Deportation of 70 Igbos from Lagos State: Babatunde Fashola made a mistake.

In this present Nigeria, when you raise the talk of marginalization of a certain group, some people look at you and think that either you are crazy or have totally lost the decency of thought or better still, living in the past. The Nigeria civil war happened as a result of the unclosed marginalization of Ndigbo and in all honesty, since then, Ndigbo has not yet been free from that grip of negativity. They are still hated, disliked, sidelined and marginalized.

Though the subject matter centers on the people of Ndigbo, however, my opinion on it is in the non-practice of what the Nigerian leaders preach to the youth on the way forward for Nigeria if we must live together as one indivisible nation – the one Nigeria creed!

I am sure that by now most you have heard the news, how Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State gathered and sent home, seventy (70) Igbo men and women in Lagos State on the guise that they are idle and some others, begging on the street of Lagos. Allow me the lacuna to break this down to the government. Igbos are generally never known to be lazy people. An Igbo person, whether male or female, can migrate from their village to the city and become a wealthy person through industrial means (i.e. hard work). They don’t feel shy of starting up any kind of business no matter how small, simple or meaningless others might consider such a business. Take a look at Lagos for instance, the majority of businesses you have today in Lagos are owned and run by Igbo people so why call a dog a bad name just because you want to crucify it?

Their second reason is begging! Yes some Igbos has started the act of begging, mostly with their unique style of playing local instrument in support to their practice. Be that as it may, I don’t think they amount to a great number of other ethnicity in Lagos State that earn their living through begging, why then were these ones marked and shipped like useless consignment?

The skyrocketing level of unemployment in Nigeria today has made even a “first class” graduate, with sufficiently international standard skills, to ride Okada just to fend for themselves as well as their families. Millions of Nigerian graduates are sitting idle at home because of lack of job, now the question that Fashola needs to answer is, did he provide not even enough jobs but just jobs and these people choose to remain idle? More than 50% of the people in Lagos State are jobless; does that mean they will all have to be sent back to their respective States? They shout and sing of “one Nigeria”, how can Nigeria be one when governors will not allow those who are not from the State they rule to remain? If the Nigerian government don’t look into this things in its early stage, it will get to a time when controlling it will be difficult or Nigerians will have to pay for VISA to get into other States within the country.