Walking along the horizon of this community signals an image of a society deeply confined in an abject style of low living conditions. In this community lies hundreds of weakening houses bound to collapse with any minimal range of natural disasters such as climate change, floods, winds and heavy rainfall.
Poor Living Conditions
A visit to Odoiye Community, located in the Ibadan North Local Government of Oyo State – a southwestern state in Nigeria, reveals a couple of residents bedridden on a low-status level and highly prone to health dangers such as air and water-borne diseases emanating from their unclean environment.
The turn of the situation becomes more disturbing considering the lack of toilets in about 85% of the houses. Residences in this community, which have been built for the past 90 years, are in bad condition. They tend to make use of rivers within the environment as an alternative. These alarming practices explain the high exposure to severe health challenges.
In a conversation with an environmental management inspector, Mrs. Omolanke Fumilayo, who was carrying out her duty in this community with other officials during the time of the interview, she expressed the state of living conditions in Odoiye Community. “The nature of compliance to health directives in this community has been very low. The phenomenon of residences lacking essential facilities like toilets and kitchens has been challenging to control. Upon the directives from the Ibadan North local government and mode of our operation, we’ve been asked to close down all houses that fall in this range.”
Failing Roofs
Adding to the woes of Odoiye Community is the weakening of buildings which again showcases the living style of residents as being below average. In light of these prevailing conditions, the situation drives more conversation following several cases of building collapse in recent years. In a community filled with houses built 9 decades ago confirms the weakening status of these buildings.
In the words of Alarape Luckman, an elderly statesman in the community who hailed in this environment right from a young age, shared his opinion on the collapsed buildings. “Reasons for house collapse lie within the age of the house. And if a house is not well maintained or cases where there’s no one living in the house, such disaster is unavoidable. If a house does not feel the breath of human beings, it’s likely to fall.”
“If you see the house in front of me, it lacks proper care which speaks to why it is half demolished. The owner of the house is dead but those in charge (son) are not taking proper care of it. At some period, there were houses in couples of these open spaces. Most of them fell as a result of poor or no maintenance.”
Aderemi Okeowo, a resident of the community since 20 years ago, also expressed his opinion that he majorly attributed the collapse of buildings to negligence from landlords. “Almost all houses here have landlords or inherited individuals not living there. They are filled with house renters. Some owners are dead, some are not even around at all. There are some houses where the renters aren’t paying rent fees. In other cases, residents are there to keep the house’s body and soul together ”
In another conversation with Motunrayo Olalope where she was referring to a collapsed building beside her residence, she noted the fact that the house was vacant for years before it collapsed last year. She likewise attributed the incidents to poor maintenance and negligence. “Consistent rain is a major cause of the falling buildings. Also, people who own houses or who are collecting the rent fee have entirely ignored the maintenance or rehabilitation of their property.”
Casualties
Flipping to the other side of the coin reads the calamity that emanates from the failing roof disasters. Typically, the sudden collapse of buildings takes a toll by claiming the lives of innocent residents, causing several displacements and loss of loved ones. On record, according to research carried out in the Odoiye Community, about 10-15 deaths relating to the collapse of buildings have been experienced since 2019.
Confirming a recent incident, Alarape Luckman mentioned a ‘Gani Olowo’ (as popularly known), who lost his life in June owing to a building collapse. “There have been a series of loss of lives resulting from the fallen houses. Before the Ed-el-Kabir, there was a man called ‘Gani Olowo’ whose job was to demolish houses that were showing signs of deteriorating. He lost his life during the process of demolishing a house.”
On another end, there were cases of half-collapsed buildings which are greatly showing signs of being subjected to total collapse. Considering the rainy season and the aged and weak status of these buildings, there’s an expectation that residents will evacuate these buildings. Surprisingly, the reverse is the case as people are still found living in these weak and half-collapsed buildings.
A resident who was living in one of these buildings, Ajoke Saheed, when asked about the dangers of living in such a building explained that she’ll evacuate the house soon. Although, she knew she’s under fire through her gestures. “I can’t stay here much longer as I’m staying here due to my ongoing marital misunderstanding. Once it’s settled, I’ll leave.” Ajoke Saheed currently lives in the house which was half collapsed from the rear side.
In addition, sudden occurrence of high rainfall emerging from climate change bears displacements of persons who were caught unaware by this disaster. Having to move out unprepared results in the loss of properties and life unbalances.
Low Access to Social Amenities
Not only does the community’s train follow the line of collapsed buildings, Odoiye community is also relegated in terms of everyday access to essential amenities such as access to clean water, health clinics, and lack of toilet and kitchen facilities.
Ordinarily, most cooking activities are carried out at the front of the house or within its passage. Health dangers emanate from this due to food preparation exposure to a series of airborne diseases and infected insects thereby causing diverse illnesses. In terms of access to quality health care, the nearest health facility to this community is the Adeoyo Hospital, a state-owned general hospital. The community lacks the presence of a primary health care center which is meant to be the first call of contact to residents in terms of low-cost health care and first aid treatments.
Flood and Displacement in Nigeria
Nigeria has experienced a couple of heavy rainfalls, resulting in flood cases and casualties across the country, including in Oyo State. With over 166,000 individuals displaced due to floods in 2023 and a significant number of properties damaged, this issue has again gained attention in this current calendar. As displacement has a close relationship to poverty, this will add to the existing number of poor Nigerians currently recorded as over 120 million.
With recent flood cases in 3 northeast states, Jigawa, Adamawa and Taraba, with 41,344 displaced individuals and about 183,792 recorded displaced persons between January – July 2024, the fight against this disaster seems to be a long-lasting war. A rising number of displaced individuals simply indicates a direct increase in the poverty rate. This tails to the projection of poverty individuals in Nigeria reaching 150 million by 2030.
Necessary to make mention of the Maiduguri, Borno State ongoing flood crisis which has affected over 1 million persons, and rendered 414,000 persons displaced including 30 death cases. The flood, which was the town’s worst flooding in 30 years, according to the United Nations Human Rights Refugee Council and Maiduguri Metropolitan Council residents, was credited to the Alau Dam overflow following heavy rains.
Strategies for Interventions
Within the range of this prevailing situation, there is a need for an urgent intervention that seeks to take into consideration the welfare of individuals living in this community. There’s a need for adequate recognition and proper representation of the underserved Odoiye community in terms of the availability of essential social amenities like access to clean water through the drilling of boreholes for free public use.
In addition, the construction of a primary health care centre should be seen as a necessary point of need which will serve the timely needs of the community. Also, due to the nature of the community structure, the security of lives and property must be on alert considering the way houses are structured (houses are linked to each other without any security components like house fences, metal doors and reliable security network).
On aged buildings, there’s a need for an effective structure and policy that seeks to demolish aged, weak and half-collapsed buildings. This tends to prevent any form of casualty that might come into play through the existence of these catastrophic agents.
Mr Luckman, in his words, confirmed that the government through local agencies have put in place this strategy. “The government has recently ordered that all dilapidated buildings should be brought to the ground to prevent further casualties. The health officers have also recently given an eviction letter to residents and owners of houses showing signs of deteriorating.” To put this into check, respective bodies are to ensure proper implementation of these policies.
Conclusion
As the situation in the Odoiye community represents the plight of individuals ravaged with low-income status and petty living conditions, it again mirrors the wide gap of economic status in our society amidst the increasing numbers of individuals dwelling in poverty. Despite this, our society needs to be placed on a balanced scale where we will lend our hands to neglected individuals and raise voices for underrepresented communities.
Writer: Joshua Fagbemi
Editors: Amaka Obioji, Chimee Adioha
Images: Diaspora Africa