A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ayekooto Akindele, has berated social media activist VeryDarkMan (VDM) over his recent comments on Lagos, describing him as a “baby” who lacks historical context.
VDM, in a viral video, had claimed that Lagos was “milking other states” and slowing down Nigeria’s economic growth.
He argued that the city should be separated from the country because it monopolizes industries and ports, which in his view stifles balanced national development.
But Akindele, reacting on Wednesday, dismissed VDM’s remarks as childish and historically shallow.
He recalled that during the June 12, 1993 political crisis, many Nigerians who were not indigenes of Lagos and the South-West fled back to their home states after the military annulled the presidential election.
According to him, Yoruba leaders resisted the temptation to plunge the region into war, instead embracing what he described as a “common sense revolution” that kept Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Osogbo, Akure and Ado Ekiti safe despite provocation.
“VDM was a baby or not even born in 1993 when Yorubas endured persecution and tribulation without turning Lagos into a war zone,” Akindele said.
“If we had chosen the path of IPOB or Boko Haram, nobody would come to Lagos today, no matter how many seaports we have.”
He added that Lagos’ survival and prosperity was a product of restraint, negotiation, and resilience, not division or violence.
