COLONIALISM AND GENTRIFICATION IN LAGOS, NIGERIA

Abstract

  Gentrification and colonialism are two distinct yet similar urban phenomena. In this study, an attempt was made to establish not only the similarity of the two social phenomena but also the entrenchment of the former in the latter as well as their spill-over effects in postcolonial Nigeria. Previous studies have documented evidences of the existence of these phenomena independently but only few tend to focus on the nexus between gentrification and colonialism. Thus, drawing from a larger PhD empirical data, this paper triangulated Social Action Theory and Marxist Alienation Theory to provide cogent sociological analysis of the phenomenon under study. It also combined primary and secondary sources of data. The primary source entailed collection of data through six sessions of Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and six participants in Life History (LH) techniques. Peer reviewed journal articles and archival records were the secondary sources used. The study found gentrification to be a progeny of colonialism because the earliest traces of gentrification were found to originate in British urban colonial policies. The post-independence processes of gentrification were merely a continuation of elitist colonial urban policy that is largely anti poor. This accounts for, not only the ever-widening gap of inequality between the urban elites and their poor counterparts, but also the increasing aggressive tendencies in the poor due to the alienating effects of gentrification. Recommendations are made for Lagos state government to make a deliberate effort at ensuring an all-inclusive urban policy that takes into consideration various interests in the state irrespective of their socioeconomic statuses.  Key words: Gentrification, colonialism, displacement, alienation, action