NIRAN ADEDOKUN FROM PUNCH
I saw a very chilling video on Monday. In it, a man who did not bother to hide his identity threatened some people he did not name about this weekend’s governorship elections. He said that anyone voting in the election must vote for only one party and nothing else. He dared his audience to do otherwise.
Before this video, arguments have gone on about Igbo in Lagos and attempts to prove a point about their influence and joint “ownership” of the “centre of excellence.” Yoruba “activists” continue to denounce the effrontery with as much vigour as possible.
While this intervention will not delve into the history of the distrust between both ethnic nationalities, it is important to register the fact that they have held each other in mutual suspicion for the better part of the last 100 years.
This distrust came to a head during the Nigerian civil war. The war ended 52 years ago, but something happens now and then that reopens the wounds.
The most recent provoker is the Labour Party’s Peter Obi’s victory in last Saturday’s presidential elections. Since Obi is Igbo, and Igbo, people saw this as an opportunity to win Nigeria’s presidency for the first time. They went all the way for him.
The result is that for the first time since 1999, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who was on the ballot as candidate of the All Progressives Congress, lost an election in Lagos State. His supporters are angry with the Igbo and are determined to stop them from getting the better of the APC in this Saturday’s governorship elections. A legitimate aspiration if we do not resort to threats and underhanded tactics.
Directing this quest at only Igbo may also be a faulty premise. Without a doubt, the man in this video assumes that only Igbo voted on Obi on Saturday, but that is manifestly wrong!
There is a chance that Igbo are the majority of Obi endorsers in Lagos. And for good reasons. One is for loyalty to their kin, which shouldn’t be a problem in a healthy society. Two, as hard as it is to say, a constant reminder of their alien status in Lagos may have inspired a defiant streak to make a statement about their indispensability, even if self-perceived.
Regardless, many Yoruba people voted for Obi. Many activists’ youths made no secret of it, and that is their right! It is in the same breath that some of Tinubu’s most single-minded supporters and beneficiaries are Igbo. Think of men like Ben Akabueze and Joe Igbokwe, for instance. Don’t these men make the tyranny of generalisation obvious? There is, in fact, a more pertinent case study! Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, and Tinubu’s colleague as governor (1999-2007), lost his Peoples Democratic Party senatorial ticket on Wednesday! Why? Because he supported the APC candidate, in spite of his party! He is an Igbo man!
Then, we should consider the fact that Tinubu did not just lose in Lagos. He lost in three of the North-West’s big states: Kano, Kaduna, and Katsina, all of which currently have All Progressives Congress governors. Did Igbo also cause this? Rather than scaremongering, we should worry about how those we elect will pay attention to the Nigerian youths and all citizens. We should ponder why less than 19 per cent of the 6.2 million people who collected their voter cards came out on February 25.
Another pathetic thing about this matter is the motive. Discussions aren’t so much about good governance as they are about ethnic triumph. Now, how does that help a society’s future? Some narratives around this issue dispense much more hate than information that market candidates and their enviable credentials. Most of those who now claim to protect Yoruba interests have no agency. In reality, they do it for personal gain and the vanity of the bragging rights that come with access. Come on, we should do more for the future of this society. Elements of identity politics manifest in every human society, but discussions in every progressive society should be about the development of the people, not just the entitled sentiments of some people.
