Traders, artisans take over LG library in Lagos
Sodiq Oyeleke
Shops, car wash, park; artisans have taken
over activities at the Lagos Mainland Local Government Library, Oyingbo, Lagos as
the library has been locked for academic purposes.
According to an elder in the community, who
craved anonymity, the local government has abandoned the library for various
commercial activities and special event instead of the academic purpose which
it was established for.
He noted that the existence of the library
played an important role in the development of youths in the area adding that
the library was the foundation of many youths in the late 70s-80s.
He said, “The library was a converge for youths,
especially for majority of us that went to secondary school and A levels. We have
always see the library as a point where we usually meet, interact and exchange
so many things in terms of knowledge and education even civilisation.
“Each time I pass the place and finds it
abandoned, it pains me because I know the potentials of that place. So, not
serving the purpose means that the present people who manage the community do
not have interest in education, because if they do they will know the
importance of that building that it is far beyond what they are using it for
now. The economic benefit they are deriving from there is far low to the social
and academic purpose it was supposed to serve,” he added.
Stating the challenges encountered to
maintain the library, he added that it served as a centre where the youths
learn morals since they know that they cannot fight, make noise, stating that
it gives them a psychological orientation of the environment.
“In the early 1990s, there was an attempt
to sell the library but majority of the youth stood that the library must not
be sold, that is why we still have the edifice. Then, they even went as far as
removing the roof. The only thing that remained was for the structure to be
pulled down which we refused, and today they have abandoned it for shops, and
various commercial activities.
“There was even situation when the books
became obsolete we still go there with our books to read, and majority of us
who passed through that library found our ways into the universities easily.”
Another elder maintained that the library
has helped to settle many homes in the community.
He narrated, “That was where I met my wife.
Although, by then, we were supposed to be students but we later met in life
with our foundation built on the library. We know that we are coming from a
strong background and this was impactful on our children, they are doing very
well meaning that our foundation is somehow, somewhere has been transferred.”
President of the Mainland Youth Movement,
Mr. Shehu Amodu, lamented the effect of the unavailability of the library on
the youths in the community.
He explained that
the group has written letters to the Local Government but there was no
response.
He said, “The
library is not meeting its primary objective, instead what you can find there
is shops, car wash, car park, and when LG programmes are coming up, like kick
polio out, malaria net distribution and other activities, we do see them open
that place for usage, while it is closed down for academic purpose.
“This is to a great extend affecting the level
of education in the area, because instead of students converging for positive
reasons, you now see area boys converging there for illegal reasons like
smoking and gambling,” Amodu added.
He urged the
Local Government to ensure that the library is opened for its primary objective
and if need be, work on the building.
Also, President, National Association of
Lagos Mainland Students, Mr. Ayodeji Tinubu emphasised that government does not
pay much attention to the educational sector.
“I see no reason why a local government
library should not be functioning, a local government that the civilisation of
Lagos started with. It shows that the government does not pay attention to the educational
development in the Mainland Local Government. It is negligence on the side of
the government to have enhanced the misuse of the library,” he said.
A student in the area,
Rasak Anifowoshe, decried that the unavailability of the library constituted to
mass failure of students in the just concluded Joint Admission and
Matriculation Board examination in the community.
He said, “When the
library was available, we use to gather there for group reading. We challenge
ourselves and also correct ourselves. This helps me a lot when I wrote my
Senior Secondary Education, but when I wrote my Jamb now, I noted that my
performance was low, and I am sure that if the library was opened for us to
read, I would have done better.”
He urged the Local
Government to protect the interest of the students in the area, adding that the
library was the only one that existed in the community for youth development.
When our
correspondent visited the library, the gate to the main entrance of the library
was locked, but there were varieties of cars packed with car washing equipment.
Shops were also opened and clothes were dried in some part of the library.
It was observed
that the wall of the library is cracking. The guards at the entrance of the
library said there were instructed not to open the library for anybody.
It was also learnt
that those that operate the park pay to some unidentified people in the
community.
The chairman of
the Local Government when contacted, said the library was locked because it was
defecting, adding that they needed to provide safety for the life of users of
the library.
He said, “The library was not put it use
for the general purpose because it was sinking and the wall was already
cracking and peeling. So, in the interim, we thought of getting professionals
who can certify truly and genuinely the cost of reconstructing the library.
According to him, the LG did not have any
knowledge that several commercial activities was going on in the library in
absence of its usage, noting that there was no plan to sell the library.
He added, “The security guards there must
have taken advantage of the place because people don’t go there quiet often
again, while we were busy looking for people that will certify the place. They
must be responsible actually for people packing their vehicles and okada’s
there and doing other businesses. Collecting money from them is not known to
the council because they are the only one could be privy to such arrangement.
“We know the importance of education and
what legacy will I be trying to leave? I was part of the government that had
thought that coming up with the library in that place will be ideal,” he said.
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Rushes for LADO
The library was not put it use for the
general purpose because it was sinking and was already cracking while things
has been peeling out of the wall so in the interim, we taught of getting
professionals who can certify truly and genuinely the cost of reconstructing
the library.
that will come down to survey it and give
us the estimate cost.
That was why we took the decision to safe
the live of the library users.
The security guards there must have taken
advantage of the place because people don’t go there quiet often again because
while we were busy looking for people that will certify the place and they must
be responsible actually for people packing their vehicle and okada’s there and
doing other
While they collect money from them, is not
known to the council because they are the only one that is could be privy to
such arrangement.
The coates street side was basically for
commercial purposes, the main library is the one you find at the Herbert
Macaulay end, and the upper part is suppose be for the Lagos State government
for computer training-Lagos digital village whivh to the best of my knowledge
has now been locked up.
It is the lower part that we use as the
library that we said that is defective.
We know the importance of education, what
legacy will I be trying to leav
Written by NEWSTRAWL ONLINE UPDATE
Sodiq Oyeleke is a Media, Human Resources, Project Management and Public Relations Practitioner
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