Gazing at what remains of the structure today, it is hard to believe that the Old Federal Secretariat, Ikoyi was a sightseer’s delight once upon a time. In the eighties, after taking in the grandeur of the Atlantic at the Bar Beach or the ambience of the National Theatre at Iganmu, there was one other sight to behold: the magnificence of the Secretariat complex sitting on prime land in the choicest part of Lagos.
Rising to its 15-storey height on sprawling premises, the then seat of federal bureaucracy left the visitor with lasting memories. You must wonder how much work went into the structure, the cost implication, and how many people earned their wages in its offices. Everyone loved the breathtaking complex.
That was then. Today, the structure is forlorn, desolate and dead. Lush weeds have gained a life of their own on its stripped, grey walls. It is also safe to imagine that all manner of crawling creatures and perhaps four-footed beasts call the edifice home.
Blame the relocation of the federal capital to Abuja for the structure’s misfortune. Until December 1991, the complex housed Nigeria’s Ministries and their staff who alongside sundry visitors and lobbyists, went up and down its stairs or shuttled on its lift.
Blame also a fire which burnt the complex in March 2004. It was a mystery blaze said to have started from the very top of the building.
But there were other more telling reasons why the once magnificent secretariat is a pitiable sight. The federal government led by military president Ibrahim Babangida seemed to be more interested in moving the national capital away from Lagos than in contemplating what to do with the gigantic secretariat in Ikoyi after the movement. It did not take long before wear and tear set in. What Abuja gained in the relocation, it would seem, Lagos lost.
In time, Wale Babalakin, a lawyer and investor, saw gold mine, and acquired the edifice, intending to turn it into residential apartments. That would have brought him handsome dividends and helped to mop up accommodation deficits plaguing Lagosians. But litigations and squabbles soon set in, first between Babalakin’s firm Resort International Ltd and Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), and then a spat with the Lagos State government over permits, among other things. The result is that the Old Secretariat is wasting away while Nigerians grapple with huge housing challenges.
The old secretariat valued at well over N40 billion is not the only edifice rotting away, though. The Independence Building, from where the Ministry of Defence once operated, is also wasting away. So is the Glass House by Okesuna Street, once the home of the Ministry of Works and Housing. The National Assembly Complex at Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) and other federal structures in other parts Lagos are also abandoned.
Nor is the wastage restricted to Lagos. Across the country, carcasses of giant structures stand. They are a sad reminder of what they once were, and a loud protest of a culture of waste for which the country is now famous.
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