Which way Naija? – Adewale Sobowale
Recent activities have set me thinking!
I mean the activities about the ownership of Lagos. That Lagos is a Yoruba city is not disputed.
Those Yoruba from other states who are ready to do battle much more than the original omo Ekos should read the statement of Alhaji Femi Okunnu titled “Gedegbe l’Eko wa.”
In that paper, the man, a respected lawyer, succeeded in putting everybody in their place. I’ll come back to that later.
It has occurred to me that while others are looking for cooperation from all, we tend to look at the divisive issues among us. And once it starts, it’s like a bushfire which starts from an unquenched ember of cigarette smoked by an obscure Tom.
Tom might have been lucky not to be consumed by the fire, but he’ll be remembered infamously by the ruins he has caused.
At the rate we’re going, we’ll soon get to a stage where we’ll be practicing “ethnocracy” unless we earnestly call ourselves to order.
Why don’t we think of compensating the Indigenous folks in places where people were displaced by virtue of their communities being cities of attraction?
By attraction it could by virtue of their being commercial havens, federal territories, airports, seaports, oilfields, etc.
The government and private businesses could do this by offering them scholarships, making sure they get jobs, giving the indigenous folks preference on their land.
In addition, the authorities should make sure the land ownership is acknowledged in writing and placed in public places as a matter of respect.
Lastly, like I said initially, there’s no doubting the fact that Lagos is a Yoruba town.
