2027, Lagos And Resurgence Of Anti-Igbo Sentiments

 

By Emeka Alex Duru

2027 general elections may still be far but signs of what to come are becoming clearer and indeed, disturbing. Nigerians may be in for a rough deal, perhaps, worse than what was experienced in 2023, if the morning, as they say, tells the day. Mudslinging and ethnic recriminations are already dominating public spaces, in place of issue-based engagements. Lagos is a place to watch in the worrisome development.

In standard practice, elections are celebrations of democracy. Campaigns for whatever offices, are ideally, carnivals of sorts. They provide occasions for glamour, demonstration of eloquence and style. Candidates and their supporters seize the windows to advertise themselves and market their parties to the people. For the incumbent, it is time to flaunt their achievements, while the opposition, uses the opportunity to expose the lapses of the party in power and project itself as the alternative or government-in-waiting. Such periods are for stock-taking and reflections. That is why debates and manifesto nights are big moments in advanced democracies.

But that is not what we see here. For some Nigerian politicians, preparations for elections commence with campaigns of calumny and regurgitation of primordial sentiments. Because they lack the substance and power of delivery, they easily resort to ethnic profiling ahead of the polls. And with a gullible support base that has been utterly brainwashed to see a fellow citizen outside its region as the cause of its piteous situation, the fire gets readily ignited. That is unfortunately what is dictating the tempo of 2027 politics even when the campaigns are yet to be officially flagged off.

In Lagos for instance, public discussions are drifting from the challenges facing the state and country to such fleeting topic as ownership of the city. In the process, drinking joint banters or off-hand jibes by elements on the fringes, are being cited as reasons to profile others and accuse them of attempting to take over the state. The Igbo residing in the state and their property are being programmed as targets in this regard.  

Since the emergence of Peter Obi as Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, in 2023 and the momentum he generated among Nigerians especially the youths and down trodden leading to his beating the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Tinubu in the state, there have been deliberate insinuations of the Igbo plotting to covet Lagos. Accusing the Igbo of claiming that “Lagos is no man’s land” has been on the rise and penetrating. It gets amplified in the build-up to any election cycle. That is what is currently at play.

Even with the 2027 polls still months ahead, Lagos supporters of President Tinubu, have started stoking these sentiments. But that is a ruse. There is no space that can be described as “no man’s land”. Every occupied entity has an indigenous population with certain claims of ownership either by conquest, annexation, migration or even autochthony. Lagos cannot be an exception. Regardless the length of residence of an Igbo or any other non-indigene in Lagos, he/she cannot claim ownership of the state. The President and his followers know this but because it pays to paint the Igbo in bad lights before the election and get them scared from the polls, the slogan has remained.

Columnist and public affairs analyst, Steve Osuji, captured the situation quite succinctly in his outing during the week. He wrote; “Igbo and Yoruba had lived together, mixed and married for over 100 years in Lagos. But since the advent of Tinubu to Lagos politics and his attendant vice grip on power in Nigeria’s number one metropolis, discrimination, bigotry and disunity have continued to well up in Nigeria’s burgeoning city, especially at election cycles”.

Osuji further observed that “in the 2023 elections APC thugs openly disenfranchised Igbo voters, denied them access, attacked and bloodied them at numerous polling units across Lagos. Prominent members of Tinubu’s campaign team, like Bayo Onanuga for instance, verbally assaulted the Igbo in Lagos for the simple reason that they sought to exercise their right to vote as citizens of Nigeria. These cases of electoral violence and malpractices are widely reported and documented even by international election observers. One expected President Tinubu to act the statesman and condemn these barbaric acts upon being sworn in as president. But not a word from him”.

The President seems comfortable with the anti-Igbo sentiments by his men. For his odious outing in 2023, Onanuga was rewarded with appointment as presidential spokesperson. Other fleeting anti-Igbo campaigners have also been motivated in various forms. On the contrary, the Igbo have been serially sidelined in strategic appointments by the administration. The constitution guarantees every Nigerian the rights to live in any part of the country without molestation. But in Lagos, Igbo residents are increasingly becoming haunted and harassed.

The laws also guarantee each state one substantive federal minister. But today, the five States of the southeast have only two substantive ministers (Works and Science and Technology). The three others are junior ministers! Comparatively, the six States of the Southwest have top 12 ministries in the land, from Justice to Finance, Power, Education, Interior and Solid Minerals. They are also in charge of Central Bank, FIRS, Petroleum Corporation, Customs etc.

At the local level, authorities in Lagos are taking steps that indicate that the Igbo do not matter in the state. In one of such brazen moves, the state has embarked on renaming streets bearing Igbo names. A 2024 memo by an unnamed “council manager” was all that it took to commence the exercise. “This is to notify the general public that the old names of the aforementioned streets have been revoked… the names have been replaced with new ones,” the document stated. Pronto, Imo Eze Street becomes Layiwola Oluwa Street, Anosike Street turns to Jegede Marcus Street, Uzoh Street is now Kalejaiye Adeboye Street. Mba Street is renamed Sanwo-Olu Road, among others.

Ajeromi-Ifelodun local government area where the trend is mostly pronounced, has justified the action, describing it as an administrative necessity. Reports quoted the council secretary, Jumor Lukman as saying, “If a street is named after an individual, that name must be documented and validated periodically. Many streets have failed to meet these requirements for over 40 years.” He equally ruled out ethnic bias in the agenda.

Street naming falls under local government authority, no doubts. There are equally procedures for naming and renaming them. But in this instance, neither Lagos state government nor Ajeromi-Ifelodun council, has come up with clear explanations on the rather hasty manner in effecting the changes. Ajeromi-Ifelodun area, popularly called Ajegunle, is the hub of Igbo residency in Lagos.

There is hardly any Igbo family in Lagos that does not have a relation living in the area. Therefore, any untoward action in the local government is bound to have effects on many Igbo in the State. Renaming of streets with Igbo identities in the council amidst growing tensions in the state, speaks volumes. It bothers that of all the challenges confronting Lagos State, what seems the immediate priority is renaming streets bearing Igbo names.

It should further be recalled that it was in the same Ajegunle locality that Akere Auto Spare Parts Market dominated by Igbo traders, went up in flames few days to the March 2023 governorship election. No arrest was made on the incident.

You will therefore not blame the people in suspecting that there could be more to the sudden resurgence of hackneyed “Lagos is not no man’s land” mantra and renaming of streets bearing Igbo names. They may suggest dangers ahead.  

*Duru, the Editor of TheNiche, is a commentator on public issues