Lagos Island family heads say federal benefits have not reached them under Tinubu

Heads of families with roots on Lagos Island say they have seen no federal benefit since President Bola Tinubu took office in 2023, and they are organising to press their case with government.

Veteran columnist Dele Sobowale wrote about the meeting in a piece published by Vanguard and Independent. He said the family heads asked that their names be withheld out of fear of reprisals.

According to Sobowale, the group is non-partisan and all its members are over 70. They told him they voted for Tinubu in 2023, expecting better lives for the island he once called home.

One of them asked him what the Federal Government has done for Lagos Island since Tinubu became President. Another asked whether the ₦20,000 cash transfer paid to poor Nigerians had reached poor people on the island.

Sobowale quoted one member as saying: “Nkan to so fun wa ko leleyi” — meaning “this was not what he told us.”

The columnist said he could not give a verifiable answer, so he asked for another meeting while he checks what the island has received from the Federal Government since 2023 and how many residents have got cash transfers.

He wrote that poverty is deepening on the island, adding: “Eko is literally dying.”

Planned family heads association

The main reason for the meeting, Sobowale wrote, was to tell him about a planned Association of Heads of Families in Lagos Island.

He said those at the meeting together control about 90 buildings on the island. His own family, the Akangbe Onire Family Descendants, claims about 23 buildings across the island.

The group wants a voice the media will listen to, so that federal, state and local governments take their concerns seriously.

Their listed grievances include disputed electricity bills from DISCO, the power distribution companies, for buildings without meters; the absence of public water supply; the lack of a federal presence on the island despite its economic contribution; and poor relief for the poorest residents.

Sobowale described the island as a mini-Nigeria, saying virtually every ethnic group in the country is represented there on working days.

He said he asked for time to think about joining, citing his age — he is over 82 — and his reluctance to join groups he fears could be dragged into petty politics.

He argued the island needs a non-governmental organisation working for everyone, not just a few.

What happens next

Sobowale said he would hold a second meeting with the family heads after checking the facts. The association has not yet been formally launched, and no government body has responded to the group's concerns in the accounts published so far.