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Fact file!
'DEPORTATION' OF SOME IGBOS BRAUHAHA, LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT ACTED IN GOOD FAITH.
Fasholamania movement in the Wednesday, August 14, 2013 Daily
Independent; Leadership and Daily Newswatch news papers has justified
the action of the Lagos State government over the alleged 'deportation'
of some Igbo people to their home state, saying it was a necessary
charitable guesture. Olukayode Salako, the president of the movement,
said it not true that people can be deported within their own country.
They can only be returned to where they have homes since every part of a
sovereign state should be a home to its citizens. He said further that
those using the word 'deportation' to describe the gesture of the Lagos
State government should visit any English Language dictionary to know
the meaning of 'deportation'. What the LASG did was to save the lives of
those destitute that would have died in the streets of Lagos without
care. Riding the streets of Lagos or any of our cities off destitution,
insecurity or social menace is a just pro-active and welfaral effort
that must be welcome by all mentally reasonable people and those who
want the good of our society. Governor Fashola has spoken to defend the
action of his government in simple and clear terms. He said it was the
preference of the destitute to be returned to their home states, where
they have homes since they did not have homes in Lagos. He also affirmed
that the Anambra State government was informed before taking the
action. Kayode Salako also said 'Deportation' is inter-country according
to the meaning of deportation, except the people calling for the head
of Mr. Fashola can prove that Anambra is a country. Where those people
were returned to is their home state within Nigeria and not their
country. The Fasholamania movement, however, does not see how people can
be deported within their own home country after all. The people that
were deported voluntarily asked to be returned home and they were
returned in good faith. Salako further berates a situation where people
just run away from their homes to Lagos when they do not have a contact
place or home they are going to stay.Many of such people still litter
every street of our major cities wondering without a means of survival.
And when they are hungry they resort to begging, prostitution,
harassment, crime of even terrorism! It is a common knowledge that,
trains, trailers and 'Ekenedilichukwu' luxurious buses are used to move
people into Lagos every minute, many of who do not have where to stay in
Lagos and who are not even Nigerians. If it is the concern of all of us
in Nigeria that our government must provide an enabling society for
life to thrive meaningfully and ideally, we must encourage our
governments to do so and not running them down for every purposeful
action they take. The decision to return some Igbo destitute to their
home state wouldn't have been taking by governor Fashola alone since
there are some Igbo people in his government and among his
commissioners. We definitely need an ideal social-economic environment
and the best way to achieve it is to allow our governments to build it
by getting rid of all those tendencies that discourage external interest
or foreign investments into our country. Yes! The constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria gives every citizen of Nigeria the right to
live in any part of the country, but the constitution does not state
that people should go and hang or become destitute where they do not
have homes or means of livelihood. Those that are quoting the laws to
justify their criticisms have forgot that the country does not have a
perfect constitution yet. And that is why there have been strong
advocation for the convocation of a constitutional conference where
Nigerians can sit down to re-write the constitution. Nigeria was divided
into 36 states so that every Nigerian can have home governments to take
care of their socio-economic and welfaral needs. But what do we have
today, the burden to host almost every Nigerian has fallen on Lagos all
because Lagos is the milk cow. Now, every Nigerian wants to live in
Lagos to earn a living because of the failure of their own state
governments to create an enabling environment for them and many of these
people do not have who, relatives or where to stay in Lagos. And the
burden of curtailing their excesses and attendant problems now falls on
the same government all of us look up to, to give us a sane, safe,
secured, organised and environmentally appealing Lagos. To most
Nigerians like Dr. Uzor Orji Kalu and co., Lagos remains a no man's
land- Lagos must continue to be a jungle- a dumping ground for all
manner of rubbish and anti-social tendencies! And these people have
forgot that Lagos State first belong to some natural owners before
belonging to Nigerians. And these Natural owners, the Lagosians, too
will never be happy to continue to see or allow their own place to be
turned and relegated to a jungle- a dangerous zone- that Lagos used to
be known for, when other states are being developed into beautiful and
ideal places. It is sad how very unreasonable many of us are in Nigeria.
What other states like Abuja, Akwa Ibom, Imo, Anambra, Kaduna, Port
Harcourt etc don't want. What they are rejecting from their environments
so that their own states can continue to attract ideal human life,
Lagos State must not reject and yet the government must not take
pro-active steps to curb them. Lagos State must not reject Destitution,
prostitution, terrorism, prostitution, harassment, street trading...as
well as okada, danfo and keke maruwa excesses and menace, yet the state
must not regulate and restrict their operations. This is unfair to Lagos
State! And yet we blame the government for insecurity, insanity,
environmental degradation etc. The problem more with the Igbo people
that I have grown up to know is that everything is business which they
have the right to do in any place they like, regardless of whether it is
legal or illegal. Honestly, if the government allows the Igbos, every
where- every space in Lagos would be market, including the high ways!
What some -Igbo people are dragging with the Lagos State government now
is that destitution is a legal business which they have the right to do
anywhere they like including hanging around the streets. This cannot be
acceptable to the natural owners of Lagos State. Some of us are very
happy with Governor Fashola's government for changing the fact and
transforming Lagos ideally, and one of the ways is to clear the
environment of those that want to continue to do illegal businesses
there and make life very frustrating for us in Lagos. I have always
maintained it that poverty and joblessness should never be an excuse to
turn our society into animal kingdom. So, using the word 'deportation'
for those that were returned to their natural homes is a misinformation
and I think it is politically inclined, because they did not use visa to
come into Lagos and they can still decide to come back if they so wish!
For the fact that they can still come back to Lagos the next day
without informing the LASG is one of the characteristic evidence that
Nigeria is still a sovereign state, where people are free to live in any
part they want, but to me, provided they have homes in such places. The
governor Babatunde Fashola's government that many of us know,
appreciate and celebrating is a welfarist government that cares about
everything that lives in the Lagos environment. That is why those
destitute were assisted back to their home states in the first place, or
else they would have been left to die in the streets. And nobody should
expect that the government would drop them in their individual family
compounds, since the government did not bring them to Lagos. We expect
the Anambra state government to show concern for these destitute by
co-operating with the Lagos State government to receive them in Anambra
or reach an agreement on where to receive them. Afterall, the Anambra
State government was contacted and informed. Why didn't they respond? It
simply shows that the ANSG was merely not sensitive about the plight of
its citizens like that. If they don't care BRF's government cares.
Governor Fashola's government still remains the best that has ever
happened to Lagos. The question we must continue to ask ourselves is
this: 'Is this the way Lagos State was before Fashola came on board?!
Then, Lagos was a jungle! And cannot continue to be! -Olukayode Salako
is the President of the Fasholamania Movement Worldwide.
Title :
@NAIJAMUSICCITY Update: Igbo vs LASG: Nigerians cannot be deported within their own country -Kayode Salako. @tundefashola @fash_kay
Description : Add caption Fact file! 'DEPORTATION' OF SOME IGBOS BRAUHAHA, LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT ACTED IN GOOD FAITH. Fasholamania movemen...
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