₦airaland Forum

Who was dragging Lagos with Mr Johnson. All we are saying is that when people buy properties out of their sweat, let him and his brethren get their eyes off it. Don't eat your cake and trying to have it with all manner of tricks and wicked policies

Truths9ja:
yes sooo. His legacies is never forgotten

which legacies does he have?

I thought it was tinubu that built Lagos from scratch?

Truths9ja:
History beacons. Wow I'm highly surprised here. Lagos State belongs to Yoruba people.

are you from Lagos state?

"Governor Johnson’s administration, which lasted from 1967 to 1975, was instrumental in shaping Lagos into a modern metropolis"


I thought they said Lagos' history started with the mighty man of Bourdillon

Truths9ja:
Governor Mobolaji Johnson Declares: “Lagos Is Not a No Man’s Land”

A 1970 Statement Affirming the Indigenous Identity of Lagos State

The image displays the front page of the Daily Times newspaper dated Thursday, September 17, 1970, featuring the bold headline: “LAGOS IS NOT A ‘NO MAN’S LAND,’ SAYS JOHNSON.” The headline captures a historic declaration by Brigadier Mobolaji Johnson, the first military governor of Lagos State, addressing a long-debated perception regarding the ownership and identity of Lagos.

Governor Johnson’s statement was made in response to growing claims among some Nigerians that Lagos, due to its cosmopolitan nature and rapid urban growth, belonged to no particular group or people. As Nigeria’s former federal capital and a melting pot of ethnicities, Lagos had become a hub of migration and diversity. However, Johnson sought to correct the misconception that this diversity erased its indigenous roots.

In his statement, Governor Johnson firmly asserted that Lagos was not a “no man’s land”, but rather the homeland of its original inhabitants—the Awori, a Yoruba subgroup—along with other early settlers such as the Benin and Brazilian returnees. He emphasized that the cultural and historical identity of Lagos must be respected even as it evolved into a national and international urban center.

The newspaper article also reported Johnson’s rejection of proposals to carve out portions of Lagos State as a separate Federal Capital Territory. He described such suggestions as “unreasonable and impracticable,” insisting that Lagos must retain its integrity as a state. His argument reflected both a defense of local heritage and a pragmatic stance on governance, coming just months after the end of the Nigerian Civil War in 1970—a period when national unity and state identity were major political themes.

Governor Johnson’s administration, which lasted from 1967 to 1975, was instrumental in shaping Lagos into a modern metropolis. Under his leadership, Lagos State was created following the state-creation exercise of May 27, 1967, which divided Nigeria into twelve states. His government prioritized infrastructure development, urban planning, and civic administration, while also advocating for the recognition of Lagos’s indigenous population and its historical lineage.

The Daily Times article from September 1970 thus captures more than a political statement—it reflects an early assertion of cultural ownership and identity within post-colonial Nigeria. Johnson’s remarks continue to resonate in contemporary debates about belonging and heritage in Lagos, a city that remains the country’s economic and cultural heartbeat.

Source

Daily Times, Thursday, September 17, 1970. “LAGOS IS NOT A ‘NO MAN’S LAND,’ SAYS JOHNSON.”

U don’t have to explain to any body. We know the scavengers are always looking to scavenge

If this debate has been on since 1970, and no one has been able to stop it till now, that means it is actually no man's land.

Irony1:
Can a Lagos indigenes contest and become a governor in Kwara? I dare you

Lagos State is Yoruba land🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣💓💓💓💓😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜

And now you know n also understand why it comes with flogging of heads of those making such statements

ElSudani:
I didn't know this "No man's land" thing has been going on for so long.

iwaeda:
No comments, before Awon Ara Ijebu-Mushin ati Kwara claiming Lagos will raise up flags.

Unfortunately for you, the yorubas are united and segregation/classism/Osuism doesn't exist here and as such, real Lagosian yorubas have zero issues with those from other parts of the SW as long as you are Yoruba and thinks in Yoruba, you are good😂
Funnily enough, these other Yorubas are not even the ones claiming to own Lagos, it's one particular minority ethnic group that are ashamed of their land and origin that are calling it a "no man's land. They flew over Asaba, Benin, Edo, Akoko Edo, Ore, Akure, Ife, Ibadan, Ogun to claim faraway Lagos😂. Chinedus like better thing abi who no like am? 😂😂
This obsession with Lagos started with Nnamdi Azikiwe and as a matter of fact, this needs to be studied because how can you be this obsessed with a land you don't even share any border with?

Hedonisco:
All this talk is irritating and meaningless. You can't eat your cake and have it too. Nobody is dragging Ogun or Osun or Ekiti. There has to be a reason.

With the trillions of Naira that have poured into Lagos due to the 'accident' of it being the Nigerian capital for over 60 years, with the attendant unfair advantages that has accrued to it as a result, it would be annoying to keep mouthing this rubbish talk. It is what it is.


Tomorrow now, the Ggagyi people or whatever they are called would raise shoulder to start forming ownership of Abuja/FCT and entitlement, and one emergent big belle tribal god will be shalaye-ing that he laid the 'blueprint' that 'developed' Abuja and that other Nigerians in Abuja should go back to their villages. We need to clear some things.

I double-dare you to go to that Abuja and tell it to a Gbagyi man's face that the land belongs to nobody. E no go easy for you if you no take up this challenge.
Since Kano, Kaduna, Abuja and Port Harcourt are all metropolitan cities, please go there and start campaigning that they are all no man's lands.

bionixs:
Who was dragging Lagos with Mr Johnson. All we are saying is that when people buy properties out of their sweat, let him and his brethren get their eyes off it. Don't eat your cake and trying to have it with all manner of tricks and wicked policies

Why are you begging him and his brethren (the Yorubas) since it's a no man's land? 🤣🤣🤣
Since nobody owns the land, you are free to do whatever you like with the land my boy. You need nobody's permission. You can even come here and test your popularity--who knows? You could be made the next Oba of Lagos😂😂😂😂

Dwelling on inanities in 2025!

Who is actually struggling for Lagos with anyone? The real pain comes from a non-indigene winning an election there over a so-called political maverick. That pain has not subsided 2 years later.

Heal ...

Igbos have been in Lagos State before Biafra war take it or leave despite you're not born yet.

Why are igbos always claiming victimized are you the only tribe in Lagos.

It hard for you guys to develop your own land so what.

If you claimed to be lagosian then were did you buried your grandfather?.

JAWBONE:
But Ronus said it was Igbo people that started calling Lagos no man's land.

This was in 1970 when Igbo people were still fighting Biafran War which means Igbos were not even in Lagos then.

Anything to justify the tribal violence they have been unleashing in Igbo areas every election and the one they are planning to in 2027.

They have already started wetting the ground by sending their foot soldier Sego

RollinTNDA:
With the trillions of Naira that have poured into Lagos due to the 'accident' of it being the Nigerian capital for over 60 years, with the attendant unfair advantages

Imagine Mexicans claim ownership of Texas after USA don invest trillions of dollars developing Texas

Every land has its heritage and indigenous identity. No money invested can change that except an formal acquisition agreement.

Even Newyork has its indigenous owners who are from there.

givedemwotowoto:
Are we still on this topic? FG designated it different in 2025 to justify why huge oil and gas revenues are being channeled there.

Even Bwala that you are using as a reason to lie has denied what you said and clarified his statement.

Hedonisco:
All this talk is irritating and meaningless. You can't eat your cake and have it too. Nobody is dragging Ogun or Osun or Ekiti. There has to be a reason.

With the trillions of Naira that have poured into Lagos due to the 'accident' of it being the Nigerian capital for over 60 years, with the attendant unfair advantages that has accrued to it as a result, it would be annoying to keep mouthing this rubbish talk. It is what it is.


Tomorrow now, the Ggagyi people or whatever they are called would raise shoulder to start forming ownership of Abuja/FCT and entitlement, and one emergent big belle tribal god will be shalaye-ing that he laid the 'blueprint' that 'developed' Abuja and that other Nigerians in Abuja should go back to their villages. We need to clear some things.

You want an excuse to steal Gbagyi land from the original owners.
Abuja was not no-man's-land and you know it. Abuja belongs to the Ggagyi

babzo:
Funny enough, he was probably referring to the encroachment of mainly Yoruba from the Western Region then who were claiming Lagos is no man's land.

At that time I doubt if people from other tribes were claiming Lagos as no man's land.

And of course Lagos city at that time was still Federal territory.

Typical OBIDIENTS. Always creating their own tales in their heads and also believing while hoping it to be true. Lagos has always been indigenous to the Yorubas and other smaller Yoruba sub groups

Truths9ja:
History beacons. Wow I'm highly surprised here. Lagos State belongs to Yoruba people.

In his statement, Governor Johnson firmly asserted that Lagos was not a “no man’s land”, but rather the homeland of its original inhabitants—the Awori, a Yoruba subgroup—along with other early settlers such as the Benin and Brazilian returnees.
Thank you general for clarifying that Lagos belongs to its indigenes every other person is a settler with no entitlement to it wether yoruba or not

Hedonisco:
All this talk is irritating and meaningless. You can't eat your cake and have it too. Nobody is dragging Ogun or Osun or Ekiti. There has to be a reason.

With the trillions of Naira that have poured into Lagos due to the 'accident' of it being the Nigerian capital for over 60 years, with the attendant unfair advantages that has accrued to it as a result, it would be annoying to keep mouthing this rubbish talk. It is what it is.


Tomorrow now, the Ggagyi people or whatever they are called would raise shoulder to start forming ownership of Abuja/FCT and entitlement, and one emergent big belle tribal god will be shalaye-ing that he laid the 'blueprint' that 'developed' Abuja and that other Nigerians in Abuja should go back to their villages. We need to clear some things.

Making a State a capital doesn't stop the indigenes from being the indigenes, after all you met settlers there before you named it a Capital State...this is common sense.

Truths9ja:
History beacons. Wow I'm highly surprised here. Lagos State belongs to Yoruba people.

Thank God we had reasonable people in governance then, if it were to be Animal journalist at .......news, he would declared straightforward that it belongs to the Igbos no doubt.
He would assumed Azikwe owned the land.
May we not send a useless child to school who will become a national nuisance.

Hedonisco:
All this talk is irritating and meaningless. You can't eat your cake and have it too. Nobody is dragging Ogun or Osun or Ekiti. There has to be a reason.

With the trillions of Naira that have poured into Lagos due to the 'accident' of it being the Nigerian capital for over 60 years, with the attendant unfair advantages that has accrued to it as a result, it would be annoying to keep mouthing this rubbish talk. It is what it is.


Tomorrow now, the Ggagyi people or whatever they are called would raise shoulder to start forming ownership of Abuja/FCT and entitlement, and one emergent big belle tribal god will be shalaye-ing that he laid the 'blueprint' that 'developed' Abuja and that other Nigerians in Abuja should go back to their villages. We need to clear some things.

Once you succeed in Lagos , next is Ogun state and gradually buy alas, not possible because we think ahead

stuffs2002:
Typical OBIDIENTS. Always creating their own tales in their heads and also believing while hoping it to be true. Lagos has always been indigenous to the Yorubas and other smaller Yoruba sub groups

Lol, you think i am OBIdient?

You human beings are all the same. In America too, any discussion on politics, those commenting assume the other person is either a Trump hating leftist liberal or Trump worshipping MAGA conservative .

Just the other day on this same Nairaland, an Obident called ne a Tinubu supporter.

Come on men, some of us didn't and dont support Obi, Tinubu or Atiku and some of us actually did support one of those 3, but support the country more than these individuals so can easily call them out when they mess up.

In essence we are patriots.

Why are they always trying so hard to make people believe that Lagos is a no man's land...
We all ready know that unless there's something else we don't know

Wickedlywicked:
Unfortunately for you, the yorubas are united and segregation/classism/Osuism doesn't exist here and as such, real Lagosian yorubas have zero issues with those from other parts of the SW as long as you are Yoruba and thinks in Yoruba, you are good😂
Funnily enough, these other Yorubas are not even the ones claiming to own Lagos, it's one particular minority ethnic group that are ashamed of their land and original that are calling it a "no man's land. They flew over Asaba, Benin, Edo, Akoko Edo, Ore, Akure, Ife, Ibadan, Ogun to claim faraway Lagos😂. Chinedus like better thing abi who no like am? 😂😂
This obsession with Lagos started with Nnamdi Azikiwe and as a matter of fact, this needs to be studied because how can you be this obsessed with a land you don't even share any border with?

My family house is just around Onala/Agarawu/Isale-Agbede. All your epistle concerns me not.

MKPUOGALIGA:
Good for him. At least, he can enjoy his land in after life

Anambra is a no man's land

The question I want to ask here is, why is only Lagos among the 36 states single out as a no man's land?
Why not Oyo, nor Kano nor Enugu nor Rivers?

Hedonisco:
All this talk is irritating and meaningless. You can't eat your cake and have it too. Nobody is dragging Ogun or Osun or Ekiti. There has to be a reason.

With the trillions of Naira that have poured into Lagos due to the 'accident' of it being the Nigerian capital for over 60 years, with the attendant unfair advantages that has accrued to it as a result, it would be annoying to keep mouthing this rubbish talk. It is what it is.


Tomorrow now, the Ggagyi people or whatever they are called would raise shoulder to start forming ownership of Abuja/FCT and entitlement, and one emergent big belle tribal god will be shalaye-ing that he laid the 'blueprint' that 'developed' Abuja and that other Nigerians in Abuja should go back to their villages. We need to clear some things.

Did the Gbagyi people ask anyone to seize their ancestral land and make it FCT or whatever? The audacity of stealing someone's land and turning around to claim bragging rights on top of it. Funnily, if one follows your argument, then only the regions which have actively contributed to the national cake should be the ones laying claim to the FCT in the name of massive investment. But curiously, what we find is that those whose regions have contributed little or nothing to the federal purse are the ones laying claim to the fruits of federal investment the most. The irony is truly regrettable.

This 'no man's land thing" gives people headache only when an Igbo says it. Why?

iwaeda:
No comments, before Awon Ara Ijebu-Mushin ati Kwara claiming Lagos will raise up flags.

Surprise you know Ijebu-Mushin, because I thought you are from Kwarra state

Christistruth03:
We Thank Jesus that both Herbert Macauley and the British Colonial Govt knew where Lagos and Yorubaland was and who its owners were even in 1890 before Nigeria was created

I knew you are going to drop your usual expired documents here, Lagos is a no man’s land

Gerhards:
Surprise you know Ijebu-Mushin, because I thought you are from Kwarra state

I know Ijebu-Ife too.