BY GABRIEL PRINCEWILL
The king of Lagos State, known as the Oba of Lagos, has sparked ethnic tensions after threatening that Nigerians from the Igbo tribe will perish in the Lagoon if they did not vote for their APC governorship candidate this Saturday. Nigeria, which recently experienced a major transition in power when former Military leader, Muhammudu Buhari won the Presidency from Goodluck Jonathan, has had its share of tribal tensions since gaining Independence in 1960. Discrimination on the basis of tribe has long been a cancer among a people otherwise blessed with natural resources and brilliant minds. Tribalism is to Africa what racism is to Europe. The only imperfection in the analogy is that internal discrimination has a long and complex history. This, however, does not change its identity as discrimination. It qualifies as such.
PERISH
Yesterday, Mr. Akiolu, a man of Yoruba descent, told a gathering of Igbo leaders that if they failed to vote for the APC candidate Akinwunmi Ambode, they would perish in the Lagoon of Lagos. This statement led to wide outrage, leading to a coalition of Igbo Organisations in Lagos to hold the Oba responsible in the event of any bloodshed to the Igbos after Saturday’s House of Assembly and Governorship elections. The king’s comments have been construed to imply an orchestrated genocide against Igbo’s in all parts of the country. At a meeting held at the National Stadium addressed by Prince Andy Moore Ezejioha and Prince Solomon Ify Ominyi, it was said that the King’s statement amounted to ”a threat of life and security of Igbos living not only in Lagos but the rest of the country”. It is an an incursion on the right of Igbo to freely vote for the candidate of their choice in the election and is not only meant to give Ambode undue advantage but also to cow Igbo into political slavery,” the statement added.
Also, the traditional Council of Eze Ndi Igbo in Lagos in a statement made by the Chairman of the Igbo Leaders delegate said they were treating the Oba’s threat ’’with every iota of seriousness, as well conceived, with adequate modalities in place for achieving same and perfected by the monarch, as such statement was made out of the abundance of the heart as against being proverbial as subsequent interveners will want to paint it.
‘’It is a clandestine and calculated attempt to wipe out the Igbo indigines in Lagos and in Nigeria as a whole. It is totally unacceptable and more instigating having emanated from a first class and supposedly respectable first class monarch”.
ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS DIVISION
Nigerian politics has always been divided on both ethnic and religious lines because of an understanding that favoritism to one group will marginalize members of the other group. In the pursuit of fairness, unfairness almost becomes inevitable as party members and even the general electorate may lose focus on the real objective of delivering the best candidate. It is widely believed that following the defeat of Goodluck at the polls, many voters from regions more closely associated with where Jonathan comes from may be more inclined to vote in the party of the beaten former President, PDP. The group has asked the Oba of Lagos to apologize to the Igbos. Meanwhile, traditional leaders from the Yoruba tribe and the Minister of State for foreign affairs, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro urged Igbo people to forgive the indiscretion of the Monarch. The Senator advised Igbo’s not to categorize all people from Lagos as intolerant, adding that the words of this particular Monarch was politically motivated, and subsequently insinuated that the royalty of the Oba(King) had turned him into a dictator. He stated “The monarch has shown unambiguous biases despite his place as a custodian of the Lagos traditional institution and such premeditated and needless hostility could pitch the non-indigenes against the Lagos indigenes.
“These people have not only become arrogant with power, they are gradually becoming despots. This is who they are”.
ROYALTY
Royalty status is not uncommon among Nigerians, unlike England where one Monarch presides over all subject, there is a wider proliferation of those who hail from some form of Royalty in Nigeria. The power and substance of an African Monarch is normally embedded in their status. Hence another Monarch, Oba Kayode Akinwunmi, the Olabirun of Ikare, spoke on behalf of seven others saying Lagos has been so peaceful for everyone because Yoruba’s do not segregate and everyone should work as one for continuous cooperation and co-existence.
The comment that Yoruba’s do not segregate is inaccurate, because Nigerians from all tribes are guilty of segregation to varying degrees. Until Nigerians and indeed the world community understand that the human race is one and only individual character and life experiences highlight differences in our development, we will continue to fall prey to the idiocy and stupidity of our own ignorance and arrogance. Tribalistic Nigerians are no better than Europeans who are racist. They are cut from the same cloth, even if the causative elements of each is different. Attempts to coerce a group of people to vote for for a political aspirant for any post is both intolerable and despicable. Security measures have been put in place to protect the Igbo’s for tomorrows governorship showdown, though there is no guarantee this would prevent bloodshed. Several members of the APC party have already been killed in the last month in Rivers State. Killings have become characteristic of elections in a country where power and money unfortunately takes precedence over quality rule and integrity.
CALL TO VOTE
Meanwhile, the present governor of Lagos State, Fashola who has been hailed as one of the most proficient governors of the State in its history, urged the people of Lagos to think, hard and carefully, and elect the party that has the interests of its citizens at hear the most. Every one has the ”right to vote for who they want. The dividends of democracy is for all” he said. Well, this was refreshing to hear, even though it should be obvious. He urged Lagosians to come out in masses on Saturday to vote for the All Progressives Congress’s candidate, Akinwumi Ambode.
Governor Fashola lamented that only about 1.5 million of the 3.8 million eligible voters voted in the March 28 election.
“Out of 5.8 million registered voters and 3.8 million PVC collections, only about 1.5 million turned out to vote, on the 28th March 2015. Think of all the pain, the effort, the sleepless nights it took to get the PVCs to you. Think of the best way to show that the effort was not wasted or in vain. It seems to me that the best way is to have all these 3.8 Million voters come out to vote,” Mr. Fashola said.
Elsewhere, however, a legal practitioner, Mr Ogunsanya claims in Nigeria’s ‘This Day’ Newspaper, that the governorship candidate going for elections tomorrow was chosen even before the governorship primaries took place under ”the pronouncement of the Oba of Lagos” He implicitly accuses the Monarch of having a hidden agenda which is not in the interest of the people and says it should be seen as a devise to circumvent the provisions of the Nigerian constitution.
Whether this is actually true is a matter for voters to decide. Voters should base their decision on the individual or party they believe will truly bring the fruits of economic and social progress to their lives. The Oba’s attempts to impose a candidate has been thoroughly rebuked and rightfully so. They electorate must now decide who will govern them better.
