Legal icon, Femi Falana (SAN) has placed the blame of the deportation saga squarely on the ruling elite who contributed directly to the impoverishment of the destitute through “mismanagement of the economy” due to “selfishness”.
He said although Lagos was overburdened by an influx economically displaced persons owing to failure of leadership in other states, that the State government still had an obligation to aid and not deport them, as such deportation was unconstitutional.
He said Lagos, unlike most States, had innovated a system of generating vast internal revenue by “compelling the rich to pay taxes through their noses”.
Whilst commending the Lagos government for contributions to the rehabilitation of area boys who once roamed free in Lagos, he said the government could do more by putting in place proper social security structures in order to rescue the destitute instead of further stigmatizing and victimizing them.
The legal luminary also cautioned that part of the billions devoted to build mega cities could also be earmarked towards funding existing rehabilitation programmes of Lagos state government.
He also chastised the Federal Government for complaining of lack of funds to establish a social security structure for Nigerians and yet bailing out subsidy fraud perpetrators to the tune of $16 billion.
Finally, speaking on Peter Obi’s reaction to the deprtation saga, he said the Anambra governor ran a regime of “official hypocrisy” as his government had also deported several Nigerians to Akwa Ibom and Ebonyi states in the past.
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