Eko akete, ilu ogbon (meaning Lagos, the land of knowledge) is a land of opportunity. A place where dreams are realised. This is reason why many migrate to Lagos. Migrating to Lagos is a big gamble which may turn out positive or otherwise. In Lagos, you can gain it all or loose it all. Hard work and brilliance, though ingredients needed for success, are not guarantee of success in any endeavour in Lagos. Added to the trouble of Lagos is the alienation from your families caused largely by spending time otherwise meant for family and friends in traffic.
As a lower to middle class in Lagos, it is very difficult to afford to own a land or house. Weak income and high cost of procuring your own land or house preclude the lower/middle class from this privilege. Added to the actual cost of the property is the cost middlemen and service providers t aid the physical transfer of the landed property and the documents thereto. A key resource in property procurement is simply known as “agent”. You need a good agent to gain unfettered access to property. Other parties are “Omonile” (descendants of land owners) amongst others.
Excluded from the privilege of owning land in Lagos, I went back to my village only to find out owning my fathers’ land is not also that simple. I realised I have to patronise an agent to access my father’s land. Who is this agent? Why do I need this agent? why should I pay this agent? Is this agent really delivering any valuable service? Is my money safe with this agent? So many questions begging for answer. I would rather focus on how to get my share of my father’s land than find answers to questions that may never deliver the land to me. Should we continue like this? Certainly not! Something must give for us to leave a better environment for our unborn children.
As I resolved the family issues, I suddenly realised My Father’s land cannot be mine until the government says so. Is the land really my Father’s or Government Land. What is the cost of getting the government to say the land is mine? How easy is it to get this approval even when I have the money? Professional advise suggests it takes minimum of one full year to get this approval called ‘Certificate of Occupancy’. The price is expensive and out of my reach.
Where do I get all the money from? It’s supposed to be my Father’s land, why do I need to pay several stakeholders? Life is what we men have made it to be. When will my Father’s land become mine? Why is land ownership such a big issue?
Abidemi Onajobi 