Igbo-Yoruba Rivalry, Bridging The Harmony Route

 By Tony Iwuoma

On a hot afternoon in Lagos, Alaba International Market buzzes like a living organism. Igbo traders call out prices for electronics in quick Igbo-English pidgin, while Yoruba shopkeepers argue with them in Yoruba-laced banter. 

Bargaining is intense, voices are loud, but behind the noise lies a rhythm of trust: credit extended across ethnic lines, partnerships formed in cramped offices, apprenticeships that cut across ancestral origins.

At one stall, Chijioke, an Igbo importer, laughs as his neighbour, Bamidele, a Yoruba distributor, jokingly accuses him of being “too sharp.” Chijioke fires back, “And you Yoruba, you like to calculate everything!” Both men laugh. The stereotypes are alive, but in this moment, they are softened into jokes, not weapons. They know their livelihoods depend on each other.

Alaba Market Demolition: Matters Arising

 By Emeka Alex Duru 

I confess that I initially bought into the explanation by officials of Lagos state on the reasons for the demolition of some structures in the popular Alaba International Market. The government had on Sunday, June 18, commenced pulling down 17 buildings it tagged distressed at the market. 

The General Manager of Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Gbolahan Oki, who spoke on the exercise two days earlier, claimed that the affected buildings had been marked for demolition since 2016. “The marked inscriptions from LASBCA seen on different parts of the buildings that were looking physically distressed had vacation notices as far back as 2016, 2020, 2022, and several others issued to this year, 2023,” the state added in a post on its website.