Indeed, Lagos requires special status
According to Wikipedia, Lagos started as an Awori Yoruba fishing community. In the first half of 19th century, Lagos was well known for slave trade. By 1833, the United Kingdom had forbidden slavery in all British territories and in 1851; they sent an expedition that bombarded Lagos into submission. Furthermore, in 1861, the British Navy […]
According to Wikipedia, Lagos started as an Awori Yoruba fishing community. In the first half of 19th century, Lagos was well known for slave trade. By 1833, the United Kingdom had forbidden slavery in all British territories and in 1851; they sent an expedition that bombarded Lagos into submission. Furthermore, in 1861, the British Navy entered Lagos and annexed it as a British Colony via the Lagos Treaty of Cession. Consequently, Lagos came under the protection and direct British administration and was officially declared a colony on 5th March, 1862. Unlike the people in the southern and northern protectorates who remained under the jurisdiction of their traditional rulers, Africans born in Lagos enjoyed British citizenship with access to the courts. Eventually, Lagos developed into a busy, multicultural port and in 1872 had a population of 60,000. In 1876, Lagos imports were valued at 476,913 Pounds and exports at 619,260 Pounds. In 1886, telephone links with Britain were established and electric street lighting appeared in Lagos in 1898. The British government began constructing a railway in 1896 which started operation in 1901. On 28th February, 1906, the Lagos Colony and Southern Nigeria Protectorate were merged and became known as Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. Lagos remained the capital of Nigeria from 1914 till December 1991.
Lagos has achieved and still enjoys very many firsts in the history of Nigeria and so the recent clamour by some members of the National Assembly as well as many of our citizens that the Nigerian government grants Lagos a special status is very much in order. “The Bill on Special Status for Lagos” sponsored in the Senate by Senator Oluremi Tinubu is fitting. All of what she said about Lagos while debating the general principles of the Bill was correct. According to her “the Bill aims to remedy the problems faced by residents and visitors in Lagos by empowering the federal government to make provisions for economic assistance through grants as provided for under section 164 sub-section (1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
Lagos has developed its own culture, reason why some people call it no man’s land. Lagos has a culture of tolerance and cooperation. Its huge population can be mobilised for progressive purposes. It’s a ready market for everything required for a meaningful life. Long after it has ceased to be the federal capital, Nigerians continue to flock there in millions and Lagos doesn’t reject anyone. In our country, economic opportunities are concentrated and almost limited to urban areas and for this reason, Lagos continues to be a huge attraction for many citizens.
According to Senator Tinubu, the grants being requested from the federal government “will be utilised in meeting the public infrastructural need of Lagos State….. in improving on the rail infrastructure to decongest the roads and for the promotion of the conducive, social and economic environment for federal institutions as well as increasing the capacity of the state to continue to play host.”
Although the intervention of Senator Sola Adeyeye sullied the atmosphere of the debate in the Senate Chamber that day, the point shoudn’t be lost on anyone that Lagos indeed deserves a special attention from our government and people in order to encourage it to continue to remain such a vast island of economic opportunities for our citizens. To be sure, Sola Adeyeye misfired by calling Abuja “a rotten pampered child” because it is simply not true. Contrariwise, Abuja is highly regarded by its occupants and foreigners alike because it is still refreshingly different from any Nigerian city. According to many foreigners, Abuja is beautiful and were we to attempt it in these termagant times, we wouldn’t have been able to build such an orderly city. Adeyeye’s remarks against Abuja are needless, unhelpful and bear no resemblance to reality. Nevertheless, Lagos is already special and will be even more so soon and if our Senators kill that bill, they will have missed a huge opportunity to vote for the wellbeing of Lagos and Nigeria. In the final analysis, an improved Lagos will benefit even the legislators, after all many of them own property and businesses in Lagos.
With Lagos now an oil producing state and very soon an ever ready host of one of the largest refineries in the world, the 650,000 barrel per day Dangote refinery, there is really no stopping Lagos in being not only Nigeria’s commercial capital but an increasingly likely candidate for Africa’s most important economic centre.
However, in conferring Lagos with special status, consideration should also be given to other Nigerian cities as a way of increasing economic opportunities for Nigerians. Nothing stops the government from singling out Benin City, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano, Jos, Maiduguri, Port Harcourt, etc. for special schemes that will improve their infrastructure and enhance their habitat for the benefit of Nigerians.
That is why the Bill sponsored by Representative Babajimi Benson (APC Lagos) also deserves support. Benson wants 20% of all proceeds accruing to the federal government from a state to be reserved for that state in order to help it deal with urbanisation and overcrowding and renew its infrastructure. If the two different Bills sponsored by Senator Tinubu and Representative Benson are harmonised, there is a good chance that some good piece of legislation can be obtained therefrom to address to improve our cities and enhance economic opportunities for our people.
Lagos represents our best hope more than our worst fears. The opulence of Lagos Island, Victoria Island and now Eko Atlantic presents a frightening contrast with the squalor in Ajegunle, Okokomaiko, Iba, etc. If Lagos flourishes, Nigeria will flourish. Lagos presents the best hope for a better life for almost any Nigerian fleeing from economic deprivation of his own corner of Nigeria. Lagos must be reinvigorated. According special status to Lagos has nothing to do with Tinubu or All Progressives Congress or any individual, it is about encouraging prosperity in Lagos and in Nigeria.