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Perhaps
I should also let you know that my own first contact with
the Aworis goes back to the early 50s and it was somewhat
indirect through my Uncle Jack Randle. His mother, Victoria
Randle was a. god daughter of Queen Victoria of England
who doted on her. She was educated at the famous public
school for girls, Cheltenham Ladies College and spent her
holidays with Queen, Victoria at her various palaces. On
his return to Lagos he decided to buy a farm from the Aworis
in Isheri and over the years he acquired more and more land
around that area (as well as Awori wives). Indeed, it was
he who persuaded my father to buy huge tracts of land in
the Isheri/Alausa axis. I am sure you will be delighted
to know that much of the land that serves as the seat of
power of Lagos State including the secretariat at Alausa
actually belongs to my Uncle Jack and my father. Our own
parcel of about two hundred hectares of land was forcibly
acquired by Lagos State Government but the government is
yet to meet our expectations as regards compensation. We
have been waiting for over twenty years while government
gives us the merry-go-round. This has given a somewhat begui1ing
slant to the often repeated slogan (among non-indigenes
of Lagos) that “Lagos Is No Man’s Land”!!
Let me add that the venue of this meeting, Eko FM Station
is part of the land which the government of Lagos State
seized from my family.
I
will not attempt to veer into the long-running controversy
regarding who is (and who is not) a Lagosian. Those who
have migrated to Lagos from different parts of Nigeria have
aggressively adopted the posture that since they have lived
in Lagos for several decades and their children were born
here, they are automatically Lagosians. However, Alhaji
Rafiu Jafojo the former Deputy Governor Lagos State insists
that, that is nonsense. According to him, Lagosians cannot
have what he calls “dual nationality” whereby
you live in Lagos but at festival time (Christmas; New Year;
Eid-el-Fitri, etc) you uproot yourself and your family to
“go home” (somewhere else) and even insist you
must be buried in your original home town/village while
claiming to be a Lagosian. Alhaji Sikiru Shitta-Bey, the
Seriki Musilimu (leader of Lagos Moslems) has been quoted
as saying that there is no problem, If you are a Lagosian
you will know and everybody else will know. Nobody will
ever need to ask.
The
guiding philosophy is “amora wa” (we know who
we are and we know each other).This is not much different
from Alhaji (Chief) G.K. Animashaun’s definition of
a Lagosian as someone who can point to his father’s
house or compound (“Agbole”) in Lagos. In addition,
he or she must be well-stepped in the traditions and culture
of Lagos. What is however remarkable is that our highly
esteemed Chief (Dr.) M. A. Majekodunmi who is the Mayegun
of Lagos and the President of Association of Lagos Titled
Chiefs declared last week, during the condolence visit paid
by Lagos Titled Chiefs to the family of the late Oba Adeyinka
Oyekan who died at the age of 92 on March 7, 2003, that
although he has been a Lagos Chief (and lived in Lagos)
for over fifty years, he would never claim to be a Lagosian!!
According to Chief (Dr.) Majekodunmi, he remains an “Egba
haun haun” - an Egbaman (from Ikereku, Abeokuta) to
the core. He said it with all solemnity in the inner sanctum
of the Oba’s Palace in the full glare of the assembled
Chiefs-both” white cap” and traditional chiefs.
At
any rate, the central issue remains that even amongst the
genuine Lagosians-be they Aworis or otherwise, there is
so much divisions (and mistrust). We cannot even agree amongst
ourselves about who we are and what we stand for, not to
talk of what enduring values we wish to pass on to the next
generation. The price we have had to pay has been a heavy
and crushing one. Perhaps we need to be reminded that when
the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo was putting together his
first cabinet in the Western Region about fifty years ago
(while Lagos was part of the Western Region), there was
nobody from Lagos in the first published list.
It
took the protest of Chief Bode Thomas and the intervention
of Dr. Akanni “Daddy” Doherty to ensure redress.
Chief Awolowo is alleged to have dismissed the matter as
a non-issue as ‘Lagos has nobody”!! He was eventually
persuaded to include a representative from Lagos. The mantle
fell on Chief C. D Akran, from Badagry who was given the
exalted position of Minister of Economic Matters. By all
accounts he did an excellent job and in return Chief Awolowo
accorded him great respect in addition to generous commendations
of his judicious management of public funds which enabled
the government to execute major projects which have stood
the test of time from roads to hospitals, schools, industrial
estates, hotels, television stations, etc. If nothing else,
the Government of the Western Region demonstrated its commitment
to meeting the expectations of the people over whom it ruled.
In fairness to Chief Awolowo, what actually happened was
that in the 1953 elections, all the seats in Lagos were
won by the opposing party – NCNC (national Council
for Nigeria and the Cameroon) under the leadership of Dr.
Nnamdi Azikiwe. Under the constitution only those who were
elected could be eligible for appointment as ministers (since
ministers were expected to be members of the Regional House
of Assembly). Hence, only Oba C.D. Akran who actually contested
(and won) election as a member of the Action group from
Badagry Division into the Western House of Assembly was
qualified for appointment.
Lagos
has not always failed to live up to the expectation of its
people. I am confident that our Chairman will readily confirm
that the Kings College of his time ranked with the best
anywhere in the world. The College hired excellent teachers
and admitted only the brightest students in strict order
of merit regardless of where they came from. If my memory
serves me right, in 1955 eleven out of the forty available
places went to just one school in Lagos – St. John’s
School, Aroloya. Some of the names were Musibau Fashanu,
Akanni Folorunsho, Babajide Fujah, Femi Lewis, Ladipo Otuntunloro,
Femi Sowemimo, Abayomi Odufolaju, etc.
At
that time, and for many years afterwards (until the military
took over and ruined everything) the Principal/headmaster
of Kings College was paid salary and allowances that were
closed to or sometimes higher than what was paid to ministers
and permanent secretaries. Now, the college is a sorry sight
with vastly over-crowded dormitories and classrooms, as
well as toilets that are disgracefully overflow with effluence/human
waste. In such circumstances, the first casualty is inevitably
academic excellence followed by discipline and sound character.
It
might also be worth recalling that Lagos performed woefully
in managing even the handful of officers it produced in
the military (army, navy and airforce); police and the other
arms of the security services e.g. State Security Services,
Military Intelligence, Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency
(NDLEA). Everything went by default. There was no cohesion.
I am not aware that anybody ever sat them down to tell them:
“This is the interest of Lagos” in clear terms,
which must be protected at all, times, (without understanding
the national interest). Our northern brothers were certainly
much more adroit in proclaiming “the northern interest”
and ensuring that everyone toed the line. Every Lagosian
who attained whatever senior rank felt no obligations to
pander to the interest of Lagos. Indeed, some of them were
reported to have demanded: “Was it Lagos (or being
a Lagosian) that gave me my rank?” They really did
not believe that they owed any allegiance to Lagos not to
talk of ensuing that they were instrumental in creating
similar opportunities for other Lagosians, particularly
the obviously disadvantaged Aworis.
If
we are truly sincere about getting to t he root of the neglect
tha has devastated Lagos, we have to go back a long time.
We have to mentally shot our eyes to the present situation
where chaos and disorder rule supreme. You may need to take
a walk to Tinubu Square, right in the center of the city
to witness the extent of our decay and decadence. The water
fountain is a joke: the “area boys” (street
urchins and thugs) are in control and are brazenly intimidating
everybody; the street traders have virtually taken over
the street; the traffic is totally blocked; there is no
such thing as a through fare – you can spend the whole
day just going round in circles in your frantically searching
for an entrance or an exit.
In
broad daylight, it is not an uncommon sight to see stark
naked madmen (and madwomen) strutting their stuff and even
attempting to take over the control of traffic.
Beggars
and their tiny aggressive kid hustlers have taken over the
magnificent Lagos Marina and virtually every cross-road/intersection
or roundabout particularly where traffic lights have been
installed and motorists are compelled to stop. Adults and
kids urinate openly and defecate in public with only t he
barest attempt o disguise their intention. Even Victoria
Island, which was meant to replicate Ikoyi and was originally
designed for owner-occupiers (of single dwellings) has become
an eyesore and has dragged Ikoyi along into a self-inflicted
jungle of suffocating fumes, over-flooding and ironically
water shortage simultaneously. Every now and again you can
hear the exchange of gunfire between the police and marauding
armed robbers. You do not need two guesses as to who holds
superior gun power and “the weapon of mass destruction”.
We
can of course; go on ad infinitum about what has gone wrong
with Lagos. However, what we require are answers to questions
and solutions to problems. Indeed, we also need knowledge
as to how we got into this mess. To my mind, the single
most important factor is that within one generation, we
took a giant leap into darkness by moving too rapidly from
a tightly controlled environment under the colonial government
(with its strict adherence to law and order to a cavalier
military regime where those who were charged with maintaining
the law and order were the first to break it!! Even now,
we are daily confronted with official government cars, military/police
cars, and all sorts of dignitaries with escort cars (or
pilot vehicles) blaring their siren and flashing overhead
lights-either bulldozing their way through the traffic or
driving in the wrong direction.
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