- Safiu Kehinde
The Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, has retracted his statement on Lagos being a no man’s land following backlash from the public.
NPO earlier Reported that Bwala had sparked outrage over the statement he made while speaking on Arise TV’s Daybreak programme.
He had in defence of the statement cited President Bola Tinubu’s defeat in Lagos during the 2023 Presidential election, stressing that the state is cosmopolitan.
Bwala also noted the rate of investments in the state by non-indigenes which further put the ownership claims by Lagos indiegenes to question.
While the presidential spokesperson appeared to have made the remark in explanation of the Federal Government’s concentration on Lagos state in terms of infrastructural development, the statement did not go down well with some netizens who faulted the statement.
Reacting to the outburst in a post on his X handle, Bwala maintained that Lagos unarguably belongs to the Yoruba people.
He clarified that his earlier remark was made from an economic standpoint which had Lagos as the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria’s and West Africa’s economy.
Bwala maintained that his argument on the concentration of infrastructural development in Lagos is justifiable as he described the state as the heartbeat of the country which every Preisdent must support.
“Culturally, historically, and constitutionally, Lagos belongs to the Yoruba people, and that has never been in contention.
“The unique identity of Lagos as a Yoruba homeland is settled and beyond dispute.
“What I emphasized was the special place Lagos occupies in Nigeria and indeed West Africa — a city that, much like New York, Paris, or London, serves as the commercial nerve center of our economy.
“Lagos provides every Nigerian, regardless of origin, a level playing field to thrive, and in this sense, it mirrors the diversity of our nation while remaining firmly rooted in Yoruba heritage.
“My argument was, therefore, and justifiably so, for massive investments in infrastructure to sustain the economic and social responsibilities Lagos has shouldered on behalf of Nigeria.
“Any President who truly seeks to succeed must critically support Lagos, not because it is “no man’s land,” but because it is the heartbeat of the nation’s development.” Bwala wrote.