IllBliss: A Tenant Who Mistook Rent for Ownership – Lagos Will Never Be Yours

Let us begin with a truth so obvious it should not need stating, yet here we are. Lagos was not built by your people. It was not shaped by your ancestors. It was not won by your blood. You arrived as a guest, you were tolerated as a guest, and you will remain a guest for as long as you stay on this land.

IllBliss, a man whose career has been in a vegetative state longer than anyone cares to remember, decided to crawl out of irrelevance and declare that Igbos own all the land in Lagos. He wrote: “We own your lands, fool. We bought everywhere and renting it back to you. You will pay rent forever in this city, bloody scavenger.”

Let us laugh. Then let us educate. You cannot sell out a show in a local bar. Your last album flopped so hard it probably cracked the earth. Your streaming numbers are lower than the attendance at a primary school PTA meeting. You have been a “rising star” for fifteen years. At this point, you are not rising. You are sinking. Fast. And this man, whose career is a cautionary tale, wants to talk about ownership.

You own nothing. You cannot even own a hit song. You cannot even own a loyal fanbase. You cannot even own a record deal that lasts longer than a mayfly’s lifespan. You rent a house. You rent a car. You probably rent the clothes on your back. And now you want to claim ownership of a city that was built before your grandfather learned to walk.

Lagos did not begin when the first Igbo trader stepped off a bus at Oshodi. Lagos existed long before your grandfather learned to speak English. The Awori people settled here in the 13th century. Brazilian returnees built its architecture. Yoruba kings ruled its lands. Yoruba families hold its title deeds. Yoruba blood waters its soil.

You came with nylon bags. You came with slippers. You came with nothing but hope. And we welcomed you. We gave you space in our markets. We gave you shelter in our communities. We gave you opportunity to thrive. We did not ask for gratitude. But we will not tolerate revisionism.

You claim to own Lagos? Show us the title deed. Show us the survey plan. Show us the certificate of occupancy. Show us anything that proves your ancestors buried their dead on this soil. You cannot. Because you have nothing but a loud mouth and a dead career.

You do not own Lagos. You cannot afford Lagos. You are renting a room in a city that belongs to the Yoruba. The land has never been yours. It will never be yours.

Every Nigerian has the right to live, work, and prosper anywhere in the country. That is the law. But the right to live is not the right to rule. The right to trade is not the right to govern. The right to rent is not the right to own.

The same Igbos who demand to be governor in Lagos would never allow a Yoruba man to be governor in Enugu. They would never allow a Hausa man to be governor in Anambra. They protect their ancestral land with fierce determination. And we are not asking them to stop. We are simply asking for the same respect.

Lagos is Yoruba land. It was built by Yoruba vision. It was sustained by Yoruba sacrifice. It will remain under Yoruba political leadership.

No amount of market stalls changes that. No amount of rent payments changes that. No amount of Twitter rants from failed musicians changes that.

IllBliss, go and cry to your streaming numbers. Go and cry to your followers. The Yoruba will not be moved. We will not be insulted in our own land by tenants who forgot they are tenants.

Lagos is ours. Forever.

And if that truth makes you uncomfortable, do not chew glass. Just leave.