The Indigene
And Settler Problem
By
Babs Fafunwa
culled from GUARDIAN, April 25, 2005
The indigene/settler issue first reared its ugly head in 1861 when King
Dosunmu of Lagos ceded Lagos to the British Crown, known later as the Colonial
Government of Nigeria. The cession of Lagos in 1861 was erroneously conceived as
the handing over of Lagos territory, when in fact what was ceded was the
political administration of Lagos. This clarification came about later after
several court cases between 1900 and 2000 AD. It was finally conceded by several
court cum privy council judgements that the Lagos chiefs, known as Idejo Chiefs,
were the Lagos land owners, not King Dosunmu or any previous kings before him.
Again in 1914 when the amalgamation of Northern and Southern Nigeria took
place under Lord Lugard, Lagos became the official capital of Nigeria even
though it had been serving as the capital de facto since 1861. Ironically, even
in spite of the earlier misinterpretation of the 1861 cession, Governor Carter
approached the then Chief Onikoyi of Ikoyi, Lagos to lease a piece of his land
to him in order to re-settle his ex-soldiers and officials in 1864. He asked the
Chief to throw a stone and wherever the stone landed would be the land to be
leased or ceded to the colonial government.
The stone was thrown by the chief at Alexander Avenue in Ikoyi and
miraculously landed in Obalende canal! It should be noted that neither airplane
nor helicopter had been invented at that time to aid the stone in reaching its
destination. A lease agreement was signed for 99 years and the illiterate chief
signed with his thumb impression, not knowing what was written in the agreement.
He received a bottle of gin, some gun powder and a few cowries for the
concession.
As mentioned earlier, in spite of the fact that Governor Carter realised that
Lagos land belonged to the Idejo Chiefs as proved by his action, Lagos was still
regarded as "no man's land" by officials, non-officials and non-Lagosians since
it was the capital of Nigeria which meant that Lagos belonged to everybody, that
is every Nigerian. This mischievous interpretation was extended further to mean
that there was no such thing as an "indigenous Lagosian"! Within the wider
Nigerian context therefore all Nigerians would have places of origin except the
Lagosian. It was an eminent Nigerian politician cum legal luminary, late Chief
H.O. Davies, who said that when there is a big upheaval in Lagos and many of the
people run back to their village, town and state, those who remain, having no
other home, are Lagosians. Most Nigerians would not believe that some people had
lived in Lagos for over 400 years.
Lagosians lived under this externally imposed discrimination and humiliation
by fellow Nigerians for over 50 years in their own home territory. It was not
until the creation of Lagos State in 1970 that the mischievous slogan "Lagos is
no man's land" was effectively challenged. In spite of this and contrary to what
happened in 35 other states, most Lagosians still have to contest their rights
in their own territory. Over 30 years ago, I predicted that the "new" state
capitals would eventually face the same problem that the Lagos indigenes were
experiencing. The only difference now is that the entire Lagos State, not just
Lagos division alone will face this problem in due course if we ignore this
problem. Already Abuja indigenes as well as those in some other state capitals
are facing similar problems.
I have gone into the origins of this problem in order to alert our leaders,
politicians and particularly the delegates at the current National Dialogue that
the issue of indigenous settlers is a deep-rooted problem that must be addressed
and resolved realistically. Passing a legislative bill which declares that every
Nigerian is a citizen of our country and has a right to settle anywhere and
enjoy the rights of citizenship wherever he or she may reside is a good
beginning. But this is not comprehensive enough.
From time immemorial we generally aver that minorities must be protected in
our communities and their rights guaranteed. But what do we do when the
minorities who hail from other states become the majority over time, while the
former indigene majority becomes a minority in their own home? How do we protect
the indigenous minority? Their rights must also be protected. The related
problem that must be addressed is, how do we prevent dual citizenship within the
Nigerian context? That is, how do we ensure that the old minority who are now
the new majority do not enjoy double privileges, one from their new state and
one from their old state at the same time? They must forgo one and retain the
other. There must be a mechanism that will prevent them from voting in two
states.
The ceaseless conflicts that have reared their heads since Nigerian
independence, particularly since the creation of states and the establishment of
state capitals appear to have multiplied the Lagos problem 36 times plus Abuja.
The issue should not be swept under the carpet. It must be addressed squarely by
the current National Dialogue now holding at Abuja. We can only ignore this
issue at our own peril. Some proposed solutions:
The legislative act must prevent double privileges, that is to say, once a
citizen leaves his state to settle in another state he/she can only exercise
voting privileges and pay taxes in the new state. He/she must also renounce all
privileges enjoyed by citizens of the former state. This new dispensation must
be observed by all states, unlike the present situation where most Nigerians
except Lagosians enjoy double privileges.
Professor Fafunwa is a former Minister of Education.
