Femi Fani-Kayode Writes: Lagos, The Igbo And The Servants Of Truth

“The claim that the Igbo helped to develop Lagos is hogwash. The major institutions of the south-west were developed by the diligence, hard-work, industry and sweat of the Yoruba people. This is a historical fact.” — Femi Fani-Kayode

Femi_fani_kayode-203x300

I posted these words on my Facebook wall as a fallout of the hot debate that was generated after the relocation from Lagos to Anambra of 19 Igbo destitute by the Lagos State Government. Immediately after the posting, all hell broke loose on my wall and all sorts of excitable and emotion-laden comments and assertions were made on the thread. I welcomed each and every one of those comments including those that accused me of being a tribalist and a Yoruba nationalist. That is the spirit of debate and we cannot all possibly agree on everything.

Needless to say, I stand by every word that I wrote in the post and those that do not share my view are free to hold their own opinion. My assertion is based on history and knowledge and not emotion. The facts are clear and the records speak for themselves.

I will go no further than that because it is about time that Nigerians from the younger generation learnt to do their own research and to study their own history. I will not allow the mob mentality or the wild emotions of others to becloud my thinking or to intimidate me into distorting the truth.

The Igbo had little to do with the extraordinary development of Lagos between 1880 right up until today. That is a fact. Other than Ajegunle, Computer Town, Alaba and buying up numerous market stalls in Isale Eko, where is their input? Meanwhile, the Yoruba of the old Western Region and Lagos were very gracious to them and not only allowed them to return after the civil war to claim their properties and jobs but also welcomed them with open arms and allowed them to flourish in our land. This is something that they have never done for our people in the east.

Such gestures of love and fraternity were never reciprocated. Now some of them have the effrontery to call Lagos, which is our land and the land of our forefathers (I am half Lagosian), “no-man’s land” and others have the nerve to assert that up to 50 per cent of the development in Lagos came as a consequence of the input of the Igbo. This is utter rubbish.

Those that do not know any better ought to go and learn rather than vent their hostilities and ignorance against me here or on my Facebook wall. I am not a tribalist but a great believer in Nigeria and more importantly, I am a historian and a student of history. I will not distort the facts of history just to keep some people happy. The history of the Yoruba, and of Lagos particularly, is very well known to me. And the fact that Lagosians and the Yoruba people generally are so generous and accommodating in their ways and to non-indigenes that settle in their territory should not be mistaken for ignorance, stupidity or weakness. We know our history, we know who we are, we know who and what developed our land and made it into what it is and we urge those that yearn to be like us to go and emulate our efforts and attitude to non-indigenes and hard work in their own states of origin.

I have nothing against my fellow Nigerians from other parts of the country and I have proved over and over again that I love Nigeria and that I am a Nigerian before anything else. However if, in the twisted imagination of some, speaking the truth about the history and development of Lagos and the Western Region makes me a tribalist, then tribalist I am. Servants of truth do not fear such labels and are often hated and misunderstood. If I were worried about what others thought of me I would have stopped writing long ago.

Meanwhile, permit me to recommend to all and sundry the following words of an insightful Nigerian by name Sina Fagbenro-Byron. He has had the courage to analyse the matter in a very honest, clear and forthright manner and he has spoken the truth. Let us hope that those that have no knowledge of that truth are humble enough to learn from it. He wrote –

“It has become a recent habit by a number of our young Igbo brethren to refer to Lagos as a ‘no-man’s land’. The great Zik, Mbadiwe, Mbonu Ojike, Ajuluchukwu, Opara etc would never have made such statements as they knew better. It is not only unfair but in extremely bad taste apart from the fact that it is historically false. How can you call a land that has had over 400 years of traditional rulership and cultural definition as a no man’s land? It shows contempt for the indigenes, ingratitude of hospitality and a betrayal of ones host. The late Herbert Macauley( a Yoruba Lagosian) on his dying bed endorsed Zik as successor leader of the NCNC because of his nationalism, intellectual sagacity and it was endorsed by a group of Yoruba elders and not by any Igbo population who in any case were infinitesimal at the time. Chinua Achebe records in his book, and we can roughly confirm that there were not more than a few thousand Igbos in Lagos before the civil war. So after having been received, accommodated by their host, the Yorubas, since the 1940s, a generation that is ignorant of history and careless of historical relationship refer to Lagos as no mans land, this attitude is the cause of the perennial Jos crisis amongst others. When the military stopped the teaching of history in schools in the 1980s, we knew that by allowing them, we courted confusion, but it was deliberate. Up till1968 , Mushin, Apapa, Ikeja, were all part of the Western Region.

“The English treaty was with the Oba of Eko Ile,(Lagos). Lagos traditional families all are Yoruba and the founder of Eko was Ogunfunminire who migrated from Ife before the 16th century. Lagos traditional Obaship was confirmed on behalf of the Oduduwa dynasty. If we consider it unfair to call Igbo property ‘abandoned property’ after the civil war, why should they refer to another mans backyard as no man’s land. Lagos had been the commercial nerve centre of West Africa before Nigeria was created and this was attributable to the welcoming attitude of coastal Yorubas, which was first betrayed by the Portuguese who introduced slave trade, the Kiriji war and the 100-year Yoruba civil war of 1769-1869 also saw a huge population from the other Yoruba Hinterland moving to Lagos to procure salt, guns, seek out their freed slave brethren etc and these led to the growth of Lagos.

“Since independence and after the civil war, other Nigerians have made Lagos a home for themselves , but none have been so unkind as to call Lagos a no man’s land. Igbos who say this and claim credit for the development of Lagos should remember that the first Industrial Estate in Nigeria was built by Awolowo in Ikeja as Premier of the West and the Western house on Broad street has significant historical importance. I would urge my Igbo brethren not to make true the words of Sardauna when he described the Igbos as having a tendency to come in as visitors and seek to claim ownership to the exclusion of indigenes. If Onitsha or Abakaliki is not no man’s land, why should Lagos be. Imagine how our Niger Delta brethren will feel if we refer to their space on God’s earth as no man’s Land?”

Fagbemi-Byron has hit the nail on the head and I wholeheartedly commend him for his courage. Frankly I could not have put it better myself. How I wish that more of those that are in the younger generation today would indulge in the type of research and scholarship that this man has obviously done. He, and those that value truth and knowledge like him, are the true Nigerians and thankfully I believe that there are many like him in every tribe and nationality in this great country. May God grant them the courage to speak out and cure the ignorant of their ignorance.

God bless Nigeria.

Source: Leadership

35 COMMENTS

  1. Article well delivered as we can see you are very learned and can use the English language very comfortably to your advantage we are not disputing the fact that the Yoruba’s really worked hard for the state of Lagos.i have some questions to ask and it will do me a great favor if you can reply me here or send a personal mail in response to me.1. can you tell me how Lagos would have been if the Igbos where not in Lagos?2.tell me any where in the word both advance and under developed where citizen of a nation from other state are pushed back to their home state against their will if not a voluntary request?3.Apart from the cooperate world of businesses in Lagos which tribe pulls the highest income to the state?4.Why didn’t Fashola notify his fellow counterpart before carrying out the mission(yet he Fashola blames the Anambra governor for not contacting him before writing to the president)5.In general statistic which tribe constitute nuisance most in Lagos? My brother am a NIGERIAN and i look forward to people like you to inject unity among us for you are a young and bright man don’t let this old tribalism surround you to loose your focus. I love the yorubas the hausas and love the great alliance which is about to take place in this dispensation APC. I personally campaign for this party to all Nigerian i come across because i see the future of Nigeria brighter with APC. The error has occurred just apologize to Anambra people let greater party with good vision to knock this vampires from power.GOD BLESS YOU

    • I dont know why igbos are making issues from Mr Governor action. When destitute from other states including south west state were resettled to there state, nobody says anything. Befere these people were relocated, there are facts that Anambra State Government were informed but failed to response. Pls my igbos brother, this is operation clean lagos from destitute and we all need to support it. The fact shows that these people that were resettled have no tangible jobs or places to reside in lagos. Do u feel that these people should continue to stay in lagos and contitute nuisance to our environment ?

      • I am very happy with the response from the readers and please no body should get me wrong we are brothers no matter the tribe we come from most of us travel out of this country and wen we meet outside the shores we feel proud and happy to see ourselves why will a governor try to break the bond here at home how will he feel if Nigerians are treated like that outside without committing any crime?and lets define the nuisance you use in describing the deportees can you compare their nuisance to what every politician in the country constitute?please lets reason as young NIGERIANS not like the old people that put this beautiful nation into this mess lets be careful from those that play politics with our future.if any body thinks the Igbo tribes are failures they should go and get the fact that the youths of igbos are the most successful population wise than any tribe even if their states are being neglected by the federal body and i quote no tribe can spring up like they did after what they suffer from the civil war if i go into details we wont get out of this media.but it was a genocide which everybody know the world was not this advance then the NIGERIAN would have been charge for GENOCIDE.PLEASE RESPECT THEM I AM PROUD TO BE A NIGERIAN.

      • @Olugbenga Adelani Adekunle DON’T MIND THEM, THEY HAVE INFERIORITY COMPLEX WORRYING THEM, IF NOT, THIS IS A SIMPLY ISSUE THAT HAS TO DO WITH CLEANING THE STREET AND GETTING RID OF THE CRIMINALS WHO DISGUISE AS DESTITUTE & BEGGARS. THOSE PEOPLE HE RELOCATED TO THEIR HOMELAND HAVE NO BUSINESS STAYING IN LAGOS. SOME OF THEM DON’T EVEN HAVE A HOME NOT TO TALK OF A JOB & THEY EXPECT TO BE LEFT ALONE. IS IT NOT BETTER THAT GOVERNMENT SEND THEM BACK TO THEIR HOME TOWNS & VILLAGES TO GO & EMBARK ON FARMING OR SOMETHING BETTER.

        I AM VERY HAPPY THAT Femi Fani-Kayode IS SETTING RECORD CLEAR. GO TO SCHOOL READ HISTORY & STOP RELYING ON HALF EDUCATED ILLITERATES TO TELL YOU TALES BY MOON LIGHT, MIRROR IN THE SUN, COCK ROAR AT DOWN OR SUPER STORY OF HOW YOU FICTITIOUSLY DEVELOPED LAGOS.

        Femi Fani-Kayode

        • Your research is baseless&useless because people like you only incite tribal war and zenophobia mind you every parts in the body is important to the functions of the body. So mind what you research and post.

        • @Akpo or is Charles Nwaokpo I REALLY DON’T BLAME YOU, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT WHAT HE DID IN MY OPINION IS VERY GOOD. LET THOSE WHO HAVE NOTHING DOING LAGOS GO BACK TO THEIR VILLAGE TO FARM.

          FANI KAYODE ALSO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT, MAKING THE IGBO’S UNDERSTAND THAT THEY CONTRIBUTED VERY LITTLE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF LAGOS STATE. YOU CAN WAKE UP IN THE HOT AFTERNOON & START LAYING CLAIMS TO EFFORT BY THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF LAGOS & SAY YOU DEVELOPED LAGOS. IT IS A VERY MYOPIC WAY OF THINKING, EVEN THOUGH SOME IGBO ALWAYS THINK IN THAT DIRECTION (NARROWLY).
          I THINK ALL THAT IS NEEDED, JUST AS FANI KAYODE STATED IS FOR PROPER EDUCATION ON THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF LAGOS SPECIFICALLY & NIGERIA IN GENERAL.
          STOP LIVING ON EAR-SAY. OR LEGENDARY TALES

          “EZE GO BACK TO SCHOOL”

        • I just made up my mind not to participate in this again i don’t know why at this jet age Nigerian youths both YORUBA and IGBO comes up in the social media exhibiting such hatred and tribalism in a cause generated by careless arrogant FEMI and Fashola government.Lagos is in Nigeria and we outside the country portray Lagos and other states that has visible and interesting sites to outsiders that think Nigeria is a dark Africa country.i am disappointed at FEMIs careless and arrogant comment he just made fool of himself with the fabricated history he jam packed and published but he forgot to ask if LAGOS state had not been a federal state would the development be this fast?how many bridge out of all the bridges in Lagos is constructed by the Lagos state government.he should just have it at his tick skull that government presence in Lagos as federal state brought lots of things to the state so he should shut up his trap.in a country of multi tribes a government most choose a proper and decent way of dealing with citizens from other state because surely people will raise eyebrow and this could lead to what we are doing now:Please brothers lets forget this and push the nation forward the world is changing fast and we lack behind its not about Lagos or Anambra its about the nation itself.ONE NIGERIA.

  2. Basically speaking the number of non employed Igbos to that of non employed Yorubas from other state is relatively small. these are the Igbos Fashola government called nuisance. They are just those that sell in traffic caught by KAI,compare them to other Yorubas from other state that has nothing at all doing in Lagos the proportion is like 2:50 then why did he not repatriate them if its not tribalism.Make FASHOLA apologize joor he fuck up.

  3. @ Uche, ur questns deserve ansa: Without the Igbos, 1)Nigeria, nt only Lagos ‘l b free of fake products, rituals, baby factories, kidnapping, e.t.c. 2) Nobody ”pushed back” anybody as u ignorantly sound. The rehabilitatn program is not only embarked upon by Lagos, but but a host oda states….get ur facts. 3) The igbo’s contribution T Lagos’ growth is infinitesimal. Mind u, most of them r mere petty traders. Moreso, there r several oda markets in Lagos asides alaba, computer village. Get ur facts Mr Ibo. 4) Fahola did! Ask ur governor. 5) Ansa ddt by ursel…and u claim u r not tribalistic….ur viewss r myopic, Mr Ibo!

    • Adefela you did not answer my question if your brother the great FELA was alive he would have shamed all of you with what you just said.Do you know what brought about the the slogan ONE NIGERIA?then do your findings .have you been out of this country before?if have been then you learnt nothing.the great New York city has beggars and they are not from the state of new York yet the US government respects their constitutional rights.Do you want to turn Lagos to new York over night?what is destitute? count the number of people that sleeps under bridges lorry parks uncompleted buildings and tell me the numbers of igbos and other tribes.Please don’t make me sound tribalistic i am only vexed because i don’t want people to see errors like this in Faholas government we all appreciate him and the new party alliance we should do things that will not give the opposition got to poison the minds of Nigerians for the 2015 elections. I SEEK FOR THE BETTERMENT OF OUR NATION ONE LOVE BROTHER.

    • Uche or what ever u call your name are you died about 2 years ago when Lagos govt deport beggars to Ibadan part of south west Nigeria? do you know 70% igbos in Lagos only engage in spare parts at day time and turn to harm robbers at night? do you know thousands of Igbo’s have been killed for drug trafficking in Asia EG, MALAYSIA,THAILAND,INDONESIA,SAUDI-0ARABIA?….. you people better “Mesonu” and find better think to do why not move back to Onitsha, Enugu, and other south east states?…..not you are talking about deportee in Lagos, Port Harcourt has already begin there own operation clean the city for better not is south south forget about southwest talk about south south that close to south east ok.

      • Senseless idiot, you don´t need to contribute in this article, if you know not. What brings about Drug trafficking in this matter, you could have also mentioned about American and London terrorist , 419 and poeple embezzling nigerian Money. Coward and Lazy man talk. FUOL!!!!!!!!!.

  4. This is not news. My cousins are lost in Lagos because they speak Yoruba, they are already mixed up, so we can’t separate them again, let them learn to cahabit with each other (I mean Yorubas and Igbos). for the Young Yoruba man who wrote this article, you have gone a long way to prove that Igbos developed Lagos, because, if they did not, I know you. you won’t bother to write on your Facebook wall. the reason why you had sleepless night over it and later decided to ameliorate yourself is because it’s true, if not, you won’t bother. truth is always glaring, only those lying make desperate moves to cover the truth. tnx

  5. This idea of a man living his home to settle in another man’s land is a good objective but disregarding the indigenous has cause a lot of wars and unnecessary killings. Those who open their home and welcome you as a visitor or a settler should not be belittled. U can’t claim to belong to here and there, u will either belong here or there period.

  6. The truth is bitter and always be, Lagos is YoRuba’s Land, There’s noting like no mans land in Nigeria general and it was developed by different tribes, I LOVE LAGOS because is a peaceful land and that’s why our people igbo lives there so many but FASHOLA you have to apologize, those peoples are not goat and i believe you were not bone rich and your father either becoming a governor today shouldn’t make you mistreat others, you deported them as if you yourself have a visa in Lagos or rather Lagos is another country……..

  7. One thing I know is, the reason behind this deportation of Igbo will soon come out. If I may ask, while the igbos? Igbos I know contribute to the growth of economy of any place they are. Now why not the Govn deport those Hausa beggers to Kano or Kaduna. If the gov shud ever think of tribe to deport certainly not the Igbos. It might interest you to know that I’m not an Igbo but Edo.

  8. The scintillating and one sided article written by FFK was noted, read, analysed and well understood. My Brother FFK did not disappoint as he is a known and proven Tribalist, talkative without boundries and lacked tact and control when one mentions any thing that appears to be criticism against Yorubas no matter how constructive and well intended they may be. If you want him to see the true personality of this Great Nigerian historian, all you need to do is to try to portray the Ibos -(his sworn Arch enemy) in shinning light. You will without a shred of doubt be rest assured that FFK will unleash his arsenals and will leave no stone unturned, including loosing his decorum till he is able to overturn the table in favour of Yorubas (Are Ona Kakanfo-Yoruba Warlord). There is nothing wrong with being a Tribalistic champion but what is wrong is pretending to be a Nationalist. Avid tribalism and Nationalism does not go hand in hand (in pari-parsu) with each other because of BIAS FACTOR. He should stop insulting us by thinking that he is Mr All Knowing and best thing that has ever happened to the HISTORY department.

    The second issue that amazes me is when one tries so hard to justify the UNJUSTIFIABLE. The case at point is the issue of denigrating fellow Nigerians and shipping them like GOATS because they are less privileged instead of assisting them. My question is this ‘since when has it become a crime to be sick and poor. In civilised countries the handicapped and the health challenged people are being protected jealously and given all the privileges which normal healthy people can never ever come close to getting. They are integrated, assisted, accommodated and not discriminated against. The fastest way to jail is to discriminate against them on the ground of their handicap. The last time I checked we have a constitution that governs every Nigerians in Nigerian territory and is clear enough and self explanatory. Furthermore the last also that I checked we do not require Visa to visit each other within the same enclave and most importantly, the Perpetrator of this despicable act is a Lawyer and SAN for that matter. This is a man who should have known better than most of us and most painful part of it is that this is a man I use to admire so much and wished he could become the next President of Nigeria so as to replicate the good job he did in Lagos. To soil his name in the last minute is very unfortunate as he has murdered sleep and only timely, unpolitisized, unreserved apology to the Igbos especially Anambrarians in general and affected discriminated against people in particular that can nib things at the board to avoid excalation and tension and most importantly to avoid negative place in National history. To say that I am disappointed is an understatement. Whether Mr Obi responded to the purported letter written by the Lagos state Government or not still does not give him the right or justification to take laws into his own hands against the Constitution of Fed rep of Nigeria. Also whether others have broken similar laws in the past is also not a justification as 2 wrongs can not make right.
    I would not want to be a part of the debate of whether Lagos is a no man’s land or not or whether Igbos contributed a lot, nothing, or average to the development of Lagos and most cities in Nigeria, however I can state without equivocation that it is a universally well know and without contention even by the sworn Igbo Haters that Igbos are the most dynamic, hardworking, resourceful, creative, self made Nigerians both within and outside the countries. I need to be corrected if I am wrong that there is no other tribe subjected to what the Igbos are including loosing the war, confiscations of their properties, monies by trick post war, starved of Federal presence and investments among others, will rise up to the challenge by singlehandedly achieving all the achieved to the extent of unquestionable dominance in many areas of human endeavours. The Igbos are indeed the Jews of Nigeria and no amount of suppression, ethnic bigotry and hatred can checkmate their natural endowed prowess. It is God given talent and to try to catch up with Igbo Man is to try to catch up with air which is Mission impossible as they are indeed PRIMUS INTER PARES.
    Here I stand

    Odagbuluenyi

    • ODAGBULUENYI OR what ever u call your name, are you died about 2 years ago when Lagos govt deport beggars to Ibadan part of south west Nigeria? do you know 70% Igbos in Lagos only engage in spare parts at day time and turn to harm robbers at night? do you know thousands of Igbo’s have been killed for drugs trafficking in Asia EG, 80%MALAYSIA,70%THAILAND,60%INDONESIA,45%SAUDI-ARABIA?….. you people better “Mesonu” and find better think to do why not move back to Onitsha, Enugu, and other south east states?…..not you are talking about deportee in Lagos, Port Harcourt has already begin there own operation clean the city for better not is south south forget about southwest talk about south south that close to south east ok.

  9. Adefela you are the biggest fool dat has ever lived on this planet earth. Why dont u just go back to ur mother s womb, be born again and start life afresh cos judging by ur comments u obviously ve wasted ur whole life on earth and ur brain is empty.

  10. This idea of depotation is wrong,no doubt about it. But igbos need to learn. Gov obi started it first,he deported pple frm akwa ibom and other ibo states in 2011. Go and find out. Akwa ibom deported lagosians,lagos deported pple to oyo,kano,katsina and osun states- nobody made any noise. Why the siege mentality by the igbos? Are thy untouchable? T.a Orji sacked every non indigens in his civil cabinet-no noise about it. Why is this one generatin a lot of noise? Pls igbos b4 u can claim to develop lagos u need to av developd ur states. U only came to lagos to make ends meet,not to develop it.or do u love lagos more than ur own land? The fact that nigerians are many in us and uk does not mean thy developed them. We accomodated u,fed u, clothed u and we got is abuses-ofenmanu,lazy folks,cowards. Watch out as this is just the beginning,lagos is goin to sack all igbos in the civil service and by then u ll all die. Because crying like babies alone will not work.

    • why are you getting it wrong Tun xi?if Nigerians are accommodated at UK does that imply in own own country ?every Nigerian has the constitutional right to reside in ant part of the country or did the igbos and other tribe applied for visa before coming here?so please don’t use UK for an example.And mind you very Nigerian contributed to the development of all state. Lagos felt the presents of the federal presence this gave it an advantage so don’t get in tinted to what you just posted here.

  11. I really appreciate everybodies’s comment as touching deportation of our eastern brethrens.This is neither hatred nor slap on Igbo as some people destructively criticised the move which could gravitationally lead to inter tribal crises.Let see this as a move to sanitise Lagos state which is part of present agendas. Anybody from part of Nigeria could be deported to his or her village in as much the person in question poses nuisance and threat to goodlooking of Lagos state.Lagos state goernment is not ready to be at loogerhead with any fuckingperson be it yoruba, Hausa or Igbo When such a person is ever ready to live to the dictate and abide by the rules and regulations that govern the citizenry. We should please as an advice leave all our destructive criticism against the government of Lagos state and perhalp if we are not happy with that should please find alternative of going back to our various villages. Lagos is not a shit to play rubbish!.To our eastern brethren who had been using the avenue to pour than their annoyance we should please take it easy not to cause any disunity. There are issues that supposed to have taken serious like that of boko haram killing their brothers in the northern parts of the country which were ignorantly eluded. Lagos is a Yoruba state and we are always proud of it. So get that fucking into your memory

  12. Femi Fani-Kayode , I would have taken this thrash seriously and responded accordingly, but since it is coming from you, I do not expect anything better. MY ADVICE THOUGH IS THAT ALL THE AREA BOYS AND GIRLS ALL OVER SOUTH WEST ESPECIALLY LAGOS BE TAKEN OFF THE ROADS.

    Meanwhile, ask somebody to assist you to get the statistics of high networth businesses in lagos belonging to South Easteners before you come up again.

  13. To uche and others. I appeal to you guys, let’s really live like we are one. No state gets allocation to cater for d extreme less privileged, obi won’t wnt to feed, cloth, or pay hospital bills for such people, neither wld fashola wnt to do such. Lag state claimed it contacted anambra, bt they didn’t respond. After which they took that step. Obi shld hv called fash to express his dissatisfaction over that. Bt he resorted in making it a media, political and tribal issue. They are big boys, their actions can’t and won’t turn the backs of my brothers,friends frm d igbo speaking states at ourselves. Which of us attends their functions, or NGF meetings? I’ll always fault our elders, traditional rulers and pastors for d messages they pass. Most of them don’t have our interests @ heart-s. There are people wit bad attitude in every tribe,thieves, drug traffickers, name it. GOD bless us all and lead us not to the part of destruction. Pls mr Governor, cleaning up is good, pls don’t forget those AGBEROS (street urchins) pls send them to rehabilitation centres or HELL. Thank you all, happy Ramadan

  14. Kariko 1, I am not dead yet and your hatred can not kill me as the Lord is my strength. It is very unfortunate that you ilk cannot even accept the truth and that is all the more reason why you chose to argue myopically in a substandard English. Any way I will not come down to you level but suffice to say that the truth is bitter but must be said without fear or favour. It is only the truth that can set you free. No matter how you choose to reason you can never JUSTIFY the UNJUSTIFIABLE. No Nigerian or any other Human being including non Nigerians should be treated so degradingly, denigratingly as much Respected Governor Fashola et al, did in Lagos. I am sure that even Gov Alhaji ,Fashola himself in his inner heart knows that he messed up big time and made a grave mistake which is correctible if he is ready to shave aside his pride. A stitch in time they say saves nine. All he needs to do is to beat the chest and admit about his wrong doing and apologised to the involved people unreservadly. and I can sure you he will be forgiven. This is a fact as most Nigerians in general and Igbos in particular love this amiable, dynamic and ebullient Governor. He has done a lot and I am sure he would want to live a lasting legacy and will not have all his good job tarnished in the last minute due to bad Advisers or TRIBAL CHAMPIONS if you may wish The Gentleman has to realise that it is his reputation that is at stake and therefore he should Ignore the Show Spoilers who is telling him to continue to climb and that he is not going to fall. The earlier he realises that his name will be the one soiled, coded negatively in history and posterity, the better for him to do the right thing by making immediate and convincing corrections no matter whose ox is goed.

    In summary therefore the take home message is glaringly clear:
    (a) You cannot take law into your own hand under any circumstance and that includes the Almighties.
    (b) The President and Governors and all other arms of the Government including Legislatives and Judiciary have sworn to protect the constitution because this superceeds any other laws.
    (c) That a breech of constitution with impunity in a civilised society is a very serious business that should be severely punished by IMPEACHMENT and JAIL SENTENCES. To do otherwise is to ridicule ourselves in the comity of nations. Governor Fash behaviour is CRUDE, COWBOYISH and unexpected from a respected learned man of the LAW. This act should be condemned by civilised section of the society, irrespective of the tribalistic inclination.
    (d)That every human being has a little bit of occult madness in himself/herself and only require a trigger, catalyst if you wish to trigger it out. When you steal all the collective wealth and leave the majority to live in abject poverty or penury and when you get a sane person, incarcerate him or her for 2 years under the most dehumanising condition including starving them, you are bound to push them to the edge and this will trigger without a shred of doubt LUNANCY in great majority of them. So therefore Lunacy and Destitudes are man made and therefore the HIGH and MIGHTY who have stolen us to the cleaners are without a shred of doubt culpable and liable (QED). To treat the cancer you have to address the CAUSE and not the EFFECT. After creating the CANCER you cannot turn around to become uncomfortable from the CANCER you created. Nigeria is a mega rich country and no Nigerian should have any business with poverty. I am afraid there is no short cause in solving this MAN MADE MESS other than getting the powers that be to do the right thing by fair distribution of wealth, empowerment of the masses, addressing the issues of unemployment which has hit the roof at the moment, good welfare systems for all as we can afford it, curbing of the excesses and recklessness, impunity of the people in power, zero tolerance to corruption the type that happened under Buhari/Idiagbon regime and the list is endless. If you do that I can assure you that LUNACY and DESTITUDES will be drastically reduced.

    I rest my case

    Odagbuluenyi (UK)

    • YOU HAVE NOT MADE ANY REASONABLE POINT HERE, YOU’VE JUST BEEN SPEAKING FAT GRAMMAR TO CONFUSE US, BUT WE WON’T GET CONFUSED SINCE WE ARE ALL EDUCATED AND BY THE WAY WHY SIGN OFF WITH U.K IS THAT PART OF YOUR NAME OR IS IT A TITLE AGAIN OR YOU ARE JUST TRYING TO MAKE US MORE CONFUSE.

      YOU DON’T JUST JUMP & COMMENT AT EVERY STORIES WHEN YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND OR COMPREHEND THE CONTENT OF THE MESSAGE. TRY & FOLLOW CAREFULLY BEFORE COMMENTING OTHERWISE YOU WILL LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT “LATE COMER”.

      • Young Nigerians please lets stop this talk and embrace ourselves to show the unity in us,if we continue like this our children and the ones yet unborn will continue like this.these were our fathers mistakes that’s what we want to inherit now.we should not let Fash or Obi divide us lets talk to the two governors to carry out their duties with respect to the Constitution first and the right of the general Nigerian citizen.every governor is to provide for people residing in the state no matter the tribe its the failure of our government that puts us in this MESS.
        UCHE. Canada

        • @uche mojekwu you are right, but please next you guys don’t need to sign off with your places of residence. Is it inferiority complex or what. Why do Nigerians living abroad carry this their negative mentality around with them. There are many other Nigerians on this social network abi information Nigeria and also living abroad, but most of those that do sign off their name with the countries they reside are Igbo’s. You don’t need to tell us where you reside for us to read your comments.

        • You guys please stop all this inferiority complex & just simply put your name. Nobody is interested in knowing where you are living, the comment is more important.

  15. Nair, please if our goverment can’t solved a problem we should help them by telling them the truth.Femi is my main concern in this issue.he should stop what he is doing no body said Lagos is a no man’s land it was femi that included that I. Is comment to make you guys get furious. THAT EDUCATED FOOL