Regionalism: We won’t be part of Western Region — Lagos indigenes

Indigenes of Lagos State, yesterday, vowed to reject a Bill seeking the return of Nigeria to the regional government.

Speaking under the aegis of De Renaissance Patriots Foundation, the indigenes, in a statement by its Media Office, revealed that a proposed Bill, seeking approval of the National Assembly to return Nigeria to a regional system, is set to be considered, but insisted that Lagos State people will not be part of the Western Region.

De Renaissance Patriots Foundation, in a statement by Adelani Adeniji-Adele, said: “This bill that is being proposed or suggested spells an ominous sign to us from Lagos State. It is a further attempt to subsume our aspiration into a larger group that is antithetical to whatever we believe in as indigenes of the state.

“The first and most important is that vast consultations were not held on the matter to find out if being submerged into another subgroup is a thing we desire. It cannot be generally assumed.

“Generally and since Lagos and its environs became a colony, we have always maintained that we prefer a stand-alone status and not be part of any Western Region or Province.

“In recent times, our various Indigenous groups had always maintained that we as indigenes of Lagos had always been having a raw deal from our neighbours in the South West, who see nothing good in us as they are only for the project to marginalize us and see our state as ‘spoils of war’.

“We recall that in our history of over 100 years, Lagos indigenes in their various forms, towns and villages have never made progress and development as part of any region not to talk of the Western Region. The brief balkanization of our state to be part of the Western Region was an aberration.

“Nothing should be assumed especially from the contents of this proposed bill, especially if it has the inclusion of Lagos State as part of any region. We demand a referendum to reflect the wishes of the people.

“We, the indigenes of Lagos State, do not wish to be part of the regional state as being proposed in the Bill returning Nigeria to the regional government. Our leaders and traditional rulers opposed it in 1953 and we gained respite in 1967. We, the offspring of our heroes’ past, will not accept it.

“We enjoin our representatives in the National Assembly to consult with the elder statesmen and stakeholders before taking any action on the Bill. This is beyond the ruling party and state government affairs. Lagos State cannot be brought into nothingness through the South West Region proposal by this Bill surreptitiously.

“The old cry of our struggle during colonial rule still stands.”