Permit me to make my second and final contribution to the raging debate about Lagos, who owns it and the seemingly endless tensions that exist between the igbo and the yoruba.
It is amazing how one or two of the numerous nationalities that make up Nigeria secretly wish that they were yoruba and consistently lay claim to Lagos as being partly theirs. Have they forgotten where they came from? I have never heard of a yoruba wanting to give the impression to the world that he is an igbo, an ijaw, an efik or a hausa-fulani or claiming that he is a co-owner of Port Harcourt, Enugu, Calabar, Kano or Kaduna. Yet more often than not some of those that are not of yoruba extraction but that have lived in Lagos for some part of their lives have tried to claim that they are bona fide Lagosians and honorary members of the yoruba race. Clearly it is time for us to answer the nationality question. These matters have to be settled once and for all.
Lagos and the south west are the land and the patrimony of the yoruba and we will not allow anyone, no matter how fond of them we may be, to take it away from us or share it with us in the name of ”being nice”, ”patriotism”, ”one Nigeria” or anything else. The day that the yoruba are allowed to lay claim to exactly the same rights and privilages that the indegenous people in non-yoruba states and zones enjoy and the day they can operate freely and become commissioners and governors in the Niger Delta states, the north, the Middle Belt and the south-east we may reconsider our position. But up until then we shall not do so. Lagos is not a ”no-man’s land” but the land and heritage of the yoruba people. Others should not try to claim what is not theirs.
I am not involved in this debate for fun or for political gain and I am not participating in it to play politics but rather to speak the truth, to present the relevant historical facts to those that wish to learn and to educate the uninformed. That is why I write without fear or favour and that is why I intend to be thoroughly candid and brutally frank in this essay. And I am not too concerned or worried about what anyone may think or how they may feel about what I am about to say because I am a servant of truth and the truth must be told no matter how bitter it is and no matter whose ox is gored. That truth is as follows.
The yoruba, more than any other nationality in this country in the last 100 years, have been far too accomodating and tolerant when it comes to their relationship with other nationalities in this country and this is often done to their own detriment. That is why some of our igbo brothers and sisters can make some of the sort of asinine remarks and contributions that a few of them have been making in this debate both in the print media and in numerous social media portals and networks ever since Governor Fashola ”deported” 19 igbo destitutes back to Anambra state. In the last 80 years the igbo have been shown more generosity, accomodation, warmth and kindness and given more opportunities and leverage by the yoruba than they have been offered by ANY other ethnic group in Nigeria. This is a historical fact. The yoruba do not have any resentment for the igbo and we have allowed them to do in our land and our territory what they have never allowed us to do in theirs. This has been so for 80 long years and it is something that we are very proud of.
As I said elsewhere recently, to be accomodating and generous is a mark of civilisation and it comes easily to people that once had empires. The reason why many of our people take strong exception to the apparant outrage of the igbo over this ”deportation” issue and the provocative comments of my friend and brother Chief Orji Uzor Kalu when he described Lagos as being a ”no man’s land” is because the igbo have not only taken us for granted but they have also taken liberty for licence.
We cannot be expected to tolerate or accept that sort of irreverant and unintelligent rubbish simply because we still happen to believe in ”one Nigeria” and we will not sacrifice our rights or prostitute our principles on the alter of that ”one Nigeria”. Whether Nigeria is one or not, what is ours is ours and no-one should test our resolve or make any mistake about that. ”One Nigeria” yes but no-one should spit in our faces or covet our land, our treasure, our success, our history, our virtues, our being and our heritage and attempt to claim those for themselves simply because we took them in on a rainy day. It is that same attitude of ”we own everything”, ”we must have everything” and ”we must control everything” that the igbo settlers manifested in the northern region in the late 50’s and early and mid-60’s that got them into so much trouble up there with the hausa fulani and that eventually led to the terrible pogroms where almost one hundred thousand of them were killed in just a few days.
Again it is that same attitude that they manifested in Lagos and the Western Region in the late ’30’s and the early and mid-40’s that alienated the yoruba from them, that led to the establishment of the Action Group in April, 1951 and that resulted in the narrow defeat of Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe in the Western Regional elections of December, 1951. As a matter of fact they were the ones that FIRST introduced tribalism into southern politics in 1945 with the unsavoury comments of Mr. Charles Dadi Onyeama who was a member of the Central Legislative Council representing Enugu and who said at the Igbo State Union address that ”the domination of Nigeria and Africa by the igbo is only a matter of time”. This single comment made in that explosive and historic speech did more damage to southern Nigerian unity than any other in the entire history of our country and everything changed from that moment on.
To make matters worse, in July 1948 Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe made his own openly tribal and incendiary speech, again at the Igbo State Union, in which he spoke about the ”god of the igbo” eventually giving them the leadership of Nigeria and Africa. These careless and provocative words cost him dearly and put a nail in the coffin of the NCNC in the Western Region from that moment on. This was despite the fact that that same NCNC, which was easily the largest and most powerful political party in Nigeria at the time, had been founded and established by a great and illustrious son of the yoruba by the name of Mr. Herbert Macauly. Macauly, like most of the yoruba in his day, saw no tribe and he happily handed the leadership of the party over to Azikiwe, an igbo man, in 1945 when he was on his dying bed. How much more can the yoruba do than that when it comes to being blind to tribe? Can there be any greater evidence of our total lack of racial prejudice and tribal sentiments than that? If the NCNC had been founded and established by an igbo man would he have handed the whole thing over to a yoruba on his death bed? I doubt it very much.
Again when northern military officers mutineed, effected their ”revenge coup” and went to kill the igbo military Head of State, General Aguiyi-Ironsi on July 29th 1966 in the old Western Region, his host, the yoruba Col. Fajuyi (who was military Governor of the Western Region at the time), insisted that they would have to kill him first before taking Aguiyi-Ironsi’s life and the northern officers (led by Major T.Y. Danjuma as he then was) promptly obliged him by slaughtering him before killing Aguiyi-Ironsi. How many igbos know about that and how many times in our history have they made such sacrifices for the yoruba? Would Aguiyi-Ironsi, or any other igbo officer, have stood for Fajuyi, or any other yoruba officer, and sacrificed his life for him in the same way that Fajuyi did had the roles been reversed? I doubt it very much.
Yet instead of being grateful the igbo continuously run us down, blame us for all their woes, envy our educational advantages and resent us deeply for our ability to excel in the professions and commerce. Unlike them we were never traders but we were (and still are) industrialists and when it comes to the professions we were producing lawyers, doctors, accountants and university graduates at least three generations before they ever did. That is the bitter truth and they have been trying to catch up with us ever since. For example the first yoruba lawyer Christopher Alexander Sapara Williams was called to the English Bar in 1879 whilst the first igbo lawyer, Sir Louis Mbanefo, was called to the English bar in 1937. Again the first yoruba medical practitioner, Dr. Nathaniel King, graduated in 1875 from the University of Edinburgh whilst the first igbo medical practitioner, Dr. Akannu Ibiam, graduated from another Scottish University in 1935.
Yet despite all this and all that they have been through over the years and despite their terrible experiences in the civil war we are witnessing that same attitude of ”we must control all”, ”we must own all” and ”we must have all” rearing its ugly head again today when it comes to their attitude to the issue of the deportations from Lagos state and when you consider the comments of the Orji Kalu’s of this world about the igbo supposedly ”owning Lagos” with the yoruba and supposedly ”generating 55 per cent of the state’s revenue”. It is most insulting. And I must say that it is wrong and unfair for anyone to lay the blame for the perenniel suspicion and underlying tensions that lie between the two nationalities on the yoruba because that is far from the truth.
We are not the problem, they are. Pray tell me, in the whole of Nigeria who treated the igbo better than the yoruba after the civil war and who gave them somewhere to run to where they could regain all their ”abandoned property” and feel at home again? Who encouraged them to return to Lagos and the west and who saved the jobs that they held before the civil war for them to come back to when the war ended? No other tribe or nationality did all that for them in the country- only the yoruba did so. And the people of the old Mid-West and the Eastern minorities (who make up the zone that is collectively known as the ”south-south’ today) have always viewed them with suspicion, have always feared them and have always resented them deeply.
From the foregoing any objective observer can tell that we the yoruba have always played our part when it comes to accomodating others. This is particularly so when it comes to the igbo who we have always had a soft spot for and who we have always regarded as brothers and sisters. It is time that those ”others” also play their part by acquiring a little more humility, by knowing and accepting their place in the scheme of things and by desisting from giving the impression that they own our territory or that they made us what we are.
Now let us look at a few historical facts and one or two more igbo ”firsts’ that many may not be familiar with to butress the point. The igbo people were the FIRST to carry out a failed coup on the night of Jan 15th, 1966 under the leadership of Major Emmanuel Ifejuna, Major Chukuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, Major Christian Anuforo, Capt. Ben Gbulie, Major Timothy Onwatuegwu, Major Donatus Okafor, Capt. Ude, Capt. Emmanuel Nwobosi, Captain Udeaja, Lt. Okafor, Lt. Okocha, Lt. Anyafulu, Lt. Okaka, Lt. Ezedigbo, Lt. Amunchenwa, Lt. Nwokedi, 2nd Lt. J.C. Ojukwu, 2nd Lt. Ngwuluka, 2nd Lt. Ejiofor, 2nd Lt. Egbikor, 2nd Lt. Igweze, 2nd Lt. Onyefuru, 2nd Lt. Nwokocha, 2nd Lt. Azubuogu and 2nd Lt. Nweke in which they drew FIRST blood and openly slaughtered and butchered leadiing politicians and army officers from EVERY single zone in the country except their own. I should also mention that even though this was clearly an igbo coup there was one yoruba officer who was amongst the ringleaders by the name of Major Adewale Ademoyega.
It was a very bloody night indeed. Amongst those killed were the Prime Minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa, the Premier of the Western Region, Chief S.L. Akintola, the Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Federal Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, Brigadier Zakari Maimalari, Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun, Colonel Ralph Shodeinde, Lt . Colonel James Yakubu Pam, Lt. Colonel Abogo Largema and numerous others. They did not just kill these reverred and respected leaders but in some cases they mocked, tortured and maimed them before doing so, took pictures of their dead and mutilated bodies and killed their wives and children as well. For weeks after these horrific acts were carried out the igbo people rejoiced and celebrated them in the streets and markets of the north, openly displaying pictures and posters of the Saurdana’s mutilated body with Nzeogwu’s boot on his neck, loudly playing a famous and deeply offensive anti-northern song in which northerners were compared to goats and listening to it on their radios, jubilating that they had brought an end to what they described as ”northern rule and islamic domination” and openly boasting that they themselves would now ”rule Nigeria forever”. Though the first coup failed the matter did not end there.
The very next day after the Jan.15th mutiny and butchery had failed and did not result in Ifejuna taking power in Lagos, the igbo people set their ”plan B” in motion and they were the FIRST to carry out a successful coup in Nigeria just one day later on Jan. 17th 1966. This was when the igbo Major-General J.T,U. Aguiyi-Ironsi (who was Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Army and who had inexplicably and suspiciously not been murdered by the young igbo officers in their violent mutiny and killing spree the night before) in collusion with the igbo Acting President Nwafor Orizu and the entire igbo political leadership of that day, invited the remnants of Sir Tafawa Balewa’s cabinet to a closed door meeting, threatened their lives and took power from them at the point of a gun.
Aguiyi-Ironsi did not just ask them to give him power but he took it from them by force by telling them that he could not guarantee their safety if they refused to do so. Meanwhile Orizu point blank refused to do his duty as Acting President and swear in Zana Bukar Dipcharimma as the Acting Prime Minster when the members of the cabinet and the British Ambassador (who was also at the meeting) implored him to do so since by that time there was a power vacuum because the Prime Minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa, had gone missing and had probably been murdered. It was in these very suspicious circumstances and as a consequence of this murky and deep-seated igbo conspiaracy that General Aguiyi-Ironsi came to power. Amongst those that were present at that famous ”meeting” that are still alive today are Alhaji Maitama Sule, Chief Richard Akinjide and President Shehu Shagari who were all Ministers in Balewa’s cabinet . Those that doubt the veracity of my account of this meeting would do well to ask any of them exactly what transpired during that encounter.
Yet the seeming success of the conspiracy was short-lived. Only six months later, on July 29th 1966, General Aguiyi-Ironsi and no less than 300 igbo army officers reaped the consequences of their actions and plot when they were all slaughtered in just one night during the northern officers revenge coup which was led by Lt. Colonel Murtala Mohammed, Major Abba Kyari, Captain Martins Adamu, Major T.Y. Danjuma, Major Musa Usman, Captain Joseph Garba, Captain Shittu Alao, Captain Baba Usman, Captain Gibson S.Jalo and Captain Shehu Musa Yar’adua as they then were. Lt. Colonel Yakubu Gowon was put in power by this group after that and a few weeks later between September 29th 1966 and the middle of October of that same year approximately 50,000 igbo civilians were attacked and slaughtered in a series of horrendous pogroms in the north by violent northern mobs as a reprisal for the killing of the northern leaders, including Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Saurdana of Sokoto, by Major Nzeogwu, Major Ifejuna and other junior igbo officers on the night of Jan. 15th 1966. Please note that despite the fact that a number of yoruba leaders were killed on that night as well no igbo civilians were massacred anywhere in the west by mobs in reprisal killings throughout that period.
The igbos understandably left the north in droves after those terrible pogroms and fled back to the east from whence they came. And perhaps that would have been the end of ithe story but for the fact that they also declared secession and sought to dismember Nigeria. They then made their biggest mistake of all by provoking a full scale military conflict with Nigeria when they launched a vicious and unprovoked attack against the rest of the south attacking and conscripting the eastern minorities , storming the Mid-West and attempting to enter yorubaland through Ore to capture it. Thankfully they were stopped in their tracks by the gallant efforts and courageous fighting skills of the Third Marine Commando (which was primarily a yoruba force and which was under the command of the great Colonel Benjamin Adekunle, ‘the Black Scorpion’), prevented from entering the west, driven out of the Mid-West, pushed back into the East, defeated in battle after battle and were eventually brought down to their knees and forced to surrender to the Federal forces in Enugu.
The igbo and their Biafra fought Nigeria and killed Nigerians for 3 hard years in that brutal civil war in which over one million courageous, loyal and faithful sons and daughters of the Federal Republic lost their lives at the war front trying to stop Biafra from seceeding from the federaration, from taking our land and from taking the minority groups of the Mid-Western Region and Eastern Region and our newly-discovered oil with them. Yet despite our massive casualties and the monuemental loss of life that the Federal side suffered (a total of 2 million died on both sides) the igbo people were welcomed back into Nigeria after the war with open arms.
Yet it was only in yorubaland and especially in Lagos that they were given all their ”abandoned property” back and welcomed back as brothers and sisters without any reservations or suspicions whatsoever. Everywhere else in the country for many years they were denied, deprived, shunned, attacked, killed, discriminated against and humiliated but never in the southwest or Lagos. It is the igbo people more than any other that have complained about marginalisation in Nigeria, forgetting that there is no other country in the world in which there was a major civil war and yet only 10 years after that war ended the losing side produced the Vice President for the whole country in a democratic election in 1979 in the distinguished person of Vice President Alex Ekwueme.
Some have described my submissions in this debate as being ”inflammatory” and have claimed that I am ”not a true progressive” for making them. I reject these labels and I wonder whether those people that conjured them up described the comments of my dear friend and brother Chief Orji Kalu as “inflammatory” and whether they labelled him as ”not being a true progressive” when he erroneously claimed that the igbo generated 55 per cent of the revenue and owned 55 per cent of businesses in Lagos and that they are effectively the owners of the state. Unlike most of those that are attempting to label me and brand me as a tribalist I know the history of Lagos and the yoruba very well.
We will not let anyone poison the minds of our yoruba youth or dispossess them of their heritage by keeping silent when we witness the irresponsible and dishonest propagation of the most desperate and despicable form of historical revisionism that some igbo leaders are suddenly churning out. If anyone thinks that they can intimidate us into keeping quite when their leaders say such things then they will have the biggest shocker of their lives. We shall not be silenced and they shall not pass. Lagos and the yoruba generally have much stronger historical, cultural and trading ties with the bini, the itsekiri, the uruhobo, the isoko, the hausa-fulani, the tapas, the nupes and the ijaws than they do with the igbo. The input of those other major ethnic groups to the development of Lagos and their stake in her is far greater than that of the igbo. Whether anyone wishes to accept it or not that is the bitter truth.
We will not let anyone distort history and we will not keep silent when we hear the irresponsible and disrespectful effusions of those that seek to substitute truth with falsehood. When it comes to Lagos it is time that everyone respected themselves and knew their place. The igbo particularly should display a much higher degree of respect and gratitude to those who were gracious enough to accept them in their land as equals when things were very difficult for them and who treated them with love, respect and kindness after the civil war when hardly anyone else was prepared to do so.
We the yoruba have accomodated others in Lagos and throughout the south west and we have let them live in peace for the last 100 years. As a matter of fact we have been glad to do so because as far as we are concerned that is one of the hallmarks of civilisation- the ability to accomodate other faiths, other cultures, other races and other nationalities and to create an equitable and just racial melting pot where equal opportunities are available to all. It is a great and noble virtue to be open and tolerant but that does not mean that we are fools and it does not mean that we do not know who we are, where we are coming from, what is ours and what our heritage is. The fact that we have allowed others to thrive and settle in our land and share it with us does not mean that we have stopped owning that land. The suggestion that Lagos is a ”no-man’s land’ and that the igbo or any other nationality outside the yoruba generate up to 55 per cent of it’s revenue or business is absolutely absurd and frankly it has no basis in reality or rationality. It is not only a dirty lie but it is also very insulting.
Guests, no matter how welcome, esteemed, cherished and valued they are, cannot become the owners of the house no matter how comfortable they are made to feel within it. Those guests will always be guests. Lagos belongs to the yoruba and to the yoruba alone. ALL others that reside there are guests, though some guests are far closer to us than others. The igbos are the least close, the most distant and the least familiar with our customs and our ways. They ought to be the last to be claiming our heritage and coveting our land and neither can they claim to have made any real input to our glaring success. For them to think otherwise is nothing but delusion.
Mr Fani-Kayode I think u should focus more on the case the EFCC has brought against you and stop fanning tribal flames, u are supposed tobe educated but u have just performedd act of an ignorant man.please we aere nigerian 1st. Tribe2nd
You are wrong, John, we are first children of our parents to become a Nigerian. I am firstly and laways a Yoruba man, a race i have always been proud of. Soutrhwest governors are busy working now while ur people are fighting over river state. I hope u people will not wake up one day and claim Osun state as well…
This is a lovey write up by Femi Fani-Kayode….its notin but d truth,even though we all claim one nigeria bt “land doesn’t belong to a father and his son without demarcation” Lagos belong to d yoruba race and Nigeria as a whole
publish my email please. feminism kayoda has time without number shown his hatred for the igbo people so am not surprised with his vomit of his. well i believe this article of his is a result of envy as am sure by now he must have seen that the igbos are actually dominating not only Nigeria but Africa. in lagos which of course is a no man’s land igbos have over 45% of houses there. the yourbas are lazy and poor and also dirty. fool like femi kayoda who sould be cooling off their empty heads in kirikiri because of his looting of the aviation funds can’t deny what God made us be. any Nigerian outside Nigeria that is super rich us an igbo man….coming to the line of education the criminal fool kayoda should be reminded that the first African mathematian is an igbo man in person of chika obi and also igbos make up of 55% of Nigerian students abroad….i laughed when he talked about commerce who dash ofe nmanu brain for business in case he doesnt know igbos are incharge of nigeria’s commerce as we make up 56% of industrialists and 85% of importers. individually an igbo man has an automobile factory and the yourbas are busy doing alaye in lagos..kayoda if u like it or not only igbos are meant by nature to be bigger than the yourbas….kiss my ass.
shut ur mouth, u people are so domineering and display utter diregard for other ethnic groups, “everything has to be about you”, if you people are behaving like this now I wonder what will happen if one of you becomes the president, u can never allow another ethnic group to thrive in “your” own states but you lay claim to other people’s property, what do you mean by “no man’s land”? can a yoruba man say that in onitsha? you should know your place!
Okafor let’s face reality FemI fani Kayode is talking sense but truth is very bitter. Pls let’s accept and move forward. Thanks
chidi u amuse me,what sense was he talking?i cannot believe my ears when this young man was vomiting in the name of talking,he said it was only in lagos that our properties where returned to the igbos to start their lives,mr kayode should be in prison now for squandering billions of naira under his tutelage while under faan,he should ask his father if the igbos where giving their properties if not 20 pounds to those that own mansions.he almost piss me off when he said that the igbos that fought with bare hands killed millions of nigeria,he also forgot to realize the obvious that igbos are a force to recon with in lagos state.i read all ur statistics and i did nt see where u mentioned the first people that welcomed the yorubas after betraying their brothers igbo,fani kayode is a nuisance as long as i am concern,if nt,hw can an educated fool like him be making all this unguarded renditions without recourse to nigeria unity?infact i will furnish this guy with nigeria history,maybe while he was in school,he always sleep off,when lecture is going on……
Stop hiding under the guise of an Igbo name to talk rubbish, use your real name please.
de global boss you are very stupid
You have demonstrated the “Igbo” arrogance and abusive lifestyles. This is supposed to be a lively intellectual discourse. Hurling insults and causes with unsubstantiated statistics is the hallmark of an illiterate race like Igbos.
Is unfortunate dt issues were raised bt not addressed. Instead personlity attacked. Don’t chase d shadow nd forget substance. U ar petty, address the issues Fanikayode raised nd d abuse.
publish my email please. feminism kayoda has time without number shown his hatred for the igbo people so am not surprised with his vomit of his. well i believe this article of his is a result of envy as am sure by now he must have seen that the igbos are actually dominating not only Nigeria but Africa. in lagos which of course is a no man’s land igbos have over 45% of houses there. the yourbas are lazy and poor and also dirty. fool like femi kayoda who sould be cooling off their empty heads in kirikiri because of his looting of the aviation funds can’t deny what God made us be. any Nigerian outside Nigeria that is super rich us an igbo man….coming to the line of education the criminal fool kayoda should be reminded that the first African mathematian is an igbo man in person of chika obi and also igbos make up of 55% of Nigerian students abroad….i laughed when he talked about commerce who dash ofe nmanu brain for business in case he doesnt know igbos are incharge of nigeria’s commerce as we make up 56% of industrialists and 85% of importers. individually an igbo man has an automobile factory and the yourbas are busy doing alaye in lagos..kayoda if u like it or not only igbos are meant by nature to be bigger than the yourbas….kiss my ass fool kayoda
@Franklyn, You are the most daft person i have ever read message from, very primitive in thinking. You deserve to be cage with animals in zoo. Read your comment again and see stupidity all over your comment. Tell me if any of you so called super rich ibos are recorded by Forbes or anywhere in the golden book of rich people, I blame you not because you are brought up with lies and fabrications. If Fani -Kayode suppose to be in jail, Please tell me where Uzor Kalu suppose to be? Can you see that you are daft. You said lagos is no -man land. Go there and lay claim to Ikeja or Ikoyi because lagos is a no- man land. You are fist grade ERANKO.
can u mention one thing that orji uzor kalu did that will warrant his going to the prison?incase u did not know,his many sins are that he supported obasanjos ambition when he came out prison with no help.as an igbo man his business was kicked out of nigeria and till today,he is still surviving.what have u not done so that igbo people will face extinction but all your efforts are in vain.have u sat down to reason this,how come these people that were slaughtered for 3years without fighting back are so domineering that even ur obas are being afraid of them now…go to igbo land.there is no sign of war,to show u that GOD is intrested in anything that concerns the igbbos
Lucia.i used to stay in the east. I left cos of their hostility to visitors. No none igbo can thrive there . Maybe insouthsouth but not southeast. I know what I m saying. Then its rude calling lagos no man’s land.
ronkie or rookie,GOD know u are lien.in nigeria,igbos are the only tribe that does not support evil being done to anybody in the name of not being an indigene, i can give u 3 yoruba names that are working in big hotels in the east,i do nt want to mention the names of this hotels so get a life.stop talking for talking sake,be truthful with ur assertions
Ibos survive even in the harshest climate as we have always done in this so-called “one Nigeria” filled with perpetual envious, hating, “federal treasury looting”, tribal ember fanners like femi kayode and his likes. well, sure Lagos belongs to the Yoruba no doubt.but that’s besides the point, what has been said is that you don’t have a choice but to accord adequate respect to the this people that have contributed over 50% to the development and continuous sustenance of the economy of your dear state. invest in iboland half as much as the Ibo has invested in your land and see what respect and honour will be accorded you. my brother THAT IS THE HARD TRUTH, stop building blocks of war you educated fool.
okafor franklyn you are animal not meant to be living with people
@Okafor! You claim to be informed and you cannot even construct good and correct English. I pity your life. Can any of your government in the East ever use a Yorubaman as a Commissioner or Director. Go back and do your research. You need Education. Real one
Samson tell me how many of your business men can invest in the east what the Ibo business men invest in the west. they where made commissioner and director so as to tap from their industrious reservoir, simple
@NDU, Sentiments apart, a foreigner would only readily invest in a clime he finds condusive. One can never invest in a region where he is afraid of the possibility of benefitting from its return. I’m sure that says a lot, if you’re deep enough.
This piece reeks of hatred… The Yorubas are tribalists!! I am happy m nt yoruba igbo or hausa… The truth is d yorubas are the main ppl behind ds “tribalism” issue in Nigeria. They regard every oda tribe as minors, if u are not yoruba, to dem u are igbo, nt caring if u are or not.. They hate d igbos, I am boldly saying this, hw can Kayode say dere r no yorubas in eastern/southern states, wrong! There are lot of westerners in d east/south and they are never treated with vice or malice, they live freely and do whatever they please.. What’s wrong in anybdy who has stayed in lagos for a long time claiming “lagosian”? Put it as u want but there are more igbo industrialists, engineers and whatever dan yoruba ones, dere are lots of educated igbos, jst becos dey got more population dan yorubas doesn’t mean u shud classify all of em as illiterate traders cos of d few u see in d market… There are homeless yoruba beggars in d east, south, north, dey’ve nt been deported cos we r believing in “”one Nigeria”” the mistakes of her leaders past is what we r still trying to correct today but ppl like U just end up adding salt to injury.. We shud be thinking of ways to build this country of ours dan trying to further divide it.. Yorubas n Igbos shud stop ds stupid feud and try to accept each oda like brothers.. By the way, he shud be dealing with his efcc issue dan meddling in ds issue, if deres a debate, its nt a must u comment MR FANI KAYODE, “the yoruba god” f**king tribalist!
The man writting as fanny kayode is very stupid. He is claiming that everything in lagos belongs to the yoruba. I want to tell him that lagos was developed from the proceeds of the oil that came from another territory the niger delta and today lagos still derives from the revenue that accrues from oil. I have to remind him that the oil belongs not to lagos. Infact i dont have time for him because he is an idiot to hav said all he said. I dont have time for idiots.
Uc my brother..I read u said u have no time replying an idiot writeup like this from Fani,but guess what!,you already did and that makes you an idiot yourself one way or the other.my brother the truth is bitter,so kindly accept it the way it is!…that no igbo procreation can take the shit already been taken with pinch of salt all over southwest,for Christsake,what do you my igbo brothers want the people from the Bini empire to say over lagos,if you can say shit like this??????
The Igbos are ungrateful tribe & greedy,anywhere they are they want to grab everything without respect to other people intrest,if not how Kalu & his gang call Lagos No mans land?it show how shallow there brain is, can they allow any tribe to have hand in there states(southeast)? Igbos are the worst tribalist. I prayed they continue,they will be the one to lose.The Truth is really Bitter.The Yorubas are ready for them.
I thought this theft is educated???
Fool.
I laugh wen that fool talked Igbos claiming Lagos.. Why won’t they? Wen its clearlly they own evrytin lagos has today..
Talkin abt accomodting igbos? Ar u sirous? Dammmit, blv it or not if they igbo live lagos fall… Fashola has made the worst plitical mistak eva..
@Eze, You need to go back to school and understand English first before you can rubbish somebody who might not even be older than you and put up beautiful piece like this. You are a disgrace to your generation. Go and get yourself life. I will advice Ibos to leave Lagos and see if Lagos will fall. You deserve to be crucify because you are not representing your family well, Instead of you to go to school, You will be learning, serving master for years. I pity you Olodo .
You Igbo people have started again. Instead of you to ponder over what Kayode wrote, you are attacking him for daring to advice you of the consequences of your vituperations against the Yorubas. It is interesting that your generations did not witness the massacre that befell you during the civil war. You have continued to provoke the only tribe that treat you with respect. The Hausas kill and maim you everyday but you dare not talk to them anyhow. I blame the generosity of the Yoruba man which you people perceive to be cowardice. The very officer that defeated you during your senseless war was a Yoruba man. From the beginning as laid bare by Fani, you have been the one betraying the Yorubas. You have always been the aggressor and when they deal with you, you start writing rubbish. By the time the government of Lagos start a systematic annihilation of the Igbos in Lagos, you will start complaining. The Hausa people know you so much that they are ready to kill you at any slightest provocation. Your miserable elders who witnessed the Biafra war should call you to order before another calamity befall you. I rest my case
Am glad there’s one who thinks deeply here and address issues rather than attack personalities. We need to look inwards and not fight the wrong persons.
RIP English language
This is a nice one, you guys should please continue. I can’t wait for this country to be divided and the NIGER DELTA REPUBLIC born so that we can control our God-given resources and use it effectively for our good.
Fani kayode is simply tribalistic….now I know he is a Yoruba man and not a Nigerian. You are claiming to be the man of the people but hell No…
Kayode you have shown clearly how tribalistic yorubas atre. I have three words for you—Kiss my ass. Idiot.
Its unfortunate that criminals that supposed to be in jail can still be out there making inflammatory comments on ilegalities that is going on this country. No other tribe has ever demanded the stool of Obama of Lagos. Lagos has not seized to be part of Nigeria. When restrict a citizen from residing in any part the country he or she decides to live in, you’ve taken away the citizenship of that country from that individual. Where is the nationhood of Nigeria? Fani kayode there are a lot of Yorubas in the south east. In my own compound I built with my own money in the south east, a yoruba man is the caretaker in Nnewi. Please don’t sow your seed of hatred. All the building constructions in the south east has been taken over by the Yorubas and we love them.
Thank you for your write-up which is fair enough.An average Igbo man would want to control the World.
They are fearless and too daring and may be cunning at times.If Yoruba sleeps,God forbid,Lagos is gone.
Some years ago,they almost have an Igbo man as king in Festac.The havoc an igbo Man is causing in Lagos
is much.I am always suspicious of them.I don’t trust them an inch.Too selfish and desperate a tribe
The Yorubas must stand up and defend their heritage now.Tell the Igbo Man that there is no “one Nigeria”.
One Nigeria does not exist.If they are not ready to see themselves as tenants in Lagos and Yoruba land in
general,they better leave peacefully now.
The Yoruba leaders and followers should put away their differences and come together to stop the systematic erosion of their rights over their land.
If anyone is not happy about this write up, then proof otherwise or write your own. The truth will always remain the truth, no amount of propaganda or blackmail can change the truth. Change or live with it.
Why do we keep fighting over God given inheritance. This whole land (Nigeria) was given to us by God for His children to inherit. one man should not claim this possession because someday we will all leave the land and return to our father. Therefore, wherever one find himself (state,country etc), he should be allow to leave peacefully in his journey through. We are visitors on earth and we will return to Him(God) with nothing except our deeds either good or bad. This issue of who is or who not is the rightful owner of “no man’s land” should be the least of our worries.
Well am not surprised that is what they always do…when they fell in the national level they start to look for relevance in the local scene…just too bad that somebody with his exposure and education can be ranting that way…
I Love the Comment that every on commented to this article. I thank God that the so called man is not God, He would have finish everybody and Live alone. Well I’m glad to inform Him that as I’m writing now I have some yoroba people I accommodate in my house and feed them as well in Imo state. So mr Man take your Time! And stop dividing Nigeria for us. Is better God take you out from this Country to abyss so that Nigeria will be in Peace and UNITY
hahahahahhaha i laugh at the lazy yourbas. no be today igbos took over lagos…”it has dayed”… i love the fear in the yourbas now. i love the fearless nature of my tribe. even here in Freetown we are dominating Freetown. El rufia said we have more that 50% of houses in abuja. igbo kwenu. but wait oh are we draging lagos with ofe nmanu? don’t they see that during December when just 60% of igbos go home for Christmas lagos is dry and scanty.that tells you we the sons of Israel runs that shit….we even speak yourba as they do but few of them hear ibo. God made us great as igbos.
@Okafor, Yorubas are lazy and Ibos are hard working. Go and use your strength in building your village. Why can’t you use your thinking faculty and see beyond your noise. You people are taking the Yorubas generosity for granted and we have right cane for people like you. No other tribe can try and rubbish the Yorubas and if you think i am lying , Go and ask from from Ojukwu who acknowledge the strength in Yorubas. We are not loudspeakers and our silence kills faster. Those who witness the Civil war can testify. A word from Awolowo ends the years of gun fight with you people. Get that into your skull.
First of all,I would like to thank Mr.Femi for a well researched submission and cease the opportunity to ask him how his fellow friends at EFCC are doing. I must say that I am highly humbled by your submissions because of the facts raised here are quite true. In one of my interviews with Dr.Alex Ekwueme, it was very clear to me that the Igbo man often likes extension and development of a neighbour’s land as opposed to his. Being a free lancer and columnist here in the east,I have had the opportunity to visiting major capitals and cities in this east,virtually none of them can beat that of Lagos state and yet; these men lay claim to owning Lagos while their own land lie in waste. I am not in support of tribalism and truth be told,even though it is said we are one Nigeria;it is rarely the case in reality. So in line with calling a spade a spade and not shovel,Igbo men should begin now to learn that investments in one own’s land prides more than millions elsewhere. Whether they are contributing 55 percent to the IGR or not, the question is;in whose account? Who has the greater advantage? It still boils down to the owners of the land. In as much as I’m hurt by the submissions of Barr.Femi,I respect him a lot and look up to him as I study to become a colleague in the legal profession; its high time we all began minding our own businesses and paying more attention to the issues that really matter in the polity. Unemployment and poverty are raging us and in my candid opinion,if we are all to develop our land(especially the Igbos), if we put in at least 20 percent of all our efforts elsewhere into developing the east, we will be better off. And as I pray we stop the tribal sentiments,I humbly submit that we should shield our swords of tribalism…sorry “mumulism” and work hard for a better,bigger and brighter Nigeria for ourselves and generations yet to come.
This is a good write up that only people with sane mind will appreciate. If you claim that people hate you, Not one or two , Then i think you need to check yourself. The Ibos need to check where and what is really wrong. If they talk about Hausa, They say Hausa hate Ibos, Now it is Yoruba that hate you, Next tomorrow it will be Ebira. What the hell is really wrong with Ibo? A man with sound mind wrote something and gave you all the right to verify the fact only for some of the people i think are just and reasonable claiming the percent of Ibos in Super Eagles and so on, Is that not laughable? The Ibos are the enemy of Ibos, If you know that everybody hate you then i will advice you stay in your village and stop claiming all that is not yours because of your greediness and inferiority complex . If the fact is against you , I think a reasonable person we sit and think of the way out instead of blind argument i am reading here. Orji Kalu wrote his own comment without getting his fact rights only for some dull and empty skull to clap for him, where are we going in this country and the people who suppose to be holder of the staff of truth are not. The Yorubas are the most accommodating in Nigeria and the fact are all over to show. I rest my case, If you think you want to contend my words or want to abuse me because of this, I am waiting for you because i know you know how to abuse, You will meet me there.
@Andrew you may have a point on you write-ups but no matter how you deny it Igbos contribute a lot to what Lagos is today and also Yorubas are the second least accommodating set of people in Nigeria after the Igbos. i spent half of my life in Yoruba land and i can boldly say no matter how you speak Yoruba Language if you are not from any of their states you are not really among them. i’ve stayed in Igbo,Yoruba and Hausa states and i’m proud to say that apart from Niger-Delta people Hausas are the most accommodating tribes in Nigeria. The Igbos are the worst. they can rant all they want here but the truth is a yoruba man or any other tribe can’t owned the biggest super market in Aba or Onitsha. But an Igbo man can invest in any States in Nigeria and live freely. Is not because they are smarter or more business oriented than other tribes but is because other tribes have no wicked mind like them. You see a particular property you want to buy before you say jack an Igbo man has gone to meet the owner double the amount and left you hanging. I think is high time they started investing in their own state and stop making life miserable for other people in their own state. Curse me if you want but the truth is looking at you people.
My dear Kayode and Co, you people really missed it all, you have displayed your little knowledge about common facts in this hole matter. you all forgot that Lagos became relevant to all because it was made Federal Capital of Nigeria. The resources used developing Lagos came from the East, Lagos has no natural resources of any type. If the capital was not moved from Calabar to Lagos who would have been talking about Lagos and the Yoruba. I So Lagos is still a no mans land. You can not claim that other Yoruba states are better developed than the Igbo states.
2. for those saying the Igbos should stay back in their home states are big fools because you cannot change the destiny of Gods people because Igbos are all over the world like the Jews contributing their quota. In the USA alone they out number every other tribe in the hole of Africa not to mention other parts of the world. Another fact is that without foreign direct investment no region can experience any meaningful development. Ibos have invested hugely for the growth of Lagos and you can not turn around now call them names. That is how the yorubas are trying to take over Rivers state .
I agree the fact that western education started first in the Yoruba land but the Igbos have shown more leadership skills all field of life more than the Yorubas. so please check your facts before you put up your article for public consumption
Was Joseph not hated by the rest of his brothers, why? Jealousy. Nobody will envy a never do well, so he will never be jealoused. Jesus was killed by his own people because they were jealous of his greatness.
Leave fanny or what he is simply an idiot,stupid and mad by his useless an uninformed writ up he simply tell nigerians that he is a bush he goat begging for money from lagos gov.anu ohia
Never before have I read a bigoted account of someone who ought to be learned. I know better now. Trash
Well, I have listened to every comment in this forum but my advice is that we should respect one another and accept the facts that WE ARE ONE ANOTHER’S STRENGHT and every part of the body is important. It is illegal, unconstitutional and unacceptable for the Lagos State Governor to deport Igbo’s or any other Nigeria citizens back to his State and Igbo’s are great and important people in Nigeria just like any other tribes. Our enemies are poverty, hardship, corruption, illiteracy, sicknesses, ignorance and stupidity and not Hausa man, Igbo Man or Yoruba man.
Point of correction, nobody depoted igbos, its is called resettlement. If you dont know the meaning, pls ask.
it is deportation because there were taking away against their wish and with no charges against them. not ruled by the court or decide by party of other states govt. you have discrimination tendencies, and sounds like you are a crime supporter.
Gbenga note that resentlement is an agreement between the parties involved but this case is a different one because it was done without notice, agreement,consent,consultation or conditions, SO OLUGBENGA BE RESEASONABLE FOR YOUR PERSONAL INTEREST and call a spade a spade
Ifeanyi i appreciate the fact that you understand what ressettlement means. Are you aware that Lagso State notify Anambra State Government of there intention to ressettle some of there citizen back to there state? Are you also aware that this people involve signed a document that they prefer to be ressetled? Are you also aware that other states like Osun, Oyo, Kano, Ogun etc suffer thesame fate as this ones? Are u aware that there are laws in Lagos State that forbid street trading etc. These are fact so pls lets be reasonable and understand the plight of Lagos State Government. Just recently, River State Government did same thing. For the mere fact that we are one nigeria does not mean that we dont have boundaries. I see that u are reasonable to some extent and i want you to pound on these points
this man took his time to write this thing,almost 3 page of meticulos writing… it show the true hatred and fear the yorubas have for the igbos… as long as it is one nigeria ,you will see more of us. kill us,deport us,destroy our businesses,do anything u like to us,ANYI NO YA.
With all due respect to all, it is my humble submission and in truth i say that the Igbo’s are actually quite a self centred people by nature, putting much emphasy on material things. If however we really wish to find out the facts about this debate, i suggest an online forum should be established wherein members of the general public can vote or air views for or against this issue arising; with the aim of dousing the effects of the dangerous event foergone but not forgotten.
I’m really enjoying this heated debate between ibo and Yoruba at least coz hausa is not involved. But I must say that Yorubas are either not intelligent, stupid or they are just cunning. How could they be deviating from the obvious mistake or intentional tribalism, assault, injustice and non application of due process as an odious act perpetrated by a Yoruba son and a lawyer for that matter Gov Fashola; and keep initiating new claim of who owns Lagos which I don’t see the Ibos claiming. The
@Hassan You need to get your fact. Did you not ear Uzor Kalu statement that Ibos are bonafine citizen of lagos state. What happen in lagos state is not depotation, it is called ressettlement and several state government are doing it. For example, Rivers state, Cross River State etc. This people are destitute and many states have being the victim of this action including nothern state and even south west. Why must there own be different.
Please be matured & try to REASON WITH Fani Femi Kayode, he may be insane, but he has spoken the HOLY TRUTH. We should learn to know about our past by learning & doing research on historical events, so that they can help guide our future.
IGBO’S ALWAYS LIKE TO PLAY OTHERS FOR A FOOL. THEY ALWAYS LIKE TO MAKE PEOPLE & THE WORLD BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE THE VICTIM HERE.
Nigeria is becoming too tolerant of this loud mouth and basketmouth called Fanikayode. How dare he say that Lagos belongs to the yorubas? Is he so daft that he does not know that Lagos is a former capital city of Nigeria and as such belongs to all Nigerians? Where was he when Nigerians (especially south east and south south people) were building Lagos? Where was this fool called fanikayode when south east and south south oil money was being spent to develop Lagos? The truth remains that Lagos belongs to all Nigerians. Fanikayode and his supporters can go to hell if they don’t like this fact. Nimcompoops!
THERE WAS NEVER NIGERIA!!!!! WE WILL ALL SOON REALIZE THIS, I HOLD NO GRUDGE FOR THE WRITER BUT HIS WRITE UP IS VERY DISHEARTENING….
I’m really enjoying this heated debate between ibo and Yoruba at least coz hausa is not involved. But I must say that Yorubas are either not intelligent, stupid or they are just cunning. How could they be deviating from the obvious mistake or intentional tribalism, assault, injustice and non application of due process as an odious act perpetrated by a Yoruba son and a lawyer for that matter Gov Fashola; and keep initiating new claim of who owns Lagos which I don’t see the Ibos claiming. The more or first educated, the richer, the first to plot coup, the cause of Nig civil war and all that useless and baseless assertions are not but devious inflamatory words by an empty, dubious, fraudulent Femi Fani Kayode who’s merely seeking cheap favour, sympathy and recognition from the Yoruba people while expecting unnecessary notice and regard from great Ibo men like Orji Kalu who are in no way his class, level or mate.
From my objective and constructive study of write ups, points, opinions and observations, the Yorubas are merly pursuing shadow leavinng the substance! The Ibos are maintaining that their rights as humans and as citicizens of Nigeria should not be jettisoned although I disagree with them that Lagos is “no man’s land”. However the bitter truth which must be told to the Yorubas is thhat they should stomach their age long pride, selfishness, greed, prejudice, shrewdness and go ahead to right the wrong meted out to helpless innocent Nigerians by admittance of Fashola that he did the wrong thing; apologies to Ibos in general and in particular. Then apply reasoning and tolerance in Yorubas dealing with other ethnic individuals living in lagos because Lagos as once Capital Territory should be neutral. Even the developments in lagos was by the concerted efforts of all Nigeria before Abuja came up and the oil and gas money spoke. Be wise and just for you shall one day be answerable; be you Ibo or Yoruba!
After reading all your comments,I would love to add this, I wouldn’t like to criticise fani kayode or fashola,both are entitled to their opinion and there’s an iota of truth in what fani kayode said but the truth is that de igbos are not lazy people. We have been marginalized or sidelined for years but yet we still proved to be jewish,I doubt if any yoruba person pitches his tenth in de northern part of naija. @andrew being sarcastic doesn’t show any maturity of you,I think you should find out de reason why fed govt refused to dredge the one and only river niger that runs through the east, if that is done,I bet you that no igbo race would remain in lagos
Hmmm, I am an igbo man but really not proud to say so. We ve made our mistakes and yet we still do not learn from them. It is only wen u insult your self that you give others the previlage to insult u, truely we ve no stand in dis debate cos back home we have not done well at all. I use dis opportunity to beg ma brothers and sisters of the igbo community, if u feel u can’t go home and develop your place, then pls try and humble your seif for we r truely in another man’s land and so we should be humble. ……. There is nothing like 1 nigeria. Pls let’s stop dis rubbish and make corrections.. Thanks.
Not only igbos were deported from Lagos,evn ppl from other part of the west.so y d noice.I am a copper serving in Enugu.Amfrom d west.But,hmmmm.igbo ppl r not accomodating at all-selfish ,likes money and self centred.Evn in d church….Infact I can’t wait 2 leave..Most of d things dey do in d west,u dare not try it wth dem in thr own area…Igbo and money,Prostitution…hmmmmm
I was doing my NYSC in Ibadan, and I cant believe that Yoruba student, Ibadan and some ogun girls were doing prostitution in the nearby joints of the area I live, I hope u heared the news about that Yoruba girl that was doing prostitution and was held by ritualist, same Yoruba ritualist.
Hahahaaaa!!
The problem of this country are the so-called 3 major ethnic groups i.e Yoruba, Igbo & Hausa. If I have my way u all should be thrown in2 the atlantic ocean. U’re the reason Nigeria is still backward. Bunch of sadists, tribalists & bigots.
I wounder why, A matured man would say such a thing……… why is he claiming a land He did not create…….. God created heaven and earth for everybody….God did not asign a particular area of land to anybody…….. this is one problem with the yorubas, they fight for what they did not create… What is so special about lagos, yes i grew up in lagos but, i left lagos coz, it’s too rough …… I have a word for you people that send people away from a land you did not create…….. ” ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT WHAT GOES ARROUND COMES ARROUND”….. ” NOTHING LAST FOREVER”….
Common everyone, let me remind you that you are more than what you have become. You are a common patriot (Arise o compatriot), you are to serve your father’s land with love and strength and faith, you are to uphold and defend her unity against all odds. Let’s not try and remind ourselves of the past because it’s obviously not that good (our present is a reflection of our past) and the only way to take care of the future is by taking care of the present. Guess what the future will be if we don’t stop this hatred, greed and tribalism? (you know it!). I urge everyone to strive and be a part of the solution to a nation where peace and prosperity will forever reign in the eyes of her foes. I love Nigeria, I love you too.
i never wanted to say a word but i will mention state offices occupied by yorubas in the east, at Nwafor Orizu college of education, state owned, head igbo department is a yoruba man, head curriculum, is also a yoruba man, then in Abia state university, Anatech uli, Esut, Metrological onitsha and so many other offices in the east are been handled by the yorubas and they are not been treated in a bad way, Yorubas are not just wicked, they invented witches n wizard, and so many other bad thing just because of there laziness, they kill each other and till today i know of a yoruba man that has denounce yoruba and now live in Asaba, All his kids are married and they dont know yoruba as there home land. Its unfortunate that kayode, as a matter of fact, u lack all the ethics and conduct of a civilized man, and you still have a long way to go just like fashola. You all beat us the first time but this time, you all will go down because igbos are ready and wont go down again. Kayode should be in the pschiatrics hospital because hes mentallly and psychologically abnormal, I am proud to be an igbo man but you are not sure of your tribe when the what you are planning will start, i bet you, you are a loser! No tribe in Nigeria again can challege Igbos! be it anything! Lagos is what it is today because of igbos, if the federal government can give us port in our Niger in Onitsha, then lagos will suffer, because igbos are there because of that port! And they know that if they ever do it, igbos will never set there foot outside igboland. Kayode, this you write up is what we call, “do not try this at home” and am sure you wrote it under the influence of two things, EFCC or ALCOHOL. Please my fellow Biafrans and igbos, Kayode can never give us worries, we are his problem but the fact is they are afraid of division, cos they will lose completely. Long live Igbos!
These type of comment stair people away from the main fact we supposed to discuss here, first of all the writer Femi Kayode who is like a brother to me made a big mistake to as well stair away from the main point of the fact that brought him and others to all various types of comments of tribalism of both his and others making the main reason of his writes up very myopic. Now, there many people both Yoruba,Igbo and Hausa who are agents of tribalism and discrimination and have found Kayode’s comment as an awaking opportunity to combust their long quietness of angriness and eager to discriminates against each other saying things that don’t counts. The bitter truth is that the Igbo can claim to lagosians location of a place doesn’t mean that you inherit it, a collective contribution of an established entity is own by all the people who contributed in establishing it by many reasons and ways. Someone who was born in lagos can claim to a lagosian as well a Nigerian specifically. Lagos was a formal capital city of Nigeria, and was build by the federal govt using various resources nation wide, mainly the oil from the Niger~Delta/SouthEast, to lay the Lagos State fountain structure plans and social amenities and resources just like today in Abuja, so there must be a share and interchange of living in mainly every capital city which does not belongs to anybody or sub government, Fashola knows why he made an Igbo a commissioner, and non of you knows what is behind it, its not only a fact generousity, but an acceptance of inheritance that lagos doesn’t belong to Yoruba or Igbo. Migration is something constant and legal for any nigeria being an Igbo or Yoruba or hausa to migrate and own property anywhere in Nigeria, there are many Yoruba in Onitsha, Nnewi, aba , Enugu and Portharcourt and that is how it supposed to being it one Nigeria or not, afterall there’s a mosque in Owerri were i worship and place in owerri call Ama Hausa which means Hausa corridor. The Igbos are not chasing no out of the place as well and the Yoruba are free and welcome I am welcome to establish businesses in any part of Igbo people land, where I live in Owerri and school, the land lord is an Igbo a very nice peaceful man , the cleaner is Yoruba and the gate man is hausa and we never have any problems for 7yrs there. Well to stay focused to the main reason everybody argues, is to look at the deportation of the Igbo from lagos IS NOT RIGHT, Gov. Fashola made a huge mistake by deporting people, it matter whether Igbo or hausa, Efik, bini, Ibiobio, any person even Yoruba, my question is that will fashola deport a Yoruba to Ogun, or Ibado, so no man or tribe deservers mistreatments. LAGOS LAND IS POLDER’S LAND BY THE PORTUGESS SETTLERS AND AFTER THE WAR DUE TO ITS SWAMPY NATURE FACING THE OCEANS FRONTS, IT WAS NOT INHERITABLE NOT BY YORUBAS, HAUSA OR THE IGBOS, BUT THE IGBOS ARE THE ONE THAT ESTABLISH 60% OF IT, MADE LAND ON SWAMPS AND RIVERS AND PROPERTIES ON IT, IT WAS CHOOSE BY THE NIGERIAN GOVT FOR A SAFER SITE FOR CAPITAL CITY WITH NO NEIGHBORS AT THE BACK OF IT, AND THAT IS WHY IT WAS MADE THE CAPITAL OF NIGERIA FOR ALL NIGERIANS. SO, THE MAIN POINT IS THAT GOV. FASHOLA AS GOVERNOR OR CITIZEN OF NIGERIA IS WRONG IN HIS ACTIONS FOR DEPORTING THE IGBOS OR ANY NIGERIAN CITIZEN, AND THAT IS THE-BITTER-TRUTH FEMI KAYODE DIDNT SAY, AND FEMI KAYODE SHOULD UNDERSTAND THESE BEFORE ANY OTHER THING. SO, TALKING ABOUT COUPE OR WHO KILL WHO IN THE PAST MILITARY RULE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH DEPORTING PEOPLE FROM OTHER TRIBE TO THEIR LAND IN THE COUNTRY OF THEIRS. LOOKING AT THIS, ITS THE STARTUP TREND THAT WILL LEAD THE COUNTRY INTO A DEEP MESS, ECONOMICALLY AND POLITICALLY AND ITS SOO DISAPPOINTING THAT A WHOLE GOV. FASHOLA IS LEADING THESE ANARCHISTIC TREND OF LEADERSHIP LIKE THE NAZISM. AND SOME COMMENTS OR RESPONDERS HERE ARE MORE RELEVANT AND MADE MORE SENSE TO ME THAN THAT OF KAYODE, BECAUSE AT A POINT MY BROTHER KAYODE BECOMES VERY CHANTING AND ITS AN INSULT TO ME THE YORUBA BECAUSE HE MADE US LOOK NON PRODUCTIVE, LAZY, AND AS IF WE DONT CONTRIBUTE TO THE GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY. HIS COMMENTS ARE VERY ONE SIDED, AND VERY DIVERGING TO HIS OWN INTEREST AND TASTE TO FUNFIL HIS TASTE TO REVENGE IN SPEECH DISCRIMATELY AGAINST THE IGBO, IM VERY DISAPPOINTED TO YOU BRO.
THIS IS A MYOPIC AND DIVERGING STATEMENT. Let him come to Alaba or trade fair say this nonsense. Nobody is depriving the Yoruba people togo to other tribes or land build or establish business and or own a business or property. Femi Kayode is proving to the world that himself cannot be even an animal leader, just look at his bigoted fanatical comments of military era, nonsense and pointless. He devised these comment to lure us away from the bitter truth he didn’t talk about~ THE DEPORTATION OF IGBO PEOPLE FROM LAGOS TO ONITSHA HEAD BRIDGE AN ANARCHY , This is the bitter truth that he is trying divert your attention out of it, and unfortunately not all will resent to him or fall mugu to the bitter truth he diverted to say that Governor Fashola is leading a trend of leadership of anarchy and Nazism after the whole nation have suffered 50yrs of hausa~fulani oligarchy. Fashola must apologize to ndigbo. As for Kayode who made us to believe that he’s an off standing man. The Igbo have never prevent him from owning a property or business in Igbo land, rather his self deceiving mentality and louden laziness to succeed outside the versinity of his tribe have given a continuous nightmare which always lead him to a retarded comments to a continuous retorsions leading him into its own believe that made him a prisoner to its own ignorance . I think the properties and establishments of the Igbos and other establishments is a specimen or prototype he should look into to obtain some ideas to establish skills to succeed by following the foot step in business of any Igbos in Lagos and have it as a master copy, and learning tool for him to copy and learn to correct his disorderliness of laziness to succeed as every Igbo did in Lagos, we can connect him as he’s now jobless and needs an attention. We will never forget the Bitter truth he didn’t want say about the deportation of Igbo traders from Lagos to Onitsha by Fashola.
Fani Kayode is a disgrace to Yoruba people, hes a disgrace to us, entire Nigerians and society in general. Instead of being a good citizen against crime, and promotes peace of media, he’s on the media causing havoc and posting nonsense online for a country at stake. What will Yoruba people do now about lagos, the answer is nothing, our parents never teach or encourage us to nothing but study in london abroad, we were sleeping and being lazy around while the Igbo wakes up as early as 3am and fetch the wood in summer for raining season and they have succeeded in it, so who is to blame if the Igbos claimed lagos as no mans land, they established it, so its their property shikina. kayoed its unfortunate that you are also a tenant in the land you call your own. please look for smthng important to do than causing tribal havoc. IM YORUBA AND YOU ARE DISGRACE TO US. peace OUT.
Adebayo Balogun you are very stupid and i can see it you have lost your senses
WOOL OR WHAT EVER YOU ARE CALLED, KEEP SHUT.
Omo Ale Yoruba Nie
He is trying to stair up tribal sentiment with under tone towards his case with EFCC>
He never made a point concerning the deportation. All he brought out is the good yorubas does to igbos and not mentioning the bad they do to igbos too. And he never mention the good igbo does to yorubas. This is to tell you that kayode or what ever his name is called is selfish. Self centered and self praising. Am happy knowing that one day all the political system of this world will be remove by the Almighty God .( Read daniel 2:44)
I am a Yoruba but I must tell you that Kayode’s write-up can cause disintegration. He should focus more with his EFCC case rather than causing confusion in social media
Our father never taught us to be industrious. They only encourages us to study abroad. We are in university when the Igbos took over Lagos.
if you doubt me go to Island, Ago, Amuwo Odofin, Festac, etc and see how they are converting swamp to a dry land.
60% of the hospitality industry in Lagos is own by them.
they occupied barely all the markets in Lagos.
tag a property for sale Igbo Man will by it in seconds.
they are everywhere in Lagos. You can notice what I’m telling you when they travel during December period.
So my Yoruba brothers lets face the fact. Where are when Igbos took possession of Lagos! We are doing Alaye and Omolile.
Lets admit that we Yorubas are Lazy and face the fact. Soon Lagos will no longer be No Mans Land as they said but Igbo Land.
FEMI, Kayode is correct in whatever he has said. We Igbos should wake up from our slumber. My people have an adage ”ONCE BITTEN, TWICE SHY”, The this same people have refuse to learn from that same adage. I weep for Igbos who are busy claiming to be Lagosians. Come to think of it, what in the world is making them to forget their root? Nigeria is not one country. Nigeria is more than three countries and the earlier it separates into the different nations , the better for it.
One day Igbo Man will be the Governor of Lagos state and we Yorubas are busy parading in the street as Alaye.
kayode my Brother please go and finish your EFCC case and stop causing confusion in social media.
Why cant dis people develop there own town, why are they busy developing other peoples town. Fani-Kayode only remeind them of there past action and the result, they need to learn from the past. As for an Igbo man becoming governor of the state, forget it, it cant happen. This is a wake up call for Lagosian to take over what belong to them
Good write-up Femi. I hope the Igbo leaders will work on this. The trouble is, majority of Igbo people seems to lack wisdom. This is always demonstrated in the manner their indigenes make comments on issues, especially through this medium. The Igbos obviously do not want ‘one Nigeria’. I don’t understand why the rest of the nation is trying to hold on to them despite their dubious and unfriendly attitudes. The Igbo contributions towards the nation will continue to be barbaric. So let’s encourage their Biafran agitation and say bye-bye to bad rubish.
Hmm! I hail you my brother Fani kayode for that expository essay of yours.The truth is that igbo nation generally are funny people don’t mind them even in US the US Govt still accord the native americans(read indians) respect and preference being original settlers before arrival of the caucasians.
Reminding us what happened in the past is a draw back to Nigeria. Sheath your grammatical sword and like let all- Hausa,Igbo, Yoruba, Bini,ijaw,etc alike, work to lift the face of our country high among the comity of nations.
KALU OBINNA WAKE UP. THIS COUNTRY CAN NEVER BE ONE. I REPEAT, NIGERIA WILL NEVER AND CAN NEVER BE ONE. IF YOU LIKE BELIEVE ME. JOIN RRADIO BIAFRA LONDON FOR MORE TRUTH. http://www.radiobiafra.co
Igbo fail to lean from there past so its good to remind them so that they wont make thesame mistake again
After reading Dr kayode write up and comments before mine,I would infer that yoruba gentility is being taken for stupidity by the ibos.Our problem is that we can never speak with one voice for the interest of the race and it’s high time we openly confront the ibos for rejecting the babaloja appointment in ladipo market,we need to restrict them from participating in lagos politics.The unchecked migrations of the akpu laden brained people from the east must be nipped in the bud lest we become foreigner in our own land.We do not share borders,so why claiming lagos?We had an encounter with the benins over eko land before the 20th century and they gave up due to yoruba population influence and till date,benin can’t deny lagos as Yorubaland.They have always been jealous of yoruba as a sophisticated race, after indepence.They founded yoruba federal union YFU to counter action group AG which was a product of egbe omo oduduwa led by baba Awolowo to the detriment of their coalition in those days.Dr kayode has described most of their itches and they won’t feel remorse because jealousy and ingratitude runs in their veins.They said yoruba are cowards but they don’t know that the sneaking of a tiger is not a show of cowardice but sophistication.Due to dominance issues,our fathers have faught many wars within and outside our territory before the existence of our dear nation and we know the effect of war in both sides.So,stop heating the polity by claiming lagos or declaring the place as no man land due to Fashola resettlement action,rather,you should bite your fingers over abia versus imo indigenous workers sackings that happened before 2011 electi
ons.
Fani-Kayode is correct. How I wish my people, the Igbos will wake up from their sleep. I have always advised any Igbo and Biafrans that care to listen to stop buying properties in Lagos and other land other than the SE, but most times I sound like idiot to them. Very soon their eyes will clear. Many Igbos are brain washed and stupid. Sometimes I wonder whether they are under spell or what. If Igbos and Biafrans can not read the history, I bet they will repeat the history very very soon.
IMAGINE YORUBA PEOPLE INSULTING IGBOS. ARU EMEEEEEEEEEEEE. IGBOS WAKE UP FROM YOUR STUPIDITY. I SAY WAKE UP, THE NIGHT IS FAR SPENT. WAKE UP!, WAKE UP!!, WAKE UP!!!, NDI IGBO, WAKE UP!!!!
Mr. Fan-kayode, you unresearched easy about the Ibos is certainly not enough to launder your bastardized image before your kinsmen. The fact remains that you do not have the respect and integrity of speaking on their behalf, not for your role and utterances against the prominent sons of Oduduwa during your reign with baba Iyabo.
Can’t you see that every attempt to annihilate the Ibos, politically, commercially and socially by every government, tribe and persons in this country even with international conspiracies has always failed. This people have continued to prosper to the jealous and evil of all. I strongly believe this people are favoured tribe you nor Fashola’s government not even the Federal government can do anything to destroy.
Nobody is dragging Lagos with you and your children, we had only thought we could live together freely with you without being told we are aliens who have no freedom to life.
In as much as I am not a good fan of the Igbos, I believe this is a personal attack on them from the writer. Nigeria has a constitution which guarantees freedom of movement (although subject to some exceptions). I believe the constitution also permits any citizen of the country the right to live in any Part of the country they choose to live in. If Nigerians are angry at being deported from other countries, then how much more when we are being deported by ourselves. This is not good for this nation, most especially with all the crisis going on in Nigeria presently. This is a national issue and people should speak the truth about it. This is not about the igbos and the yorubas, it is also about the Hausas, the Edos, the Urhobos, the Ijaws etc. If the igbos are being deported today what is the guarantee that other groups will not be deported. Soon enough all states will start to deport. The issue should be looked into critically. I hope my comment will be published.
God bless you fani kayode! It very simple,you dont come into someone house and claim anything,i think yoruba’s are S̶̲̥̅☺ accommodating if not,this kind of argument will never have come up. ☀̤̣̈̇ː̖́Ɣes☀̤̣̈̇ː̖́ one nigeria,but you need know your limit,Å♍ yet to see any yoruba man claim they are the owner of Onitsha
Kayode is a myopic fool… I cnt believe dat a man of ur status can fall so low to talk and whine ignorantly like a depraved baby. Shame on you. It’s obvious dat you hate the Igbos. But sorry to disappoint you, Igbos will continually grow stronger and wealthier no matter what. Fool
Femi is saying the mind of every noble Yoruba person. How on earth can Kalu or anyone proclaimed Lagos to be a no mans land. The owner know himself and he is talking loud and louder. Truth is always very bitter but time will tell.
Can anybody say that Kano or Kaduna is no mans land? Even, Abuja now.
uzorma,point of correction the resources used to build lagos came from Agriculture.which crops did the east produce to build lagos. Fani Kayode said the truth,u either take it or leave it.
One problem with we Nigerians is that, We don’t learn from our past mistakes.. We claim to be right in all times even when we are wrong…. Talking about the case of Femi Fani-Kayode, I think the devil is just using him to cause more troubles in Nigerian because, when ever the devil wants to cause comotion he looks for the available person to carry out it’s mission…. I see the comments, If we are not carefull this will lead to ethnic fight… our youths will begin to fight and kill each other while, the so called Femi Fani-Kayode and it followers will sit and watch the youths fight themselves … DON’T LET HIM POISON YOUR MIND BECAUSE, LIFE NA ONE OO, E NO GET DEPLICATE….
God create heaven and earth to accomodate everybody… God did not alocate any area of land to a particular group or persons. LIFE NA PER HEAD SO, DON’T ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE USED BECAUSE EVERYBODY GET HIS OR HER OWN CROSS TO CARRY OOO. ……………….ONE LOVE MY PEOPLE
Is a pity that a man that suppose to b a role model to the youths is acting and behaving this stupid . Femi, what do you stand to gain from this rubbish write up?
This is what we ll get from APC . The devil u know, they said is better than the unknown Angel .
I laugh in vanacular when I went through some comments, its clear that some people are not educated they are only going to school!
If somebody takes his time to record facts about happenings when he’s yet to be born, I think he should b given credits to.
My dear people we are not fighting, if you know fani is lying why don’t u pick up ur pen and put down ur own accounts or side of d story!
To b candid with ourselves, he has just stated d truth and nothing but not the truth with refrences for the doubting thomases.
When you talk about business, I think YORUBAS are doing very well more than the IGBOS.
An average IGBO is a businessman that sell mostly clothes and nothing more.
Even ur natural resources u claim to have , yourubas are still doing better in the business (FOLORUNSHO ALAKIJA).
And when we talk of businessmen with world recognition, am sure u knw ADENUGA beats all IGBO businessmen.
So my people, let the people who are been deported go home and start their lives again and stop complaining.
Am sure not all the igbos in lagos were deported, those that were affected would have commited an offence or the order, and instead of their people to caution them against improper conduct they resolve in crititism
THE DEVIL IS CLEARLY AT WORK THROUGH KAYODE who is already the agent of the devil and 666. Pls my Yoruba brothers and sisters be wise and cautious! Let’s allow the govt or the law to take its rightful steps because what I’m seeing is a gradual originating of War between Yoruba and Ibo which might not favour us at all. IBOS I love and respect you; pls let peace reign! I was made who I a m by an Ibo man. Pls let us preach one Nigeria!
@Davies, prince, Cyprian u are all retarded and depraved! Alaye work will not help u, go to school and find better job so that u stop being malicious and envious of Ibos. Lazy baboons!
Like begets like. Fani Kayode, Chinua Achebe, Umaru Dikko are all cancers to a united people. People easily forget that wounds can easily be reopened,when tribal warlords beat the drums of war. Wat Fashola actioned, was of course unbecoming of a federal nation and is a deplorable action but many forget, there has been similar ethnic cleansing of Civil service in the East,of westerners in recent times. Both actions are wrong. In responding however,to above comments by many parading as Igbo bros (and pretenders) one dares to say,to suggest that the Igbos are superior to other tribes or hated is nothing but bunkum,really. As a matter of fact, in my views, no other tribe enjoys the level of hospatility across the nation the Ndigbo do. Their tentacles,without hindrance, spreads from Oke Padre in Ibadan, Alaba market in Lagos to the hinterlands of Hausa land and rightly so too. This hospitality,sadly is repaid the hosts (my many personal experiences of near fisticuffs at Ladipo and Alaba markets) with arrogance and expansionist plans. It is such arrogant and superioty personality mindset, manifested by the likes of James O James that sadly, has relegated my dear Igbo brothers to the backrooms of Nigerian politcal life,recently overtaken by the Ijaws and makes other tribes wary of them (many times unfairly). Like an old Igbo adage goes, when a handshake don pass elbow, e don become wrestling. Thankfully, there are many detrabalised fine, Igbo and Yoruba folks, who see others as they are and not through the myopic, tinted glasses of we vs them.
Like begets like. Fani Kayode, Chinua Achebe, Umaru Dikko are all cancers to a united people. People easily forget that wounds can easily be reopened,when tribal warlords beat the drums of war. Wat Fashola actioned, was of course unbecoming of a federal nation and is a deplorable action but many forget, there has been similar ethnic cleansing of Civil service in the East,of westerners in recent times. Both actions are wrong. In responding however,to above comments by many parading as Igbo bros (and pretenders) one dares to say,to suggest that the Igbos are superior to other tribes or hated is nothing but bunkum,really. As a matter of fact, in my views, no other tribe enjoys the level of hospatility across the nation the Ndigbo do. Their tentacles,without hindrance, spreads from Oke Padre in Ibadan, Alaba market in Lagos to the hinterlands of Hausa land and rightly so too. This hospitality,sadly is repaid the hosts (my many personal experiences of near fisticuffs at Ladipo and Alaba markets) with arrogance and expansionist plans. It is such arrogant and superioty personality mindset, manifested by the likes of James O James that sadly, has relegated my dear Igbo brothers to the backrooms of Nigerian politcal life,recently overtaken by the Ijaws and makes other tribes wary of them (many times unfairly). Like an old Igbo adage goes, when a handshake don pass elbow, e don become wrestling. Thankfully, there are many detrabalised fine, Igbo and Yoruba folks, who see others as they are and not through the myopic, tinted glasses of we vs them.
Historical FART! Kayode, you are XENOPHOBIC to NDI IGBO; a wave of STENCH to the GRACE of history as predicated upon your INGLORIOUS cum VAINGLORIOUS PROSAIC DOGGEREL. Scholarly, I do not know your capacity; but I want you to accept the fact that in HISTORY- national or international realm, I am more advanced and vast than ALL you claim you know. May God forgive you for all your LIES against the IGBOS. You are a TRAJECTORY to TRUISM!
Its good sometimes to let does golible so called igbo stupid bastad to know the fact and there stand in Lagos.they are ingreat.
You are wecome Mr Femi fani-kayode for your thoroughly and brutal frank about igbos.
ANY IGBO THAT IS NOT CERTISFY FOR WHAT FASOLA DID IN LAGOS SHOULD GO BACK TO HIS OR ARE OWN TOWN.
See ur grammar.. See tenses… Please its not a must to understand a post or comment…
if all d yoruba ppl in ds world decide to ignore d fact dat ds post reeks of mere hatred, well i can den conclude dt yorubas hate d igbos and for no reason… Jst d way anybdy can go to any state and buy a land or start a biz and develop is d same way d igbos have done, i have nt heard any igbo claimin any part of lagos or forcefully taking what is nt his in lagos so i fail to see hw they have turned lagos to theirs.. Hw can some of u say igbo states are wastes compared to lagos! U r makin a very bleek comparison, y nt compare all yoruba states like oyo ondo osun and d rest to enugu imo and d odas.. Lagos is a bit developd cos it was once a capital of 9ja and u cnt tell me dt its development was brought abt by d yorubas alone.. D igbos were main activist of 9ja’s independence and d yorubas and hausas too, u all shud be united and settle ds tribal war dt has been going on right frm d first coup And civil war, nigerian youths shud stop allowing themselves to be used as tools for tribal wars by ds greedy politicians while they get rich and still shake hands and dine wit d same ppl they are asking us to hate… We av a right and a voice, let’s use it to unite and fight for peace and oneness in our country instead of insulting and denting our different tribes.. Let’s learn to accept our differences and our pasts and live as one.. If u say dere can neva be one nigeria, then I don’t know if u were a mistake to nigeria.. Please do not let these ppl pass on a legacy of hatred for our fellow brothers unto us, let’s not accept this.. This is why we are getting educated, y we are learning so as to efficient in ds government, we must not be like dem steering disputes amond brothers instead of uniting and moving forward… Remember our fathers have already made a mistake but we can correct it if we stand as one.. The civil war in d long run was as a result of one tribe concluding that anoda is bad (dt was wat caused the war in summary) please let’s nt cause anoda war! Instead let’s build a strong wall of peace around Nigeria… M neither igbo nor yoruba but I’ve lived in both lands, they are good ppl. U can’t because of the wrong of one or two igbo/yoruba person(s) did to u, classify the whole tribe as bad.. By the way the igbos marry yorubas and vice versa, what are we teaching the offspring of such unions?? I must also correct Mr fani dat more “biafra citizens” were killed in d civil dan nigerians.. And also don’t just talk abt parts of the stories dat favored U n ur people, say the whole story and make better research.. Its just painful that nigerian students/youths n adults hardly invest in books……. I believe in Nigeria… Peace out
Fani power ride on pls,you’re a true son of odudua.Tell those bastards claiming others ppls land d truth.Infact, i hate those bush dogs called Igbos.
Gents please let us all embrace our tribe, tradition and culture irrespective of where we hailed from.
The basic truth is that the so-called Fani Femi Kayode is an Omo Ale Yoruba (Yoruba Bastard) and all of us should know that fact and deal with it squarely, instead of dealing with it tribally. Please let us all wise up and deal with that foolish man as an individual for his foolishness and utterances.
I enjoyed the write- up. Be educated, know history and learn from the past. Young people,know history now. He has researched well and I think we should leave sentiments aside. Igbos………….a word is enough for the wise. Caution the ways you open your mouth and talk. You guys are generally lousy and it shows the high level of illiteracy in you guys. Even those of you that went to school are still so crude in the way you think and act.