By Bayo Oluwasanmi
The last eight years or so in Nigeria had to convince even the doubting Thomases that we have not been living in normal political times. With a paralyzed leadership, most Nigerians have had their intelligence vacated or ruptured. The thinking of some Nigerians has been damaged severely and severally. All these contributed to the distortion of the history of Lagos.
Not long ago, Dotun Hassan, Secretary General of Nigeria Ethnic Nationalities Youth Leaders Council, was interviewed on Arise TV.
Rufai Oseni, the self-appointed Arise inquisitor and judge, arrogantly and adamantly asked Hassan, “You said Lagos is a Yoruba land. Are you sure about that and you want to contest this?”
The claim by Oseni and other historical distortionists that Lagos is ‘no man’s land’ is not only a disgusting fabrication, but idiotic and senseless. I do not need to bore you with a compendium catechism history of Lagos. The following fundamental questions about Lagos will prove distortionists as preachers of satanic verses.
Geographically, where is Lagos situated? Is Lagos located in Igbo, Hausa, Fulani, or Yoruba land? The Yoruba name of Lagos is Eko. What is the Igbo name, Hausa name, Fulani name, etc., of Lagos? What ethnic customs, traditions, and other elements of culture like Eyo Egungun festival do we have in Lagos? Are they Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Fulani? Take a look at the descendants of Lagos: the Olofin Ogunfunminire descendants, Aworis, the Asipa descendants, the Aguda descendants, the Saros of Ehingbeti, the Ijebus of Ikorodu and Epe, and the Egun of Badagry, to mention a few.
Consider the following institutions and traditional rulers: the Idejos, the Ogalades, the Apagbons, the Akarigbos, the Eleko of Eko, the Olu of Ikeja, the Akran of Badagry, the Oniru of Iruland, the Elegushi of Ikateland, Onikoyi of Ikoyi, the Olu of Mushin, the Onijanikin of Ijanikin, the Onitire of Itire, the Ojora of Ojora land, Oba Igbobi Sabe, the Olori Eleyo, the Aboores, the Osugbos. The list goes on. Does any of the names belong to Igbo, Hausa, or Fulani ethnic groups? Lagos is a Yoruba land!
Illiterates like Oseni and his co-distortionists, who argued that Lagos is no Yoruba land use ornate and beautiful language to distort history. They are manipulators and mis-interpreters of events according to their political or social leanings or their affiliation with sectionalism, and ethnic and ruling classes. These distortionists try to recreate or rewrite history based on rumors and gossip. Their overall objective is to pollute people’s minds and create false historical consciousness which misleads them. They use disinformation and lies to change history.
The vacuum resulting from the unfruitfulness of unprincipled reasoning and flawed analysis further exacerbates and exhumes the historical petty jealousies and acrimonious rancor among the different ethnicities. It is disappointing, to say the least, that people like Oseni and the rest distortionists are not able to fully isolate themselves in majestic objective, intellectual solitude from beer parlor rumor jesters who shout at the rooftop that “Lagos is no man’s land.”
Oluwasanmi can be reached at bjoluwasanmi@gmail.com
