Erasing Streets Names, Erecting Tribal Hates: Lagos and the Dangerous Game of Politics

By Bolaji Akinyemi

No keen and sincere observer of the present trend in Lagos State can deny there is a silent cleansing of the Soul of Lagos. A State that once prides itself in its cosmopolitan nature to advance the practice of politics under Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his immediate successor down to Akinwunmi Ambode. With marketing communication such as my Lagos Story. Telling the stories of the success of people of other tribes from across the country in Lagos. It was a beautiful story of love, that positioned Lagos as a place where the dream of one united Nigeria was being achieved. But the ethnic cleansing by the change of street sign with Igbo names in particular is telling a story different from the soul of Lagos. A home to all is brewing bigotry as a result of political machinations of its politicians.

It all started with the defeat of Lagos landlord, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, by Mr. Peter Obi in the 2023 presidential election. It appears to have left a wound too deep for Nigeria’s ruling political class to nurse with dignity. That loss, followed weeks later by a state governorship election, opened the floodgates to targeted political violence, primarily aimed at Igbos—but tragically extending to non-Igbos who merely bore their physical features or names. In the space of two weeks, ambition dressed in the rags of bigotry turned voters into victims, and citizens into corpses.

Now, a more sinister phase of that bigotry is unfolding—not with cutlasses and gunfire, but through street signs and council chambers. The recent erasure of Igbo names from streets in Lagos, especially the removal of Ilaje off Bariga, reeks of calculated ethnic cleansing—administrative in form, political in purpose. This is no longer the work of illiterate thugs, but of men in agbada, armed with the instruments of local government authority.

Let it be stated plainly: the renaming of streets along ethnic lines is a dangerous precedent. It is not just undemocratic; it is un-Nigerian. Lagos, as Nigeria’s former federal capital, grew into a cosmopolitan giant on the back of its multi-ethnic embrace. Its wealth, its culture, its political clout—all are a product of diversity. Every attempt to suffocate that diversity is an attack on the very soul of Lagos.

The Yoruba political elite championing this quiet war against the Igbos must remember: democracy is a game of numbers. Their children schools, works, and vote in multicultural societies like the UK, US, and Canada—places where being Yoruba is not a crime. Yet here in Lagos, the same leaders promote a politics that punishes ethnicity. How hypocritical!

If the streets of Lagos fall to tribal intolerance today, Abuja may be next. To defend the rights of Igbos in Lagos now is to protect the future of Yorubas in Abuja after Tinubu. What goes around comes around.

And while Hausa-named areas like Sabo in Yaba and Ikorodu remain untouched, and Ago Hausa Street in Ojo or Ago Hausa in Epe remain proudly on record, the names of communities that dared to vote their conscience in 2023 are being erased. Why? Because the Igbo didn’t vote “right”?

Let the records show: there are no laws against losing elections in a democracy. But it appears in Lagos, there is now a penalty—one paid through loss of property, dignity, and recognition.

From Cosmopolitan to Communal City, Lagos now stands at the crossroads and will genuinely concern Lagosians pulls her back or allow politicians to destroy the diversity of Lagos that has made her the soul of a nation in dire need of unity?

Will The Progressive Institute help recalibrate the practice of progressivism at its foundation in the 4th Republic or allow the question; if the foundation be destroyed what shall the righteous do?

Will the new scientific chairman of All Progressive Congress, Professor Prof Nentawe Yilwatda rebrand his party’s practice of politics and win at all cost approach or will dignity be restored to the image of his party under his command?

God forbid, we must not allow evil politicians the luxury of paving the path to 2027 with Bigotry. They must be made to travel their path of hate and bloodshed alone. Their dangerous game of politics must be stopped and their names, not of persons of tribes who once merited honour, we should all work to erase from our anals of political history.

I urge all true Lagosians—those who believe in justice, in diversity, and in democracy—to rise and resist this silent cultural purge. The Legislative Revolution Network, under the Project Victory Call Initiative, must be supported to ensure that Lagos laws reflect its people—not the prejudices of its power-holders.

And to the cosmopolitan shepherd of Lagos, Pastor Paul Adefarasin, I make this public appeal: the city needs your voice. Your leadership. Your example. Help return Lagos to its better angels.

Injustice against one is injustice against all. Today’s silent erasure of Igbo identity in Lagos could become tomorrow’s loud persecution of Yoruba identity in the nation’s capital. A wise people sow peace where they hope to reap unity.

Let Lagos not become the architect of its own undoing.

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