Life In Lagos Has Been “Organised Chaos”

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29324, 1 October 1960, Page 10

Life In Lagos Has Been “Organised Chaos”

[By IGNATIUS ATIGBI, a Reuter Correspondent) LAGOS (Nigeria)

This capital city of the Federation of Nigeria, now looking gay in its dazzling array of flashy ami heavy decorations, was in a chaos of construction and building less than a fortnight before Nigeria's independence, with its half-completed buildings and sporadic road construction. Mr J. W. Henderson, the Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos Executive Development Corporation, the body responsible for town planning control and the planning of lay-outs for schemes of development and redevelopment of Lagos, described it, however, as “organised chaos.”

Mr Henderson gave an assurance that everything would be ship-shape by the time Princess Alexandra arrived on September 26 to launch, on behalf of the Queen, the largest independent State in Africa. Here and there in this capital city are steel and wooden scaffoldings characteristic of buildings under construction, and everywhere workmen, both white and black, are racing against time to put the finishing touches to almost complete houses. Side by side with building work, there is the arduous task of road construction. Existing roads are being widened and improved, and new .ones are being built to meet increasing traffic demands. In Central Lagos, too. there is evidence of a slum-clearance scheme, initiated in 1955 and at that time opposed by the inhabitants, but now much more to their liking. Large Programme Planned Works in progress include the demolition of existing buildings, site clearance, the provision of new and wider -roads, with all public services, the re-allocation and re-conveyance of land to original owners, as far as this is possible, at recognised prices, and rebuilding on the cleared and reconveyed land. This scheme, according to Mr Henderson, will provide for this part of Lagos, and ultimately the entire capital city, amenities which 'would compare favourably with the best standard reached in other parts of the modern civilised world. In spite of this "organised chaos,” a cursory glance at Lagos shows to what extent modern architecture (or what critics have

described as “imported Western design") has beautified this city. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this “organised chaos" is the road programme, designed to eliminate the menace of traffic holdups. The approach to Carter bridge, the only bridge linking Lagos Island with the mainland, is being widened to take four lines of traffic in clearly marked lanes. This should give a continuous flow of traffic into and out of Lagos without the delays which have been experienced in the past. Parking Problem The problem of parking space is receiving careful attention from the police, and it is expected that the use of vacant plots, most of which are along Broad street and Victoria street, together with the beautiful Car parks along the Marina, will go far* towards providing a solution. For the celebrations, more than 300 cars of’British, German and American make and painted in the Nigerian national colours of white and green, will be provided for distinguished guests and newspaper representatives.

The racecourse where, at midnight on September 30, the most populous independent State in Africa will be proclaimed by the Prime Minister, Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, will be decked in Nigeria's national colours and provided with roofs in the same colours to protect their occupants from the scorching heat of the sun. To help to bring order out of the “organised chaos” and ensure that the city will be spick and span for Independence Day, a "Keep Lagos Clean” campaign was launched by the oba (paramount chief) of Lagos, Oba Adeniji Adele IL