Chief Bode George, a prominent figure in the Peoples Democratic Party, has dismissed recent calls from some groups urging Igbo people to leave Lagos as “arrant nonsense.”
George told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos: “That type of campaign is ‘arrant nonsense’; it is ‘sheer stupidity,”
The retired army officer, a Lagos native, made his remarks during an interactive media session on the State of the Nation, which took place at his office in Ikoyi.
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“It is nonsense. I say it is arrant nonsense. Why should we be saying that the Igbo people should leave?
“We have grown with them here. I had known them. We played local football, local football together.
“I think those who are proposing or talking about it are not Lagos indigenes themselves.
“In Lagos, we welcome traders. Bring your wares, we look at it, we buy it, you make your money, we give you land to build. That is the culture of Lagos.
“Those who are proposing this nonsense have no bearing, no family connection to Lagos.
“I am saying it as a Lagosian. It is arrant stupidity. Why would you tell them to leave? They pay their taxes,” he fumed.
George reflected on history, noting that Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, an Igbo leader, became a political protégé of his great-granduncle, Sir Herbert Macaulay.
The former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP explained that Azikiwe, Nigeria’s first President, had collaborated with Macaulay in the fight for nationalism before Obafemi Awolowo and his group returned from the UK. “Why are you fighting them? Does it make sense? Lagos State was created in 1967. Since that time to now, the Igbo have had their contributions.
“So, to me, such campaign is idiotic. Very idiotic. They should stop,” George cautioned.
He suggested that those spreading such hate are not indigenous to Lagos but are individuals from neighboring states who have been accommodated in the city.
“They should just shut up. If they have a right to come here, why are they blocking others?
“The Igbo have their own contribution to make.
“They are buying houses and building houses. They are contributing to the development of economic activities in Lagos. They are most welcome,” he added.
