All through last week, radio channels in Lagos with phone-in programmes were jammed with conversations regarding the reported ‘deportation’ of 67 Nigerians of Igbo extraction from Lagos to the East, Onitsha, to be specific. The incident was made to look like a very terrible development, where states now have the legal authority and machinery to move people in the dead of the night and dump them wherever the state involved considers good enough. Rumour channels were also not left out and before you know it, the conversation in Lagos became centred on this single issue.
The manner of the reports fueled emotions and it was made to look like the Igbos in Lagos had been singled out for repatriation. Tempers were running wild, to the extent that Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, which hosted the ‘august’ evacuees, fumed with anger because, according to him, his friend in Lagos, Babatunde Fashola did not get in touch with him before embarking upon the exercise. He was reported to have taken the matter to Abuja, to intimate President Jonathan of the situation.
It took Lagos State some good time to coherently respond to the vexatious matter and unfortunately, the explanations sounded as tough as the action itself. First it was the Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (which now ceases to exist officially) whose spokesman, Joe Igbokwe blamed political enemies for the angry public reaction that greeted the deportation.
Another public commentator, an Igbo man too, who spoke on a radio channel said the Anambra incident was not the first time Lagos State would send persons to their home states. According to him, it has nothing to do a particular ethnic group, but more to do with state policy. When asked what law permits Lagos State to send any Nigerian away from the state, he said he was not aware of any law, but that it is a state policy, designed to rid Lagos of miscreants and street urchins. That was bad PR.
For this narrative, this is one difficult subject to deconstruct, not for want of what to say, but for the simple fact that Nigeria is altogether too tough to unravel; the country is still a puzzle. Where does one even begin!
The Constitution is very clear on the rights of citizens, which are expressly stated in Chapter 1V. Citizens of Nigeria, having been certified so in Chapter 111, are allowed to enjoy personal liberty, fair hearing, private and family life, freedom of movement, freedom from discrimination and are at liberty to acquire and own immovable property anywhere within the federal republic, whether in Lagos or Damaturu. In other words, the Constitution allows every Nigerian to be domiciled in any part of the country.
But in practice, we know that there are many states that are no-go areas for citizens on account of security challenges. Other states are not wholesome in the sense that religion and traditional beliefs tend to restrict some citizens to certain areas. For a fact, there is a limit to where non-indigenes can get to in many states. There are areas designated as Sabon gari for non-indigenes in many states. It means therefore that the Constitution has good intentions, but did not take into consideration certain challenges that constrain proper blending and mingling of citizens.
For economic reasons, some states have a strong pull on citizens from all over the country. Lagos falls within this category. On account of being the federal capital of Nigeria, until 1992 and for being the commercial and business capital of Nigeria and even West Africa, Lagos continues to play host to Nigerians and ECOWAS citizens on hourly basis. We can also say that Kano, Kaduna, Port Harcourt also host Nigerians from all states, but Lagos is simply in a class of her own.
It is much easier for a hard-working, law-abiding citizen of Nigeria to climb the ladder of social and economic wellbeing in Lagos than in a number of other places in the country. In Lagos you have huge opportunities for employment in the ports (Seaports and Airport); Lagos is where the banks have their headquarters, and manufacturing and service companies thrive here.
Lagos is therefore the place to be and every serious and forward-looking Nigerian wants to come to Lagos.
Crime is also a thriving industry for practitioners of that trade. They also stream to Lagos to do all manner of illicit business, including forgery, 419, touting and robbery. You could therefore say that in Lagos, you find the good, bad and the ugly, which means that those whose duties it is to maintain law and order have to be on top of their game.
Law and order is not just a matter of punishment; it is first a matter of providing enabling environment for honest citizens to grow in their various fields, so that they can pay taxes to enable government do more.
It is being argued that Lagos State deserves to be accorded a special status by the federal government. That will also include the other states because the federal government alone cannot decree a matter into the constitution. Hopefully, proponents of that idea expect a situation where, Lagos could leverage on that special status to earn more money to cater for the influx of citizens from other states. A situation where each state goes to Abuja to pick monthly cheques, but in real terms it is Lagos that is saddled with the responsibility of attending to a cosmopolitan population appears inequitable. But economists may not buy that argument, when they reel out the advantages accruing to Lagos as host of all Nigerians. Some states could even disagree; they will tell you that the beef, tomatoes and onion eaten in Lagos are grown in their states and that Lagos should pay taxes for their finished products.
The argument may neither be here nor there, but that debate has to be put on the table someday. Otherwise, Lagos might be constrained to continue to apply Jankara justice to rid the city of those referred to as ‘urchins’ and ‘mentally unsound’ persons. The debate is even beyond Lagos; it is about the responsibility of the Nigerian State to citizens, whether of sound mind or otherwise. There is no serious and comprehensive social security system in place, apart from the isolated efforts in Jigawa, Ekiti and Osun. That is why citizens who are jobless and cannot pay taxes are seen as a burden, whereas, it is the responsibility of the State (Nigerian State) to give them a soft landing. Some of these persons are elderly and have lost the capacity to remain in paid employment. If the burden of a huge and jobless population becomes too heavy on Lagos, and that fact, is scientifically proven, then that can be debated.
Perhaps, if the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), were a serious outfit, if it had not been hijacked by politicians, this angry exchange between the two governors could have been resolved amicably, behind closed doors. From the ongoing, states may have been in this illegal business of ‘exchange of citizens’ for sometime and unknown to the public. This is not the first time Lagos State would move citizens out of Lagos. Two Lagosians were also ‘shipped’ home from Akwa Ibom State sometime ago, when it was discovered that they had become unfit to remain in that state. They had become a burden. It is on record, that similar shipments had been done to some Katsina indigenes and Oyo indigenes that used to reside in Lagos.
Whatever the mode of such transfer of citizens in the past, what has become a matter of concern is that states may not have the legal authority to disregard the Constitution, no matter its inoperability. It remains the supreme law of the land and whatever Lagos or any state legislature comes up with remains inferior. Whenever the opportunity for a debate on federalism comes up, those who want autonomy should go out there and argue it.
There is even the deficit side of this situation for Lagos. There is a public backlash against the move, which does not favour the ruling party in the state. Lagos must acknowledge the civilization of Lagosians and their capacity to react. In a multicultural setting like this, demography is a crucial factor and those who are wise do not trample on such sensitive statistics. Demographics won a second term for president Obama, while those who thought they ‘own’ America were bent on taking back ‘their’ White House.
In a game of numbers, everybody counts, whether old or young, taxpaying or jobless. Without this humungous population, Lagos will have no reason to claim to be mega. Therefore, politicians must learn to tread softly on certain matters. Lagos should continue to make good laws and collect taxes. But there should also be a human face in all of these, because, you may not need water until the time your well runs dry.
ALABI WILLIAMS
