LUNATICS IN LAGOS, NIGERIA
On July 24, 2013, Governor Babatunde Razaq Fashola of Lagos State deported 76 destitute Nigerians to Anambra State by dumping them at the Onitsha end of the dilapidated River Niger Bridge. Reason: They are Igbo foreigners living in Lagos State, a different country from Nigeria. Labeling someone a non-indigene in his/her own country is unfathomable! Only in Nigeria. Lagos State only wants “non-indigenes” who pay taxes to Lagos State. One of the deportees, Mr. Okeke Okafor was a very successful motor parts dealer until his shop was demolished prior to the Fashola administration. His shop was approved by the previous government as a Motor Spare Parts Market. However, a new Governor ceded the site to Shop Rite® and the Motor Spare Parts Market was bulldozed in the middle of the night. Mr. Okafor lost his only means of livelihood. He was not compensated for his losses. Even if he filed a lawsuit, his case would take 30 years or more for a decision.
He lost his apartment because he was 6 months behind in rent. His fiancé dumped him for another suitor. Bills kept piling and he was so distraught that he contemplated suicide. The mental and financial anguish was so much that Mr. Okeke Okafor developed a mental illness. Apparently, the stress had reactivated a quiescent mental illness that was familial. He took to begging on the streets and as his clothes weathered, he became half-naked and most passersby thought that he was a lunatic. Okeke Okafor slept under the flyovers at night. He paid his taxes to Lagos while his business was booming but the same government had abandoned him when he needed help. Lagos used to be Nigeria’s Capital City and was built with money from groundnuts (North), palm oil (East), and cocoa (West). From the 1970’s the oil money from the South South built all the infrastructure in Lagos. Lagos State belongs to all Nigerians. That the naive Military Administration of General Yakubu Gowon created Lagos State is unfortunate. It should have remained a Federal Capital Territory.
I hereby urge the current Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, to deport all currently sane “non-indigenous” Nigerian Lunatics currently living in Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Lekki, Ikeja, Festac, etc. to their “home” states while they are sane. These foreigners have factories at Ilupeju, Ikeja, Mile 34, Idiroko, Apapa, and they have shops at Alaba, Berger, Mile 2 and Falomo, etc. They may even board Ekene Dili Chukwu, ABC, and Edewor luxury buses with their own money sparing Governor Ambode the costs of hiring the dangerous Julius Berger “Articulated Trailer Buses” (ATB) to drop them off at Onitsha in the middle of the night. With the current economic recession in Nigeria, they are sure to turn into lunatics and start roaming the streets of Lagos. Therefore, deport the sane tax paying lunatics before they turn into unemployed lunatics after Lagos State has used them. I wish that those lunatics will invest in their home states until Nigeria becomes a country.
Enough is enough, Governor Ambode. There are more Hausa, Fulani, and Yoruba lunatics roaming the streets of Lagos than Igbo lunatics. Some are even celebrated as “Area Boys.” I dare Governor Ambode to deport them to their states of origin. Do not forget the lunatic Lagosians with names such as Castro, Silva, Costa, Ferreira, Fernandes, Martins, Oliveira, Sousa and Gomes. They should all be deported to Portugal.
The Igbos should learn to develop their states. Soon the Gwaris will start deporting Igbos in Abuja to the Anambra River Bridge. Anambra should change its motto from “Home For All” to “No Lunatics Allowed.”