By Adeola Aderounmu

I could have given this essay so many titles.

Festac: A Town That Became A Jungle.

The End Of Festac.

The Collapse Of Festac

A lot of things are in disarray in Nigeria. The disorderliness is legendary. Nigeria is a place I do not want to call a country because it was created in 1914 as a business enterprise for the orgy of the British Royal Family. It was created to milk and destroy the Yoruba country, the Igbo Nation and the region to the north and of course the south. More than 100 years later after the enterprise was created, the people in the region kept the fraudulent British “invention”. How shocking!

Let me get back to the crux of my discussion. This is not the first time I have written on Festac Town. There is a section at the top of this blog page dedicated to Festac town.

Have you seen Festac recently? In 2025?

A place that was built and commissioned in 1977 as a prototype for residential areas in West Africa (and probably in Africa) has become probably one of the worst places to live in Africa.  No many will agree, not all will accept my assertion. That is fine.

But I will make my points.

The idealism in life is to strive for improvement. The way forward in life is to climb higher, to aspire and to seek the ever-illusive perfection. Perfection is unattainable but the desire should also be unquenchable.

Many rural and newly established settlements are picking up and trying to find the way to build a society where they can find happiness and pursue their daily endeavours. I will come back to this paragraph.

However, Festac Town was a community that was commissioned with glamour in 1977 with high standard, varying accommodation systems, good roads, roadmaps for good schools, primary health care system and a state-of-the-art Lagos State transportation system. Festac Town was commissioned in 1977 as a complete package. Nothing was missing, nothing was lacking. There were standard electrical transformers ready to pick up in case of power failure. Festac was nearly perfect. It was a roadmap for Africa in terms of modern housing and decent human existence.

Fast forward 1977 to 2025.

Today, you cannot believe that Festac Town has a Local Government Chairman.

You cannot believe that Lagos State has a governor.

You will almost not believe that there is someone claiming to be the president of Nigeria not only because of Festac Town decadence but in terms of the poor standard of living, and general hopelessness that pervade the country.

Again, I expect counter arguments like “Festac is not as isolated depiction of total lack of governance in Nigeria”. I am open to listening to the fact that “Festac is not the only evidence that Nigerian politicians are totally irresponsible”.

But let me write about Festac.

It was once the pride of West Africa, now it ranks amongst the worst places to live in Africa.

There are some communities in Nigeria that have never seen bitumen on their roads and there is no date in the nearest future when bitumen will grace the landmark. Example is the popular Lusada market area in Ogun State. People around here may not see bitumen on their soil for the next 20 years. Development is not slow in Ogun State, Nigeria. It is in a permanent state of pause. I will address that in another essay. The sad news is that Festac is worse than these communities that have never seen bitumen on their roads.

The geography of Festac in 1977 is not the same today. All the free land and air spaces meant for air circulation, recreational centers and good environmental measures have all been sold. Therefore, Festac may probably be the most congested residential space in Africa. One of my arguments for Festac ranking amongst the worst places to live in Africa.

Electricity is sporadic. Poor electricity supply is a Nigerian “pandemic.” Festac is not the only place where electricity supply is treated as a luxury. But the original plan for Festac was for the community to have a steady unshakable supply of electricity. The population in Festac Town today may be 20 to 30 times more than the original plan, by my guessing though.

There is not a single stretch of good road in the entire estate. Driving in Festac has proven that hell is in Nigeria. Festac Roads are amongst the worst roads in the world. I have never seen a situation where the roads in an entire community are totally bad and unmotorable.

Several of the drainage systems are blocked. Congestion, over-construction, and illegal structures have complicated the situation. Festac Town is in a state of mayhem.  

There are people from all over Nigeria clustering in Festac loitering the entire scenery like plagues. One of the implications is that every road junction has become an open marketplace confirming my assertion that Festac Town has no local government chairman or the chairman is braindead. If Lagos State has a governor, then Festac Town should be restored to its 1977 image, or something close. If Nigeria has a president, why is the neglect so loud and dehumanizing.

I am not unaware of how things got this bad. I have written about Festac Town severally. Also, this essay is not a departure from my arguments for the division of Nigeria into the different countries that they were before the reckless union in 1914 that turned countries to the Nigerian Enterprise. There are people from other countries loitering Yorubaland and creating huge deficits in the available, scarce infrastructure. We need to be able to control influx of people into the Yoruba country. That is the long-term goal, to keep our homes and our land safe.

I will not stop to advocate for the abolition of the okada transport system and a complete restoration of the LSTC busses. We need the buses that run on timetable from Festac to all part of Lagos.

The changes that must take place in Festac:

1. Rebuilding of all the road networks to the 1977 standard and yearly maintenance of such
2. The re-introduction of government controlled public transport system but in partnership with private and professional transportation companies.
3. The establishment of security measures to ensure the security of Yoruba people in Yorubaland and our visitors alike who have genuine residency and legitimate businesses.
4. The total eradication of all open marketplaces across the community. It is an absolute eyesore!
5. The removal of people living on the streets and helping them to resettle to the region or countries they came from.

In addition, the governments across Yoruba country must take active steps to use the Festac 77 masterplan in establishing standard, improved and affordable housing units for Yoruba in Yorubaland. There must be measures to put Yoruba first in Yoruba country while not jeopardizing international business opportunities with our immediate neighbours and the western world.

In Yoruba country, we must strive to make government (work and services) a continuum. We cannot afford to down tools because elections are 2 years away or 6 weeks away. We must be civilized in out deeds and thoughts.  

We must revive and develop our estates across Yorubaland. We must build new ones. We must go into the inland, mainland and island and make Yorubaland the best place to live in the world.

Delay is dangerous.

aderounmu@gmail.com

@aderinola