Oby Ezekwesili, a former minister of education in Nigeria, has asked Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State to publish information on buildings his administration had demolished at the state’s Alaba International Market right away.
The removal of 17 stores from a market in Lagos State’s Ojo Local Government Area has proven controversial.
The Lagos State Government had stated that the market’s structures were “physically distressed” and that, in the case of an impending collapse, “the lives of businessmen and women within the market would be put at risk.”
The damaged buildings, according to Gbolahan Oki, General Manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, also present a threat to other structures.
Oby Ezekwesili, a former minister of education in Nigeria, has asked Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State to publish information on buildings his administration had demolished at the state’s Alaba International Market right away.
The removal of 17 stores from a market in Lagos State’s Ojo Local Government Area has proven controversial.
The Lagos State Government had stated that the market’s structures were “physically distressed” and that, in the case of an impending collapse, “the lives of businessmen and women within the market would be put at risk.”
The damaged buildings, according to Gbolahan Oki, General Manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, also present a threat to other structures.
Oby Ezekwesili, a former minister of education in Nigeria, has asked Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State to publish information on buildings his administration had demolished at the state’s Alaba International Market right away.
The removal of 17 stores from a market in Lagos State’s Ojo Local Government Area has proven controversial.
The Lagos State Government had stated that the market’s structures were “physically distressed” and that, in the case of an impending collapse, “the lives of businessmen and women within the market would be put at risk.”
The damaged buildings, according to Gbolahan Oki, General Manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, also present a threat to other structures.
The market has a high population of Igbos.
There have been rumors about the governor carrying out the demolition as retaliation for the Igbos reportedly voting against him in the state’s 18 March governorship election ever since it started.
Ezekwesili Speaks
Mrs. Ezekwesili, who comes from a village of Igbo speakers in Anambra State, claimed that disclosing the specifics of the destruction would demonstrate the governor’s lack of political retaliation against the Igbos in the market.
On Tuesday, Mrs. Ezekwesili posted on her verified Twitter account, “I have a policy advice for @jidesanwoolu that would be helpful for all sides and the public.”
Mr Governor, please immediately publish details of each destroyed building and the dateline of due process rules that were exhausted by your government before it was ‘removed.’
“It will be wise for the governor to take this counsel on transparency and full disclosure since it would provide evidence to the public that this is not a vengeful political attack against the predominant Igbo community in Alaba Market,” she said.
Additionally, she said that President Bola Tinubu and the state administration had been “brewing a toxic atmosphere” against other people in advance of the 2023 general elections. Mr. Ezekwesili asked them to cease.
“Let me also use this opportunity to really again advise the @followslasg and its cheerleaders including @officialABAT to be careful in persisting in brewing a terribly toxic atmosphere against fellow (Nigerian) citizens since before, during, and after the 2023 elections,” she stated, without going into further detail.
“Governance by maliciousness does no one any good. A word is sufficient for only the wise.”
President Tinubu’s official Twitter account is @officialABAT, while the Lagos State Government’s is @followslasg.
The Lagos State Government could not be reached at the time of publication for comment on the points brought up by the former minister.
