‘Halt toll plan or face mass action’

Tension is building once again between residents of the Lekki community and Lekki Concession Company (LCC), the firm handling the reconstruction of the expressway, over the plan to begin the collection of toll on the road.

As a way of sensitising the residents and motorists to the plan, some representatives of the company on Wednesday began the distribution of leaflets at one of the three toll gates. Titled Toll Road Leaflet Guide, the flyer contains details about the project; the key benefits, convenience services, price incentives, vehicle classification, user types, payment methods, customer account management, and the designated banks for payment, among other information. However, it has no indication of the toll rate.

Howver, at a press conference held Thursday, by some members of the Eti-Osa community to convey their grievances on the company’s latest move, it was resolved that if the plan is not halted, the company would be forced to do so. According to them, at a meeting with Babatunde Fashola on July 20, in which more than 20 obas and chiefs from the community, state officials and the commissioner of police, were in attendance, it was resolved that a committees would be inaugurated to settle the issue of tolling at the three toll points. It was, therefore, a surprise to see leaflets on the toll issue being distributed.

“This is reckless, arrogant and provocative, and we wonder who else LCC will respect or listen to if it can afford to ignore the governor and the House. LCC is part of the committee just as it has been invited by the house committee in order to assist its finding. so why the test run?” said Adewale Sanni, the convener of the Eti-Osa forum and spokesperson at the conference.

Among other demands they also sought to know “whose interest is the project, infrastructure development or economic gains?” adding that the current exercise under the guise of a test-run is a desperate attempt to commence tolling at all cost in order to foreclose or render useless the outcome of the committee set up to look into the disagreement on the issue.

Bone of contention

Part of the information on the leaflet shows that the coastal road which is supposed to serve as an alternative for those who cannot afford to pay the toll fees will now be tolled, and this is the major grouse of the residents. “They have decided to keep all of us in secret; why are they not telling the price? They are just enjoying all of this,” said James Esosa, a resident. “Now, they are sharing leaflets, for what? This whole thing is rubbish. They feel everybody in Lekki is rich; they should have gone to set this toll nonsense in other places. Now, let’s see how they would react.”

Another resident, who asked not to be named, equally expressed dismay at the development. “They haven’t said anything that will let us know about the price; that is what I came here to ask,” she said. “Maybe they are afraid of public reaction. It is going to inconvenience people, because to pay from here to there is not fair. The access road that is supposed to be an alternative, you will also have to pay toll, so what are the options? The one you have now is at Oniru side and around Jakande to come in and out of Lekki. But the roads are very bad, and I wouldn’t want to spoil my car. For those who cannot afford to mess up their car will have to be forced to pay the toll and I would prefer to travel on a straight road. I just think it’s not fair.”

Residents like Betrus Ibrahim, a commercial motorcyclist, are considering relocating if the situation is not changed. “They never put the price, na the thing wey dey confuse us,” he said. “If they start it, how person go do? If the price high, I go live this place go find somewhere wey I go do my Okada.” Another motorist, a danfo (bus) driver who lives in Aja said, “Nigeria no get the money wey they go help Lagos do this thing free? If say they be better people, they for done do this thing well. They are greedy, all of them wey dey government; dey chop money anyhow.”

What will happen when the LCC finally decides to effect its plan remains to be seen.

WINNIE Madikizela-Mandela has threatened legal action against acclaimed South African director Darrell Roodt, who plans to make a film about her life.

A letter from her attorneys says Madikizela-Mandela is "extremely concerned" to hear of the planned film about her life "in circumstances in which she has never been approached for consent or at all".

"It is difficult to understand how a production bearing the name of an individual who has not been consulted at all could ever be appropriate or tell the full story of that individual life, as media reports suggest this production is intended to," the letter says.

"This is certainly the case here where our client has not responded to allegations and comment which have been made about her, precisely because she has sought to protect her sphere of personal privacy as best she can in extremely difficult and turbulent times," the attorneys' letter to Andre Pieterse's Ironwood Films reads.

Attorneys met with Roodt and Pieterse on Friday, but failed to reach an agreement with the film-makers.

News of the film, Winnie, hit South Africa late last year when it was revealed that American singer turned actor Jennifer Hudson had been offered the starring role.

The movie, which is set to start filming in May, has taken Roodt more than six years to bring to production and is based on a biography of Madi- kizela-Mandela by Anna-Marie du Preez Bezdrob.

South Africa's most acclaimed actor, John Kani, has voiced discontent at the casting of Hudson.

"From which angle has the movie been written?" Kani asked. "Will she be seen as a villain? If you did a movie of Nelson Mandela in 1967 it would have been that of Osama bin Laden."

He did not see a problem with an American portraying Madikizela-Mandela.

Kani said he fully supported freedom of expression and the right to interpretation, but warned that there were certain "sensitivities that must be considered" when telling the story of the person people consider to be the Mother of the Nation.

He did not see a problem with an American portraying Madikizela-Mandela, but felt producers should first explore the pool of local talent and consult local actors' unions before casting their eyes elsewhere.

"Now it's a free-for-all. Artists come here like they're tourists and end up telling you: 'I'm watching you'," said Kani in reference to the beer ads featuring Louis Gossett Jr.

"Jennifer Hudson is welcome to play Winnie, but what frustrates me is the South African producers' fascination with Hollywood. Yet they are the first persons to talk about 'local is lekker'," said the veteran actor and playwright.

Neither Roodt nor Pieterse was available for comment. Bezdrob, the author of Winnie Mandela, A Life, has said she hoped it would be a balanced movie and has described Madikizela-Mandela as "an incredible person".

In the letter to Ironwood Films, Madikizela-Mandela's attorneys warn the film-makers that she reserves her legal rights in the matter.

"Our client would have expected that the principal concern of the producer of such a film publication would be the need to respect the fundamental rights of those to be depicted particularly where the struggle for fundamental rights is the backdrop to the story itself," the attorneys write.

But a copyright expert believes that, although Madikizela-Mandela may object, she would struggle to win a court battle. "Normally, that would be a breach of a person's right to privacy. But she's a very public figure who's very well-known.

"Generally, there's nothing she can do to stop them from making a movie like that unless it's defamatory," said Spoor and Fisher.