The Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, has refuted claims suggesting that Lagos is a no-man’s land.

For decades, Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, has been described as a no-man’s land, despite being situated in the southwest, a region predominantly inhabited by people of the Yoruba ethnic group. This claim has, however, been challenged over time.

While speaking at an event organised by the Lagos State Records and Archives Bureau (LASRAB), Omotoso said that only anarchists claim Lagos is a no-man’s land.

“The second challenge is what I call the question of people who claim that Lagos is a no-man’s land. There is no empirical fact to support this bogus and vacuous claim, nor can it be validated through any available record.

“So the battle in my own view is between archivists and those who lay claim to this notion of no man’s land, who are in my own view anarchists,” said Omotosho.

The Commissioner noted that there are no empirical facts to support the claim, adding that it cannot be validated through any available record.

Omotoso added that Lagos needs to preserve and protect its heritage. According to him, the battle for the preservation of Lagos’ heritage can be won through technology and ideology

“We are talking about Lagos here, all the beautiful buildings that we have, all the things that our Kabiesis and royal fathers are preserving for us, none is showing here,” he said.

“It is because we are not in control of the technology. I think we need to join the world in using technology to show what we are capable of doing, what our forefathers did, and the kind of future that we are confident that our children will have.”