The Lagos State House of Assembly has urged the Lagos State governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu to remove all vestiges of slave trade and colonialism superiority by renaming sites, monuments named after colonial masters.
This Motion was moved by the Deputy Majority Leader, Hon. Noheem Adams representing Eti-Osa constituency 01 at the plenary on Tuesday 30th June 2020.
In the Motion, the lawmaker recalled the gruesome killing of George Floyd, who was killed on Monday 25th May 2020 at Minneapolis, Minnesota United States of America by a white man named Derek Chauvin.
The Assembly further noted that this brutal and callous murder of Floyd triggered worldwide condemnations, demonstration, and protest against the continues police violence and racism of blacks in the US and Europe without provocation.
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“The House is aware that these protests further drew attention to the reality of systematic racism, oppression and domination of blacks by whites in spite of the abolition of the vexatious slave trade and related activities since the 18th century.
“This House is further aware that the demonstration brought about the pulling down of status of Edward Colston notable slave trade into a river in Bristol, London, while the British authorities removed from her museum status of another prominent slave master and promised a review of history pertaining to slave trade monuments and sites,” he said.
In his comment, the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa stated that the intendment of the Motion was not about history and that history can not be changed.
Obasa added that statues are not our history and that Africans should give backing to the blacks that are fighting for the rights of blacks.
He added that the kind of treatments meted on George Floyd must be stopped and that we should support those who protest against such an act.
“South Africa got independence much later than other African countries and they are not talking about black lives matter campaign.
“We must protect the interest of our people all over the world. So many statues in London and other places are being brought down. We should change the names of some of these buildings. We cannot bring down the buildings because they were once used by colonial masters.
“We can change the names of some of these buildings and streets. Some of the names remind us of these people that enslaved our people. What do the names say to your minds?
“We need to change the names, but it does not affect our history. We should look at the history,” he said.
The Speaker further asked why the discovery of River Niger was being ascribed to foreigners, adding that the name Nigeria was said to have been given by the colonial masters.
“It is what you believe that says who and what you are. It is about what you believe and what you can do on your own.
“You need to exhibit your own beliefs and culture. Most times, we speak like foreigners and some of our children cannot speak our mother tongues.
“We are saying that our own language is inferior to their own language. We should let our children know that we are superior.
“The motion is about us, about Africans. We have to tell the world about our own civilization. The resolve is not broad enough. It is not about Lagos State alone. We have to tell the African Union about reparation started by the late Chief M.K.O Abiola.
“The President can issue an Executive Order that all over Nigeria we should change the names of streets named after beneficiaries of the slave trade.
“Those who dehumanised Africans should not be celebrated. Our people who were used negatively by the colonial masters should apologise to our people,” he said.
In his submission, Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu representing Eti-Osa constituency 02, who supported the motion said that history that makes the black to feel inferior should be changed.
“This is the right step in the right direction and we need to change our psyche and history that will not make to feel like human beings. We need to change the narrative that connotes superiority in our history. I want my colleagues to support the motion,” he said.
However, Hon Setonji David (Badagry 2) said, “I want to support the motion to some extent but we need to check ourselves especially the black man. We need to look at the way we treat ourselves. Do we really value ourselves? Why do we have to scratch the surface?”
He, therefore, stated that there was no need to remove the vestiges, “We should fight for a better government to value of people. Removal of vestiges does not address the main issue.”
Also toeing the same thought, Hon Bisi Yusuff (Alimosho 1) said, “What we are witnessing today is due to lack of justice. When there is no justice, there can’t be peace. I have not seen anything changing the monuments but what we have in our brains.
“Neo-colonialism is worse than colonialism, we should wage war against our own minds. History is there, we can’t erase it,” he submitted.
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