Proposed Lagos Property/Business Ownership Law Favouring Indigenes – Its Consequences

It was quite shocking when the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa announced the intention of the House to move a bill into law that they refer to as ‘Property and Business Ownership Law.’ This law, according to them, will favour the indigenous people of Lagos rather than the outsiders. To put it in a layman’s term: It’s called looking out for yourself.

What Obasa may, or may not fully comprehend, though, is the tribal outlook this is having. I mean, he actually said: “Lagos belongs to Yorubas.” For real? What kind of tribal splitting statement is this at this critical point of nation building? The words and the motive behind this is not only deeply concerning, but one capable of creating chaos and heating up the polity.

It is also shocking to see a number of tribal bigots, hailing this move. Wow! Do they even fully know the consequences ? I believe a trip down memory lane will help joggle the memory of these ones and show them the negative precedence they’re setting. Of course, similar things have occurred, both in Nigeria and beyond and trust me, none of them has ended well for the host community, state, or country that went down this road Obasa and company are trying to drive us along.

Without going too far, let’s start with Warri and see what happened there years back. Now, do you know that in the 1980s Warri was just as bustling and financially flourishing like Lagos of today? Many multinational companies domiciled there, you name it: Financial institutions, companies and even big private businesses. The city was at its peak and life was beautiful, but all that has changed today. What do you think happened? Greed among other things.

Before long, the indigenes looked around and saw how much money was flowing through their doorsteps. It was quite staggering. They were, soon, no longer satisfied with the taxes they were benefiting from the outsiders. They wanted more. To put it better: They felt the outsiders were having a field day at their expense and, thus, had to look out for themselves. Before long, they began calling for a significant increase in taxes and soon burdened the outsiders with their rising incessant demands on their finances.

The final straw that broke the camel’s back was the continued conflict between the indigenes—Ijaw and Itshekiri youths fighting each other over the largess. The outsiders had enough at this point and packed their bags and began leaving the city. Companies started moving base to the more hospitable Rivers state and other states. Private businesses shut shop and left as well. Today, all that is left of the city are commercial sex workers, Point of Sale (PoS) businesses and small scale enterprises! The city is a shadow of its once glorious self.

If this isn’t warning enough, then, let’s take a trip to South Africa. Remember Xenophobia? Oh yes, you do! Violent attacks infamously took place there between 2008–2009. An estimated 67 people died as a result. The root cause of the xenophobic attacks was poverty. 

Again, the real indigenes felt the outsiders were living large to their own detriment and started to lash out at their guests.

One thing this indigene mentality does not factor in is that, if you equip yourself and make yourself useful to the society, you will definitely reap the fruits of the land, but, no! These ones believe their failure is as a result of outsiders blocking their way. They believe that, if they force these outsiders out, they will stand a better chance at enjoying the fruits of the land. This notion has been proven to be indeed false.

Something like this also happened in the North. They called it the “pogroms.” As that then, the Igbos were holding sway over there—dominating all spheres of life, from commerce to public sectors. The Northerners began attacking them and their businesses and chasing them out of their lands. Today, if not for the recent efforts of the President Jonathan administration, the railway system was practically in the grave and has not really been resurrected till date.

The outsiders are never the problem. In fact, a community, state or nation only grows when it welcomes outside investments. That is why Lagos is thriving more than most states in Nigeria: More outsiders troop into the city and pitch tents there than in any other state in the federation. If they risk this development on the altar of tribal sentiment, it should come as no surprise if Lagos suffers the same fate as Warri and all the others cited as examples.

These mischievous Lagos lawmakers still have time to retrace their steps and make amends before they go on this sloppy drive they may never recover from. A word, they say, is enough for the wise.