UK charity gives lifeline to Lagos slum community after video scandal

By RUTH OKETUNDE

Residents of Makoko community in Yaba, Lagos, have attracted the attention of a UK charity, after a video exposed the hallowing condition of school kids at the slum settlement.

Makoko, which has reputation as one of the worst slum settlements in West Africa, is home to about 250,000 people most of whom live in difficult conditions.

The settlement, near the landmark Third Mainland Bridge on the Lagos Mainland, depicts the harsh condition of the urban poor in Lagos, Nigeria’s economic hub and most populous city.

The London-based charity, IA-Foundation, has taken up the challenge of building a water facility for residents of the community, in a bid to provide potable water to the poor residents.

The Chief Executive Officer of IA-Foundation, Mrs Ibironke Adeagbo, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday that her group has dispatched a team to get first-hand information on the human condition at the settlement with a view to making the difference.

She said that IA-Foundation had expressed its willingness to partner with government to lift the human condition of less-privileged people in Nigeria.

Adeagbo said that her group is particularly interested in restoring hope to children forced by circumstance to stay out of school in parts of Nigeria.

“We’ve landed in Makoko in Yaba, Lagos, to turn things around for the deprived children residing at the slum settlement, where we saw churches and mosques everywhere but no school.

“We’ve taken a guided tour of the settlement and we saw open defecation happening everywhere around dirty waterways in squalid human conditions.

“IA-Foundation has committed to providing a borehole for the community to make portable water available to the residents,” Adeagbo stated.

According to her, the foundation has also donated lots of learning materials to help children in Makoko in their education.

She appealed to the Lagos State Government not to neglect the settlement, suggesting that government should consider the option of building `floating schools’ in the area to make the residents to have access to education.

The IA-Foundation team is made up of Mr Diran Famakinwa, Mrs Modupe Macaulay, Mr Damilola Cole, Mr Femi Peter with Adeagbo as team leader.

Adeagbo, who is also Nigeria’s Ambassador for Health and Safety, was among eight outstanding Nigerians recognized recently for “breaking the glass ceiling’’ in various endeavours in the UK. (NAN)