How Tinubu’s ‘Lagos landlord’ moniker drew targeted destruction
Whether it is factual or not, the narrative that former governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the landlord of Lagos has now turned out to be a very dangerous one going by the deliberate destruction of what appears to be his business interests.
How did Tinubu and his people allow this narrative to linger?
Some things may be coincidences but when coincidences become too frequent, they could be interpreted as facts.
TVC currently occupies the land that used to be owned by Lagos State Polytechnic. They say TVC is owned by Tinubu. It was burnt down. The house of Cardinal Odumbaku, a. k. a. Baba Eto, one of Tinubu’s foot soldiers, who lives next door to TVC was also not spared.
The Ikoyi link bridge, which is operated by LCC, is rumoured to be owned by Tinubu. It was burnt down. Tinubu himself said on Wednesday that he wasn’t the owner of the tollgate but by then the damage had been done.
The biggest BRT company in Lagos, Primero, which is headed by Fola Tinubu, the nephew of Tinubu, may have made BRT a target and caused the burning of BRT buses at Oyingbo.
Oriental hotel which is owned by WEMPCO and the Tang family had long been rumoured to be owned by Tinubu. The hotel was vandalised and an unsuccessful attempt was made to burn it down. The management issued a statement saying Tinubu did not own the hotel but by then, the damage had been done.
Oba of Lagos who has at many times presented himself as a follower of Tinubu was not spared as his palace was plundered. By noon of Wednesday, other monarchs on the Island like Oniru, who is Tinubu’s former commissioner and was believed to have been foisted on the people by Tinubu, had already begun expecting the worst. Incidentally, an attempt to plunder the Palace of Ojora, one of the few kings not directly associated with Tinubu, was resisted by the people and it was spared.
The Nation Newspaper was attacked and burnt, putting the lives of many at risk.
Perhaps the worst “coincidence” of all was the fact that Tinubu’s son, Seyi, who has become the biggest outdoor advertiser in Victoria Island, was the one who switched off the display boards at the Lekki toll plaza and plunged the plaza in darkness. This darkness gave soldiers the opportunity to have a field day.
All this is happening while a former MD of Alpha Beta Consulting has taken Tinubu to court, claiming that Tinubu owns Alpha Beta and gets billions of naira in commission from tax generated from Lagos State every month.
In the middle of all this, traders at the computer village have also dragged Tinubu’s daughter, Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, to court for demanding money from them by using her position as Iyaloja-General of Lagos, to perpetrate the act.
The NURTW, which is known for extorting money from commercial drivers, is headed by MC Oluomo, a known acolyte of Tinubu. The extortion by the NURTW has inadvertently increased the cost of transportation in Lagos and created more enemies for him.
All elected officials in Lagos are APC members and it is rumoured that anyone who is not endorsed by Tinubu cannot get a ticket.
The problem is that Tinubu is blamed for the failure of any official including those at local government level.
The problem is that this narrative that Tinubu owns Lagos has put him in clear danger at a time poverty has reached unprecedented levels.
