News

August 12, 2013

Deportation saga: Lagosians react

Francis Jakpor, Femi Ogundipe, Omowunmi Omotayo and Janet Chima

Mixed reactions have trailed the recent relocation of some destitute from Lagos to Onitsha, Anambra State, by the Lagos State Government. Some Nigerians spoke to ARUKAINO UMUKORO on the issue

It could have been better managed

 I wouldn’t say it’s good or bad. 

What I’d say is that it could have been handled more strategically, considering that Nigeria is resting on a tribal keg of gunpowder. The Lagos State Government has a point by saying the state is overly congested.

 So many people who have no business residing in the state have made it their home, but what about the wider implications? Since it seems only people from Anambra State were singled out for relocation in this instance, the general impression would be that Lagos is against having them around. That could result in a backlash if Anambra State decides to pay back. Moreover, the situation has now been politicised – with the war of words between the PDP and APC. My advice is that next time, issues of this nature should be handled more strategically, considering the nature of our dear country.

— Francis Jakpor

State governments should develop their regions

 I think this issue has been unnecessarily blown out of proportion.

This issue would not have arisen if other states in the country, which equally collect federal allocation, just like Lagos State, have peformed their duty by providing infrastructure and developing their states, then the issue of deportation won’t have become a problem for a metropolitan city like Lagos. 

For example, if I come from Ekiti State and there is equal opportunity provided by my state government in terms of livelihood, it will reduce the tendency of migration by residents in my state to other cities. I quite understand that the way Lagos State Government managed the affair could be regarded as being inhumane by some.

 They could have actually taken some of them to rehabilitation homes for the old, while the young ones among them could have been taken to vocational centres to equip them in order to get a means of livelihood.

— Femi Ogundipe

We can’t all live in Lagos

We all belong to one state or the other, so let them go to their respective states and find comfort there. Besides, must everybody live in Lagos?  After all, the Lagos State Government re-habilitated them before dropping them off.

— Omowunmi Omotayo

It’s against the law

As much as I respect Governor Babatunde Fashola on his efforts to keep Lagos clean, I don’t appreciate the fact that human rights are being violated because, according to the law, Nigerians are free to live anywhere they choose to live. Is the governor saying that the poor can’t live in Lagos? I’m also beginning to worry about people without jobs in Lagos who aren’t Lagosians. Like I told my brother recently, people that don’t pay tax may soon be deported. I hope it will be a wake-up call to other state governors. Lagos State won’t feed everyone forever. If other states start developing theirs, people will stop dreaming about relocating to Lagos.

— Janet Chima

It is not ‘deportation’

First of all, I’d like to say that the term deportation is wrong in the light of this action, because these people are Nigerians and Lagos is part of Nigeria. 

So what the governor did wasn’t deportation. Personally, I think that the governor’s action was not directly to annoy any state. 

Governor Fashola is only trying to rid Lagos of its population explosion. However, the constitution allows that people can move from one state to another and by doing what he did, he has tampered with the rights of the people.

The governor is trying to rid Lagos of the people who troop in daily for livelihood, without a specific job, place to stay or destination; while those who are well accommodated and are working, taking care of themselves and paying the taxes (which the state emphasises on) can’t be sent out of the state like that.

 But it was a wrong move because he did not follow the provision of the law, or is there anywhere in the constitution that justifies the process of sending a Nigerian from another state out of  the state he resides?

— Inam Wilson

It’s the right move

 I think what Lagos State Government did was right and legal, because these people have no abode and they don’t have anything in particular that they are doing, they are just roaming about the streets of Lagos, begging and sleeping under bridges, while some have been trying to make ends meet by selling ‘pure water’ and all sorts of jobs. 

But frankly, the earnings they make from all these are not enough to provide them with a comfortable life in Lagos. Some of them may have been engaged in some criminal activities. I think it was necessary that the state government took action on this issue.

It’s not about the Igbo or a tribal issue, you could come from anywhere, but if you don’t have any tangible thing doing in Lagos, then there is no point relocating to the state. Money is not being plucked on trees in Lagos.

 The only fault I see with the state government’s move is that they dumped them in Onitsha, Anambra State, and left them to their fates. They should have taken them to their different states, where they could start life afresh and take appropriate measures to fend for themselves there.

— Oladipupo Olumide

There’s freedom to live anywhere

 I don’t know the basis of the deportation but it is wrong because all Nigerians have the freedom to live anywhere in this country. You don’t just pick people from the street and say they constitute nuisance to the society. 

Everyone in Nigeria can’t live above the level our government is expecting us to. Even if these people are destitute, what stops the government from rehabilitating and reintegrating them back into the society? This is the same government we voted into power, and their responsibilities include taking care of the masses, not pushing them away. 

I think the government should give a better reason for its action. If these people deported have made Lagos their home and still manage to survive, what makes the state government think that they could survive in a new environment with nothing?

— Oramadike Emeka

Lagos should be sanctioned

 I think the Federal Government should do something about it. The Lagos State Government should be sanctioned for deporting Nigerians from Lagos to Anambra or any other state, I even read that most of the deportees were not from Anambra. 

This is totally pathetic, cruel and it is a condemnable action which has violated the inalienable rights of those Nigerians that were deported. It also challenges the legitimacy of the federation. Something must be done!

— Loretta Brown

This can trigger ethnic clash

The decision doesn’t make any sense. I think this can gradually lead to Nigeria breaking up. The decision of the Lagos State Government can also trigger other states to do the same.

 In the end, it could cause an ethnic clash. And another thing is, if Lagos keeps deporting people from other states, then it will affect the country as a whole. 

There will be economic stagnation. For example, most of those who bring about economic development in the state are not Lagosians, by the time they also decide to leave the state because their people were deported, it will affect the economy of the state. 

I believe it will also affect the entertainment industry because if everyone decides to go back to their respective states before Lagos deports them, then most of all these entertainers will have to relocate from Lagos also, since the majority of them are not Lagos indigenes.

 I feel this is unfair because people who contribute to the state economy, like businessmen and entertainers, will not be deported  but because these people are poor and helpless, the state government has decided to take advantage of them. This is unfair to humanity.