Lagos Assembly calls for the renaming of sites and monuments named after Colonial masters

The Lagos State House of Assembly has called on the governor of the State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu to issue an order for the renaming of all sites and monuments that have been named after colonial masters in the state.

The move comes as Americans have continued to destroy statues and monuments of slave masters in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests.

The Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa has also directed its clerk, Azeez Sani, to address a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, seeking an Executive Order that all streets named after colonial masters should be changed.

He stated that the intention of the motion was not about deleting history, adding that history could not be changed. According to Obasa, the kind of treatments meted on George Floyd in the United States must be stopped and that we should support those who protest against such an act.

He also said the names of some of some buildings and streets renamed after colonial masters should be changed because “it reminds us of these people that enslaved our people.”

“The motion is about us, about Africans. We have to tell the world about our own civilisation. The resolve is not broad enough. It is not about Lagos State alone. We have to tell African Union about  reparation started by the late Chief M.K.O Abiola” he declared

Contributing to the motion, Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu representing Eti-Osa Constituency 2, opined that any history that makes a black person feel inferior should be changed.

”This is a right step in the right direction and we need to change our psyche and history that will not make us feel as human beings. We need to change the narrative that connotes superiority in our history. I want my colleagues to support the motion” he said

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest for allegedly using a counterfeit bill.