An early morning fire yesterday dealt a devastating blow to
one of Nigeria’s foremost indigenous filmmakers, Dr. Ola
Balogun, claiming virtually everything that he owned.
All that he had laboured to acquire over the years were totally
razed in the inferno that raged relentlessly for about three
hours.
The fire that gutted his leased house at 11, Aje Street, Sabo
area of the state, it was gathered, started about 2.30am and
succeeded in causing a demoralizing loss to the victim. It also
destroyed his intellectual property.
The fire also spread to the next house, a three-storey building,
wreaking untold havoc on all the occupants. That building was
also devastated, leaving the victims with unimaginable grief.
The only things left for Balogun as personal belongings now
are the shirt and trousers that he wore to bed, as well as his
car and a generator rescued by a kind-hearted neighbour.
The veteran filmmaker, in a chat with our correspondent, said
the inferno had only taken him through an interesting
adventure. According to him, if such things didn’t happen to
man, life would have been too boring for human habitation.
He said his plan now was to hang out and lean on some
friends and family members for survival. Such is life and man
must live on, he submitted.
The 69-year-old talented artiste, who had trained and
impacted positively on many Nigerian artistes, was also
thankful to God and his kind-hearted neighbours who
promptly came and rescued him from the fire.
He was indeed lucky to be alive. By the time he woke up, his
house was already in flames.
Hear him: “By the time I came out, the whole roof was on fire.
At about 3.00am, I noticed some odd noises from the roof, I
first thought it was some rats or so. But I soon noticed that
the ceiling was aglow, which was totally abnormal. These
young men came banging at my door, which I must praise
them for. They were quite helpful. But there was this
particular young man; Doyin Sax Reeds who rescued me,
brought out my car and generator for safety. Before he came,
even though I saw smoke everywhere, I just stood there
watching, I did not really know the next thing to do.
“Everything is gone now – my books, films and other
belongings. Although, I still have some of my books in Paris,
France, I have not lived in Paris for many years now. My
family is over there. Meanwhile, this is a rented
accommodation, which I have occupied for more than ten
years now.”
On what exactly led to the fire, Dr. Balogun said he could not
really pinpoint to the source of the outbreak.
“I can’t say I saw the start of the fire. There was no light
before I slept and I put on my generator. Suddenly, I noticed
that my generator went off by itself at about 1.30am, but I
didn’t come out for security reasons.
His neighbours, who said they did all their best to quench the
fire, told our correspondents that their efforts to bring down
the men of the Lagos State Fire Service to quench the fire
proved abortive. They accused the fire fighters of slow
response.
One of his neighbours, Doyin, who was commended for his
bravery, said if the fire fighters had arrived early, much
damage would not have been done on the buildings.
He stated: “I was within the premises of the next building
about 2.30am when I woke up to urinate. Then I realised there
was a smoke, a thick smoke. Immediately, I suspected it was
a fire outbreak in Dr. Balogun’s house. So, I ran out to call
him. After a few attempts to get Balogun’s attention to no
avail, we had to break the gate. Sighting him within the
burning house confused and traumatised, I tried to shake him
up, and I moved him out. After that, I came back and moved
his vehicle, generator, and gas cylinder away from the house.
“Thereafter, we began to combat the fire with water, soap and
sand, as more people now joined to help. At a point, the fire
escaped into the building beside it, number 9, through the AC
vent, because the buildings were quite close to each other. So,
we got into the other house, woke them up, and rescued them
as well.
“At this point, we called the fire service through the Lagos
State Emergency number 767, while we were equally using the
fire extinguishers in my car to combat the fire. We waited
endlessly for the fire servicemen. Then I had to drive to a
couple of fire service stations, thinking that we could bring
them down here by ourselves.
“When I got to Adekunle fire station, they told me that their
vehicle was not operational at that hour. Then I drove to
another one at Apapa Road, Ebute Meta, where we met no
single person in the premises. Then I drove to the fire service
station at Surulere, beside Barracks, where I met them playing
draught. They were not even bothered. They claimed that
Sabo, the scene of the incident, was not within their
jurisdiction.
“Though, I was furious at this stage, I didn’t stop there. I
drove straight to the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka. On
getting there, UNILAG fire fighters said it was not within their
jurisdiction as well, that their equipment was meant for the
school. So I came back, and went to Fire Service at Ojuelegba,
appealed to them, alongside with some of the residents
around here that had gone there. It was then that the fire
fighters of Ojuelegba came down.
“Incidentally, the fire fighters from Alausa, Ikeja got here about
five minutes after the ones from Ojuelegba got to the scene.
“But the federal fire fighters at Ojuelegba could do very little
because they were ill equipped, and the fire had gone far by
the time they arrived. The kind of liquid they brought wasn’t
sophisticated enough, it was just water. Lagos State Rescue
Service, Alausa was the one that now really stopped the fire,
although, not until the two houses had been burnt down
completely.”
An occupant of the razed three-storey building, Mr Joseph
Oscar, lamented in low tones that he was left with nothing
and that he was yet to fathom where his family would lay
their heads that night.
“As I am speaking to you now, there is nothing left for me. All
my property was burnt by the fire. We are all sitting outside
here. I don’t know nowhere to go and I don’t know what to
do,” he grieved.
Luckily, no life was lost in the two ruined buildings. As at the
time the reporters visited the scene yesterday morning, the
first, second and third floors of the three-storey building had
collapsed.
Balogun tasked governments at all levels to procure more fire-
fighting equipment in the country.
When asked if he needed assistance from the government or
members of the public, he said he could not turn a beggar as
a result of the disaster.
“I don’t believe in that. Although, I had insured other
properties, I didn’t insure this one, I must confess. While there
is life there is hope. I will find somewhere to lay my head for a
few days. There are friends, or family members or cheap
hotels where I can put up within the country,” he said.
He commended the fire fighting crew from Alausa and Ilupeju,
even as he thanked one Mr. Danmola who led the operation.
Another sympathizer, who said he was mentored by Balogun
also drove to the scene that night to help his teacher to
salvage his property. But his arrival was too late.
He said: “We had a plan to travel out of Lagos yesterday, but
we couldn’t make it. So, he just called me at about 3.am
today (yesterday) that his house was burning. Immediately, I
drove down within four minutes from Idi-Iroko.
“On getting here, I saw that the house was burning seriously. I
also joined other people in calling the fire service people, and
we kept waiting for them. So it took them about one and a
half hours to arrive here, after which two houses had been
burnt down. This delay is so unprofessional. Fire crisis is
about life and property. I wouldn’t understand why our fire
service stations are never effective in Nigeria. If these fire
fighters were on ground they would have driven down in five
minutes, considering that the road was extremely free during
those hours of the night. I am grossly disappointed at the
slow response,” he lamented.
