By BASHIR ADEFAKA
The last may not have been heard about why Lagos became most hit of the recent killings and destructions that attended #ENDSARS protests in parts of the country.
The DEFENDER can authoritatively report that the officially acclaimed Centre of Excellence has youths who, among many indigenous people of Lagos, have been aggrieved over the years that their state has been controlled not by governor they voted for but by a godfather, they named Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who further designates touts in form of agbero to occupy what they described as the Garrison Command of the state politics with him as Commander-in-Chief.
The youths of Eko believe that they have been shortchanged in their own state for long and, while they are not against any non-indigene ruling the state, that they have faced marginalisation ostensibly orchestrated to ostracize them from the scheme of things hence sufferings and persecution from the hand of the godfather to which they have been subjected.
They believe that much as they know President Muhammadu Buhari’s revitalised agricultural sector has produced food, now brought into Lagos market, they continue to suffer hunger as a result of high cost of food and “wicked hike” in transport fare even when the transport operators have no reason to do so.
These, they said, centre around the godfather because the agbero and Iyaloja, who make commuter buses increase fares and market people jack up prices indiscriminately and without justifications while their earnings remain the same are under the control of the godfather otherwise known as Governor Emeritus of Lagos State.
“If you hear there is hunger in the land, it is Lagos. If you hear Nigeria is hard or bad, it is Lagos. People who say things are hard know well that it is Lagos they mean. This godfather is in charge of it all and it must end. Alhaji Jakande governed this place, so was General Marwa, and there were no agbero making lives difficult for people of Lagos. Same General Oyinlola before Marwa. Fashola tried to give us Lagos not controlled by touts, this godfather refused him. It is not just about SARS,” one of them said.
Speaking on the happenings, the Atona Oduduwa of Yoruba Land, Chief Olabode Ibiyinka George, gave a statement in which summary he tried to “reiterate the irreducible minimum acceptable to placate the angry, restless youths in other to restore peace, fairness and equity in our state.”
Among those demands he said were the immediate and permanent dismantling of the two Lekki toll gates, scrapping of Alphabets and Lekki Concession ling Company, withdrawal from Seyi Tinubu, son of the godfather the advert and signage monopoly given to him and withdrawal from daughter of the godfather, Shade Tinubu, the title of Iyaloja of Lagos and reaward it to the individual who deserves it by tradition.
Other demands, Chief George said, include the reorganisation of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), which he said has now become the militia wing of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State and that the transport Union be removed from the ambit and control of political actors.
Demands continue to include that the outrageous pension scheme for immediate former governors and ‘prodigal allowances’ given to members of Lagos State House of Assembly be scrapped.
Chief Bode George, a retired Navy Commodore and former Military Governor of old Ondo State, demanded that for the angry youths of Lagos to be placated, “There should be free education from primary to secondary School level in Lagos State” and that “Free healthcare services must be given to the needy.”
In the statement “Lagos State: The anger and the rage”, Chief George, who is former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), noted that the aspect of the demands he listed for peace to assuage stained nerves in the state, which requires funding, “can be easily funded from the outrageous allowances and pension schemes given to both serving and former public office holders.”
Finally, he said, “let justice prevail over the graves of the Lekki Toll gate heroes and the millions of the members of the Sọrọ Soke generations still wasting away in our cities and the slums. May God bless this nation and heal our wounds.”
