By Ademola Adekusibe
September 11, 2025
The heart of Yoruba heritage in Lagos is under siege as powerful interests attempt to seize and commercialize the historic Abibatu Mogaji Plaza in Festac. The plaza, named after the late Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, mother of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was a legacy gift to Yoruba market traders who have carried the economic soul of Lagos for generations.
Outrage broke out after a private developer, allegedly backed by unnamed government allies, moved to demolish parts of the plaza and rebuild it into shops to be leased back to the same traders at exorbitant prices. Yoruba traders described the move as a direct assault on their inheritance, warning that it amounts to stripping Lagos of its cultural and economic roots.
Rising to defend her people, the Iyaloja-General of Nigeria, Chief Dr. Mujidat Folasade Tinubu-Ojo, stormed Opeoluwa Market on Friday, September 5, 2025, to confront the land grab. Standing before a crowd of angry traders, she declared that the Yoruba would not sit idle while their ancestral markets are stolen.
“This land belongs to the traders, to the Yoruba mothers who built Lagos with sweat and sacrifice. Nobody will take what our mothers left behind for us,” she vowed, drawing thunderous applause from the crowd.
Her intervention did not stop there. At Oyinlola Plaza, Road 23, Festac, she also mediated a long-standing market boundary dispute, reminding leaders that Yoruba unity is their strongest defense against external encroachment.
The attempted seizure has sparked widespread Yoruba anger. Many question how anyone could dare touch a plaza bearing the name of one of Yoruba land’s most powerful matriarchs. Others warn that this is only the latest in a disturbing pattern of attempts by outsiders to test Yoruba resolve in Lagos.
For now, the Iyaloja-General’s decisive move has restored calm, but Yoruba voices are asking one burning question: Who really wants to sell Yoruba land in Yoruba Lagos?
