The Informal Sector and a Mega-City like Challenges and Prospects
No doubt, Lagos has become of one of the metropolitan cities in Africa that has more people than it can manage. As a result of this, a lot more people find unorthodox but legitimate means of survival like roadside trading among other things. While this has created several undocumented but well-patronized markets and market stalls, the government most times swoop in, take over the market spaces, demolish the stalls and hands space over to developers to fit into a ‘master plan’ that no one can truly understand or confirm.
The question, however, remains that; where do these traders go when the structures through which they earn their daily keep are demolished.
Barely two months into the new administration in Lagos though, the demolition trucks are back in the name of ‘slum clearances’, ‘urban renewal’, ‘illegal structures demolitions’ and all sorts, creating a loss of livelihood of the lower-class in the society. From government to government has far back as the 1920s, what we have is an upsurge in the demolition of informal housing, markets, and production clusters in Lagos. Yet northing as really changed. Is their way for us to begin to rethink our strategies towards informality?
In the studio are:
Stan Uche - Host (Inspiration FM 92.3)
Deji Akinpelu - Host (Rethinking Lagos)
Gbenga Komolafe, General Secretary, Federation of Informal Workers' Organizations of Nigeria (FIWON).
FIWON is a membership-based organization of self - employed workers in the informal sectors of the Nigerian economy. FIWON’s overall goal is to transform the working and living conditions of informal workers to an acceptable standard that guarantees their basic human rights as citizens and workers.
Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour
A practicing architect, writer, designer, and Activist. After graduating from MIT, he returned home to Lagos, Nigeria with an aim to explore the concept of affordable luxury as well as the potential of creating innovative designs and systems to tackle indigenous large-scale problems.
At 35, Mr. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, was the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Lagos West Senatorial seat in 2019 General Election. He has a masters in research and public policy from Unilag.
Lagos visioning and planning: The way forward
Stan Uche - Host (Inspiration FM 92.3)
Deji Akinpelu - Host (Rethinking Lagos)
Fabienne Hölzels - Fabienne Hoelzel is the Founding-Director of FABULOUS URBAN and Professor of Urban Design at the Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design.
Fabienne founded FABULOUS URBAN in 2014 after working in São Paulo (Brazil) for one of Latin America's largest slum-upgrading programs as the head of the urban design and planning team at the city's Social Housing and Urban Development Authority that was awarded in 2012 the UN Habitat Scroll of Honor for its pioneering work. From 2008 to 2010 and from 2013 to 2017, Fabienne held a research and teaching position at the Institute of Urban Design at the ETH Zurich. She lectures and writes on a regular base.
Rahman Adebiyi - The Lagos state chairman for Liberation Movement Party (LM).
Waste Management.
In the studio are:
Stan Uche - Host (Inspiration FM 92.3)
Deji Akinpelu - Host (Rethinking Lagos)
Dr Temilade Sesan - Dr Temilade Sesan is an international development consultant with expertise in the areas of energy, health, agriculture, and gender. Her doctoral thesis, titled “What’s Cooking? Participatory and Market Approaches to Stove Development in Nigeria and Kenya”, investigated international development efforts to promote a particular technology – improved cookstoves – which sits at the nexus of the sustainable development objectives of energy poverty alleviation and climate change mitigation. Read more
Mobility: Non-Motorized transportation in Lagos.
In the studio are:
Stan Uche - Host (Inspiration FM 92.3)
Deji Akinpelu - Host (Rethinking Lagos)
Olamide Udoma-Ejorh - Olamide is an Urban Activist – researcher, writer, and artist, holding degrees in BSc Architecture, MA Design, and MPhil Infrastructure Management. She is currently involved in governance and social issues within the urban environment of Lagos and is an advocate for sustainable transportation and social engagement within street spaces.
In the last 7 years she has managed and coordinated projects in the UK, South Africa, and Nigeria, working with a variety of clients to ensure relevant knowledge is shared with the end-users. She is the Founding Director at Lagos Urban Network, Editor-in-Chief of the Lost in Lagos Magazine and Trustee/Festival Director at Open House Lagos. Her strengths lie in Urban Infrastructure Management, Project Management, and Communications.
The Impact of Flooding (Urban planning failures)
In the studio are:
Stan Uche - Host (Inspiration FM 92.3)
Deji Akinpelu - Host (Rethinking Lagos)Residents of the sets
Alhaji Lateef Adeyemi Tukur - the chairman of the Adeniji-Adele estate residents association
Alhaji Karma Anifowose
Pastor Akinwunmi Akinleye
Waste Management (SmartEPR)
In the studio are:
Stan Uche - Host (Inspiration FM 92.3)
Deji Akinpelu - Host (Rethinking Lagos)
Maryam Njie - Founder, Thermal Initiative
Flooding & infrastructure in Lagos
In the studio are:
Stan Uche - Host (Inspiration FM 92.3)
Deji Akinpelu - Host (Rethinking Lagos)
Mr. Lookman Oshodi - Lookman Oshodi, Commonwealth Professional Fellow is the Project Director of Arctic Infrastructure (AI), a private organization with a broad focus on infrastructure delivery, urban development & the environment. With resourceful expertise in infrastructure project design, implementation, management & financing, he has been leading AI as a key player in the global infrastructure market. He is working on using smart & climate resilience infrastructure to drive the regeneration of cities in developing countries.
Planning for a city like Lagos - Housing, Green space management and Transportation
In the studio are:
Stan Uche - Host (Inspiration FM 92.3)
Deji Akinpelu - Host (Rethinking Lagos)
Katrin Gansler - Journalist, DW
Dr. Muyiwa Elijah Agunbiade - Senior Lecturer Urban Regional Planning Department, University of Lagos
How should the city of Lagos be governed?
In the studio are:
Stan Uche - Host (Inspiration FM 92.3)
Deji Akinpelu - Host (Rethinking Lagos)
Dr. Taibat Lawanson - Dr. Taibat Lawanson Is an Association Professor of Urban Planning at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. She has conducted extensive research on issues relating to urban informality, environmental justice, and pro-poor development and is particularly interested in how formal-informal linkages can be synthesized in African urban contexts.
