Babajide Fadoju
The Lagos State Government has restated its zero tolerance for illegal and unapproved developments within the Trade Fair Complex, Ojo, insisting that all physical structures must comply with planning regulations.
In a statement on Thursday, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Oluyinka Olumide, said the enforcement exercise at the complex is aimed at ensuring public safety, orderly development, and a sustainable environment, not at contesting land ownership.
“The ongoing enforcement focuses solely on the approval status of physical developments, as every structure in Lagos must obtain a valid planning permit from the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development,” the commissioner explained.
He cited the Nigerian Urban and Regional Planning Act of 1992, as domesticated by Lagos in its Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law 2019, as well as the Supreme Court judgment of 2003 (Attorney-General of Lagos State vs Attorney-General of the Federation), which empowers states to regulate development within their territories, including federal lands outside exclusive federal use such as military formations.
Olumide expressed concern about what he described as attempts by some political actors, particularly from the South-East, to misrepresent the government’s action at the complex. He said such claims are misleading and designed to stir ethnic sentiments rather than address the real issue of safety and compliance.
“It is disingenuous and divisive for anyone to resort to ethnic sensationalism whenever enforcement actions involve structures owned or occupied by individuals of Igbo extraction,” the statement read. “Similar exercises have taken place across Lagos, affecting communities of Yoruba, Hausa, and Ilaje origins, without being given an ethnic colouration.”
The commissioner listed past enforcement actions at Pelewura and Bombata markets, LSDPC Ilasan Estate, Otumara in Ebute Metta, Alaba Rago, and Oluwole Market as examples of the government’s consistency. He also noted that states in the South-East such as Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, and Imo have carried out similar demolition exercises for flood control and urban renewal without attracting ethnic controversy.
All developers and occupants of structures within the Trade Fair Complex have now been given a two-week ultimatum to regularise their approval status with the ministry.
The Lagos State Government urged residents and stakeholders to cooperate with its efforts, stressing that its actions are guided strictly by law and the need to make the city safer, more liveable, and sustainable.