By David Kabiyesi
President General of apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr. Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has stated in clear team that Igbos should not be deceived into believing that Lagos State is no man’s land.
Fielding questions from reporters after one of the engagements with Igbo leaders in Ikoyi, Iwuanyanwu warned Igbos in Lagos to see themselves as visitors because the state does not belong to them.
Before 1914 when Nigeria was amalgamated, Igbo had started coming to Lagos. When Igbo started coming to Lagos, there was no Ikoyi, most of Ikoyi was riverine. There was no Victoria Island, there was no Lekki.
“Igbo are part of the development in Africa and Lagos. Right from the time the first railway lines were built, Igbo were here. There is no way anybody can talk about the development of Lagos with all honesty and exclude Igbo.
“When you talk about Lagos, some Igbo have lived in Lagos since their grandparents began living here, which is as far back as 1914. The truth about this thing is that we have a character in Igboland which makes us different. We know that we have a home and our home is in Eastern Nigeria. Wherever we go, we know we are visitors, and we have never gone anywhere to claim their land. Every Igbo man who owns a property in Lagos does so legitimately.
“We have not come to preach a sermon that God gave us the land in Lagos. We paid for it. People from Igboland have not only developed lands, they have built houses. If you go to Lekki, Victoria Island, Lekki, everywhere, these things were built by humans. Lagos is Lagos because people, like the Igbo, came and invested.
They include northerners and those from other tribes. Igbo came, invested and developed the place without forgetting the fact that they are visitors. Every Igbo man is told from home to obey the law of his host community and Igbo have done that all through history,”.
