₦airaland Forum

Adexgentle005:
I say things how it is. Dude I was born and brought up in Lagos. I have my own house in Lagos already. We are talking about abandoned ancestry yoruba towns here

You're absolutely right my bro, if not for higher institutions in some towns, they would not even have any iota of development at all. Even at that, once you leave the students area, most of the other areas are still full of old mud houses.

This is not only happening in Lagos, it's almost every capital city, ibadan is growing because people are leaving their small towns to come there and develop it too. Eruwa, lalante, and igbó Ora is there. Nobody is building anything in those places.

tollyboy5:
It's prevalent in mostly Christian Yoruba families.
The Muslims still use to go back home. Our pastors are not helping with the story of Ogun idile.
People now feel they need to avoid their village People.
I don't actually think Ogun State should be in this category, but I saw ijebu-igbo mentioned.
Intercity rail is what we need.
You don't have to live in Lagos to work in Lagos

Celestial pastors and their Pentecostal pstos have missed them up telling them their villages are bad ...and door blame these Pastors they are smart
Money that will be used to go to their villages will be used to sow seed

The government should introduce maintenance culture programs to enlighten the mass on it

Abaki5:
The government should introduce maintenance culture programs to enlighten the mass on it

why do you guys always blame the government on everything?

ariesbull:
why do you guys always blame the government on everything?

Sorry I don't play blame game
I gave them my opinions as a concern citizen

I am a yoruba guy and agree with this write up.


Lagos is not a blessing to us.

Yorubas will travel and abandon their home.

We also don't take care of our family house!

tundegan:
The writer should also write about how other regions are also leaving their towns behind

As a traveller I align with the Writers opinion

ariesbull:
There’s something deeply painful about driving into a Yoruba town these days.

You’re greeted by rusting signposts, potholed roads, and shuttered stores. The once vibrant village squares are silent, the town halls now hosting more funerals than community initiatives. Yet these same towns—places like Ila-Orangun, Ikere-Ekiti, Oyo, and Ijebu-Igbo—were once centres of education, commerce, and strong communal pride. What happened to us?

More importantly, how did our neighbours—states in the South-East and Niger Delta—begin to pull ahead?

In Ebonyi, a state that once struggled for recognition, there are now functional streetlights, urban planning projects, solid roads linking villages, and modern schools rising from the ground. Go to Nnewi in Anambra, and you’ll see something even more telling: industries owned not by foreigners, but by sons of the soil—motorcycle assembly plants, manufacturing hubs, and smart investments powering the local economy.

Meanwhile, we—descendants of Oduduwa—still pack our bags and head to Lagos like it’s the only place where dreams are allowed to thrive.

Too Much Dependence on Lagos, Too Little Love for Home

The over-dependence on Lagos is choking the Yoruba spirit.

Lagos is a great city, no doubt. It has given so much to Nigeria and the world. But Lagos is already overwhelmed, congested, and burdened. It was never meant to carry the entire weight of the Yoruba nation. Yet today, even people from Ilesha or Ogbomosho prefer to say, “I’m from Lagos,” while their true hometowns waste away.

It’s not the same in the East.

An Igbo man in London is building his second duplex in Abakaliki. An Itsekiri woman in Canada is donating boreholes to her village in Delta State. They don’t hide their hometowns. They transform them.

They have learned that development is not a government thing. It’s a community thing. A personal thing. A generational responsibility.

Yoruba people need to learn this too.

We Can’t Wait for Government Any Longer

Many Yoruba towns are stuck in a cycle of political apathy and dependency. Everything is about “government will do it.” But government hasn’t done it—and won’t. The reality is, federal allocations won’t build your street. Politicians come and go. But communities last forever.

Let’s go back to the spirit of Aro, Egbe, Asa, and Omo Ilu. Our forefathers didn’t wait for white men or federal ministers. They pooled resources, built schools, dug wells, erected town halls, and funded scholarships. Today, we spend more on owambe than on town development.

We need a mindset shift. We need to copy what is working.

What the East and Niger Delta Are Doing Right

Community-driven development: In the East, town unions are powerful. They raise funds from their sons and daughters abroad. They set development goals. They inspect projects. They name and shame.

Diaspora reinvestment: Igbos abroad are building homes, factories, hospitals—not just in Abuja or Lekki, but in Orlu, Nsukka, and Umuahia. There’s pride in building back home.

Private-led innovation: In Delta and Rivers, you see individuals setting up ICT hubs, film studios, and agro-processing plants. They're not waiting for Abuja.


Meanwhile in Yoruba land, we’re busy fighting over kingship stools, land boundaries, and who gets the next chieftaincy title.

It’s Time to Wake Up

We must stop romanticising Lagos and start romanticising Ijero, Ikirun, Ikole, Oyo, Akure, and Iwo. These towns hold our heritage, our identity—and if we invest in them, our future.

Let’s challenge ourselves:

Start a business in your hometown.

Donate to a local school.

Set up a scholarship fund.

Partner with others to fix one road.

Stop saying, “There’s nothing there.” Say, “Let me build something there.”


Because the truth is, if we don't return with our strength, our towns will die with our parents. And when the time comes for us to retire or reconnect, there may be nothing left to go back to.

We must reduce our unhealthy dependence on Lagos and stop waiting for government handouts.

Let’s look inward.

The East is doing it. The Niger Delta is doing it. What are we waiting for?


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All those shiny projects in the East will look like Yoruba land in ten years time.

I am not here to play any tribal games.

The thing is, in Nigeria, we know how to build shiny projects. To maintain them is another issue.

In the UK, there are a lot of beautiful towns...and to keep those towns beautiful, every resident pays something called council tax. Adult residents (students are exempted). They cost upwards of 200 pounds monthly. BECAUSE CONTINUED MAINTENANCE CAN NEVER BE DONE FOR FREE, AND BECAUSE ALL THOSE SHINY NEW SIGNS AND SO FORTH, GOOD ROADS, ETC, COST A TON OF MONEY TO MAINTAIN AND REPAIR.

If you want beautiful towns in any part of Nigeria, because most of our towns are wrethched, either we pay council tax of N500000 monthly per household, or we accept things the way they are.

Yes, taxes are evul...but if you want beauty, you pay for beauty, as our ladies can tell you.

Yes they will loot the money....a complaint I am getting tired of because it shows that Nigerians are too lazy to hold their leaders accountable. It is even annoying self.

At the end, nothing comes cheap. We make the sacrifices, or we keep quiet. Oil money cannot save us...because we are using the revenue of 1.8m bpd to sustain 200 million people...which is plain wanky economics,. and which is why we take loans after loans.


I don talk my own. I did not insult, or abuse anyone. I did not say that tinubu is a good leader...he is not. I just stated facts as i see am.

nairalandadeux:
All those shiny projects in the East will look like Yoruba land in ten years time.

I am not here to play any tribal games.

The thing is, in Nigeria, we know how to build shiny projects. To maintain them is another issue.

In the UK, there are a lot of beautiful towns...and to keep those towns beautiful, every resident pays something called council tax. Adult residents (students are exempted). They cost upwards of 200 pounds monthly. BECAUSE CONTINUED MAINTENANCE CAN NEVER BE DONE FOR FREE, AND BECAUSE ALL THOSE SHINY NEW SIGNS AND SO FORTH, GOOD ROADS, ETC, COST A TON OF MONEY TO MAINTAIN AND REPAIR.

If you want beautiful towns in any part of Nigeria, because most of our towns are wrethched, either we pay council tax of N500000 monthly per household, or we accept things the way they are.

Yes, taxes are evul...but if you want beauty, you pay for beauty, as our ladies can tell you.

Yes they will loot the money....a complaint I am getting tired of because it shows that Nigerians are too lazy to hold their leaders accountable. It is even annoying self.

At the end, nothing comes cheap. We make the sacrifices, or we keep quiet. Oil money cannot save us...because we are using the revenue of 1.8m bpd to sustain 200 million people...which is plain wanky economics,. and which is why we take loans after loans.


I don talk my own. I did not insult, or abuse anyone. I did not say that tinubu is a good leader...he is not. I just stated facts as i see am.

No! I doubt that cos Igbo have started rebuilding decades not 10 yrs ago...Onitsha is the biggest city that has highest built up areas in Sub Saharan Africa and they still don't look bad and Aba and Enugu is catching up

tonychristopher:
No! I doubt that cos Igbo have started rebuilding decades not 10 yrs ago...Onitsha is the biggest city that has highest built up areas in Sub Saharan Africa and they still don't look bad and Aba and Enugu is catching up

But they are bad. Note that I am not here to attack your tribe.

The average Nigerian city could be much better. Even Abuja is becoming a slum.

Hence why we have to consider paying council tax to make them even better

nairalandadeux:
But they are bad. Note that I am not here to attack your tribe.

The average Nigerian city could be much better. Even Abuja is becoming a slum.

Hence why we have to consider paying council tax to make them even better

This isn't government project but individuals built these cities and are maintaining them

ariesbull:
This isn't government project but individuals built these cities and are maintaining them

Which is why people have to participate by paying council tax or something similar.

OP is very right to a sizeable degree, but it is all due to most of their best minds leaving the country and sometimes returning to Lagos.

Most of the small towns do not actually welcome their returnees . An Americana in the middle of the poor, and since your solution to their problem is not welcome they suffer till they lose it all..

Ant your a village should give land away for free to those who will come in to develop and build / invest in their community, but they rather want to sell for millions to Fulani heard men who will end up killing and taking all their lands.

This is why the cities are herring congested for safety reasons.

sultaan:
OP is very right to a sizeable degree, but it is all due to most of their best minds leaving the country and sometimes returning to Lagos.

Most of the small towns do not actually welcome their returnees . An Americana in the middle of the poor, and since your solution to their problem is not welcome they suffer till they lose it all..

Ant your a village should give land away for free to those who will come in to develop and build / invest in their community, but they rather want to sell for millions to Fulani heard men who will end up killing and taking all their lands.

This is why the cities are herring congested for safety reasons.

I had to check online and I noticed many Igbo cities like Owerri, Umuahia, Enugu even Abakaliki are rapidly expanding and developing that's why SW cities must evolve