Renowned human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has faulted the renaming of roads and bus stops in Lagos without public consultation, describing the act as unconstitutional and authoritarian.
According to Vanguard, Falana’s criticism comes in response to recent developments in the Bariga Local Council Development Area (LCDA), where outgoing chairman Mr. Kolade Alabi renamed the popular “Charly Boy Bus Stop” to “Baddo Bus Stop,” in addition to naming two streets after President Bola Tinubu and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Falana argued that the authority to name or rename streets rests solely with local governments, as outlined in the Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution.
He referenced the Chief Obidi Ume v Abuja Metropolitan Management Council case, in which a High Court affirmed that only the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) had the legal right to name streets in its jurisdiction.
He emphasized that the Charly Boy Bus Stop was not named by government officials but emerged organically from the Bariga and Gbagada communities due to Charly Boy’s historical and cultural impact in the area.
“Renaming the Charly Boy Bus Stop without consulting the Bariga and Gbagada people smacks of authoritarianism,” Falana stated.
He further criticized the state’s prioritization of political leaders in naming decisions while retaining streets bearing names of colonial figures with negative legacies.
Falana called for transparency in the renaming process, urging local governments to conduct public hearings and uphold due process before making such changes.
“This should not be done to please the whims of political leaders or promote ethnic chauvinism, especially in a diverse city like Lagos,” he concluded.
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