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A friend of mine, who hails from the Eastern part of the country, was arguing with me yesterday that Lagos is no man’s land. I tried all I could to prove him wrong by trying to explain certain things to him, but my dear friend wouldn’t listen. Nothing I said would make him change his belief that Lagos is no man’s land. To my dear Igbo friend, no tribe owns Lagos State. Therefore, he is entitled to the same right and privileges accorded to the prince and princess of Lagos State. This is my friend’s stand, and nothing changes it as far as he is concerned.
On a similar note, on my way to office this morning, a serious argument was going on at a particular newspaper stand around Agege in Lagos State. As a curious person that I am, and for the fact that I had left home early this morning, I decided to stay behind and poke nose into the argument. The argument involved two young men versus numerous ones. The two young men are, most likely, from either the Southeast or South-South zone of the country. And there they were arguing seriously that Lagos belongs to no tribe in particular. According to them, all tribes own Lagos. The numerous people they were arguing with are Yorubas, and one could logically deduce from the way they talked that they were so furious with the two young men.
A voice among them echoed, “Shut up! You can’t claim that here, go to your village to do that. This is our own land. Lagos is our land.” Another voice queried angrily, “Can Yorubas and Hausas, in your place, claim that your own territory belongs to no one? Can you accept that?” The argument was getting more intense now. “Get lost jor”, another voice barked. The argument continued and the way it was going, it might lead to something unpleasant. Sensing this and also bearing in mind that time was no longer on my side at this very moment, I quickly moved towards one of the two men and said to him, in a very persuasive manner, “Bros, please for God’s sake, stop this argument. What do you stand to gain from it? Please go your way.”
Yes I got him! Those words of mine did actually have a desired effect on the man, as he just looked at me admiringly with a mere smile. Having noticed this, I started heading my way to office. I had just walked a bit forward when I intentionally looked back, and to my satisfaction, the two young men were already leaving the newspaper stand to their, God knows, destination. I guess the two are actually brothers. They look alike. And the one I appealed to seems older than the other one. That was why I had chosen him (the older one) over the other.
As I headed towards office, I was trying to imagine what could have happened if the two men had continued with the argument, and as a result, the angry and provoked Yorubas in the newspaper stand engaged them in a physical combat. Oh No! That wouldn’t have been a pleasant story to tell. It would have resulted to tribal crisis in our dear country. This particular incidence prompted the writing of this article. What Nigeria needs now isn’t tribal crisis. Let us thread softly, my fellow Yoruba people.
As a matter fact, I am seriously not comfortable with the notion and claim by our dear brothers and sisters from the Southeast and South-South zones of the country that Lagos is no man’s land. To me, I want to believe this is quite insulting to the Yoruba Traditional Institutions and Kings. It would be recalled that recently there was a statement credited to Oba of Lagos, HRM. Rilwan Akinolu, where he was alleged to have threatened the Igbos to vote for the candidate of his choice, Akinwunmi Ambode of the All Progressive Congress (APC) against Jimi Agbaje of Peoples Democratic Party in the 2015 Lagos State Governorship election scheduled to hold on 11th of April 2015. He was also alleged to have placed a curse on any of them who go against his wish. While I am not in support of the utterances of Oba Akinolu as regards the allegation, it is pertinent to note that the claim by the Igbos that Lagos is no man’s land could have provoked the anger in him. Obas in Yorubaland are meant to protect their traditional institutions and culture. They would not be happy seeing or hearing some people claiming that the territories under which they are crowned kings are no man’s lands. This unreasonable claim is indirectly challenging the authority of the Kings in their own lands.
To this end, our dear fellow Nigerians from other regions of the country should take note of this and make necessary adjustments. Let us learn to stop disrespecting traditional institutions and kings through our utterances. It is peaceful co-existence that will guarantee our entity as one Nigeria. A Yoruba adage goes thus, “Ti a ba ka eru, inu eru a baje” meaning there is no need doing a numerical identification of our slaves, as doing so will make slaves sad. In essence, there is no need for Yorubas to start saying Igbos or others are not Lagosians. In the same vein, it is not necessary for Igbos or others to continue claiming erroneously that Lagos is no man’s land. Some people actually own Lagos.
I must tell you my good Yoruba friend that having read your article about whom owned Lagos or not
that you have no point at all by taking side with The so called Oba, and using what what some people have said about Lagos as a means to justified what the so Called Oba of Lagos have said.
For taking side with him it shows that you are one of those tribal bigots.
Though matter what or which ever reason you give as a Yoruba person, having read all that you said in your article, there is no different between you and Oba of Lagos.
You only tried and condemned him for in the beginning of your article for it to look as if you have got a point which you don,t have att all!