Keeping Nigerian Back to Rural Areas

Driven by lack of job opportunities and dearth of infrastructural facilities in rural communities, the rural populace in their large numbers move to the cities. Following effort of Lagos State government to develop rural communities in the state, Alexander Chiejina writes on the gains of this initiative and the quest to reduce rural-urban drift.

The traffic gridlock at Ikorodu is not a pleasurable one. This is the only access road leading to the area. I spend two hours to commute from Ikorodu to Ketu and vice versa; a journey that ordinarily takes about 30 minutes. The existing roadway is a two-lane dual carriageway, is now expanded to accommodate a BRT scheme. With the BRT scheme linking Mile 12, Agric and Ikorodu as well as the construction of new roads within Ikorodu communities, the quest for people to leave Ikorodu for highbrow areas in Lagos State would reduce,” Bilkis Owolabi, a banker who resides in the area.

For Wasiu Enifeni, a businessman, “the feeder roads under construction at Epe and Ikorodu in Lagos would reduce the agony farmers face when conveying agricultural products to the market. These roads would improve economic activity in the area known for agriculture. Businesses would be attracted to these communities, which would reduce the rural-urban drift.”

In the past, rural communities were cherished due to their closeness to nature. Driven by lack of job opportunities and dearth in infrastructural facilities, the rural populace move out in large numbers temporarily or permanently to towns and cities to seek out new opportunities, improved livelihoods and better standard of living. To their disbelief, some end up in city slums scratching out a living with limited capacity to adapt to socio-economic changes in the new environment they find themselves.
As farming activities in these communities are partly abandoned, agricultural production and food availability are threatened.

According to World Bank Data in 2011, the percentage of rural population in Nigeria declined from 53.3 percent in 2000 to 49.7 percent in 2010 due to migration and urbanisation. While the decline is due to lack in infrastructural development, the rural sector is predominantly agriculture-based (including livestock, forestry and fisheries).

Prior to the last two decades that ushered in new paradigm to solving rural and agricultural problems, several programmes and projects were developed to reduce poverty and solve rural problems in the country.
For example, the National Accelerated Food Production Programme (NAFPP) in the 60s; Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) in 1976; Green Revolution Programme (GR) 1979, and Directorate of Food, Road and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI) in 1987. Sadly, most of these programmes were bureaucratic and unable to effectively address the needs of the rural people.

Rural areas were associated with agriculture, which still depends on manual and local efforts. The implication, experts say, has resulted in rural communities depending on agricultural sector for income, employment and other opportunities. Despite its contribution to the national economy and GDP, rural areas still remained poor and deeply neglected.

Investments in physical, social and economic infrastructure have been focused largely on the cities. As a result, the rural population has extremely limited access to services such as schools and health centres, while the highest number of the populace lacks access to safe drinking water.

The  Lagos example

In Lagos, especially in the rural areas where the majority of Lagosians live, residents in Epe, Ayobo, Agege, Alimosho, Ejigbo, Ikorodu, Kosofe, and other council areas, are grappling with the challenge of electricity, good road network, potable water supply and sanitation.

In a bid to stem rural urban drift in the state and give these community dwellers a taste of urban development, the Lagos State government took it upon itself to site some projects in these affected areas in the state.
The benefitting communities are spread across the three geo-political zones of the state where until now, confronted with unique challenges of basic social amenities. The ‘Agric Yes’ initiative was designed to produce entrepreneurial farmers in the area of poultry, fish farming, bee-keeping and all season vegetable farming as well as correct the problem of the old Farm Settlement Schemes in the state.

According to BusinessDay findings, the Ikorodu Fish Farm Estate, which has been fully subscribed, is currently producing at 60 percent of its capacity. A technological incubation centre is added with hatcheries and processing facilities that will add value to the estate.
“With the success recorded at Ikorodu, the ministry has cleared a 60-hectare farmland at Ketu, Ereyun in Epe LGA for another 400 plots capacity Fish Farm Estate. The land has been surveyed and laid out with the front fence, gate and site office in place. The estate, which will be the largest Fish Farm Estate in Africa, will produce about 20,000 tons of fresh fish per annum,” a staff at Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, said anonymously.

Currently, construction work is ongoing on the 13.5-kilometre Lagos-Mile12-Ikorodu Road by Chinese Civil Engineering and Construction Corporation (CCECC). The project, which is divided into three lots, with Lot I and II already awarded, on completion would transform the face of transportation in and out of Ikorodu and significantly reduce the traffic situation and fare charged on the road by commercial bus operators.

Interestingly, proposal for the review of Ikorodu, Epe and Issa Williams urban master plan are underway in the state. This move is aimed at ensuring an all round development across the state, with emphasis on developmental projects that will boost the rural economy, and by extension, contribute to the growth of the state’s economy. This is also targeted at making life easy for people in the rural communities just as being enjoyed at the city centres.

The new proposals, courtesy of the Ministry for Physical Planning and Urban Development (MPPUD), targeted at infrastructural renewal, sustainable urban planning and development. For instance, in the case of Ikorodu, the plan, which is set to cover six Local Development Areas (LDAs), is to create growth poles and focal points, redesign some villages and review existing land use as well as seek to revitalise the Ikorodu industrial scheme.

Speaking to newsmen at Alausa recently, Olutoyin Ayinde, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, said that the Ikorodu Master Plan, when completed, would absorb population from the densely populated areas, provide employment opportunities, housing and recreation network of interconnected transport system.

He said that the Epe regional plan, which comprises of the present Ibeju, Lekki, Agbowa and Eredo local development councils, is aimed at opening and unlocking the potentials of the state, by directing development northeastward.
“Just like the Ikorodu and Epe master plans, the Issa William is also aimed at creating a compact city which is capable of free more land for greenery,” Ayinde said. He added that an implementation committee has been set up to ensure compliance with the plan.
Kelvin Orji, a resident of Ikorodu, said that with the government constructing feeder roads around rural areas known for agriculture, the quest to leave these communities for greener pastures would be reduced.
“Opening of more rural feeder roads and water jetties, provision of rural basic amenities, micro Water Schemes for Model Colleges and rural/semi-urban Communities, electricity will reduce the urge to leave these areas for highbrow areas in search for greener pastures,” Orji said.
To give the rural communities a facelift, access roads are been constructed to link up villages in places like Imude road, Shibiri-Etegbin road, Ajangbandi-Illogbo road, Agboroko-Igbo road, Elerin road and Ariyo-Muyo-Tedi Oshun road, etc. 
The state government has completed some rural electrification projects under its rural intervention scheme with transformers and solar-powered water projects distributed to various communities. Six contiguous communities i.e. Baiyeku (Ikorodu LGA), Ilasan (Eti-Osa LGA), Seme (Badagry), Ilogbo Eremi (Badagry) and Sekungba (Epe LGA) have their existing non-functional micro water schemes rehabilitated. In addition, modern abattoirs are been established at Ologe, Oko-Oba, and Lairage to boost food security.

Rent pattern for properties
Buoyed by the demands of property seekers who crave affordable, but decent properties around Ayobo, Ipaja, Egbeda, Akowonjo, Idimu, and Ikotun axis of the Lagos metropolis, BusinessDay findings showed that they all almost have uniform charges on rent for properties, with slight variation from area to area.

At Ayobo/Ipaja, a 3-bedroom flat in the government-owned residential estates of Abesan, Gowon and Shagari goes between N300, 000 and N350, 000 per annum, while 2-bedroom flat goes between N200, 000 to N250, 000 per annum for rent. One room Boys Quarters or self-contained apartments goes for between N120, 000 and N160, 000 per annum.

At Egbeda and Akowonjo axis which have witnessed a rise in population, a 3-bedroom flat in Egbeda/Akowonjo and environs such as Orelope, Okun-ola, Vulcaniser etc goes for N300, 000 per annum while a 2-bedroom flat goes for N250, 000 though the rent vary in some quarters. A self-contained apartment in this area is between N150, 000 and N180, 000 per annum.

While the road networks around these areas are currently under construction and interlinking, it is not immune from the general traffic snarls experienced all around Lagos for prospective tenants seeking to acquire properties.
The Lagos State Tenancy Law notwithstanding, rent in these areas are still demanded in excess of one and half to two years. This is not inclusive of the agency fees and other commissions charged by the estate agents.
According to David Usiholo, an estate developer, landed properties are fast appreciating around the Ikotun, Iyana-Ipaja axis, where they can still be found in scanty supplies.

According to Usholo, “Plots of land bought in January 2012 in Ikotun, Ayobo and Agege areas at N3 million were being sold at about N3.8milllion. This is also projected to rise when the roads linking the area are completed by the Lagos State Government.”
The ongoing 10-lane expansion of the Lagos–Badagry Expressway, has for a long time been a prime location for property owners and other businesses, waiting to be tapped. According to estate developers, in the not-too- distant future, factories and companies, including shopping malls, will begin to spring up in higher proportion to residential buildings.

The road project is divided into three lots. Lot 1 is from Eric Moore in Surulere to Mile 2, which is about 7.5 kilometres. And lot 2 is from Mile 2 to Agbara, which is about 28 kilometres, while lot 3 is from Agbara to Badagry.
Stakeholders agree that the construction will result in boom in commercial activities in the area. There is also optimism that when completed, the road and rail will increase the fortunes of the area to a large extent. For instance, they are quick to point out that the International Trade Fair Complex, which has never been used to its full potential, will get a lift in business activities.

For a long time, investors have shied away from the complex, making it a waste of resources because it is only at fair periods that business thrives there. This situation is compounded by the traffic jam experienced on the road to the complex. But when the construction is completed, it will open up the area.
Besides, with the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Trade Liberalisation policy, the Lagos–Badagry axis beckons as prime location for investors in the manufacturing sector, considering its link to the rest of the west coast and the huge Lagos market, which can be easily assessed

Reducing rural-urban drift
Mustapha Alli, a resident of Ipaja in Lagos suggested that functional amenities such as pipe borne water, electricity, and recreational facilities should be provided in the rural areas. Alli advised that good educational facilities and qualified teachers should be made available in the rural areas.

“Agro-allied industries should be set up in the rural areas in order to provide job opportunity for the people, and reduce rural-urban migration. Agricultural inputs and farming technology such as mechanisation should be introduced to improve production. Good road should be constructed in the rural areas; also credit facilities should be made available with relaxed terms and conditions. This way, the rural-urban drift, which is a common phenomenon in the country, would be reduced.