelessly built with light woods and and zincs, yet they are homes for many families.
Potable water was another luxury in the area. Because they are surrounded by a river, residents depend mainly on it as their major source of water which are used for their culinary chores, washing and bathing. Ajuwon Raphael who spoke with...