Otodo-Gbame, an island set on the bank of a fetid lagoon in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State, can be accessed from a labyrinth of paths. Located in the highbrow Lekki area, the sand bank community is surrounded by imposing buildings and mansions bearing the insignia of wealth; yet the inhabitants are tenants to the twin-inconvenience of poverty and disease.
Slithering through the settlements, one is faced with wooden shacks housing most of the inhabitants. Others make their abode on stilts standing on brackish water. Open defecation, accompanied by foul odour, pervades the atmosphere of the settlements, many of which claimed to have migrated from Badagry and others from Cotonou.
The community attracted news last week when measles killed 26 children within two weeks. Initially referred to as a strange illness, children who came down with the disease show symptoms of rashes and pains, with many passing out within two to three days of infection with the virus.
The community leader of Otodo-Gbame, Chief Dansu Hunpe, who confirmed the death of the children, said the outbreak was caused by intense heat. He also disclosed that the children did not receive immunisation against the measles infection.
“Those children died because they were not exposed to medical care. There is a general health centre in Ikate but our people do not patronise the place due to the strained relationship with the Ikate community. We have a land dispute with them. We are more than 10, 000 here and there is no health centre. Before we would say we want to take a child to anywhere, time would have elapsed. That was why those children died that way.”
Chief Hunpe confirmed that it was after the community raised an alarm over the health crisis that the state government sent nurses and doctors to immunise other children in the community. Health officials from the state government, it was learnt, struggled to revive some of the ailing children but the effort proved unsuccessful as some died at the Massey Street Children Hospital, where they were admitted for comprehensive treatment.
An octogenerian, Tankpa Oshlan, who lost children to the measles onslaught told The Nation that sacrifices were made to appease the gods when the disease broke. “We sacrificed to appease our gods, and also took our children to the hospitals. We invited the government for assistance, and they responded promptly. So far, the disease has been curtailed and the children are responding to treatments.”
Investigation by The Nation confirmed that recurring death among children and teenagers has been the fate of the community in recent times. This is due largely to restricted medical access and some environmental factors which make it difficult for the inhabitants of the settlement to follow hygienic routine, which can prevent diseases. Added to the long line of restriction is a long running land tussle between the people of Otodo-Gbame and their advanced neigbours in Ikate, the place which houses the government health centre shunned by the community.
Mr. Ishola Agbodemu, the coordinator of the Rural Urban Development Initiative (RUDI), an NGO which raised the alarm of the deaths in the community on the social media, told The Nation that over 70 children and teenagers have been lost to restricted medical access in Otodo-Gbame and other surrounding settlements in the riverine area.
According to Agbodemu, “Residents of the community have been shunning vaccination exercise due to the suspicion that it might be a ploy by the Ikate monarch to poison them as a result of the land dispute between both communities.”
Findings also indicate that the community has become a safe nest for quack doctors and nurses who enjoy more patronage than the private clinic established in the community by an individual.
Peace Zosu, a health worker with a private health care centre situated in the community, further asserted that none of the children who died was vaccinated for measles.
Said Zosu: “They (parents) believe in herbs and when that fails, they would call the quack doctors and nurses into their tents to treat their wards. And because they have some issues with Ikate people, those ones who were going for immunisation at the health centre stopped. At the private health centre here, we charge them N250 for immunisation but they don’t show up because they want to get it for free. Every Friday when we do immunisation here; the highest number of children we get is 7. I was brought up in this community and I know there are thousands of children, but their parents rarely get them immunised”.
She added that some of the children who died from the Febrile Rash Illness caused by the measles virus showed symptoms of swollen lips, rise in body temperature, blood stained mouths and boils on their body.
Surrounded by water, yet none to drink
Inability to access safe drinking water is one of the factors fuelling the spread of diseases and virus in the community. It is a pitiable irony that the people of Otodo-Gbame, who live on the bank of the river, are unable to access clean water for hygienic use and consumption. The harsh economic realities make it impossible for the inhabitants, many of whom make their living from fishing, to purchase packaged water. The condition, it was learnt, force many of them to paddle canoes to Makoko and Bariga to buy kegs of water. The process of transporting the water on the ocean predisposes it to being contaminated, it was learnt.
A youth in the community, Bamidele Zangan, a 300 Level Business Administration undergraduate of the University of Lagos, bemoaned the absence of amenities which could make life better for the community.
“We don’t have pipe-born water; we would go as far as Makoko and Bariga to buy water with our canoes. Since the health crisis, water tankers have been coming to the community to supply water to the private water vendors who sell in turn to the residents”.
It is not only the elderly who are feeling a sense of loss owing to government’s absence in the community, the situation also applies to the old men who are said to be economically crippled since access to the sea for commercial activities has been barred with the sand filling project embarked on by money bags reclaiming lands for commercial purposes in the area.
Pa Masene Whedekuten, a 60-year-old fisherman pleaded with government to come closer to the residents by providing infrastructure like hospitals, schools and potable water.
“Our problem started when some money bags started the sand filling of Orange Island, which also blocked our access to the sea for our fishing activities. We are dying of hunger. We don’t have money to cater for our children or pay medical fees at private clinics. We are predominantly fishermen and with sand-filling going on around us, our access to the sea is blocked. We are now economically crippled,” the old man lamented.
Battered education, bleak future
Other than poverty and diseases, many of the children in Otodo-Gbame are also missing out in education. On the two occasions the reported visited the community, many of the children who are of school age were playing around their home surroundings. Those in the early teens were seen at the shore of the lagoon struggling to catch some sea food.
Despite the huge population and the large expanse of land in Otodo-Gbame, only two run down schools cater for the educational needs of the children. For those who are privileged to attend school, they do so in tattered uniforms with no sanders or stockings. One of such schools is Olutimi International School, a low cost nursery and primary school where children pay N50 daily for tuition.
An NCE holder, who has been in the teaching business for 14 years, Mr Olamide Edun, who founded the school two years ago, said parents are beginning to show interest in sending their children to school as a result of the influence of the fine houses and cars they see when they go out to the community to transact businesses. He, however, lamented that the enthusiasm is not backed by purchasing power, since some of the parents find it difficult to pay the N50 daily tuition fees.
Enrollment in the school is very high with about 200 children divided into nine classes, forming three nurseries and six basic classes. The classes separated by thin planks have not succeeded in preventing noises from filtering in from the other classes. The whole scenario appears disjointed and the proprietor of the school offers an explanation.
“We are dealing with poor kids, which is why the structure is like this. The reason why we cannot have a permanent structure here is because of the land dispute between them and the Ikate community. It would be a waste at the end of the day if we build and we are sent packing,” the teacher submitted.
A land tussle claiming lives of innocent children
With its booming population and limited landmass, scouting for land in Lagos is as complicated as scouting for gold. There is no gainsaying the fact that a major factor which led to the death of the children was the failure of the parents to access medical health care at a nearby hospital for fear of being poisoned owning to a lingering land tussle between both communities.
The Baale of Otodo-Gbame alleged that one of the sons of the Ikate community brought hoodlums to attack them in September 2014. The fracas, it was learnt, led to the death of thee people, two of whom are still in the mortuary.
“We instructed our people not to go to the health centre in Ikate because they might do whatever they like to our children. We know that the health centre belongs to the government but it is situated in Ikate town. They want to send us out of this land because they are rich but we are not on their land. Our fore fathers have been dwelling here over 100 years ago.
“Now that the doctors are here, they have told us that we should not be afraid since the clinic belongs to the government. That is why we are now bringing our children out for immunisation. We are begging government to build our own hospital here. There is no public toilet. There is no government school and we do not have electricity,” he stated.
Reacting to the accusation, the Odofin of Elegushi, Chief Kehinde Odofin, discredited the claims of the people of Otodo-Gbame over fears that their children could be poisoned should they patronise the government clinic in Ikate land.
“We cannot stop their children from using the clinic because it belongs to the government. It is their conscience that is disturbing them. They used to come even when the hospital was under construction. They were using the palace and nobody would argue with them because it is a general hospital”.
On the tussle over land ownership, the chief said the land the community is laying claim to does not belong to them.
“They do not have lands here. They were relocated to this place from Banana Island. They have been staying there for long and nobody has questioned them. Now, they are saying they are the owners of the place, claiming they are from Badagry when the truth of the matter is that they are from Cotonou. Imagine having a visitor coming to stay in your land and they want to claim ownership. The case is still in court”, the chief disclosed.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Mr Jide Idris, at a recent news conference, disclosed that the deceased children had missed out during the previous measles immunisation. He cited mass migration to Lagos from neighbouring states which has led to the emergence of some far-to-reach rural areas in the state. He, however, added that the state government is conducting mapping of all slum areas in the state toward reducing the health hazards associated with such areas.
Of the 10 countries with the most unvaccinated children in the world, five are in Africa with Nigeria alongside DR Congo, Ethiopia, South Africa and Uganda. The point has been made that investing in the healthcare, infrastruture and education of children in low income communities not only gives children a healthy start at life but is also a long term benefit.
The United Nations included vaccines for all as well as universal health coverage as key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Ensuring children in various slums in Lagos and other parts of the country get access to this will go a long way in preventing deaths among children of the poor.
Additional reports by Biodun Adeyewa
