
Audio By Carbonatix
Elected officials in Nigeria’s Lagos State have called on the state’s governor to look into renaming some of the city’s streets in order to remove the reminders of colonialism and slavery.
During Wednesday's debate on the issue in the state’s house of assembly, Noheem Adams reflected about the killing of African-American George Floyd, which has sparked a wave of Black Lives Matter protests around the world.
“Some of the names remind us of these people that enslaved our people,” the house speaker Mudashiru Obasa is quoted by the Premium Times newspaper as saying.
“Those who dehumanised Africans should not be celebrated,” he added.
But not everyone following the debate agreed.
Lawyer Ebun Adegboruwa is quoted in the paper as saying that the lawmakers were being "unduly emotional" and that the names were part of the city's and country's history.

Here are some places that could be up for renaming:
- Lugard Avenue: home to an old style colonial residence located in Ikoyi area of Lagos Island. The road in front of the building is named after Nigeria’s first Governor-General, Sir Frederick Lugard. He was responsible for amalgamating Nigeria’s southern and northern protectorates in 1914.
- Bourdillon Road: named after the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria, Sir Bernard Bourdillon, runs through an affluent part of Ikoyi.
- Victoria Island: named after Queen Victoria, it is the main business centre of Lagos state - and also one of the most exclusive and expensive areas to reside in the city.
Latest Stories
-
Cabinet approves reforms to limit mining leases to 20 years
7 minutes -
Environmental health practitioners push for independent regulatory council, stronger sanitation governance
8 minutes -
J.E.A. Mills Heritage outlines activities to mark 14th anniversary of former president’s death
17 minutes -
Strategic fuel stock programme key to cushioning consumers from pump price hikes – COPEC
17 minutes -
Misinformation is eroding public trust in the media—Prof Etse Sikanku
20 minutes -
Hanan Abdul-Wahab’s lawyers move to strike out fresh criminal charges
26 minutes -
Reliable funding model critical for protecting two decades of sanitation gains — Stakeholders
29 minutes -
Farihan Alhassan urges African banks to rethink risk to unlock growth capital
32 minutes -
Bond market: Turnover rose 56% to GH¢2.44bn
33 minutes -
Illegal mining persists because some state officials are failing to act — Ken Ashigbey
50 minutes -
Informal cross-border trade increases to GH¢31bn, surpasses formal trade – GSS
52 minutes -
FIFA celebrates 23-year-old Ghanaian medical doctor for his voluntary service at World Cup
54 minutes -
Journalism schools must lead AI, misinformation debate — UniMAC-IJ Rector
54 minutes -
Pruride returns for seventh edition with GHS15,000 top prize
1 hour -
Andrew Tandoh Adote calls for stronger copyright laws to protect voice-over artistes
1 hour