By Allwell Okpi
November 28, 2010 12:32AM


In 2007, Abdulazeez Mustafa, 20, left his hometown Tesa, near the famous city of Timbuktu, in Mali, for Lagos, Nigeria. Since then, he has had varying experiences as a water vendor, cobbler, and security guard, in both Lagos and Port Harcourt, developing survival skills as well opinions of Nigerians.

"I come Lagos because I want make money," said Mr Mustafa, who was a farmer in his hometown, and now a security guard at a residential building at Ojodu, a Lagos suburb.

"But Lagos get wahala too much. Any small thing, they will want to fight you. They dey disturb us too much. That time when I still dey sell water, na okada people go just slap me for head, say, ‘Kuro mbe!' They dey do am every time. In fact, many things dey, but I like Lagos because here I dey make small small money."

The influx

Mr Mustafa is one of the many young people who have migrated from other African countries to Nigeria, in search of a greener pastures. Most of them are from the rural areas; farmers and nomads, who have migrated from their hometowns owing to low yield and loss of vegetation for grazing.

"I be farmer for Mali. But rain dey hard to fall so the ground dey dry, so the farm no dey produce well. So I leave the farm to come to Lagos to make money before I go back to Mali," Mr Mustafa said.

According to him, many youth in his country are looking for a way to come to Lagos because they see it as a big city with many opportunities. And many of them regularly come to do menial jobs and make money before they go back home to see their families.

"I dey go Niger sometimes, to go see my wife and my family. If I make small money, I go go give them," said 24-year-old Ali Mohammed, a security guard who is from Niger Republic.

Mr Mohammed, who doubles as a cobbler and a water vendor, just like Mr Mustafa, has been in Lagos since 2005 and still desires to return permanently to Niger sometime.

Mistaken for Hausas

Those of them who are from countries like Mali, Niger, and Chad are generally mistaken for Hausas from northern Nigeria. As a result, many of them strive to learn both Hausa and English languages (and they end up with Pidgin) so that they can do business with more ease.

"They dey call us ‘Mallam' (a name by which many southerners refer to northerners), when they want to look for our trouble. I stay for Port Harcourt for complete seven months. I stayed with my brother there. He sells provision. If it is in Port Harcourt, if somebody calls me Mallam, I can hold the person and nothing will happen. But here in Lagos, you cannot do that one because Lagos people get wahala," Mr Mustafa said.

These African immigrants to Lagos; including those from Ghana, Togo, Benin Republic and Cameroun; are craftsmen. They are auto mechanics, carpenters, hairdressers, and masons, among others.

In recent times, Nigeria artisans have protested against the obvious preference of these foreigners by some employers. However, many Nigerians attest to the fact that the foreigners are often more dedicated to their jobs and more honest.

Hardworking folks

"They do their work well. That's why I prefer them. My mechanic is from Benin Republic, and he gives no trouble. I can leave my car with him without fear and he always delivers on time. And I know what I'm saying because my former mechanic is a Nigerian and he gave me hell," said Oladimeji Lawal a Lagos resident.

Generally, the Nigeriens and the Malians are preferred as security guards, even though some of them cannot communicate in English, while the Ghanaians are preferred as hair stylists.

Solomon Atamah, a Ghanaian hair stylist, said he came to Lagos because of the big opportunities that abound, and that's why he constantly tries to do his best. "I came to Lagos in 2008 because my friend told me that there are opportunities here; that women here like Ghana weaving and they like to patronise Ghanaians. So I came and business is better. I'm making more money here. I know this is not my country, so I always try my best, because there is competition. And the money that I make I send to my family," Mr Atamah said.

For Mr Mustafa, his biggest motivation to return home is to organise the wedding ceremony and, thereafter, take his young wife.

"Me, I don marry. I dey 16 years when I marry. That na before I come Nigeria. The girl is still dey her father house. So after I make some money, I go back go do the wedding, take the girl. She dey 12 years when we marry. We dey marry early for my place. If you reach 24, 25 and you never marry, people go help you," he said.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5646977-146/seeking_gold_in_lagos__.csp

These people don't pay tax due to the kind of work they do. FG is saying Kano is more populated.

How can Lagos possibly cope with this influx?

Mariory:

These people don't pay tax due to the kind of work they do.

They work, pay taxes on food, rent homes, etc. That contributes to the economy.

FG is saying Kano is more populated.

Na lie!

How can Lagos possibly cope with this influx?

Expansion into Yorubaland.

All in all, I am happy to see this.  It is good for Yorubaland to see immigration like this. Just needs to be properly managed.

I stayed in Port Harcourt for complete seven months. I stayed with my brother there. He  sells provision. If it is in Port Harcourt, if somebody calls me Mallam, I  can hold the person and nothing will happen. But here in Lagos, you  cannot do that one because Lagos people get wahala," Mr Mustafa said.

This can easily prove some points about ethnic tolerance between Lagos and Port Harcourt from a non-Nigerian who has experienced both cities.

Abagworo:


This can easily prove some points about ethnic tolerance between Lagos and Port Harcourt from a non-Nigerian who has experienced both cities.

I hope you read properly. He is saying that if you call him mallam in PH, he will intimidate those people in PH to prevent them from doing so. But he knows that he cannot do that in Lagos, or there will be trouble.

Is this really an example of ethnic tolerance. . . or something else?

DapoBear:


Expansion into Yorubaland.

All in all, I am happy to see this.  It is good for Yorubaland to see immigration like this. Just needs to be properly managed.

Sadly Yorubaland is very slow in even taking advantage of its proximity to Lagos. As close as the likes of Ibadan and Abeokuta are to Lagos, these cities have derived very little advantage from that proximity.

Funnily, it is the Eastern states that have been the smarter notwithstanding the distance and have made good use of the opportunities Lagos has provided.
A larger chunk of businesses operated in Lagos are run by Easterners and to a good extent also, south-southerners.

For Yorubaland to take advantage, they would have to shed that socialist toga that Awo(no offence intended) handed down and embrace full fledged , the spirit of entrepreneurship!

@Topic
I read in a report that Nigeria attracts almost a million immigrants yearly. While that shows Nigeria has some form of attraction, I think those in charge have to start looking into the implication this could have on our already over pressed infrastructure.

Abagworo:


This can easily prove some points about ethnic tolerance between Lagos and Port Harcourt from a non-Nigerian who has experienced both cities.

Yeah, right.
What he is saying in essence is that people in PH are mumus, unlike the people in Lagos

PapaBrowne:

Sadly Yorubaland is very slow in even taking advantage of its proximity to Lagos. As close as the likes of Ibadan and Abeokuta are to Lagos, these cities have derived very little advantage from that proximity.

Agreed.

Funnily, it is the Eastern states that have been the smarter notwithstanding the distance and have made good use of the opportunities Lagos has provided.
A larger chunk of businesses operated in Lagos are run by Easterners and to a good extent also, south-southerners.

There is something wrong with the Yoruba mentality. We turn our noses up at lowly jobs that other groups do not mind taking Witness all these jabs about spare parts dealer, etc  Yet you have to start from the bottom before you get to the top. This is something we need to fix, asap. Arrogance is unnecessary and harmful. . .

For Yorubaland to take advantage, they would have to shed that socialist toga that Awo(no offence intended) handed down and embrace full fledged , the spirit of entrepreneurship!

None taken. He did the best he could given his resources and knowledge at the time, but it is becoming increasingly clear to me that my people need to wake up. This shall be rectified shortly I hope; I and others like myself will move back to Yorubaland within a few years.

We shall shake the Yoruba out of any lethargy, by force if necessary.

fstranger:

Yeah, right.
What he is saying in essence is that people in PH are mumus, unlike the people in Lagos

That is the thinking of a less privileged.If someone comes to your village and you abuse him you are correct.If someone comes to your village and you tolerate him then you are mumu.Sorry for your mentality.

Abagworo:

That is the thinking of a less privileged.If someone comes to your village and you abuse him you are correct.If someone comes to your village and you tolerate him then you are mumu.Sorry for your mentality.

But it is implied that the tolerance is only due to the threat of violence. They don't call him mallam in PH because he will kick their @ss if they do. But he knows better than to do that in Lagos.

Abagworo:

That is the thinking of a less privileged.If someone comes to your village and you abuse him you are correct.If someone comes to your village and you tolerate him then you are mumu.Sorry for your mentality.

However, stupi.d you want to spin it, please, knock yourself out!

Abagworo:


This can easily prove some points about ethnic tolerance between Lagos and Port Harcourt from a non-Nigerian who has experienced both cities.

You are right. In Lagos, anything non-Yoruba is look down on and ostensibly perceived as inferior.

Just like DapoBear pointed out that has the bane of many Yoruba Lagosians, and explains why they seem to lag behind others.

On the other hand, Port Harcourt is seen more as a no-man's-land, and mutual respect exist among the different ethnics. The more reason why no indigenous language is used as the lingua franca. Unlike Lagos where the indigenous Yoruba is the official dialect. Those unable to communicate in it are usually not fully integrated into the society.

Err, my point was about something quite a bit different than yours.

excanny:

You are right. In Lagos, anything non-Yoruba is look down on and ostensibly perceived as inferior. Just like DapoBear pointed out that has the bane of many Yoruba Lagosians, and explains why they seem to lag behind others.

On the other hand, Port Harcourt is seen more as a no-man's-land, and mutual respect exist among the different ethnics. The more reason why no indigenous language is used as the lingua franca. Unlike Lagos where the indigenous Yoruba is the official dialect. Those unable to communicate in it are usually not fully integrated into the society.

By whom?
What do you gain from peddling falsehood on the internet?

And who makes Yoruba the official dialect of Lagos?
The last time I checked, Fashola speaks English when on official duties; also, the official language of the Lagos State government is English.

BTW, Yoruba is a language, not a dialect!

fstranger:

By whom?
What do you gain from peddling falsehood on the internet?

And who makes Yoruba the official dialect of Lagos?
The last time I checked, Fashola speaks English when on official duties; also, the official language of the Lagos State government is English.

BTW, Yoruba is a language, not a dialect!

wrong, the house of assembly passed a bill that the official language when discussing is yoruba not english which was put forward by afinfera and gini adams of opc

Nothing wrong with speaking Yoruba in Yorubaland. Even Lebanese and Chinese in Lagos learn to speak the local language.

fstranger:

By whom?
What do you gain from peddling falsehood on the internet?

And who makes Yoruba the official dialect of Lagos?
The last time I checked, Fashola speaks English when on official duties; also, the official language of the Lagos State government is English.

BTW, Yoruba is a language, not a dialect!

I know. I used it purposely in relation to the different tongues in that city.

I know what i'm saying when i said that Yoruba is the 'official' language in Lagos. Those who have lived there can testify.

I brought it up to buttress an earlier point why the guy from Mali found it hard to integrate.

@alj harem.

Thanks i even forgot that. A place i grew up in, somebody is coming to tell me poo about it.

@ DapoBear

I never said it wrong to speak Yoruba in a Yoruba land. What i meant was that in Port Harcourt you dont have to be worried about learning a local language. Everyone speaks English and Pidgin-familiar languages you are already used to.

excanny:


@alj harem.

Thanks i even forgot that. A place i grew up in, somebody is coming to tell me poo about it.

u welcome brother

DapoBear:

But it is implied that the tolerance is only due to the threat of violence. They don't call him mallam in PH because he will kick their @ss if they do. But he knows better than to do that in Lagos.

The man is saying that in Port Harcourt everybody is to themselves and do not support people based on ethnic sentiments alone, whereas Lagos people will support their ethnic members no matter what they did. You wouldn't get it because you're actually one of those Lagos people (who are full up on this forum). Don't worry if you don't get it, 'Eastern' civility isn't for everyone.

As if Lagos people fight one on one.

excanny:

I know. I used it purposely in relation to the different tongues in that city.
I know what i'm saying when i said that Yoruba is the 'official' language in Lagos. Those who have lived there can testify.
I brought it up to buttress an earlier point why the guy from Mali found it hard to integrate.
@alj harem.
Thanks i even forgot that. A place i grew up in, somebody is coming to tell me poo about it.
@ DapoBear
I never said it wrong to speak Yoruba in a Yoruba land. What i meant was that in Port Harcourt you dont have to be worried about learning a local language. Everyone speaks English and Pidgin-familiar languages you are already used to.

I lived there too.
The informal language is 'pidgin'
The official language is English
The language of day to day conversation is prolly Yoruba because there are more Yorubas in Lagos, and because the vast majority of people prefer to speak Yoruba

That said, you are free to speak whatever you want.
Even deaf people are allowed to keep mute,as long as they do not disturb the peace
It is indeed a free state, the most civil,tolerant, and peaceful in the federation

Long live Lagos
Long live Lagosians
Eko o ni baje
O baje ti

fstranger:

It is indeed a free state, the most civil,tolerant, and peaceful in the federation

Lagos?

alj harem:

wrong, the house of assembly passed a bill that the official language when discussing is yoruba not english which was put forward by afinfera and gini adams of opc

alj harem:

wrong, the house of assembly passed a bill that the official language when discussing is yoruba not english which was put forward by afinfera and gini adams of opc

Can you imagine? In a highly multi-ethnic society as Lagos.  How then would those that are tax-playing residents of the state who dont understand the proposed new 'official' language know what the lawmakers are doing with public funds.

Really daft if you ask me.

^-- They adopted an additional language, not swapping out English for Yoruba. Many municipalities in the world have 2 or more official languages. . .

Hell, go visit South Texas and see what people speak there, and what is on the street signs, in addition to English.

Or a Polish neighborhood in Chicago. . .

Or visit the Chinese part of any major city in the west.

Much ado about nothing

excanny:

Can you imagine? In a highly multi-ethnic society as Lagos. How then would those that are tax-playing residents of the state who dont understand the proposed new 'official' language know what the lawmakers are doing with public funds.

Really daft if you ask me.

I guess it is also daft that the US congress debates in English, despite having a huge population of tax paying, spanish speaking citizenry
The truth is that majority of Lagos citizens are Yoruba, and a vast amount of them are illiterates; and these people are the real Lagosians, regardless of how you want to define it
This is democracy, the main focus is the majority. We don't have to carry everyone along. We just need to carry most people along.
Smart idea in my opinion.
That said, it is highly impractical. Very few educated people can afford to carry on a conversation for more than two minutes, without resulting to English.

All these foreigner's in Nigeria,is becoming too much.We can't even feed ourselves and other African countries are not this open to foreigner's working in their countries like this.I am not talking about only menial jobs.I think Nigeria should adopt Saudi Arabia's immigration and citizenship policy.They really protect their citizen's with regards to jobs and standard of living.Because soon, Nigeria will have a very heavy burden from immigrants.Africa is very poor and Nigeria's borders are lax and the immigration system does not work.Something needs to be done, and some restriction's put on that ECOWAS agreement.Every country has very scarce resources afterall. We can't feed the whole of west africa.

^--- I'm happy to see these foreigners move to my part of the country. You can ban them in your part if you like, but leave us out that policy.

Nigeria is not the sort of country where a working individual consumes more than he produces, economically. There is almost nothing free in the country. So anybody who is there with a job (driver, gateman, pure water seller, etc) is a net positive.

^
Ur part of which country?Ekiti? That can't feed itself? I am from Lagos so its my part they are in and I am complaining.If they move to Ekiti even garri will be scarce.

^-- Most of my extended family lives in Lagos.

As I said, in a country like Nigeria, the more (employed individuals), the merrier.

If the price of garri goes up due to a new guy from Mali, then the price of a a security guard/driver/etc also goes down. It isn't a zero-sum game; like I said, the net effect is positive.

DapoBear:

^-- They adopted an additional language, not swapping out English for Yoruba. Many municipalities in the world have 2 or more official languages. . .

Hell, go visit South Texas and see what people speak there, and what is on the street signs, in addition to English.

Or a Polish neighborhood in Chicago. . .

Or visit the Chinese part of any major city in the west.

Much ado about nothing

Those instances are different. Those immigrants are coming from another country where they have a different official language.

If french had been adopted to cater for our french-speaking west african neighbours, i'll still with comfortable with it.

Most Nigerians living in Lagos do not coming from a different country and do not have a problem comprehending the national official language. Why create a new one?

^-- No. The guys in south Texas are not all immigrants. Some of them have been there since the 1800s or earlier, but still speak Spanish to some extent.

The Chinatown around where I live, they've been there since the early 1900s.

Don't know much about Chicago, but they've been there a while too.

At the end of the day, if I decided to move to Kaduna or Kano, I'd probably also want to learn Hausa. If I want to move to Enugu, I'd better learn from Igbo. If I want to move to Israel, I'd better learn to speak Hebrew. And if I want to move to Yorubaland, then I'd better damn sure learn how to speak Yoruba.

^^^
You are still using the same flawed logic.

If you know the history of some states in the U.S- you'll know that some states were not originally part of the initial 13 states of new england. Most of the remaining were formerly spanish and french colonies, but where later ceded to the british. Louisiana, for example, was originally french. 

The long and short of the story is that some of these former non-british still feel spanish like south Texas
due to its proximity to spanish mexico.

Lagos is different, it is inconsideration to the larger non-Yoruba Lagosians to impose a new official language of government in the state.

excanny:

^^^
You are still using the same flawed logic.

If you know the history of some states in the U.S- you'll know that some states were not originally part of the initial 13 states of new england. Most of the remaining were formerly spanish and french colonies, but where later ceded to the british. Louisiana, for example, was originally french.

The long and short of the story is that some of these former non-british still feel spanish like south Texas
due to its proximity to spanish mexico.

Lagos is different, it is inconsiderate for the larger non-Yoruba Lagosians to impose a new official language of government in the state.

Take your reasoning and apply it to Lagos. If the existing underlying substrate beforehand was primarily Yoruba, then why is anyone getting offended?

Anyway, there is no real point debating it one way or another here, the reality on the ground is what will very likely stand.