Housing vs environment: The Agodi Gardens story

The news broke as a rumour late last year – that the Oyo State government was selling off portions of forested areas adjacent to Agodi Garden. Was this true or false? Before the rumour, the Oyo State government, as part of the infrastructure drive, had supported housing developments in the capital city of Ibadan, albeit amid some criticism. There was criticism over the Engineer Lere Adigun GRA where quarters for Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State were said to have been demolished to give way for the state. There was also criticism over the decision to convert Trans Amusement Park to a housing project. Trans Amusement Park is a project initiated in 1987 by a former military governor of the state, the late Brigadier-General Adetunji Idowu Olurin.

Are the plans of the Oyo State government to develop more housing estates out of order? The United Nations has put Nigeria’s housing deficit at an estimated 28 million units as of 2023, even as the country’s population is expected to reach 223.8 million this year. It also estimated that N21 trillion is required to provide housing units and bridge existing deficits. The topic of Nigeria’s housing deficit has been the subject of several discussion fora at different levels of government and in professional circles. Housing is mentioned as one of the three basic needs of humans – food, clothing and shelter. However, while there are indeed several housing projects ongoing across the country the question of affordability remains. Lands and houses in these projects are priced in multiple millions of naira. Beyond the question of whether it is in the interest of the elite that certain housing projects are embarked upon, the question of the environmental impact is coming to the fore.

As trees were being felled in the Agodi Gardens area this month, environmentalists and other concerned citizens of Oyo State have called to question the latest housing venture by the state government.

About Agodi Garden

According to credible reports, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, along with Chiefs Akintola and Akindeko, was the driving force behind the construction of Agodi Gardens as a Conservation Forest and Recreation Area. Other notable visionaries of the Western Region, such Chief A.M. Oseni of Federal Forestry, Mr. Ladipo, a well-known forest conservator, and Mr Thompson from Britain, the first Director of Forestry in Ibadan, ably assisted them in this vision.

A book, “Why Cities Need Large Parks” edited by Richard Murray published by Routledge, describes Agodi Gardens as being “located on the border between two biomes’: savannah and tropical forest, and this formed one of the key spatial concepts for the redevelopment of the park.”

In a section of the book dedicated to Agodi Garden, it stated that: “The park is centrally located, providing the bustling city with otherwise lacking green open space. It also serves as an important environmental reserve for indigenous forest and savannah species of fauna and flora. The surrounding land is hilly, 191 metres above sea level. The park occupies approximately 58 hectares of land and is an ex-situ conservation site (a non-natural site created especially for preservation). The Dandaru River surrounded by floodplains and wetlands runs through the park and the park provides an important ecosystem service of flood attenuation. The expansive space, in contrast with the noisy city life outside, showcases nature and freshness, and provides a place of tranquility, which is highly valued among the people of Ibadan.

“Agodi Gardens was created after Nigeria gained independence in 1967. It was formerly called Agodi Zoological and Botanical Gardens. The park contained a fully-fledged zoo during this period. It was at that time a major centre for recreation in Ibadan.”

Sadly, over the years, Agodi Gardens fell into disrepair. However, in December 2014, the late Governor Abiola Ajimobi rehabilitated Agodi Gardens, described as phase one, which covers a land area of 9.11 hectares.

When the bulldozers came…

Over the past one month, some environmentalists and concerned citizens raised an alarm over the felling of trees in the Agodi Gardens area, reportedly to make room for a new housing estate. Their voices were prominent on social media. With videos, pictures and WhatsApp messages circulating on this issue, the Oyo State government was compelled to come up with a response.

The state government, through the Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mr Williams Akin Funmilayo, said that the government values reforestation and afforestation and, as such, would not convert Agodi Gardens into a residential estate.

He added that the large expanse of land to be converted to Baywood Estate does not include the Agodi Botanical Gardens.

He recalled that the Agodi Botanical Gardens was created in 1967, but was destroyed by the Ogunpa flood disaster in 1980 by the raging water but got renovated in 2012 and reopened in 2014 as a tourist attraction in the ancient city of Ibadan.

He therefore said the garden is a lasting legacy, which the present administration will never joke with, adding that the Seyi Makinde-led administration will not leave any stone unturned in making Oyo State a habitable place for all.

The Commissioner implored the general public to disregard any rumour on the sales of Agodi Gardens, assuring that the proposed Baywood Estate by government will not encroach into Agodi Gardens.

“The reason why government is intending to convert the forest to housing estate is to make the place more secure, as the place is a death zone that serves as harbour to many criminals where many innocent lives have been lost”, he said.

He also said, “Anybody that is in doubt of what the government wants to do around that corridor should come to the ministry for further clarification.

“We, therefore, call on the public to disregard any information related to the conversion of Agodi Botanical Gardens to an estate, as the government is determined to protect public places in the best interest of its citizens and residents of the state.”

The commissioner also said the state government has plans to upgrade the garden to an international standard, such that it will compete with other botanical gardens across the globe.

The walk on Tuesday

However, some concerned residents of the state and environmentalists on Tuesday staged a walk to express their desire for the preservation of the forests around Agodi Gardens. The peaceful walk at the Agodi Gardens and the Oyo State Secretariat ended abruptly when it was gathered that thugs were set to unleash mayhem on the gathering.

Some participants in the walk had their car tyres deflated and confined to the premises of the Oyo State Traffic Management Authority. As of press time, the cars were yet to be released despite attempts by their respective owners to retrieve them.

Reacting to the development, Rosalie Ann Modder-Oyefeso, an environmentalist and founder of Save Our Green Spaces Group, said: “Several of us green conservationist groups organised a peaceful walkout in Ibadan City through the environs of Agodi Gardens and Agodi forest and the Oyo State Government Secretariat.

“We attracted a turnout of about 120 walkers comprising architects, bankers, doctors, lawyers, staid university dons, gentle young students and grandparents alike, professionals and non- professionals, mothers and fathers.

“The whole purpose of this exercise was to create state government awareness about the disastrous consequences to the citizens of Ibadan, of felling trees in a conservation forest sitting on the watershed for the Ogunpa River.

“I am of the age where people I don’t even know greet me ‘Grandma!’ I have all the aches and twinges of the old age that I have achieved. I have no business leaving my home at 7 a.m to walk from Agodi Gardens to Secretariat and back, keeping my strength up with fried buns and paracetamol.

“Replacing the Conservation Forest with concrete housing estates on the watershed for Ogunpa River, in the Agodi forest behind Agodi Gardens will have a deadly impact on the environment and unimaginably disastrous consequences of flooding on Ibadan city and its hapless citizens.

“By the laws of God and nature, you cannot tamper with the watershed of a river and get away with it.”

In an op-ed co-authored by Ola Olaniyan, an architect and town planner, and Idris Animasaun, a public affairs analyst and Environmental enthusiast, they wrote: “Asides the potential economic benefits which the implementation of the Agodi Garden Masterplan will accrue to the Oyo State government, the sensitive flood attenuation, climate change mitigation and critical ecosystem services which the forested areas of the Gardens afford will be perilously vanquished. The rich biodiversity, the variety of flora and fauna, hundred-year-old forests, which will be destroyed to accommodate the proposed Baywood Estate will prevent future generations from relishing the conservation efforts of the audacious pioneers of the Agodi Gardens.

“At this point, it will be in the interest of the Oyo State government, the residents of Ibadan, the rich and rare biodiversity of flora and fauna, mother nature, and our home planet earth, for the government to rescind its decision to convert the hundred-year-old forests and conservation areas of the Agodi Gardens into a housing estate.”

Way forward?

Professor Shadrach Akindele, a Professor of Forest Biometrics at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), said there is the need for collaboration among developers and environmentalists when it comes to sustainable housing development. He recalled that the Ogunpa flood of the 1980s in Ibadan was due to the deforestation of a forest called Igbo Agala. The professor noted that “We foresters fell trees” but added that there was a method to it such that there would be minimal negative consequences on the environment.

In his reaction, Tokunbo Omisore, a Trustee and past president Africa Union of Architects, said, “We need long-term planning, our decision-makers should consider the long-term consequences of any forest destruction and prioritise sustainable urban planning that takes into account the preservation of natural ecosystems and the well-being of local residents.

“In summary, the destruction of the forest ecosystem in Ibadan for an unaffordable housing estate raises important concerns about environmental conservation, social equity, and sustainable development. It’s essential for stakeholders to carefully consider the implications of such actions and work towards solutions that uphold both environmental and social well-being.”

READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE