₦airaland Forum

Across Nigeria, regional development has taken varied forms, shaped by culture, history, and governance. In recent years, the South East region has stood out for its visible infrastructural renewal and the strong involvement of citizens in local development. From Enugu to Anambra, Abia to Imo, and Ebonyi, governors are building roads, schools, hospitals, and urban projects that reflect a shared vision for progress.

In contrast, the South West region, despite its rich history and intellectual leadership, appears to have slowed in regional development outside Lagos. States such as Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, and Ekiti are lagging behind in visible infrastructural growth, while many Yoruba people concentrate their attention on Lagos, often abandoning their ancestral towns and villages.

This imbalance calls for reflection — and a reawakening of the Yoruba spirit of collective progress.

1. The Igbo Model: Community as the Engine of Growth

The Igbo experience is a remarkable story of self-help, resilience, and communal investment. Decades of neglect from the federal center after the civil war birthed a deep culture of local empowerment. Through town unions, age grades, and diasporan associations, Igbo communities mobilize funds to:

Build rural roads, schools, and hospitals

Electrify villages and provide water projects

Sponsor scholarships and youth empowerment programs


This grassroots model has created a network of empowered localities, complementing the efforts of progressive governors like Charles Soludo (Anambra), Peter Mbah (Enugu), and Dave Umahi (Ebonyi, during his tenure).

The result is a balanced development pattern, where no single city dominates the region — every community is alive with visible evidence of progress.



2. The Yoruba Reality: Urban Concentration and Rural Neglect

Historically, the Yoruba region was a pioneer in organized governance and education. Under Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the Western Region built the first television station in Africa, the Cocoa House, and a strong public education system. However, after the fragmentation of the region into smaller states and decades of federal dependence, that collective vision weakened.

Today, Lagos has become the overwhelming focus of Yoruba identity and investment. While the city thrives as Nigeria’s commercial hub, other states languish.

Rural areas in Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, and Ogun suffer from poor infrastructure.

Young people migrate to Lagos or abroad, leaving villages depopulated.

Communal participation in development is minimal compared to the Igbo model.


This Lagos-centric mentality has produced a false sense of progress — where success is measured by how close one is to the city, not how strong one’s community is.


3. Why the Yoruba Must Learn from the Igbo

If the Yoruba region is to reclaim its place as a model of progress in Nigeria, it must relearn community-driven development. There are several lessons to take from the Igbo model:

1. Rebuild Communal Pride:
The Yoruba must reawaken the pride of their towns and villages. Development should not end at Lagos or Ibadan — it should reach Ilesa, Ogbomoso, Ijebu, Ikare, Ado-Ekiti, and every ancestral home.


2. Promote Town-Based Investment:
Wealthy Yoruba sons and daughters should emulate the Igbo elite who build schools, hospitals, and industries in their hometowns. A Yoruba billionaire’s worth should also be seen in what they bring back home.


3. Governors Should Compete in Infrastructure:
South East governors have shown that visible infrastructure strengthens public confidence. Yoruba governors must rise above political rhetoric and deliver tangible projects — roads, industrial parks, and modern educational institutions.


4. Revive Regional Cooperation:
The old Western Region thrived on coordinated planning. The South West Governors’ Forum must move beyond talk to real joint economic planning, like shared rail systems, agricultural zones, and power projects.



4. Reclaiming the Yoruba Development Ethos

The Yoruba have historically been visionaries — from Awolowo’s welfare state to Wole Soyinka’s intellectualism. But vision must translate into physical development.

To remain competitive in a rapidly changing Nigeria, the region must balance urban success with rural revival, echoing the communal strength the Igbo have long embodied.

If every Yoruba town had a small industrial cluster, a quality public school, a primary health center, and decent roads, the region’s migration pressure on Lagos would ease, and the Yoruba economy would expand exponentially.

The South East has demonstrated that development is not solely the duty of government — it is a shared responsibility rooted in community pride.
The Yoruba, once the pacesetters of regional progress, must rekindle that same spirit of collective advancement. The future of the South West depends not just on Lagos’s skyline, but on the strength, beauty, and functionality of every Yoruba village.

If the Yoruba people combine their famed intellect, organization, and resources with the Igbo spirit of communal development, the region will once again lead Nigeria in innovation, culture, and progress.


Mary Efiot

But Igbos prefer to abandon their homelands and stay in the SW

Why?

Dotherightthing:
But Igbos prefer to abandon their homelands and stay in the SW

Why?

Learn from the write up and stop asking silly questions as if there are no yoruba people living outside of Yoruba region.

Op, they will come for you. Already, one is above complaining already. To answer his question, igbos stay in lagos to make money and develop our villages.

Take advice and change the narrative of your region sir ....

Latest available statistics for migration to Lagos, represented according to states, and subrepresented according to gender

Facts are sacrosanct

We are in era of data ...not bear parlour gossips. With availability of information and data ..


Next you will write off the research and stats... Know that the company that did this is reputable and owned by a Yoruba man also....

So ,we are waiting for another of your spin

Deal with this sir

Dotherightthing:
But Igbos prefer to abandon their homelands and stay in the SW

Why?

It's simply to collect money

We come there to do the jobs your people are too lazy to do and pack all the money 🤗

So when next you see an omo nna in your area, just tuale! 🫡 Because he's about to buy your land and become a landlord

Remember, he came with only nylon bag oo 😏

LagosOrigin:
Learn from the write up and stop asking silly questions as if there are no yoruba people living outside of Yoruba region.

The fact is that there are far more Igbos in the SW than there are Yorubas in the SE.

What does that tell you

This generation of igbos are still sleeping. By the time the wake up, Africa will wake up. How can a giant region be walking like a toddler. No sea or river port , no high speed rails, few companies with trillion naira valuations , no high speed ISP, still dependent on Lagos companies for internet, milk , beverages etc . Tufiakwa

izombie:
Op, they will come for you. Already, one is above complaining already. To answer his question, igbos stay in lagos to make money and develop our villages.

So you can't make money in your 'developed' SE or villages

SeeWahala:
It's simply to collect money

We come there to do the jobs your people are too lazy to do and pack all the money 🤗

So when next you see an omo nna in your area, just tuale! 🫡 Because he's about to buy your land and become a landlord

Remember, he came with only nylon bag oo 😏

Of course, our land is a land of PROSPERITY.

You buy land on long lease and still grunt about it every now and then. Why?

SeeWahala:
It's simply to collect money

We come there to do the jobs your people are too lazy to do and pack all the money 🤗

So when next you see an omo nna in your area, just tuale! 🫡 Because he's about to buy your land and become a landlord

Remember, he came with only nylon bag oo 😏

Buy land in Nigeria? Better consult your lawyer for clarification. You ain’t buying no land sir.

SeeWahala:
We bought your father's land for 100 years 🤗

If you live till 110 years old you can come and claim it back hahaha 🤣😂

Or send your great grand children 😏

🤣🤣🤣 99 yrs or as directed/amended by the State House of Assembly. We’ll change the tenure term to 5 years. It’s really foolish to build your primary home on someone else’s land. In the event of conflict or political tension things can change very quickly.

ibedun:
🤣🤣🤣 99 yrs or as directed/amended by the State House of Assembly. We’ll change the tenure term to 5 years. It’s really foolish to build your primary home on someone else’s land. In the event of conflict or political tension things can change very quickly.

Oga, how old are you now? 40yrs old? Okay 👍🏻

40+99= 139yrs 🤗

When you are 139 years old come and collect your father's land back from omo igbo 🤡

Dotherightthing:
Yinmu.

Yet you keep grunting all over internet that the country is tough

You think the 90 years started counting the day you bought land

You don't know anything

When does it want to start counting again? when your father gave birth to his first child? Hahaha 🤣😂

Ntoor! You sell your father's land to do owambe now you're trying to live to be as old as Methuselah to be able to have the legal opportunity to claim it back

Shame no dey catch you

CHAI!!!!!


This is fatality!!!!

SeeWahala:
Oga, how old are you now? 40yrs old? Okay 👍🏻

40+99= 139yrs 🤗

When you are 139 years old come and collect your father's land back from omo igbo 🤡

Chai!!!!!

SeeWahala:
When does it want to start counting again? when your father gave birth to his first child? Hahaha 🤣😂

Ntoor! You sell your father's land to do owambe now you're trying to live to be as old as Methuselah to be able to have the legal opportunity to claim it back

Shame no dey catch you

SeeWahala:
When does it want to start counting again? when your father gave birth to his first child? Hahaha 🤣😂

Ntoor! You sell your father's land to do owambe now you're trying to live to be as old as Methuselah to be able to have the legal opportunity to claim it back

Shame no dey catch you

Olloddoh!!! It's starts counting from the day the first person bought the land from the natives

You are 'buying' the land and you are still grunting. Are you not supposed to be happy

Dotherightthing:
Olloddoh!!! It's starts counting from the day the first person bought the land from the natives

You are 'buying' the land and you are still grunting. Are you not supposed to be happy

I no understand this RoNu pipo these days oh

So you're not longer an indigene of Lagos?

Okay 😏

SeeWahala:
I no understand this RoNu pipo these days oh

So you're not longer an indigene of Lagos?

Okay 😏

Does it make any difference

You think you are wise abi

Dotherightthing:
Does it make any difference

You think you are wise abi

I no know na if I'm not wise how did I buy land from a Yoruba man who isn't an indigene of Lagos and am able to keep the same land for over 100 years legally? 🤔

I don't know about you oh, but I feel I am OVER wise

TO YOUR TENT OH ISRAEL

LONG LIVE REPUBLIC OF AREWA
LONG LIVE REPUBLIC OF ODUDUWA
LONG LIVE REPUBLIC OF IGBO
LONG LIVE NIGER DELTA REPUBLIC

SeeWahala:
I no know na if I'm not wise how did I buy land from a Yoruba man who isn't an indigene of Lagos and am able to keep the same land for over 100 years legally? 🤔

I don't know about you oh, but I feel I am OVER wise

You can't keep it. The family will soon come for you

I trust you will pay sharply.

On a normal day, Igbos pay for the same land multiple times in Lagos

Igbos are blessed...anything them put hand dey enter

Dotherightthing:
On a normal day, Igbos pay for the same land multiple times in Lagos

This is criminality... thought u ppl don't condone criminality.. is this supported in ur community?