Former Education Minister Obiageli Oby Ezekwesili has accused authorities of carrying out a “class cleansing” in Makoko, Lagos, and has called on President Bola Tinubu and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to provide immediate humanitarian support to residents displaced by ongoing demolitions.
In an open memorandum to the President and the Lagos State Governor, Ezekwesili described the demolition of homes in the waterfront community as a grave assault on citizenship, human dignity and constitutional rights. She said the actions of the authorities exposed a troubling governance mindset that prioritises elite interests over the welfare of the poor.
Ezekwesili stressed that Makoko residents are citizens, not squatters, who contribute to the state’s economy through fishing and informal trade, raise families and participate in the democratic process. Despite this, she said they have long been treated as though poverty strips them of their rights.
She criticised the justification that the demolitions were necessary for safety reasons linked to high-tension power lines, alleging that the exercise went far beyond agreed limits. According to her, homes, schools, clinics and sources of livelihood were destroyed in areas with no direct connection to power-line safety.
The former minister said the demolitions have created a humanitarian emergency, with thousands rendered homeless and forced to sleep in the open, exposed to weather extremes, disease and insecurity. She also condemned the deployment of security forces against residents whose only offence, she said, was living in poverty on high-value land.
Ezekwesili argued that the situation in Makoko represents a failure of due process, transparency and restraint, insisting that genuine urban development must involve communities rather than displace them.
She called for an immediate halt to all demolitions, full public disclosure of the legal basis for the actions taken, and compensation for affected residents, warning that a state that bulldozes over its poorest citizens has failed the basic test of leadership.
