Maidan Community:A forgotten Land

The acronym, Centre of Excellence, might be associated with Lagos State government, but inhabitants of Maidan, a riverine community in the state would definitely kick at the mention of it.
It is not in doubt that the present administration in the state has committed enormous resources to make Lagos a truly mega city, yet inhabitants of Maidan believe that that appellation is better kept in the cooler
Maidan community is located within the precinct of Isheri-Ikosi Local Council Development Area of Lagos State, and with an estimated five thousand inhabitants. The community is less than five minutes drive from the ever-busy Mile 12 market. Accessing Maidan village through the market via Oniyanrin Street was a smooth drive until the end of the street.
The road from Mile 12 to the end of Oniyanrin Street was well tarred and quite motor able, but just as the visitor descends from the vehicle to enter into Maidan, life becomes very unbearable and not worth living.
Livingstone.Com learn t that the General Buba Marwa administration in the state had planned a bridge to link the community with the rest of the state, but that dream was short-lived with the advent of democracy in 1999. Since then, it has been tales of woes for residents of the community. The motor bridge that administration reportedly embarked upon at the eve of its departure was turned into a pedestrian bridge which was reportedly completed by the people of the community when the pedestrian bridge was allegedly abandoned.
For residents of the community, life has been very unfair to them as there are no noticeable government-owned schools or health facilities. Government pipe-borne water is completely alien to the people, while inhabitant, though like most Nigerians, provided their own electricity. Needless to mention that there is no basic recreational facility in the community.
Hundreds of children of the community braved the odds to attend schools in Mile 12 and Ketu areas of the state, which could be quite risky during rainy period, as the community is always nearly submerged by floods. Sometimes during the rains, these children make the journey to their respective schools on canoes, and it is the same with officer workers and market women from the community. Put succinctly, Maidan village is completely cut off from the rest of the world.
Chief Mukalia Runsewe is the Asiwaju of Maidanland. In a telephone chat, Chief Runsewe lamented the living conditions in Maidan. Claiming that the community usually participate actively in the installation of successive governments in the state, the community leader maintained that there two polling booths in the community which were usually filled to the brim during elections. He, therefore, called on Governor Babatunde Fashola to come to the rescue of the people of the community so that they could be connected to the world.
But a resident of the community, identified as Oloyede Binuoku was more furious with the neglect of the community by successive government s in the state. According to Binuoku, “When people from other places ask us where we stay, we tend to tell them that we live in Lagos. The truth is that we are within Lagos but we are not really staying in Lagos. This is because our own Lagos is different from their Lagos. Apart from this, living in the community is just like living 30 years behind modernization. The closest place to our community is Oniyanrin. When you are at Oniyanrin, you will see that the street there is well tarred with paving stones and is also illuminated with street lights. But surprisingly, the tarred road stopped at the end of Oniyanrin once you are approaching Maidan,” Binuoku said.
Another resident, Olawale Thompson, claimed that apart from the Oniyanrin road, no other one connecting the community to the rest of Lagos, except a footpath leading to Owode Onirin. According to Thompson, “It was the Buba Marwa administration that made attempt to build the pedestrian bridge for us when he was the state military administrator. But unfortunately, after he left, the bridge was abandoned and a footbridge built instead. When you look at it very well to the foot of the bridge, it was not completed and it was the effort of the community that the bridge was built to connect the community,” he said.
Thompson further claimed that the footpath leading to Owode Onirin is “permanently rendered impassable during the raining season for both vehicle owners and pedestrians. In short the community is totally disconnected from the outside world,” he said.
In the same vein, Tolani Ajisegiri, an elder in the community, while speaking said, “Can you imagine there is no single government hospital or health centre in Maidan? No primary or secondary schools primary and even electricity.”
Efforts to speak with Chairman of Isheri-Ikosi Local Council Development Area was futile, but a source in the local council claimed that the chairman places the interest of the community at heart and has been working to ensure that government presence is felt in the community.
The source who declined to be mentioned, says, “The complaints of some people is unnecessary. The reason is because the chairman and his management team have been working hard to ensure that Maidan got a major facelift and that he is ready to achieve. But these things don not in one day; it takes some time but we will get there,” the source said.