The once serene and enviable Adeniran Ogunsanya Street in the heart of Surulere, Lagos seems to be losing its innocence, fast. With the recent dualisation of the road has come a proliferation of night-clubs and by implication, the sex trade. Landlords and residents fear a repercussion, which may rub-off on their children and their future.
They raised their fear with Omolara Akintoye.
Iw was in the wee hours on a Saturday. But not so for these half-clad ladies busy tearing at each other. They chased each other around the parking lot, shouting obscenities at the top of their voices and literally constituting nuisance in the neighbourhood. Suddenly, a guy punched one of the ladies and another threw a champagne bottle at them. At this point, onlookers made to take sides with the ladies, and then it was pandemonium.
On another occasion, a fight broke out between a commercial sex worker and her customer. He had refused to pay the agreed price after a whole night show and the girl is not backing down. He held tightly onto his trousers and screamed all sorts of unprintables. It was indeed an eyesore for parents, who struggled to keep their children out of eye and ear shot.
But these are some of the horrid experience residents of highbrow Adeniran Ogunsanya Street in Surulere, Lagos are now treated to on a weekly basis. Suddenly, the high street, which used to be synonymous with everything class is deteriorating into another red-light district. Many, especially families, who live on and off the street and now fear the repercussions of such development on their children, cite the growing number of nightclubs, bars and lounges on the street as reason.
Over the years, especially since the 1.024-kilometre street was dualised and upgraded, Adeniran Ogunsanya Street has become a vital artery for innumerable flourishing businesses. Rapid and monumental increase in commercial activities as a result of conversion of residential buildings to commercial use followed, giving birth to entertainment and hospitality businesses. But now, residents are calling on the government to step in. Adeniran Ogunsanya Landlords/Residents Association wants their peace and conducive environment back. Cheetham-West, legal adviser to the association said there is need to checkmate the activities of commercial sex workers on the street before they become uncontrollable.
“Proliferation of clubs on the street has led to sleepless night to residents. You see customers quarrelling with Commercial Sex workers. There is also indiscriminate parking of cars in front of gates, such that you will be unable to go out at night in case of emergency. It is also a precondition for robbery attack. In the past, some of them had sound proof in their clubs but after some years, they relocated and new ones who don’t know the rules guiding the business moved in and we are back to square one.”
He said the association has held several meeting with the Lagos Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, without any result. “The waiting has been endless. The Ministry also said none of the clubs on the street have been given permit to operate, yet they operate freely.” He said the original plan of Adeniran Ogunsanya has been messed up and said all that they clamour is decency. “We are not against commercial activities going on in the street so long as they comply with the laws of the street and do things decently. Club owners constitute nuisance because in the early hours of the morning, their customers litter the street with dirt and rubbish, which nobody cares to clear out.”
Asked if owners of the clubs and lounges ever attend their meetings, Cheetham said “Some did initially but after telling them what we expect of them, they stopped coming.”
Human nuisance
The clubs and lounges, The Nation learnt, are high-brow and demand certain standard of dress code before admittance. As a result, those who fail to make the requirement are left stranded on the street and become targets for street hawkers who peddle alcohols and other stuff. This, they say, also provide fertile ground for armed robbers. This has also hampered the activities of religious organisations, as vigils have now become dangerous ventures.
Going down memory lane, Chairman, Adeniran Ogunsanya Street Resident Association, Engineer Olufemi Shobo, said the street used to be the cynosure of the whole of Surulere, which even the visiting Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles visited in the late 1980s because of its beautiful structures.
Engineer Shobo who said he has lived on Adeniran Ogunsanya for 51 years said the street was intended as residential. “I moved in to this street in March 1965. Then we enjoyed absolute serenity, until the recession came and quite a number of the residents decided to commercialise their houses. Some of the owners even moved way and let out their houses indiscriminately. People needed money, so they looked for the best way to recover and in most cases, they moved their residence to the back and commercialised the front.” He said some of those who took over these houses used them as banks, eateries other formal businesses, while some turned them into club houses.
Asked whether the association has made any attempt to engage Lagos State government concerning the proliferation of commercial sex workers on the street, Shobo said there was a time they complained about street pollution and officials were sent to control them. “Once these officials take their leave, there is chaos again; but we kept on engaging them.” He said the club owners are difficult to control, since they neither attend the street association meetings nor pay dues.
The Octogenarian therefore enjoined the Lagos State government to come to their aid and regulate. At the most, he would like their number to be pruned down to two. “They should be dispatched to other areas as well; government should have special areas for them, so they don’t mix with residents; Adeniran Ogunsanya was designed to be residential and it should remain so,” he said.
Secretary of the association, Gbolahan Ayoolu said the activities of the commercial sex workers speak cast a big question mark on the integrity of the landlords and residents of the street. “Often, in the early hours of the morning, you wake up and see condoms everywhere. Government should try and bring sanity back to the street.”
A visit round the street reveals that only three or four of the lounges and bars have signposts. The rest, it seems, prefer to operate anonymously. Ayoolu revealed that “Their activities are more pronounced on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.” He said the street enjoyed relative peace during the tenure of the former DPO, Divisional Police Headquarters on nearby Bode-Thomas but said things have not been the same since this current DPO took over.
“The street has not been enjoying peace at all and we want the current DPO to try and checkmate their activities,” he said.
Abimbola Onagoruwa, a landlady, said the development is a fall-out of the rising unemployment, just like street trading. While not trying to justify their activities, she said the government needs to be proactive and provide alternative livelihood, such as skills acquisition. “There is no point educating your child only for her to end up on the street. We have quite a number of them, even university girls who collect pocket money from their parents but who still prostitutes. But when government provides jobs for them, then they can begin to ask them to take up proper jobs.
Onagoruwa also lamented that the development has given rise to problems of illegal parking among others. “Customers park in front of landlord/residents gates without any regard; government should limit their number.” She said the commercial sex workers hang around on the street because people patronize them. “If they don’t get patronage, they will go away. The night clubs on the street poses a lot of attraction and for the call girls. That is why we are holding meeting and appealing to the government, that certain rights should be given to us as landlords and residents of Adeniran Ogunsanya Street,” she said.
On his part, Adetunji Santos, another landlord on the street said recession is not an excuse for parents to allow their children to become prostitutes. “It’s so sad that Adeniran Ogunsanya Street, a hitherto peaceful and quiet street has now become a shadow of itself. The commercial sex workers come in with their customers, making noise, disturbing the neighbourhood, drinking alcohol, narcotics, smoking hemp and littering the street. They also defecate in the drains and mess up the whole place. If indeed prostitution is illegal in this country, government should do something to contain the situation,” Santos said.
While charging parents and care-givers to give their children proper upbringing, Santos urged government to empower the commercial sex workers with adequate skills. For the club owners, Santos said they constitute major problem on the street even during daytime. “If in the daytime these people do all sorts of things, then you can imagine what goes on through the night.”
Worst, Santos say their customers are recalcitrant and have become a threat the even the security men. “Even when security officials ask them not to park at certain spots, they react violently and are ready to beat them up. Sometimes, they get drunk and fight amongst themselves, throwing missiles at each other, even at the risk of damaging properties. I personally have picked broken bottles in my compound and in front of my gate, this is appalling!”
He therefore enjoined the Lagos State government to license club for only commercial areas and not residential.
Apart from the residents, other business owners on the street also have axes to grind with the club owners. A female owner of a clothing outfit on the street, who requested anonymity, said most times on weekends, the customers of the club owners park in front of her shop, thereby preventing customers from patronising her.
The Nation also spoke with some of the pastors of religious organisations located on the street. A youth pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Hagiazo Parish, said the development is something that is not acceptable at all: “The activities of the commercial sex workers are not helping our youth and we are not happy about it. Their night activities have drastically affected our all night services. Though they also have rights but these rights should be exercised with caution and respect for other people. As a church, we are trying to see if a skill acquisition programme could be organised for these ladies but the problem is that you don’t see them in the daytime. It is really a serious challenge and we want the government to step in and contain the situation,” he said.
We’re yet to receive any complaints – Commissioner
In an Interview with the Acting Lagos Commissioner/Special Adviser for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Hon Adebimpe Akinsola, she said the ministry is yet to receive any letter of complaint from the association regarding their plight or any negative activities of the clubs, lounges and bars. She also said most of these joints are not registered with the ministry. “This Ministry is a regulatory ministry for the registration of hospitality centres, event centers, lounges, bars, hotels. Restaurants and tourist centers should and must be registered under the law, which was amended in 2003. They don’t have excuses at all for operating illegally. We have officials from the ministry going on monitoring and enforcement; I’m aware that they are yet to get to Adeniran Ogunsanya Street but I tell you that soonest, they will get there.
Speaking on the criteria required by the law for such ventures, Hon Akinsola said one major criterion is that such centre must be able to fulfill the environmental and sanitary conditions, among others. “With the new master plan that the state is rolling out, Akinsola said even centers that are registered should come for recertification and ensure that they meet up with everything concerning safety. Centers that refuse to conform to the new mega-city plan will be scrapped,” she warned.
We’re taking proactive measures – DPO
Reacting to the allegation by the residents that they no longer enjoy peace like they used to, the DPO, Bode Thomas Divisional Police Headquarters, Surulere, Lagos, who would rather not have his name in print, said: “The division has not received any complaints from the association. I have even attended their monthly meeting to educate them on security tips. Moreover, I personally, with my men, conduct night surveillance on a daily basis, especially on weekends when the activities of the night clubs are more pronounced. We are taking proactive measures to checkmate crime rate in the area, and so far, there are no ugly incidents or accidents in the area.” he said.
On the issue of indiscriminate parking, the DPO said “I have warned all night club owners to ensure that there is no violation of laws. And when vehicles are parked indiscriminately, we tow such vehicles. We will continue to do our best and all other relevant bodies that should enforce other laws should also play their part,’ he concluded.
