Tunji Wusu –
Badagry, a Lagos State seaside town and local government unit, is known for its rich history. It served as a commercial hub and point of interaction between European slave merchants and slave traders from the hinterlands as early as the 18th century.
On the plus side, its location as a seaside town with linkages north to Abeokuta and Oyo made it a port of entry for missionaries who brought western education into the country.
However, its glacial pace of development has been at odds with its popularity. So much so that newcomers to the community are left wondering if the town they see is the same as the one they’ve read and heard about.
This situation remained until the present council, led by Chairman Segun Onilude, saw it as a challenge to reconcile the community’s heritage with its physical development.
“Because of its rich history, Badagry’s name echoes far more than what is physically on the ground,” Onilude explains.
“I’ve heard many people ask, ‘Is this the Badagry we read about in History class?'” Badagry should be a tourism destination, but we lack the requisite infrastructure.
“As a result, I was determined to change the face of Badagry by erecting some landmark structures that would support economic growth in the future.”
“Badagry is one of Nigeria’s most important local government areas.” When the local government included the entire territory from Seme to Ajegunle, it was first called Egun/Awori District Council, then Badagry Local Government.
“It was later divided into two, Ojoo and Badagry.” Later, Ajeromi, Amuwo, and the LCDA (Local Council Development Area) arrived.
“Previously, when visiting local government secretariats in Lagos State, you’d wonder why the mother of them all was so backward in terms of infrastructure.”
“We should have had opulent infrastructure because Badagry was the seat of power when it was together.”
“I know that capital-city seats of power are usually more developed than others, but that was not the case with Badagry.” We were still using the town hall that the colonial masters had left us.”
Since the current location of the local government headquarters was established in the 1970s, “no one has added a block to change the face of the secretariat,” according to Onilude. The best anyone has done is remove the louvers, replace them with sliding windows, and repaint them.
“When we visit some of our colleagues in other places, we are sometimes embarrassed that our mother of all local government areas is so backward.”
“We took it as a challenge to end the shame with us.” That is why we constructed a two-story structure to alter the narrative.”
The design and construction of the edifice in question, which covers a land area of 1,119 square metres, was inspired by Hon. Onilude, who went around the premises of the local government’s secretariat and declared that he would like it to have an administrative block of this type when he took office in July 2017.
“It was like, of all the local government areas in Lagos State, Badagry was the only one that was still using the old structures inherited from the colonial period,” Engr. Yusuf explained.
“After going around, he suggested that our department look into what the council could do to build such a structure.”
“We met with architects, devised a design, and he fell in love with it.” That’s how the project got started.”
Yusuf, who stated that the project took approximately three years to complete, stated that a soil test was performed on the land space to establish the type of foundation required for the structure.
“As a result of the findings, it was decided that a piling type of foundation should be used because the area had been reclaimed.”
“There are approximately 72 piling points there, the depth is approximately eight metres, and the diameter of the reinforcement is 600mm.”
Apart from the Onilude administration’s desire to make history and change the narrative, he stated that the project was also motivated by a lack of office space in the current structures.
“Definitely, it was the problem of lack of office space that we had in the local government that prompted the chairman to think up the project,” he explained.
“The decent work environment that will be created as a result of this will undoubtedly increase worker productivity and eliminate all of the problems we are currently experiencing with office accommodation.”
When asked what systems were in place to ensure good structural maintenance, Yusuf agreed that inadequate maintenance culture is a huge issue in the country, “and that is something we’ve really thought about.” Our objective is to set aside a portion of our annual budget for its upkeep.
“Once we have a budget for it, there will be no problem with not getting it serviced as we want.” The Works Department will undoubtedly keep it up.”
