By Sarah Sam Adda
Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, has retracted his description of Lagos as a “no-man’s land,” clarifying that the state historically and constitutionally belongs to the Yoruba people.
Bwala made the clarification on Wednesday via his official X handle after his earlier comments on Arise Television’s Daybreak programme sparked widespread criticism.
He stressed that Lagos’s Yoruba heritage “has never been in contention” and cautioned against misinterpreting his statement.
“Culturally, historically, and constitutionally, Lagos belongs to the Yoruba people, and that has never been in contention,” he wrote, adding that its identity as a Yoruba homeland is “settled and beyond dispute.”
The presidential aide explained that his remarks were intended to highlight Lagos’s dual role as Nigeria’s commercial hub and cosmopolitan city, not to question its ownership.
Comparing Lagos to New York, Paris, and London, he argued that its strategic importance requires substantial federal investment to sustain its economic and social responsibilities.
He emphasized that such support was not because Lagos is “no-man’s land” but because it remains the heartbeat of Nigeria’s development.
Earlier on Arise TV, Bwala defended the N3.9 trillion worth of federal projects allocated to Lagos over the past two years, calling the city “the hub of Nigeria” and “the pride of the country.”
