There seems to be an ongoing battle between Lagos State Government and the Federal Government of Nigeria over the ownership of the popular Tafawa Balewa Square, where the Nigeria’s Independence celebration took place on 1st October 1960.
It was learnt that the Federal Government may have sold the place to private investors, but Lagos State Government is preparing to slug it out with the Federal Government as Governor Babatunde Fashola said on Saturday that the TBS belongs to the state and not the Federal Government.
As a result of this, he said, the place cannot be sold by the Federal Government.
Fashola said those who claim the place belongs to the Federal Government may just have been living in ignorance, while those saying they have sold the place should better go and study the history of the place.
Speaking at the venue of the Public presentation of ‘Possession- A History of Law and Justice In The Crown Colony of Lagos; 1861 – 1906,’ written by former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Lagos State, Mr. Olasupo Shasore, Fashola said the TBS was a land owned by one of the traditional rulers of Lagos before the invasion of the British colonialists who then possessed it.
Revealing the history of the square, Fashola said it became a Crown Land controlled by the British Crown and at the end of the Colonial Era it passed on to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“When Lagos was created as one of the first 12 states of the country in 1967, it became state land and all of the lands the Federal Republic of Nigeria inherited from the Government of the United Kingdom were handed over to each of the states in which those lands were and Tafawa Balewa Square then metamorphosed from Race Course to Tafawa Balewa Square,” Fashola said.
He explained that the Federal Government was given the power over the land as caretaker and not owner by the Tafawa Balewa Square Management Act, a legislation which concerned the land. He added that due to ignorance concerning the history of Lagos, many people feel the place belongs to the Federal Government and as such make statements that insult the sensibility of Lagosians.
Fashola said issue like this, relating to the TBS, calls for proper record keeping and documentation of history for future generations.
He also said as it is now, many young Nigerians hardly know much about the Nigerian Civil War because there were no proper and enough documentation concerning it adding that this was the reason the state has the Records and Archives Bureau where people can submit memorabilia, documents, photographs or diary adding.
He appealed to people to bring materials for keeps, which the state would gladly accept such.
He maintained that the book showed how Lagos was a sovereign area before the advent of the British, adding that the fact that the state now has a lot of people from other regions does not mean there are no original Lagosians.
Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos, who also spoke at the event, commended Shasore for taking time to write the book in order to preserve the true essence of Lagos.
