Thread by @obyezeks

The dizzying spate of “Anti-Poor Policies” by Government of Lagos @followlasg is quite worrying.

What’s going on?

You don’t tackle poverty by hiding away your Poor.

You confront Poverty by targeting your Poor with Policies and Investments that raise their Productivity. Stop!

Displacing the poor in the violent manner seen in #OtodoGbame and lately #TarkwaBay is blatantly terrible Policy.

What Lagos needs is Slum Upgrade, not Gentrification in which the poor gets evicted for the benefit of the wealthy.
This wrong Policy tool is becoming too rampant.

Even if the economics of land use in Urban Development argues in favor of high-end occupiers, the fact that your low-income citizens already occupy it means you need a very deliberative process for moving them with packages of incentives. Key one is to produce Affordable Housing.

In managing Cities, every government is faced with pressures of balancing competing housing needs across levels of income of their citizens.

The worst Policy Tool to always deploy in the tough decision needed, is one that hits the hammer on the Poor ALL THE TIME. Not good @all.

Always think of the causation and correlation between forced eviction and disruption of the lives of the poor and rise in urban crimes. Always.

There are evidence-based ways of determining best menu of Policy Options to deal with these things.

Let’s use them more.

While still ruminating on #TarkwaBay evictions, I read news that, “from Feb 1, Commercial Motorcycles (Okada) and Tricycles (Keke) are banned from plying major roads in
Lagos-Island, Apapa, Surulere
Eti Osa, Lagos-Mainland & Ikeja”.

I went, “not again! It does not work well.”

I imagine and agree with the problems that the Lagos State government seeks to solve with the Ban.

What I’ll later tweet on is whether the Ban is the most optimal Solution for resolving those evident problems of the ubiquitous Okadas and Kekes on Lagos roads.

Later. ✍️