Nigeria, July 27 -- In a move that many Nigerians, especially Lagosians, have found both baffling and suspicious, the Bariga Local Council Development Area (LCDA) recently renamed the iconic "Charly Boy Bus Stop" after popular Nigerian music artist Olamide Adedeji, popularly known as Badoo. On the surface, the decision may appear harmless or even laudable. After all, Olamide is a native of Bariga and a widely celebrated artist who has placed Nigeria on the global map through his music.

But to dismiss this move as a mere act of honoring local heroes would be dangerously naive. It is far more than symbolic as it reeks of ethnic favoritism, political pettiness, and a calculated effort to erase the memory of individuals who have stood on the...