By PETER ANOSIKE

A highly influential Igbo pressure group, Igbodum Multi-cultural Organization (IMO), has condemned in strong terms the view that Lagos is ‘a no-man’s land.’

Speaking in an interview with some media houses in Lagos, the president of the organization, Prince Chuks Emechebe, said that those who are saying that are causing disharmony between the settlers and the indigenes of the state.

According to him, Lagos belongs to the Yoruba and being a former federal capital territory does not in any way change the status of the land.

He said that non-indigenes in Lagos should appreciate the hospitability of the indigenes of the land because they created the enabling environment which is making them to be progressing in their businesses.

Speaking further, he argued that if the indigenes are hostile to the settlers, all the progress that they are making in Lagos would not have being happening.

According to him, Igbodum multi-cultural organization is a child of necessity, formed to correct the wrong narratives of the past and chart a pathway for a harmonious relationship between the indigenes of Lagos State and the non-indigenes, adding that where there is no peace, there can never be development, let along progress.

“Igbodum multi-cultural organization has thought it necessary to condemn in very strong terms the position of some people that Lagos is a no man’s land. This position has being causing misunderstanding between we, the settlers and the owners of the land. Lagos belongs to the Yoruba.

“That it was a federal capital of Nigeria did not change the status of the land. Afterall, Calabar was the first federal capital of Nigeria and I have never heard anybody say that Calabar is a no-man’s land. So, as settlers we must be mindful of that and we should also be respectful of their culture and tradition.

“Another very important thing is that we should be very appreciative of the hospitality of the indigenes. That we come from different parts of the country to Lagos and flourishing in our businesses is because of the enabling environment that they have created for us.

“We must not take this for granted. Lagos has been good to the settlers. Many years ago, a lot of us came to Lagos with nothing; but today, we have become big men and women,” Prince Emechebe said.

He said that Igbos in particular and the other settlers in Lagos should try to live in peace and harmony with the indigenes so that the cat and dog situations that is existing between them.