Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, has dismissed long-standing claims that Lagos is a no-man’s land, attributing such assertions to anarchists lacking historical or empirical backing.
For decades, Lagos—Nigeria’s economic powerhouse in the Yoruba-dominated Southwest—has faced this narrative, which Omotoso challenged during an event hosted by the Lagos State Records and Archives Bureau (LASRAB).
“There is no empirical fact to support this bogus and vacuous claim, nor can it be validated through any available record,” Omotoso stated. He framed the issue as a contest between archivists safeguarding the truth and those promoting the unfounded notion, whom he described as anarchists.
Omotoso stressed the importance of preserving Lagos’s rich heritage through technology and ideology to counter such distortions. He lamented the underrepresentation of the city’s architectural gems and cultural landmarks—maintained by traditional rulers—in digital archives.
“We are talking about Lagos here: all the beautiful buildings we have, all the things our Kabiyesis and royal fathers are preserving for us,” he said. “It is because we are not in control of the technology. We need to join the world in using technology to showcase what we are capable of, what our forefathers did, and the kind of future we are confident our children will have.”
