‘Listen to the yearnings of slum dwellers give them a voice’ – Secretary General UN

The Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr Ban Ki-Moon has called on African leaders and other private institutions to listen to the yearnings of slum dwellers in their countries with a view to meeting their needs and making life more meaningful for them.
He said it is imperative for the leadership in Nigeria and other countries, “to focus on a new urban agenda that leave no one behind.”

Kin-Moon, who stated this in a message to the 2014 World Habitat Day in Abuja, noted that with technology, the well-being of people living in the slums could be enhanced. The theme of this year’s World Habitat Day was ‘Voices from Slums’.

Represented by the UN Resident Coordinator, Mr Daouda Toure, the UN Scribe said it was so unfortunate that some of the people living in slums had lost hope due to long years of neglect.

“Often, people in the slums live in near-anonymity – no address, no census and no idea when their living conditions will improve,” he lamented.  The UN scribe told authorities in Nigeria “to hear from people who live in the slums, what has worked and what has not- and what we need to do”. ”I encourage governments and non-governmental institutions to give slum dwellers a voice, and to listen to what they have to say. We have the technology and the know-how to build economically, socially and environmentally sustainable cities based on local solutions,” he said. 

Mr Ban Ki-Moon

The UN Secretary maintained that urban city should not be developed by leadership to meet housing needs alone, but also to be used to combat climate change.

“Ensuring that our towns and cities expand in a well-planned and managed way is not only necessary to meeting the housing needs of our growing urban population, it is also vital for combating climate change, protecting the environment and supporting sustainable development. Let us focus on a new urban agenda that leave no one behind,” he said.

The Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs Akon Eyakenyi said though the slum phenomenon was not peculiar to Nigeria alone, the government is commitment to addressing the challenges confronting persons living in the slums.

She urged stakeholders in the sector to listen to the voices of the slum residents, to ensure that their genuine concerns were effectively and efficiently addressed.

”There is no better way to fully establish the living conditions in the slum than to hear from the slum residents themselves. It is our hope that collectively we will establish a vibrant platform to give a voice to this growing segment of our communities,” she said.

The Minister noted that through conversations with slum dwellers, decision makers would come up with policy interventions to mitigate the adverse effects of the slum challenges across the country.

A representative of slummy Lugbe community, Prince Mustapha, who spoke to newsmen in an interview, said that they were facing numerous challenges, ranging from lack of potable water, poor electricity supply and bad roads among others. Mustapha called on government to consider the plight of the people living in slums.

According to Mustapha, neglecting such areas would go a long way to endanger the life of the residents. He however thanked President Goodluck Jonathan for not demolishing the area despite all threat to pull down all the buildings in the community.