Controversial activist, VeryDarkMan (VDM), has once again set off heated debates online after claiming that Lagos is holding Nigeria back.
In a viral video, VDM argued that Nigeria’s overdependence on Lagos was stalling national development. He questioned why most imports must go through Lagos despite other states having ports, and even suggested that Lagos should be separated from Nigeria to allow the rest of the country to grow faster.
According to him, Lagos has become a bottleneck that benefits from an unfair concentration of opportunities and infrastructure. His exact words, as reported by DailyReport, were that Lagos “is slowing Nigeria down and should even be made its own country.”
But Ayekooto Akindele was not having it. In a fiery Facebook post, he countered VDM’s argument with a throwback to 1993, the year Nigeria’s June 12 election was annulled.
Akindele recalled how, at the time, many non-indigenes panicked and fled Lagos, believing Yorubas would retaliate violently against the military annulment. He claimed buses loaded non-stop, ferrying people back to their “actual homes,” as fear gripped the city.
“Smart Yorubas didn’t go to war,” Akindele wrote. “They endured the pains of negotiation, tribulation and persecution. Against all odds, Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Osogbo, Akure and Ado Ekiti were kept safe without destruction. That is what is called common sense revolution.”
He argued that if Yorubas had taken a destructive path like Boko Haram or IPOB, Lagos would have collapsed, and no one would be talking about its seaports today.
Akindele concluded that peace and endurance are what made Lagos the economic powerhouse it is, not just infrastructure, stressing that divisionist rhetoric like VDM’s misses the bigger picture.
The exchange has divided Nigerians online. Some sided with VDM, pointing to Lagos’ overcrowding and unfair centralization, while others echoed Akindele, praising the Yoruba response in 1993 as proof that Lagos’ strength lies in unity and resilience.
