The Lagos State House of Assembly has called on the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to give an order for the renaming of all places and monuments named after the state’s colonial masters.
The move comes as American statues and monuments to slave owners have continued to be demolished in the aftermath to Black Lives Matter protests.
House Speaker Mudashiru Obasa has also instructed his clerk, Azeez Sani, to send a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, requesting an Executive Order to rename all streets named after colonial masters.
He said the motion ‘s purpose was not to erase history, adding that history can not be changed. According to Obasa, the kind of treatments offered in the United States to George Floyd must be stopped and we should support those who protest against such an act.
He also said that the names of certain buildings and streets that had been designated after colonial masters would 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
George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was killed during an arrest in Minneapolis , Minnesota on 25 May 2020 for allegedly using a counterfeit bill.
