By Halimah Olamide
The defeated presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the last general election, Mr. Peter Obi, on Thursday asked governments at all levels to be compassionate in their demolition of properties.
Obi, who cautioned governments against demolishing houses of poor people, said governments can put human faces to demolitions even when the contravene building regulations. His message amidst ongoing demolitions of properties alleged to be violated masterplans in Lagos.
There have been allegations that the demolitions are targeted at a particular ethnic group in the state. “The poor in our midst who are putting their meager resources are going through very severe financial stress that should not be multiplied further.
In some cases, the properties being demolished are the life time savings and retirement abodes of the aged and incapacitated,” Obi said in his tweet.
According to Obi, bearing in mind the harsh economic situation of the country, the government should implore strategies to eliminate poverty.
He further noted that this period is not a time to carry out such exercises knowing the hardship and the consequences on the poor.
“What a responsive government should be doing under the current harsh economic conditions in the country is to come up with measures aimed at alleviating the people’s hardships and to carry out measures that will take more people out of poverty.
“Even if there are some violations as the governments are claiming, this critical time is not auspicious for such an exercise knowing the hardship in the land and the consequences it will have on the poor who are struggling to make ends meet with their little resources.”