The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, has clarified his earlier remarks describing Lagos as a “no-man’s land,” a comment that sparked widespread criticism following his Wednesday interview on Arise Television.
Bwala, addressing the backlash on his official X account, affirmed that Lagos State is historically and constitutionally the land of the Yoruba people, stressing that his words were misinterpreted.
He said, “Don’t misinterpret what I said in my interview this morning. Culturally, historically, and constitutionally, Lagos belongs to the Yoruba people, and that has never been in contention. The unique identity of Lagos as a Yoruba homeland is settled and beyond dispute.”
Bwala further explained that his intention was to highlight Lagos’s dual role as both Nigeria’s commercial hub and a cosmopolitan city welcoming citizens from across the country, likening it to global economic centres such as New York, Paris, and London.
“What I emphasised was the special place Lagos occupies in Nigeria and indeed West Africa—a city that, much like New York, Paris, or London, serves as the commercial nerve centre of our economy. Lagos provides every Nigerian, regardless of origin, a level playing field to thrive, and in this sense, it mirrors the diversity of our nation while remaining firmly rooted in Yoruba heritage,” he said.
Bwala added that his core argument on television was that any president aiming for national success must deliberately invest in Lagos because of its significant economic and social responsibilities. “Such support is not because Lagos is ‘no-man’s land,’ but because it is the heartbeat of the nation’s development,” he clarified.
During the controversial Daybreak interview, Bwala had described Lagos as “a no-man’s land” and “the pride of Nigeria’s economy,” citing its cosmopolitan nature and concentration of federal projects as justification for strategic investment rather than favoritism.
He stated at the time, “The richest man in Africa is a northerner. His business is not in Kano, it’s in Lagos. Almost every rich man that you know in Nigeria has a business undertaking in Lagos, and the Nigerian people are represented in Lagos.”
Bwala also defended the allocation of N3.9 trillion in federal projects to Lagos over two years, describing it as proportional to the state’s economic significance.
“Lagos is the hub of Nigeria. Lagos is the pride of the country. The idea that you put more in Lagos than in other states should be put into the proper context,” he said, reiterating that the city remains central to Nigeria’s commerce and national growth.
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