The fall of Lagos into the hands of the invaders during the presidential elections rattled me for some days. The possibility that I can wake up one morning to discover that my Governor is one Chinedu frightens me to the marrow.  I don’t even know whether to begin this piece with an apology to those who may prefer a discourse on nationality to ethnicity. However, in a situation where there is an existential threat to what defines my identity and humanity, subscription to sophomoric courtesies becomes a matter of tendentious indulgence. I want to start with a narrative on my origin since the crux of the matter is heritage.

I am a comprehensive Lagosian. I am from Lagos Island. My great grandfather, Richard Odeliyi Thomas was one of the first merchants cum settlers to build mansions in Lagos Island circa 1854. It was in that mansion he had his first son, my grandfather,  Josiah Akinwande Thomas on August 27, 1882.  With some arrogant modesty typical of an average Lagosian, let me say, he was a very wealthy man. His mansion was not the only testament to his wealth, the Street was named after him. In the whole of Lagos Island at that time, 8 and 10 Richards Lane was seen as “Ile baba olowo”.That was my great-grandfather’s house. He shared this corridor of affluence with some other great Lagos families like the Shitta-Beys, the Kumolu-Johnsons, the Derbys, the Browns, the Benjamins, the Akinsemoyins, the Wolfs, the Foresythes, the Bangboses. To crown it all, his second son, Chief C.A. Thomas was married to the daughter of the famous Candido Da Rocha. So, between Breadfruit Street, Richards Lane, Shitta Street and Kakawa Street, we had the Lagos greats whose houses and cars were the insignia of their opulence and splendour.

After about 100 years into the existence of the mansion, precisely in 1956, the LEDB came up with a redevelopment project for Lagos Island. This project, conceived but not executed, led to the resettlement of my family and several others in what was called New Lagos now Surulere. Today, the Akinsemoyins and the Da Rochas still retain their family houses on Lagos Island. But the Thomases, the Shitta Beys, the Derbys, the Foresythes, the Browns and the Benjamins had been dispatched to Surulere. I know that apart from their house in Surulere, the Shitta-Beys had been able to come up with a “sokolo” bungalow in the Shitta-Bey court on Martin Street. 

As for me and my family, there is nothing to show that my great-grandfather ever lived or owned a street in Lagos Island. The entire stretch of the street is now a flourishing market for costume hawkers. The house which should serve as memorabilia for me, and my children and grandchildren have become an agora for assorted merchandise. But thank GOD for my aunty, Mrs Yéwándé Oyediran, Da Rocha’s granddaughter who has been living in Da Rocha’s Kakawa’s house for many decades now, I probably won’t have anything to show for my “Lagos Islandness”. In three years, time, my father’s house in Surulere (Barracks) will be 70 years. Same for my mother’s house in Barracks.

My mother has her own house courtesy of my great-grandmother, Moriamo Ashabi Buraimoh. She too was resettled in Surulere when the LEDB demolished her house in Ita Akanni, Lagos Island. Some years back, some of my uncles toyed with the idea of selling the house because it belongs to my great-grandmother. I stopped them. You don’t need the details. As for my father’s house, I do not envisage any problem because GOD has blessed all of us with our own houses. As the firstborn, I have told my seven siblings (almost all of them live abroad) to use the place as a hospitality facility just for the purpose of maintenance. As at now, our mother still lives there and runs her canteen business.

Enough of History. We may still come back to it though. I have gone into this long narrative of my Lagos Island background to show how painful it could be for one to be detached from his roots. Though I still have my family houses in Surulere, there is nothing that can ever compensate for the separation of you and your source, or better still, you from your source. You can now imagine how petrified I will be to now harbour the fear that I could lose my land to strangers. I don’t even want to imagine such a scenario for a day let alone four years, eight years or even forever knowing what these invaders can do to the land if they succeed. 

I have been asking myself how we got to this precipice. First was our accommodationist policy. Enslaved by the concept of “Omoluabi”, we opened our doors to all and sundry, particularly to the invaders from the east, pampering them with lavish and amazing hospitality” thinking that our generousity towards them will be a kind of investment for future political cooperation and alliance. Unfortunately, this has not worked for us. It is ending up like a dangerous investment. Our hospitality is coming back to hurt us and is threatening our existence as a people and our collective heritage. When a person you gave shelter to in your house starts interrogating your ownership of the land, then you should know that an invasion is brewing. When people that should show gratitude for being treated with dignity start questioning your authority, you should know that an invader is within your vicinity. When you start admitting strangers on your land without defined borders and territorial limitations, then you are courting encroachment. When you keep selling your family houses to the highest bidders from the East, then you should be ready to be harangued by strangers someday.  Our kindness has become a powerful instrument of territorial appropriation in the hands of our visitors.

Again, with aggressive invaders all over you, you are displaying open hatred for your community head thus exposing the cracked wall in your house to the lurking lizard. Tinubu, your own son, who governed the land for 8 years became your enemy. You ganged up against him and started persecuting and abusing him for doing good for the land. What was his crime? You accused him of imposing strangers as leaders. The first person you called a stranger was Akinwande Ambode. Was he really a stranger? He said he is from Epe, and you said he is from Ilaje in Ondo State. I was personally involved in the whole selection drama of Ambode but I will leave that for another day. Now, when Oga stopped him from going for a second term because of pressure from within, you were all happy.  About four years after, see what happened. The same Ondo people who stopped their son from doing a second term returned an amazing number of votes that gave Tinubu the eventual victory. Let’s move to Jide Sanwo-Olu. You protested again when he gave you Sanwo-Olu. You claimed he is from Ijebu when most of you know his matrilineal ancestry in Lagos Island.  Again, it is this same Ijebu man whose state (Ogun) gave Tinubu a large chunk of the majority votes. Now, those of us who call ourselves indigenes, what did we give him in return? We connived with strangers to disgrace our own illustrious son because of envy and jealousy. But when GOD decided to disgrace us, HE made him the President of the whole nation as compensation for our “iku ile” conspiracy in Lagos State. Sensing the grave danger ahead of us should Lagos fall into the hands of the enemy, we are now running kitikiti and katakata trying to undo our own “afowofa”. 

Let us examine the “indigene” that the Labour Party has given to you as your governor. His name is Chinedu Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour. Tinubu, a Yoruba leader, gave you Ambode from Ondo, you called him a stranger. He gave you Sanwo-Olu from Ijebu, and you called him a stranger. Now, Obi of Anambra has given you Chinedu of Lagos, what are you going to call him?  Can we now see where family squabbles and envy have led us? An Obi from Anambra who never did anything for the State is now the one calling the shots in my state. O ma ṣe o. It has really gone so bad that an Ibo man from Anambra is choosing a governor for us.

An Obi from Anambra who cannot boast of employing one Lagosian into the State Civil Service during his eight-year rule in Anambra now has the effrontery to mobilize his own people and our own gullible, ignorant, and naive children to install an Igbosian as governor of our State. Why should the preachment and practicalization of charity politics and no man’s land begin from Lagos? Why not Anambra or Enugu?  We, I mean Lagosians and Yoruba in general, are undertaking a very dangerous and costly experiment capable of consuming our collective patrimony and heritage if not nipped in the bud NOW.  

It is very sad that we have found ourselves in a situation where “an indigene” is now wearing the regalia of Ndigbo to campaign for governorship in Lagos. So sad that we now find ourselves in a situation where “an indigene” of the State will be campaigning in Lagos with a retinue of Igbo women and men and chiefs with no Lagos women and Chiefs in attendance. It is unfortunate that we now have our own children who do not understand the politics of dynastic hegemony collaborating with strangers using a palatinate change slogan to de-establish themselves from their natural territory and joking with their traditional privileges and rights. 

I pray that one day we will not find the son of royalty enmeshed in the unforced error of self-induced servitude. This is electoral warfare that can only be fought with numbers NOT GUNS. What we need is effective and massive mobilization and deployment of our human artillery to overcome this tyranny of ingratitude. There must be no physical combat. Let’s turn everything into a festival of votes by returning our own son, Jide Sanwo-Olu back to the office and use our victory at the polls as a conciliation between us and the President-elect who we betrayed. Yes, that was a betrayal. How can we win all the Senatorial seats and almost all the House of Reps seats but failed to deliver in the Presidential election.? Ah, Yoruba, e ma buru o.  

Thank GOD, he is not our mate again. He is now the President of Nigeria. There is no doubt that GOD is always on the side of the righteous. We have been nice to them, but they have been very very unkind to us. The way to show gratitude for our hospitality is not by snatching our precious heritage while preserving yours with aggressive intolerance. When we play politics, we should draw red lines.

 The desperation of a man in search of power should not constitute an existential threat to the heritage of a peaceful collectivity. Politics can accommodate profanity, but heritage is all about sanctity. Obi wants power but Lagosians want the preservation of their territory. The slogan: Lagos is no man’s land is nothing but the creed of territorial banditry. 

On the day of the governorship election, take the aged with PVC along, assist the physically challenged who have PVC to the polls, go with your husband, don’t leave your wife behind, stroll to the polls with the youth in your house and neighbourhood after you must have lectured them on the significance of heritage. Let them know that ethnicity is about national politics while local politics is about heritage and indigeneship.

Ask them why they want to put a Chinedu in Alausa when their mobilizers cannot tolerate an Arẹmu in Anambra’s seat of power. If they now agree with you, please take them along. Please take them to the polls on conviction not by conscription so that they won’t get there and vote against us. You can also inform them-with the youth, you never can tell what will make them change their minds-that Chinedu, LP’s gubernatorial candidate once twitted this scary message on Twitter “…. Biafra Day is a day to be acknowledged and respected.”  The implication of this is that if he should win (GOD forbid), Lagos will automatically become IPOB’s strategic cantonment. Lagos will become the epicentre of the Biafra war against the rest of the country.

Tell your children that when IPOB turns Lagos to their FRONT LINE, they will not be able to identify them with the votes they cast for Chinedu but by the language they speak. Once you are identified as a Yoruba person, you are an adversary. There is no column for solidarity allies in any Frontline. Adversaries are adversaries. The fall of Lagos will trigger the domino theory because all the Southwest states are no longer safe. This is why every Yoruba son and daughter who has a voting status in Lagos state should arise on that day to go and vote for Jide Sanwo-Olu of APC to save Lagos, and by extension, Yorubaland from the impending Armageddon that the victory of Chinedu will bring to the land.

By Dapo Thomas

Disclaimer: 

The opinions and views expressed in this write-up are entirely that of the Writer(s). They do not reflect the opinions and views of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or any of its employees. The designations employed in this publication and the presentation of materials herein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or its employees concerning the legal status of any country, its authority, area or territory or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. Equally, the sketches, images, pictures and videos are gotten from the public domain.

The ethnic irredentists who regularly punctuate the atmosphere with the dog whistle of Yorùbá ro’nú are not sincerely invested in the gains of contemplation. If they were, they would deploy the same gusto to call for a reflection on the Yorùbá condition within this contraption called Nigeria. We would be asked to ponder if this is all there is to our life or if we are being shortchanged by our self-serving leaders and their herd of brownnosers who remind us to use our power of reason only when it potentially benefits the political class. Deploying the force of our thought to further the ambitions of our leaders is not all there is to the expression of the life of the mind.

Yorùbá ro’nú should not be an errand we are asked to run each time an election is around the corner, and our leaders are worried their snouts would be removed from an accustomed feeding trough. Yorùbá ro’nú should be a regular exercise to take stock of our politics and determine how to better hold our leaders accountable to deliver the highest standards of governance.

As the governorship election approaches, Lagos—mostly due to its cosmopolitanism—is, again, the battleground for debates around belonging and nationalism. At this rate, the quarrel over who ought to dominate Lagos has become akin to a quadrennial festival. You wonder: is life in Nigeria so zombifying that people cannot even fight fresh battles? Will people ever get tired of this revenant, or are we perpetually condemned to the Sisyphean task of resurrecting it every election season? Given how much Nigerians suffered in the past eight years under the clueless All Progressives Congress government, one would imagine that this election cycle would feature frank deliberations on our fates. Rather than serious people discussing serious issues, the elections have largely boiled down to the standard fare of primordialism.

By now, it should be self-evident to the discerning that Yorùbá ro’nú is a tool they use to arouse primordial instincts, sort people into tribes, and motivate them to use the polls to wage a war that will ultimately benefit greedy overlords. An otherwise routine civic exercise becomes warfare and survivalism as people go to the polls thinking they are servicing a larger nationalist and moral cause. I have seen this movie repeatedly, and I know how it ends. What I would rather contemplate is what this perennial reduction of politics to ethnic/religious identity obscures. What other possibilities of living and being are we being shut out of when we buy into the sentiment of antagonising others just so that some reprobate politicians can get a free pass?

There have been enough of these Yorùbá ro’nú sessions for us to see that the whole hoopla they make about protecting Lagos from “invaders” has nothing to do with either Lagos indigenes or as an entity. This is—and has always been about—shielding the sordid finances of Lagos from public scrutiny. The APC has been in power for an unbroken 23 years, and they desperately need that streak extended for as long as possible. As long as they keep winning that state, there will never be proper accountability for what goes down in terms of the revenue and the pipelines through which it flows into private pockets. They are haunted by the fear of losing Lagos because they know that everything they have done in the dark will be brought into the noonday sunlight. The disgrace they will suffer if the books are opened, and the receipts of their activities printed will be far worse than the embarrassment the Peoples Democratic Party endured when the APC took over Aso Rock in 2015.

After the recent presidential election, they have seen how much their hold on that state has considerably weakened and they are desperate. Shortly before last Saturday’s election, an analyst told me that the votes of Alimosho local government alone for the APC would blow the other parties out of the water. That never happened. Now, their fear of losing the governorship election is so palpable that they are trotting out virtually every one of their payrolls to the partisan war front: the career politicians, pseudo-intellectuals, pay-per-paragraph writers, bureaucrats, motor park louts, influence peddlers, bottom feeders, and even traditional rulers. That is why even a religious irredentist like that MURIC man would issue a statement begging Muslims to vote a Christian governor. The support is not about religious cooperation or liberalism, nor an appreciation of Governor Jide Sanwo-Olu. It is merely to protect the APC headquarters from demystification.

The tactic of galvanising people through the politics of ethnicity has worked for the APC to the point it has become a nostrum. When Jimi Agbaje of the PDP contested against them twice, their deprecation of his candidature was by other-ing him as Igbo. They are using the playbook again, this time against Labour Party candidate Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour who they fear can get revenge votes next Saturday. The unintended effect of whipping up ethnic sentiment against a section of the state is that it can become a rallying factor. You cannot threaten people to either vote for you (or they get harmed), and then complain they are ungrateful because they voted for your opponents (who they expect will protect them from your harassment). People will naturally seek to put in power whoever they think will protect their best interests.

Over the years, the ethnic strategy has worked well enough to keep power in the hands of the APC, but the presidential election suggests it has peaked. The tribe of the disaffected has grown beyond ethnicity and will eventually culminate in APC loss. Power will change hands; it is only a matter of time. Until then, know this and know peace: non-Yoruba Lagosians are not going anywhere. If racism in the West does not deter migrants from other countries, you can take it for granted that non-Yoruba Nigerians will continue to live in any part of Nigeria they choose. That is why Bola Tinubu himself gets to claim Lagos even though he is a non-indigene.

Lagosians—whether indigenes or born/resident in Lagos—all have the right to determine who rules them collectively. If you are resident in a place and you pay your taxes, you have earned the right to choose your leaders even if your interests differ from that of the indigenes. Democracy is about balancing wildly disparate interests. Anyone who does not like those non-indigenes of a state gets the privilege of residency and can wait patiently till the new government is sworn in and then lobby for a constitutional amendment. Until then, it is what it is.

It is thanks to such republicanism that Nigerian migrants abroad and their children attain some of the highest positions in host countries. That is why even the son of the chief lout of Lagos Musiliu Akinsanya (MC Oluomo) could, according to his own father, receive scholarships worth $2.7m in the USA. Yes, the same MC Oluomo allegedly caught on video threatening to kill any Igbo person that voted against his principal. What entitles his son, a non-American and Black, to get that much privilege in a country where he did not originate from but dis-entitles other Nigerians from exercising their franchise in their own country?

The demographic of Lagos (and other major Nigerian cities) will continue to shift, and the state’s politics will correspond to that reality. Who knows, in some years down the line, some of the scions of those crying Yorùbá ro’nú today will pay rent to the Chinese who would have built a factory on their ancestral land. The world will change whether we like it or not. Those who truly believe in the power of thought should rest this cryfest of Yorùbá ro’nú and put on their own thinking caps already.

~Abimbola Adelakun

Disclaimer: 

The opinions and views expressed in this write-up are entirely that of the Writer(s). They do not reflect the opinions and views of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or any of its employees. The designations employed in this publication and the presentation of materials herein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or its employees concerning the legal status of any country, its authority, area or territory or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. Equally, the sketches, images, pictures and videos are gotten from the public domain.

When a so-called pastor abandons the high calling of His office as a soul winner, a teacher of the truth and a follower of Christ, such a person is of all men the most miserable. And if a man berates such an exalted office only to take the place of a jester, conman, an enemy of God’s kingdom, one who will make a nincompoop of himself just to be applauded by mere mortals, then you have a man who has lost his sole aim for a living. After seeing the laughable video by Sunday Adelaja tagged Elijah Challenge on Facebook, I have come to the conclusion that Sunday belongs in Nollywood and perhaps should pursue a career in acting.

Sunday Adelaja is advocating a situation where Pastors E.A. Adeboye, Dr D.K Olukoya and other great ministers of God will come together and test who is serving the living God. What a Joker!!! It’s either Sunday does not know his position as a man or he is living in euphoria because under normal circumstances he is not in the league of these men be it for physical achievements or spiritual position. Sunday… you dare mention the name of Adeboye to come out for a challenge as if that was not enough you went ahead with your reckless effrontery to call the name of Dr Daniel Olukoya? Of the mountain of fire and miracles ministries (MFM) for a challenge of fire ha, it’s often said that the dog that wants to get lost will never hear his master’s whistle. 

I am baffled, however, that Sunday Adelaja does not realize that he’s too little and too inconsequential to get the attention of these men. There was a time when anyone could have cared to listen to what Sunday is saying, there was a time these revered men of God could have paused a second to hear Sunday’s views but not anymore. Those days are gone.

Sunday Adelaja has destroyed his reputation and squandered his goodwill. I don’t expect Dr D. K Olukoya to respond to the rants of a pastor that patronizes sex workers, sleeps with mother and child, and is married and single members of his church. I don’t expect Pastor E.A. Adeboye to take seriously a man who ran his own church to the ground, lost his job and now is resorting to social media rants.

It is obvious that Mr Adelaja is struggling to survive, after losing his church he is now like a drowning man looking for anything to latch onto. The man does not even know the Bible, he is one of those men whom we call cram n quote pastors, you obviously displayed your ignorance when you said a Christian should call on God instead of suing someone in court on civil matters, hahaha very funny my friend of before, the judicial system of the world today is coined from the compendium called the bible, Even deep down to the trio compartment of Government that the world operates with today, Go back to your bible and read very well and come to understand that there are earthly matters that belong to Ceaser and there are heavenly and spiritual matters that belong to God.

Adelaja’s travails are largely self-inflicted. How can a man, a mere mortal work against God’s kingdom? How can a man dedicate his time, knowledge, strength and resources to trying to pull down and tarnish the images of God’s generals and expect that God will do nothing? Sunday Adelaja is already reaping the fruits of his envy and recklessness so there is no need for any Elijah challenge. The most pitiable are those recruits. The likes of Mayowa, Olaiya that has no life probably one of those supported by the remnant of Sunday Adelaja in cash and Kind, the little brat running around mentioning and speaking ill of men whom she could never come close to. When I look at these sets of visionless jobless E-recruits Of Sunday, I just see little scarecrows that have planned their dooms with their own hands.

He makes it seem as though what he is doing is making a lot of impact but in reality, he is deepening his own misery. I used to fear that Mr Adelaja’s message of hate and division was gaining ground and destroying Christendom until I closely monitored his online activities and realized that indeed God is liberating His people despite Adelaja’s efforts. I am encouraged that Mr Adelaja is not capturing as many victims as he would want to, going by the many expressions of utter disappointment by his very own followers. From the comments and feedback he’s getting, Sunday already knows that his cash-out plan of coming to establish a church in Nigeria is at best, dead on arrival. But again, it’s Sunday Adelaja we are talking about here right?

He just might take the chance but certainly, an unpleasant surprise awaits him. His so-called followers and of course, prospective members are already getting tired of his lies and deceitful messages. He has been tagged anti-Christ, sour loser, envious fraudster and so many similar names by his own followers who have now seen him for who he actually is. I predict that Sunday will face his biggest shame soon.

Sunday Adelaja, for your information there shall be no Elijah challenge. But I guess you already know because by status, personality and reputation you fall short of a man who can be taken seriously by the men you are challenging. I think you should focus on your new job of marketing politicians’ second-term bids. It seems like a very lucrative account and I am not judging you for switching from being a pastor to becoming an advocate for politicians. I understand that you must survive and feed your family. I mean what is left for a man who has lost his church, lost his job, lost his purpose in life? Well, just a piece of advice for you, politics is a murkier terrain to navigate and you have already started with your big mouth calling a particular candidate a thief, Sunday is your last chance at survival so don’t mess it up like you ve messed up your pastoral career.

But one thing I would like you to have at the back of your mind is the feat that Dr DK. Olukoya has covered as a deliverance minister and a teacher and the souls that E.A. Adeboye has brought to Christ. You and your e-recruits and your generation unborn will never meet up even in another lifetime. 

For those of you still in doubt of his narcissist and lascivious activities watch this video attached done by one of his former followers that has been touched by God.

By Levi Godsown Ekwe

Disclaimer: 

The opinions and views expressed in this write-up are entirely that of the Writer(s). They do not reflect the opinions and views of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or any of its employees. The designations employed in this publication and the presentation of materials herein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or its employees concerning the legal status of any country, its authority, area or territory or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. Equally, the sketches, images, pictures and videos are gotten from the public domain.

Lagos State belongs as much to the ethnic Igbo as to the Yoruba, Ijaw, Hausa, Fulani, Efik, Idoma, Urhobo, Itshekiri, Edo, and so on who live in it, pay tax, identify with it, and settle in it. That compact was made the moment Nigeria became a single nation and a successor power to the old principalities who were subdued and who ceded their sovereignty for the new commonwealth of Nigeria. 

It was pragmatic. The Igbo had the skill and the industry, and Lagos was the seat of the Federal Government of Nigeria and its major port. The Igbo have lived in Lagos since the 15th century when the Aro and other Igbo first settled in good numbers in a place we now call “Oyingbo” in the era of Benin and the Portuguese trade. 

The arrival of Dr Namdi Azikiwe to Lagos in 1937 from Accra after his studies in the United States, stimulated the political and cultural environment of Lagos as no other has before or after him. Zik literally resurrected the wizard of Kirsten Hall from political death. Zik represented Lagos in the western house. The NCNC was the power in Lagos, and not the Action Group. The Igbo were prominent in the governance of Lagos in the Lagos City Hall. 

The institutional development of Lagos – the railways, the ports and shipyards; the education and research facilities; the Banking and Commodities Exchange, the development of towns like Yaba, Surulere, Ebutta-Metta, Festac Town, Victoria Island, and now increasing the Ajah-Lekki axis, and of course, the ghettoes along the Orile-Badagry axis, have profound Igbo imprimatur.  The circulation of the image of Lagos is to date best reflected in the cosmopolitan Igbo imagination of one of the greatest African writers of the 20th century, Cyprian Ekwensi, a thorough Lagosian if there was any. Igbo have built industries in Lagos and have been drivers of commerce and exchange. 

Interestingly, I was born at plot number 8, Okoya Street, Idumagbo- Lagos, while the Ojukwu families were residing at numbers one to three on the same street. I grew up to know the father of Odumegwu Ojukwu. Chimbizie and Azuka grew up with us on the same street. Even the Chibeze small parking space at the end of Okoya Street is called Ojukwu.  I later attended St. Patrick Primary School, Idumagbo, where I had very amiable classmates of Igbo origin in the persons of Azubike Ezenwa and Damian, Ihekuna, both now professors and doctors of today. They were brilliant, resourceful, and friendly. 

When we were playing bamboo and Tene Felele at Orikoriko at Onola playing ground, the Igbo participated actively. In the area of sports, school football and athletes, Igbo were dominant at Kings College, St. Gregory school, St. Finbars, Akoka, Igbobi College and Ahmadiyya College, Agege. Such boys, Njokwu, George Amu, Stephen Keshi, Henry Nwosu, Patrick Noquapor, Peter Anieke and Sammy Opone were dominant on the field of football, while Asiodu, Empire Kanu were prominent on the field of athletics. 

Anytime we went to watch a football match at Onikan stadium, my darling team, Stationery Stores, and our adversary team I hated most was the E. C. N, where the centre forward, Paul Hamilton, the National Team, Fabian the captain who bit the dust. Our greatest captain was Duru, Oduah Onyenrekwa, Onyeador Onyeali and Opel, the greatest outside right Nigeria ever had, Cyril Azuluka. So, during my early life at primary school, the Igbo were always there and delightful to watch, both in athletes and on the football field. 

When I listened to the radio at that time, both the commentary and drama series, the Igbo were there for me. The likes of Chris Ndaguba, Ernest Okonkwo, and Ralph Okpara ‘Alawo Sekiseki the traveller’. The episode will end with – The script written by Ralph Okpara and edited by Yemi Lijadu. Anytime I visited where I was born today in Idumagbo at Lagos Island, the entire place is covered by Igbo traders in their thousands. They were never troublesome but decent and accommodating.

They have virtually taken over all properties of the indigenes. They succeeded in developing all our properties and married most of our children even from the royal families. There is no single house you will visit without an Igbo man selling wares there. So, who is saying something else? Only the strangers in our midst will not notice the participation of economic development in our state by the Igbos. Most houses and shops on Lagos Island have been purchased, developed, and occupied by the Igbos. The value of their investments in Lagos Island alone is in trillions of naira. 

Instead of deporting the Igbos, whose contributions to the development of Lagos state are immensurable, you must keep on praising and encouraging them to keep on developing Lagos State.

Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe is a former Nigerian minister for Works and Housing, FROM AN INDIGENOUS TRUTHFUL YORUBA MAN…

Disclaimer: 

The opinions and views expressed in this write-up are entirely that of the Writer(s). They do not reflect the opinions and views of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or any of its employees. The designations employed in this publication and the presentation of materials herein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or its employees concerning the legal status of any country, its authority, area or territory or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. Equally, the sketches, images, pictures and videos are gotten from the public domain.

Below is a narration about how ladies go to Dubai to have sex with Rich Arab men who also poo into their mouths. Such trade is known as Dubai Porta Potty. Most pictures you see online which show pretty girls on a yacht in Dubai are actually not all they seem. Such girls don’t only go there for vacation but for business – big-time prostitution. They have sex with Arab men who poo from their anus directly into the mouth of these pretty ladies all for dollars. The ladies also have sex with animals like dogs and camels.

Well, below is a testimony from one such Dubai Porta Potty. Read carefully because, in the end, you will never envy Dubai returnees who flaunt brand new cars and pictures of vacation in the Arab City. … Emeka Joseph 

This is a shocking story of a young girl who went on a weekend getaway with Arab guys who urinated and pooed on her during sex. It is a trending story of a young American girl who went on a weekend getaway with her friends and some Arab guys who promised to pay them 40k dollars for an unforgettable trip. The trip didn’t quite turn out as she expected. Read her shocking story below…

I called out a really good friend of mine for being a Porta Potty after seeing her on TheDirty, and she admitted everything. By the way, she is 22, drives a 2011 CL550 and owns a Condo in Newport Beach(not bad for a girl that didn’t even graduate high school) so I wanted the same stuff. I asked her a few months ago about it and she told me when something opens up she will let me know. Christmas came and she told me that on Jan. 5th there was a trip that she need 3 girls for, it paid a total of 40K for an ANYTHING goes trip to St. Bartz for a weekend. That is more than I make in a year, so I said f*ck it. My girl warned me, she said “Sh*t gets crazy”… I’m a freak in bed so I love it when sh*t goes crazy. 

I was really thinking this is my new gig and this is easy as f*ck. Soon as my STD test came back negative, 4 hours later I had 8K transferred to my account. 3 of it to get to St. Bartz and the remaining was my “deposit” which is the going rate at %12.5. I was so happy… so I get there and soon as I get to the hotel room, there is a note telling me to be ready for dinner and go on the Yacht for 2 nights and that another %12.5 had been deposited and that I would be received the rest of my money 30k before I step on the plane home. 10K already for NOTHING Nik, I was thanking you. 

The next day, we got on a 200-foot yacht… On it is my friend, me and 1 other girl, and 9 Arabian guys. I was starting to doubt what the hell I got into, 6 of them were fat and all of them were so hairy, It was intense. We start drinking to ease the nerves and the guys don’t even pay attention to us or say anything. They just sat there and played board games and smoked cigars. 

A few hours later one of their servants comes up and tells us it’s time. We all go into separate rooms, and the servants tell us to get completely naked and lay on the bed and don’t move. I was beyond f*cked up at the time and a million thoughts were running through my head. 3 of the guys came in the room and all of them were wearing robes, the first guy takes his robe off, makes me get closer to the edge of the bed and then he sticks it in me… 3 to 4 minutes later, he makes this weird yelling noise in Arabian, takes his d*ck out, jumps on the bed and then c*ms all over my face. I tried to wipe it out of my eye and he slaps my hand then slaps me so hard in the face that c*m splattered everywhere and yells at me to not move white b*tch. 

So the next two guys take a little longer maybe 7 or 8 minutes and do the same. Now my face is just glazed, I hear all 3 walking out laughing and the servant comes to get me and tells me not to clean my face, takes my hand and walks me to the shower. I thought I was done, NOPE. While in the shower, my 3 guys come back in and literally just start pissing on me… My boyfriend is into Golden Shower so it was nothing new for me. They basically cleaned my face off with their pee. 10 minutes later, I finally get to wash off, and that was it. We sit down after we washed off had a great dinner, drank and did some more blow. Throughout the night, different guys in groups of 1 to 4 would grab us take us into a room and have sex with us. I wasn’t bad at all. 

The next night though is when it got insane. After all day of out at sea and sex, the servants let us know tonight is the most important night so make sure we look our best. I walked into my sex room and it had plastic all over the bed, I figured they wanted to pee on me on the bed. So this time instead of 3 coming into the room, only 1 does. He has sex with me, c*ms all over my face again… and then Nik… he pops a squat and sh*ts all over my chest, and he was pushing it out it became really liquified and it got all over my face and in my mouth. I instantly pop up and start throwing up everywhere, he grabs me by my hair slaps me so hard, and tells me he is not finished. But I could not stop throwing up since I had poo in my mouth. With his broken English, he told me if he doesn’t finish then I don’t get paid. Right there and then, I never missed my boyfriend more. I just wanted him to hold me and cuddle with me… I couldn’t take it. 

So all of Sunday, I was secluded from everyone else, fed only once and dropped back off at the dock with everyone. I was notified that I would not get paid my 30K owed due to the fact I didn’t follow through. I don’t even care, I still made 10K, but I just don’t see how these girls can do that. It’s like having sex with Chubacca and his pissing and sh*tting on you after. THIS BUSINESS IS NOT FOR ME, Nik, thanks for getting it in my head that it is ok to be a Porta Potty because it’s not. I don’t know how these girls do it over and over. Not worth the money or self-respect.

Nik (Nik-name)

Disclaimer: 

The opinions and views expressed in this write-up are entirely that of the Writer(s). They do not reflect the opinions and views of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or any of its employees. The designations employed in this publication and the presentation of materials herein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or its employees concerning the legal status of any country, its authority, area or territory or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. Equally, the sketches, images, pictures and videos are gotten from the public domain.

The English man Francis Bacon, the First BaronVerulam (1561-1625 wrote: “He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils: for time is the greatest innovator.”

I am looking forward to the day when an Awori will become the Oba of Lagos, a Yoruba the Oba and not Emir of Ilorin, the Hausa Serikin Gobir the Sultan of Sokoto, the Emir of Suleja returning as Serikin Zauzau (Zaria), a Nupe man of Tsuede ancestry taking over his ancestral Etsu Nupe throne in Bida, the Hama of Bachama sitting over the throne of Lamido of Adamwa, and all the expelled Hausa Serikin returning to take back all the positions the Fulani jihad Emirs occupy today. 

We are gradually moving to this stage of Nigeria’s history—Restoration Epoch. Actions and reactions are equal and opposite; so says Newton’s third law of motion. As our literary icon Chinua Achebe rightly put it: since the bird Eneke-Ntioba has learnt how to fly without perching, hunters have also learnt how to shoot without missing.

 A popular saying among the Igbo of West Niger says: “Abochaba akwa agadi-nwanyi abochaputa ife di anyaa.” When you dig into the cloth of an old woman you will definitely discover something messy. This is the case of the current contest over indigenes and non-indigenes of Lagos State and consequently the indigenous status of Oba of Lagos, His Majesty Rilwan Akiolu. To state the obvious, the current contest or debate over Igbo right of settlement in Lagos State is no more no less the contest for political relevant between two sets of non-indigenes of Lagos State and not between the indigenes and non-indigenes. 

The aborigines of Lagos State are by right of ancestral heirloom the Awori of the Lagos central axis up to Sango-Ota, the Ijebu of the Ikorodu and Epe axis who were annexed by the British rulers in 1894, the Egun of the Badagry axis who became part of Lagos by incident of Benin conquest and subsequent annexation by the British colonial administrators. Ironically none of these groups is presently in the forefront among those contesting the indigenous right of Lagos State. The Ijebu sub-group who form part of this aborigine class for sure has never been among those groups contesting the Igbo presence in Lagos State because they are as shrewd in business as the Igbo and thus posses the ability to match the Igbo head to head and toe to toe. On the other hand, the Awori and Egun are too estranged with their internal colonization by the Yoruba immigrants of Lagos State that they have never considered the Igbo their primary enemy or the cause of their political woes in their ancestral land.

Most importantly, it is historically necessary to point out that Lagos State is not a Yoruba land by core ethnographic definition. The Awori, Egun, and Ijebu are not ancestral Yoruba people. Those historically known as Yoruba are mainly the people of the present Oyo and Kwara States, popularly known as Oyo sub-group. Every other group of people outside the people of Oyo and Kwara State should be proud to identify themselves as Anago, including the Yoruba of Igboland known as Olukumi. This further explains why the Yoruba people of the Republics of Benin, Togo and, Sierra Leone reject Yoruba identity but adopt Anago as their official ethnicity.

Thus if your ancestry does not fall into any of these Lagos aborigines then you belong to part of the wider group of non-indigenes of Lagos State of which the Oba of Lagos His Majesty Oba Rilwan Akiolu is at the head. This is where the likes of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Femi Fani-Kayode rightly belong; yet these are the same people drumming up the rhythm of ethnic cacophony against the Igbo settlers of Lagos State. 

For instance, most of these thugs employed by Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intimidate, attack and burn Igbo dominated markets in Lagos State like M. C. Oluomo are descendants and children of Oyo taxi, danfo and molue drivers who metamorphosed from danfo and molue conductors to agbero and alaye miscreants. Check out their detailed identities and you will find out that no noble Eko, Awori, Egun, Ijebu, Egba, Yewa and other Anago sub-groups of Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, Kogi, Edo and Delta States indigenes will allow their children to be part of these Lagos miscreants. 

This readily explains why the Oba of Lagos His Majesty Rilwan Akiolu and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu deviously employ these miscreants as their tools of political vendetta against the Igbo in Lagos State; because they, like these miscreants, cannot trace their ancestry to any of these aboriginal groups of Lagos State. The Oba of Lagos claims Edo ancestry while Bola Ahmed Tinubu traces his ancestry to Osun State. If this is untrue let both the Oba of Lagos and Bola Ahmed Tinubu tell Nigerians their true ancestry. So the issue of who owns Lagos State is not a dispute between the original indigenes and aborigines of Lagos State and, the Igbo, but a contest over political relevance between the immigrant indigenes of Lagos State collectively led by Oba Rilwan Akiolu and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the Igbo immigrants of Lagos State.

On the other hand, the British Government had never accepted the Oba of Lagos as a true indigene of Lagos. For instance, in 1898 when the British administrators of the Territory and Colony of Lagos officially commissioned the Lagos-Abeokuta rail-line, they did not invite the Oba of Lagos, then known as the Eleko of Eko as the Chief Host because he was not considered a bona fide Yoruba king; instead the Alake of Egbaland was invited to officially commission the first train transport in Nigeria as a sovereign king then independent of the British colonial administration while the Oba of Lagos attended as an ordinary citizen. 

It is important to let the likes of Oba Rilwan Akiolu and Bola Ahmed Tinubu that the original indigenes of Lagos State and the entire Anago (Yoruba) nation have always seen their Igbo immigrants as allies and brothers. History is replete with this fact. Herbert Macaulay groomed Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and from that moment Lagos remained the stronghold of the defunct NCNC. 

The minutes of the meeting of the Aburi Accord penultimate the Nigerian civil war showed that the then Administrator of Lagos Capital Territory Major Mobolaji Johnson not only declared the neutrality of Lagos in the conflict but openly supported Lt. Colonel Ojukwu’s position. He went further to protect the Igbo residents in Lagos and their property throughout the period of the civil war. Can Oba Rilwan Akiolu and Bola Ahmed Tinubu change this historical truism? 

Thus it will not be strange to history if Labour Party led by an Igbo wins Lagos State Governorship election the same way it won the Presidential election. Furthermore, it is striking to note that while the current Governor of Ondo State Rotimi Akeredolu is married to an Igbo woman, the current Governor of Osun State Ademola Adeleke is the son of an Igbo woman. Those having unending running stomach with Igbo population in Lagos State should ask Oba Rilwan Akiolu the whereabouts of his staff of office and if the Igbo residents in Lagos State were responsible for its sacrilegious disappearance? Bola Ahmed Tinubu should further be asked if the Igbo were responsible for the EndSARS movement that destroyed his Lekki Toll Gate. 

In April 2015, Oba Rilwan Akiolu the Eleko of Eko threatened to drown all the Igbo residents in Lagos State in Lagos Lagoon section of the Atlantic Ocean. In April 2017 Oba Rilwan Akiolu, the Eleko of Eko snubbed the Ooni of Ife and King of Kings of Yorubaland Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi in a public function. His reason was that he owes allegiance to the Oba of Benin and not the Ooni of Ife. 

Invariably Oba Rilwan Akiolu was telling Nigerians that he is not a Yoruba man but Bini of Edo ethnic group. In September 2020, Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu sat down against Yoruba customs and tradition in a public function while the Ooni of Ife Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi stood up to greet him. This is the vile unity of Oba Akiolu and Ahmed Tinubu.

Now let us take a look at the historical mathematics arising from Oba Rilwan Akiolu’s actions, first against the Igbo of Lagos and second, against Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife.  Oba Akiolu claims to owe allegiance to Oba of Benin and not the Ooni of Lagos, while the Oba of Benin owes allegiance to the Ooni of Ife and the Ooni of Ife owes allegiance to the Igbo aborigines of Ife-Ife. 

If the whole Yorubaland recognize the same Ooni of Ife as the King of Kings of Yoruba nation, between Oba Rilwan Akiolu and the Igbo, who has better historical link with Lagos State and Yoruba nation as a whole; bearing in mind that those appointed kings in conquered territories by Oba of Benin did not have to be members of the Benin royal family?

The fact is, those Igbo and Yoruba elements who contest mutual Igbo-Yoruba political conviviality are either uneducated, semi-educated or have not ventured into Igboland if they are Yoruba, and into Yorubaland if they are Igbo. Oftentimes those political elites among the Igbo and Yoruba who drum up this mutual ethnic obsession against the other are those who are morally corrupted and politically hypnotized with false flags of Fulani invincibility. Among this group are the Oba of Lagos Oba Rilwan, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Femi Fani-Kayode and a host of others with questionable ancestral Yoruba identity from the Lagos axis and, Orji Uzo Kalu, Rochas Okorocha, Hope Uzodinma, Devil (Dave Umahi and, Charles Chukwuma Soludo from the Igbo axis.

There is something I always tell my friends which most of them are yet to comprehend. If another civil war breaks out in Nigeria and I find myself as a commander, I will prefer to have Yoruba warriors around me rather than my Igbo kinsmen. I am not saying all the Igbo people cannot be trusted, but when comparing the response of your kinsmen to your problem in comparison to that of foreigners to the same problem, the principle of moral judgment demands a fifty percent bonus to the foreigners ahead of your kinsmen. 

I state this from my collective experience first from my father’s personal account when his Yoruba friend helped to save his life during the 1966 pogrom in Bauchi and second the unequalled interactive support in both financial and non-financial terms from Yoruba friends and supporters including those I have never met face to face both as a scholar and activist. In fact in my present predicament in struggles, I have received more benevolent interventions in terms of financial support from known and unknown Yoruba supporters than my Igbo kinsmen. 

Needless to conclude by stating that, the core-son of Oodua is the most sophisticated political animal in Nigeria, the most humane in interaction with his guests and hosts and, above all the most objective in political equity and moral judgment.  This explains why the Yoruba overwhelmingly objected to the purported Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Muslim-Muslim Presidential victory and Atiku Abubakar’s Fulani-again Presidential candidacy. And this is why the Labour Party victory in Lagos State in the coming Gubernatorial election cannot be stopped by the on-going wicked intimidation and burning of Igbo markets. 

Nwankwo T. Nwaezeigwe, PhD, DD, Odogwu of Ibusa & Combatant Political Historian, Research Fellow@Exile, Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, International Coordinator, Nigerian Diaspora Council for Defence of Democracy (NDCDD), Email: nwaezeigwe.genocideafrica@gmail.com

Disclaimer: 

The opinions and views expressed in this write-up are entirely that of the Writer(s). They do not reflect the opinions and views of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or any of its employees. The designations employed in this publication and the presentation of materials herein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or its employees concerning the legal status of any country, its authority, area or territory or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. Equally, the sketches, images, pictures and videos are gotten from the public domain.

Let me begin by way of clarification: I am not a card-carrying member of any party and have no loyalty to anyone. My loyalty is to the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Of late I have been inundated with several calls, posts and solicitations imploring me to support the re-election of Babajide Sanwo- Olu, the APC gubernatorial candidate in Lagos State. The way these calls and posts and bombardments through various formats and platforms are staged is like Lagos is under imminent attack from foreign takeover and external invasion.

It is these irritatingly vacuous and asinine propositions by opportunists and third-rate social media activists and mediocre intellectuals that I want to demolish in this intervention. The manipulation of information, the deployment of ethnic sentiments and religious sympathies; the dubious and maniacal insinuations and the rearranging of the facts to suit the intended sinister purpose by people who neither love Yorubas nor care about religion are what irritate me and which I want to expose here. 

I have been closely associated with Lagos since 1995 and until recently I have lived there. So I am aware of the entire history of the Fourth Republic as per Lagos State and all the administrations that have ruled Lagos since 1999. This is why I am a bit disturbed at the campaigns of calumny flying around about the supposed takeover of Lagos by a certain tribe. If you have ruled a place consistently for 24 years under the same party and you are still afraid of takeover then it is proof that you failed in your assignment or you didn’t do all that was required of you. It is not for you to run from pillar to post or demonise another tribe but to calmly see your own failure. If you train a child for 24 years and now that child wants to rebel and change his parentage it is actually not his fault but the parents. That is the truth they are not telling you which I will tell you here.

A few days ago the ubiquitous and noisy Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria ( PFN) Lagos State Chapter through its executive unanimously adopted Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the candidate and asked people to reelect him for a second time. With due respect and in all humility, I stand to tell you that what you did was wrong. It is not your place to adopt a candidate or seek the re-election of a candidate of any party. As clergymen, you are supposed to be neutral and maintained neutrality. And if you must be partisan then it has to be private not using the corporate organ of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria. The Labour Party candidate is also a Christian too, so on what basis are you showing partiality between the two candidates?

I am also aware of several Yoruba Groups and Yoruba Nation activists who have been busy writing, posting, and soliciting for the need to prevent Lagos from being captured by outsiders. Thus, they want us to vote for the APC candidate and reject the Labour candidate whom they claim is an agent of the vehicle of complete Igbonisation of Lagos. Several arguments, some of them utterly fallacious, jejune and illogical, have been adduced to support this infantile reasoning including the Awo – Zik spat of the 1950s. Let me say this blunt truth that our people are not careful to notice: If Lagos falls on Saturday to the Labour Party or any “foreign” candidate the number one person to hold responsible is Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It is not anyone’s fault but Tinubu himself and the way he has governed Lagos both directly and indirectly from 1999 till now.

People are afraid of the consequences but they forget that it is their choices and causes that produce consequences. It is what you sow that you reap. It is now time to reap all the sowing of the last 24 years. There should be nothing to fear if you have done well. The rewards of your hands are now about to be given to you. It is now time to carry your own cross. Thus all these barrages of information manipulation and ethnic profiling are not necessary. Let me now debunk certain claims in the public domain. It is being said that the current struggle for power in Lagos is akin to the Awo- Zik struggle for the West in the 1950s. It is not. What is going on in Lagos State regarding this election is not like the famous Awo- Zik case. It is not even similar. In the 1950s Zik was the usurper, an interloper trying to rule in a region that was not his own. Also, the vehicle he was using NCNC was founded by the Yorubas but after becoming a leader he introduced tribalism and turned it into an Igbo party. For instance, when he was contesting he should have allowed another person as the leader of the party instead he chose an Igbo man like himself. 

Also, Awo and the Action Group’s programs were far better and superior to the Zik and NCNC even now in retrospect. That was in the 1950s. It is not the same today. We have seen how APC has ruled Lagos State and how a Mafia has emerged as the leader, the lack of accountability, the corruption, rent-seeking patronage system, and the level of poverty ( Lagos is the most indebted state in Nigeria even though it is also the state with the highest internally- generated revenue.), the alienation of the youths, neglect of the old and the native Lagosians etc. It is an insult when you compare Awolowo with these people. It is an abuse of language when you compare Awo’s struggles for power with these people’s struggle for power which is basically for their own benefit and selfish interests.

The noise about Yorubas is chiefly diversionary; these people care nothing about the Yorubas. I will come to that soon. I sympathize with genuine Yorubas who feel sincerely bothered and worried that Lagos State is about to become a no man’s land which is what the Labour Party’s victory would signpost. However, the seeming loss of Lagos didn’t begin today; it began long ago. It began when someone because of his ambition and greed began to sell through his agents every choice estate to developers, non-indigenes and even non-Yorubas. He didn’t consider then that the effect will come back someday to haunt him. Yorubas have been losing Lagos for a long time. I could see it but others of my tribesmen can’t see it. Now I am afraid it is late. The consequences of your foolish actions are now here. I will speak exhaustively another time of how Yoruba began to lose Lagos but let me just mention a few cases that our duo will remember.

Excluding Lagos from Yoruba Struggles! If you observe for a long time Lagos usually stands apart from other Yoruba states. It rarely identifies with other Yoruba states in their struggle or shares the collective aspirations and desires of the Yoruba Nation. They see other Yorubas as grabbers and usurpers who want to eat Lagos’s wealth. Observe that during the Constitutional Conference, Lagos stood apart from other Yoruba states in their position. ” Gedegbe leko wa” – was their slogan meaning, Lagos stands apart. When the Southwest was besieged front and left by Fulani invaders and herdsmen terrorists and the governors met for a common position was Lagos part of it? Only a deputy governor represented Lagos State at the meeting. And when the Amotekun was set up Lagos was not part of it. Tinubu has always loved to govern Lagos as a fiefdom and not share it with anyone. Good. So fight the battle too alone. Why are you now appealing to Yoruba sentiments? So go face the battle alone. “Lagos stands apart?”, Good, so stand apart and fight your electoral battle without appealing to Yorubas to help you.

The General Adebayo’s Letter! Before his death, the late General Adeyinka Adebayo wrote a passionate letter to Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Since I read that letter I have kept a copy of it. It was a beauty of statement by someone who has seen it all, a patriot and a passionate Yoruba man conscious that all politics is first local. What Adebayo warned about has already befallen the Yorubas now in the Southwest. How many industries today existing in the southwest are owned by Yorubas? How many existing in Lagos are owned by Lagosians and Yorubas? The paper industry used to be exclusively owned by the Yorubas. Go to Mushin today and see who now controls it. The banking system used to be the turf of the Yorubas. Today another tribe has displaced you lock, stock and barrel.

How has your policy impacted this or brought it about? What have you done about addressing the genuine concerns expressed by that illustrious army general in the last few years? Why is it only about the election you are concerned about and returning to office? Of what use is a Yoruba control of Lagos when it is the Yoruba administration that has impoverished its own people? Whether you are aware of this or not your policies have driven many Yorubas to find succour elsewhere outside Lagos. And don’t forget that for every Yoruba man that leaves Lagos two Igbos or northerners come to take his place. That is why you now have the dangerous demographics that you have today. That is one of the factors that resulted in the Waterloo of February 25 and the worse is yet to come unless you do the right thing and take the right steps. It is still not too late if you know what to do but it is not by deploying ethnic sentiments; it has gone beyond that. Pray you will find the wisdom to know what to do before Saturday.

Policies Alienating Yorubas! Another factor in the crisis that has befallen the APC is the policies, deliberate policies that tend to drive natives away for reasons best known to them. I will give a few examples. Under Bola Ahmed Tinubu virtually every Igbo governor had a plot in Lagos State but Tinubu denied a fellow Yoruba governor this opportunity. Lam Adeshina was governor of Oyo State and he helped Tinubu cover his tracks at a time when he claimed to have attended Ibadan Government College which is untrue. It was this governor who ensured that the records were not found. Yet how did Tinubu payback? He applied several times for a plot in Lagos without Tinubu acceding to the request even when he gave Igbo governors the privilege. Anytime Lam Adeshina came to a meeting in Lagos he must return before night to go and sleep in Ibadan.

This is the same Tinubu who is now claiming to love Yorubas more than Oduduwa. Whenever he is threatened he always resorts to an ethnic card like when the APC cabal was trying to deny him the ticket. But how much does he really love Yorubas? There was a riot in Ibadan and markets were destroyed and Yorubas were killed. Did you hear his voice? Did he donate anything? But he has donated for rebuilding Katshina market, and Kano market except for Yoruba land. This is the man who is now appealing to Yoruba not to allow Igbos to take over Lagos. Who cares? The policies of APC took the properties of the natives and gave them to the highest bidders. Yorubas were evacuated in Badia under the name of redevelopment and who got the prime land thereafter?

Yorubas were evicted from the Tejuosho market and a new ultra-modern market was built which the poor Yorubas cannot afford. Did your government give them the loan or empowerment to be able to take them? Today Igbos largely have also taken it. These are the Yorubas you want to vote for you on Saturday, the same Yorubas you have impoverished through your market-driven philosophy and neo-liberal economic policies. What about the Ilajes? You destroyed their shanties without building a replacement for them. What about the owners of Makoko and other indigenous lands that your government, backed with touts and police evicted by force of arms to God- knows where? These are the votes that would be missing on Saturday. 

Your government drives away street traders and arrests them for street trading while the touts who extort money from motorists are left unmolested and unaddressed because they are “cooperative mobs.” Those are the Yorubas who may vote against you on Saturday. How about the Housing Estates? Who owns the choice of land on Lagos Island today? In Banana Island, Osborne Ikoyi, Lagos Atlantic etc. You have sold everything that can be sold in terms of a landed estate, so future Lagosians will wake up to pay the debts that you have generously incurred for them. What happened on February 25 was not just an Igbo affair or even a youth revolt. It was a Yoruba revolt too. Many Yorubas are aggrieved about the way APC and especially Bola Tinubu has managed Lagos State in the past few years. That was the tsunami you saw last Saturday.

You can still prevent the hurricane that is coming if you do the right thing even as late as it is, not by appealing to ethnic sentiments. It doesn’t mean anything because you really didn’t love Yorubas and the people now know it. It is left for you to do the right thing before it is late. Saturday will soon be here. Please stop appealing to Yoruba or ethnic sentiments. Use your records of achievement in the last 24 years if they are good enough. Be prepared to carry your cross. It is now payback time.

Moses Oludele Idowu, Twitter: @MosesOludele, WhatsApp: 08034697670

Disclaimer: 

The opinions and views expressed in this write-up are entirely that of the Writer(s). They do not reflect the opinions and views of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or any of its employees. The designations employed in this publication and the presentation of materials herein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or its employees concerning the legal status of any country, its authority, area or territory or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. Equally, the sketches, images, pictures and videos are gotten from the public domain.

A few weeks ago, the Nigerian news media world was engulfed in shocking revelations after the discoveries by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, setting his nest on high to escape the clutches of ruin!” Habakkuk 2:9

The most mind-blowing of these discoveries was the news that the amount of $9.8 million US dollars and another 75,000 British pounds which were connected to the former group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Commission (NNPC) Mr Andrew Yakubu was recovered after a raid was carried out at one of his houses in Kaduna State. The money was hidden in such a way that it could not be discovered by someone who did not have prior knowledge. The perpetrators had gone to the extent of even providing fireproof protection for the safe. 

A few days later, the EFCC again, recorded another ground-breaking discovery, when they found a house on banana island Lagos, which is worth a whopping $37.5 million US dollars. For the Nigerian mind to fully grasp what that means in Nigeria currency, a $37.5 Million US dollar house will equal, $11.75 billion Naira.

This is at a time when Nigerians are gnashing their teeth in the pain of poverty, skyrocketing prices, inflation, unemployment, etc. As a matter of fact, more than half the population of Nigerians are said to be living on less than $2 US dollars a day. Meanwhile, one former government official owns a house that costs billions of Naira. The irony is that nobody lives in this house. It is just a way of stashing away money in real estate. This property was acquired by the former minister of petroleum, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke. Last year another building was ceased by this same former minister costing $18 million US dollars in the Asokoro area of Abuja. “Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain.” Ezekiel 22:27

Why am I going into all these stories and histories of recoveries? This is all because I wish to point the attention of Nigerians to what they have missed in the barrage of news that daily hits the Nigerian airwaves. 

COULD THIS BE A COINCIDENCE?

You will agree with me dear readers that these kinds of recoveries especially in such a short period of time could not probably be by accident. Yes, it was not an accident. This level of progress that is now being recorded by the EFCC is sure because of some right steps that were taken by the Nigerian government. “There is no compromise when it comes to corruption. You must fight it.” A. K. Anthony.

A few months ago, the federal government of Nigeria, successfully enacted a whistle-blowing policy, which to me is the most ground-breaking decision of the Buhari administration so far. This singular decision by the government should prove to all well-meaning Nigerians that the Buhari administration really means business.

One of the platforms on which the APC party and Buhari campaigned to win the general presidential election from the Goodluck Jonathan administration, was to fight corruption to a standstill. Even though there have been trickles of successes recorded here and there in the fight against corruption, these latest results are some of the most important victories ever recorded.

“They have sunk deep into corruption, as in the days of Gibeah. God will remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.” Hosea 9:9

The whistle-blowing policy is much more important to every Nigerian than it initially appears. As a matter of fact, every Nigerian need to know about this policy. If we really want to combat and win the fight over corruption, we need to have government agencies and nongovernmental groups popularizing this policy. It is the most ground-breaking government decision by the Buhari administration so far. 

5 PERCENT REWARD

This policy is well understood by Nigerians would make Nigerians become participants in the fight against corruption. As the case is right now, I am not sure that most Nigerians know the whistle-blowing policy includes up to a 5 PERCENT REWARD OF THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF LOOTS RECOVERED.

There is no way somebody will steal government money of this magnitude without someone else being aware. It is also true that most people who steal are driven by greed and the same with accomplices. In most cases, the accomplices are never paid the promised amount, while in other cases they wish to get more than they were promised. It is this despicable human nature that the government and NGOs that are interested in fighting corruption must leverage, to spread the word, so that each person that is aware of such evils would be able to speak up.

“Where do the evils like corruption arise from? It comes from never-ending greed. The fight for a corruption-free ethical society will have to be fought against this greed and replace it with ‘what can I give’ spirit.” A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

People must be told that they could become anti-graft agents as citizens. More so, information that could be reported is not limited to stolen funds alone.

“In you are people who accept bribes to shed blood; you take interest and make a profit from the poor. You extort unjust gain from your neighbours. And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign Lord.” Ezekiel 22:12

CITIZENS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT

Citizens are encouraged to report: 

1. All forms of mismanagement and misappropriation of public funds and assets

2. Misuse of government properties and vehicles, etc.

3. Financial malpractices of any kind.

4. Any form of fraud especially connected to the commonwealth of the nation.

5. Collection or solicitation of bribes.

6. Diversion of payment and revenues.

7. Fraudulent and unapproved payments.

8. Misappropriation of contracts.

9. Kickbacks and over-invoicing.

10. Any form of corruption in government or private sectors.

As earlier said, both government and civil societies will have to step up their campaign efforts to inform all Nigerians of their role in fighting corruption. Nigerians must know that building a corruption-free society is a collective effort, not just a government responsibility.

We must inform the public about the definition and the functions of a whistle-blower. We must also let the people know that included in this policy is a protection clause. Meaning that the federal government guarantees and provides security and protection for anybody providing such information. More so the information could be provided incognito, that is the person’s identity will not be revealed publicly. This tells us that the government has done a lot on their part to carry Nigerians along and involve ordinary Nigerians in building a more chaste society. 

“Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay are those who gain riches by unjust means. When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them, and in the end, they will prove to be fools.” Jeremiah 17:11

SO, WHO IS A WHISTLE-BLOWER? 

Unfortunately, because of our cultural mindset, most of our people will think it evil or negative to be called a whistleblower. This is because society despises the so-called snitch, rat, and tattletale, while in Nigeria they are called names like amebo, odale, etc. In a culture where this is widespread, most people will be reluctant to participate in this government effort.

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20

However, if we are to build a better future, for our children and posterity, we must stop thinking of the consequences of doing the right thing for ourselves. It is time for us to start to think about the general good and the future of our beloved nation. The most important thing for the whistle-blower is to be aware that the information he is providing can be substantiated, that is they are not based on libels, lies and slander.

A whistle-blower could be defined as someone who is driven by the greater good of the country and hence voluntarily discloses information at his disposal in good faith and discretion. A whistle-blower informs the authorities about possible misconduct or violation of the law that has occurred, is ongoing or about to take place.

“The first sign of corruption in a society that is still alive is that the end justifies the means.” Georges Bernanos

Even though the government has done a good job by passing this policy into law, I, however, think they are underestimating how much marketing and promotional work needs to be done for this policy to take root in our nation. This is especially obvious in light of the recent return of former governor James Ibori to Nigeria. The celebration and the atmosphere of merry instead of solemnness that surrounded his return to Nigeria suggest that our people need to be better informed. 

“I will surely strike my hands together at the unjust gain you have made and at the blood, you have shed in your midst.” Ezekiel 22:13 

THE NEED FOR MASS PROMOTION

A country where people are rejoicing that a convicted government official has given them a little bit of the goodies he stole instead of reporting to the appropriate government agencies, shows that something must be done to correct the people’s value system. It is obvious that the people are not aware that the goodies and spoils that are being distributed to them by these corrupt individuals is part of the money that is meant for them, the masses. In a situation where a corrupt politician dolls out a million US dollars, be sure that he has stolen about a billion US dollars from the people. He has only given them one percent of what is meant for them. Yet, my people gullibly rejoice and go as far as fighting to protect these corrupt officials.

“A just king gives stability to his nation, but one who demands bribes destroys it.” Proverbs 29:4

Another fact that confirms the need for more propagation of anti-graft policies in the country was recorded a few years back when another governor was arrested overseas yet managed to escape and run back to the country by disguising as a woman. On his arrival, his people were celebrating him while attacking the government. Blaming the government for his so-called plight while totally ignoring the abuse of office and the corruption charges he faced. To his people, he is seen as a hero because they had managed to receive some crumbs from his enormous spoils. Unfortunately, these people are celebrating and fighting for the rights of the official who has led them to the abyssal state they are in right now.

It is like a man who stole all your belongings that are worth a million US dollars and then comes back to you to act as a philanthropist while giving you back $10 US dollars. Using $10 US dollars of your one million dollars to give you a feast. The uninformed populace meanwhile rejoices and celebrates because they had a feast. Some of them even go to the extent of risking their lives to protect corrupt officials. This is the picture of what is happening in Nigeria right now. This is the more reason why NGOs and civil societies should take over this campaign to sanitize and get our people better informed.

As I write right now, there is an ongoing drama where a federal senator is being charged and looked for in America as a criminal, meanwhile he is a senator here at home in Nigeria. The reason why he was elected as a senator is that he has been splashing some of his money on the electorate and the people keep on supporting him.

I am aware that there is an online portal and telephone number that could be used by these whistle-blowers to submit their information through email or by telephone, yet not too many people know this information. I too as the writer of this article can’t seem to find this information. That is why I believe that such information must be propagated and made readily available to all Nigerians wherever they are.

It is my belief that if this policy of whistle-blowing is well propagated and promoted to the general public, every Nigerian will stand to gain, and our country will be the better for it. 

ADVANTAGES OF WHISTLEBLOWING

“Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.” Ephesians 4:28

What are some of the advantages these policies could bring to the country?

1. It would help bring in some much-needed cash that could be used to solve some of the myriad list of problems.

2. The recovery of stolen cash will help improve our inflation rate.

3. Since a lot of this money are in foreign currencies, this could help the exchange rate of the naira.

4. Some of the money could be used to build some infrastructure and amenities needed for economic recovery.

5. Pensions could be paid to senior citizens and pensioners who have been wallowing in poverty and lack.

6. More schools and universities could be built.

7. We could limit the number of strikes by civil servants, teachers, petroleum workers, etc by paying their salaries.

8. More world-class hospitals, roads, etc, could be built.

9. The supply and provision of electricity and water could be improved.

10. The level of crime and corruption in the country generally will decrease.

11. This fight against corruption would also help improve the level of public confidence in government and in the country in general, thereby leading to a greater inflow of investment into the country.

12. It would encourage transparency and accountability by public officials. 

DO YOU KNOW DR. GEORGE UBOH?

Not too many people are aware of who Doctor George Uboh is, but the fact is that we need thousands more of Dr Uboh in Nigeria. Dr Uboh is the foremost whistle-blower in Nigeria. He has faced victimization, illegal detentions, and physical, cyber and spiritual threats, just for the blowing whistle on some of the Nigerian corrupt officials.

Dr Uboh has vowed to lay down his life, if necessary, in his effort to expose corrupt practices in our country. Many Nigerians should know that there are people like Dr Uboh already doing the job. They should also know that no amount of black magic or spiritual attacks has been able to stop him because nothing defeats the truth. If you are sure that your conviction is based on the truth, the truth will always fight for you.

One of the most important aspects of this policy as I have mentioned earlier is that it protects the whistle-blowers. The government at its own cost have taken it upon itself to provide security and protection to anybody that will submit relevant information against grafts and corruption in our country.

It should also be noted that those who give an evil and mischievous information about innocent people will be reprimanded. This is important so that individuals will not turn this policy into a weapon of personal and political vendetta. 

The Lord Almighty declares, “I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones.” Zechariah 5:4

People like Dr Uboh are convinced that Nigeria could reduce corruption by 90%, but that is only dependent on how widespread this campaign goes to the grassroots. I, therefore, want to use this opportunity to appeal to Nigerians all and sundry, to join his campaign. This is not about a political party; this is one of the most important government policies in our country today. We should all join it to make Nigeria better.

It is only thanks to this policy that Andrew Yakubu’s largesse was discovered despite all the protection that was put in place. Somebody who knew about it blew the whistle. The same applied to the discovery of the 11 billion Naira house belonging to former petroleum Minister Diezani Madueke.

As you all could see, the latest successes of our anti-graft agency (EFCC) are mainly thanks to the efforts of ordinary citizens in submitting relevant information to the right agencies.

“Therefore, until the day I die, I am going to do what I can, regardless of the cost to me, to try to stop this awful corruption that is destroying our beloved democracy.” John Jay Hooker

I, therefore, want to use this avenue to thank the people in the Buhari administration who came up with this policy. It is now the turn of every Nigerian to ask what he/she could do to make this campaign a success. If we do, Nigeria will become a better place. A country from where her citizens will not be running anymore, it will be a desirable place for people in the diaspora to come to. Let us all make Nigeria a better place for all. 

By Dr Sunday Adelaja

Disclaimer: 

The opinions and views expressed in this write-up are entirely that of the Writer(s). They do not reflect the opinions and views of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or any of its employees. The designations employed in this publication and the presentation of materials herein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or its employees concerning the legal status of any country, its authority, area or territory or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. Equally, the sketches, images, pictures and videos are gotten from the public domain.

I wasn’t born in the First Republic (i.e., 1960 to 1966) and hadn’t come of age in the Second Republic (i.e., 1979 to 1983), so when I say this year’s presidential election represents the most toxic brew of ethnic and religious chauvinism Nigeria’s democracy has ever had, I’m talking within the limits of my experiential reality. The three major candidates in the election exploited, to varying degrees, Nigeria’s primordial fault lines to enhance their chances of winning. We’re now contending with the aftershocks of this fact.

But what has kept me awake these past few days is the creeping normalization of genocide-triggering Igbophobia in popular social media discourse, no doubt encouraged by the intolerably violent and maximalist pigheadedness of many of Peter Obi’s Igbo supporters, but dangerous and inexcusable, nonetheless. The attack and murder of the Igbo people in Lagos this week is a sad manifestation of this. The discursive anchor of the growing Igbophobia in the country revolves around the notion that Igbo voters were the only major voting bloc in the country who voted almost wholly for Peter Obi, who is Igbo, and that voters elsewhere were more tolerant and cosmopolitan in their voting behaviour.

 Obi won in Lagos, a Yoruba state that Tinubu ruled for eight years, and Atiku Abubakar won in Osun State, another Yoruba state where Tinubu was born and where his nephew is the immediate past governor. Tinubu and Atiku almost evenly shared the northern vote. Only Igbo voters voted their kind like a herd and intimidated, even maimed, people who had a different choice from the majority. This narrative, which seems sensible on the surface, actually dramatizes what we call the dangers of vulgar empiricism in social science scholarship, that is, the idea that everything we see is accurate because our external, unaided senses tell us it is.

For example, when you insert a pen, say a Biro, in a bucket of water, it always looks bent to the naked eye even when it isn’t. A vulgar empiricist would insist that it is actually bent because his eyes show him that it is. But the reality is mediated by a whole range of factors outside what our senses can apprehend. The excessive, even exclusionary, emotional investment in Peter Obi’s candidacy among Igbo voters isn’t necessarily the consequence of what Nigerians have called “tribalism.” It’s because of the novelty and unprecedentedness of his candidacy. 

Peter Obi is the first and only Igbo presidential candidate in Nigeria’s history whose acceptance transcended the narrow confines of his ethnic cocoon. Not even the great Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe came remotely close to Obi’s relatively wide pan-Nigerian appeal. Obi is the first Igbo politician to dilute the historic suspicion and animosity that southern ethnic minorities used to harbour against Igbo politicians (which started after Azikiwe displaced Professor Eyo Ita—from what is now Cross River State— as Head of Government Business of Eastern Nigeria after he lost out to Chief Obafemi Awolowo in Western Nigeria).

Similarly, although northern Christians led the prosecution of the Nigerian Civil War against the Biafra secession, which has created an abiding if progressively diminishing, distrust between the Igbo people and northern Christians, Obi is wildly popular among northern Christians. Not even Azikiwe who chose Professor Ishaya Audu, a northern Christian, as his running mate two times in 1979 and 1983 had a fraction of the support of northern Christians that Obi has. Plus, many Yoruba people who define their identities in Christian terms, or who despise Bola Tinubu for any number of reasons, and who resented the prospect of a transition of power from Buhari to Atiku supported and campaigned for Obi.

Sure, the defining imperative for Obi’s support was Christianity (which indicates that should a Christian candidate emerge from either of the major political parties next time, Obi won’t be as popular among Christians as he is now). Still, it was reasonably pan-regional, certainly more pan-regional than the support any Igbo politician has ever had. It would be unreasonable to expect Igbo people to not rally around such a politician. If other people accept him, what reason do they have to reject him?

Had Obi not had the kind of pan-regional appeal that he has, history tells us that Igbo voters wouldn’t have been passionate about him and would probably have rejected him at the polls. Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the beloved leader of defunct Biafra and by far a more charming and charismatic politician than Obi can ever be, didn’t win the Igbo vote when he ran for president in 2003. Olusegun Obasanjo did. In a perceptive March 2, 2023, essay titled “2023 Elections: Igbos and Bigotry” by Atiku-supporting former aviation minister Osita Chidoka, who is Igbo, we learn that Ojukwu won only about 22 percent of the Igbo vote in 2003. Obasanjo, who is Yoruba, won 68 percent. It’s not fair to label such voters as bigoted.

There is a parallel between Obi’s almost total support among Igbo voters and the bandwagon support Barack Obama enjoyed among Black voters in the United States in 2008, which Olusegun Adeniyi adverted to in his column on the back page of ThisDay. He correctly pointed out that, like Igbo voters, about 95 percent of Black voters voted for Obama. But the parallels are even more poignant than that. Obama isn’t the first Black person to run for president in modern America. In 1972, Shirley Chisholm became the first Black American to seek the nomination of the Democratic Party. Black voters didn’t troop to vote for her because her candidacy didn’t gain nationwide, multiracial traction.

In 1984 and 1988, storied civil rights icon Jesse Jackson ran for the nomination of the Democratic Party and made more gains than any Black American politician had ever made, yet he didn’t dominate the Black vote. When Obama emerged in 2007 as a contender for the nomination of the Democratic Party, many Black voters were initially unenthusiastic about him. They thought he wouldn’t win and chose to back Hillary Clinton.

Even when Obama won the primary election in Iowa, an over 90 percent white state, many Black voters still expressed reservations about the possibility of a Black person becoming president, which compelled Michelle Obama to make the (in)famous “ain’t-no-black-people-in-Iowa” speech when she spoke to Black voters here in Atlanta. “Ain’t no black people in Iowa,” she said forcefully to show that her husband’s appeal transcended colour lines. “Something big, something new is happening. Let’s build the future we all know is possible. Let’s show our kids that America is ready for Barack Obama right now.” That was a turning point in Black support for Obama who went on to win more than 90 percent of the Black vote, the highest vote margin any demographic group has ever given to a candidate in an election.

When white conservative Americans accused Black voters of voting for Obama out of racial solidarity, they reminded their white compatriots that they, too, had always voted for white candidates. Had they also been doing that out of racial solidarity? And how about the fact that Black voters had been voting only for white candidates since they earned the right to vote? What did that suggest? Plus, Obama wasn’t the only Black candidate to be nominated to run for office in 2008. Cynthia McKinney, a former Congresswoman from Georgia, also won the nomination of the Green Party, a major third party that has never produced a president. Like Igbo voters didn’t vote for fringe candidates like APP’s Osita Nnadi, ADC’s Dumebi Kachikwu, APGA’s Peter Umeadi, and ZLP’s Dan Nwanyanwu, Black voters didn’t vote for McKinney.

Emotions, as I have always argued, are valid and legitimate constituents of our humanity. They are not inferior to our rationality. Igbo voters voted for Obi in unusually large numbers because of his unexampled acceptance outside the bounds of Igboland. Given that Nigeria has never had an Igbo president, it’s unreasonable to accuse them of bigotry for their choice. Any demographic group with the same circumstances as the Igbo would do the same. Nonetheless, the extreme political violence in the name of Obi that is now pervading the Southeast needs to stop because it can only add fuel to the fire of Igbophobia nationwide.

 Igbo people who resent Obi’s politics (perhaps because, as governor, he fired workers for the asking to be paid a measly minimum wage, allowed doctors to go on strike for 13 months leading to needless deaths in hospitals, allowed university teachers to go on strike for six months, made substandard roads that were washed off by the rains, played Catholics against Anglicans to remain in power, etc.) are being squelched and sometimes murdered for being different. That’s as unacceptable as the reigning Igbophobia in Nigeria’s national discourse.

By Farooq A. Kperogi, Twitter: @farooqkperogi

Disclaimer: 

The opinions and views expressed in this write-up are entirely that of the Writer(s). They do not reflect the opinions and views of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or any of its employees. The designations employed in this publication and the presentation of materials herein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or its employees concerning the legal status of any country, its authority, area or territory or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. Equally, the sketches, images, pictures and videos are gotten from the public domain.

Friends and brethren, In response to all the fears, concerns and your inquiries regarding the ongoing electoral process in my country of birth Nigeria. Please, let me appeal to you to set your mind at peace. I will adjourn you not to be overly worried from those internet propaganda by aggrieved losers. The truth is that even if the elections will be conducted a thousand times Peter Obi can never win one single one of them, no not this year’s elections.

Nigerians don’t know him enough across the whole nation. He is famous mainly among the educated elites, especially the youths and among people of his eastern region. In this particular election he will only come third with or without rigging. Especially without rigging! Believe me I know a few things about elections not only in Nigeria but around the world having lived in Europe for close to 40 years of my life. These people wailing here on the internet are like Donald Trump January 6th christian supporters. Their pastors have prophesied that Peter Obi is the God anointed candidate so they’re ready to bring it to pass even if God himself has refused to do it with his almighty power. 

For your information, I’ve participated in more than 100 elections and got 600 government officials in our church in Ukraine and I can confidently say that elections are not won by prophecies, prayers, affirmative declarations, shouts and emotions. I told all my disciples and followers on Facebook last year that  Obi will loose and no amount of shouting or wailing will change that. I even told them that they shouldn’t expect a miracle because elections are won not by prayers, prophecies or miracles. There are other factors needed for that, I learnt this the hard way, because as a young pastor in Europe I also once falsely believed that and failed woefully before I learnt the hard way. So when I speak today they don’t know I speak out of my painful experiences of the past.

Unfortunately, the youth and young enthusiasts on the internet who don’t understand this aspect of life will think Obi can win a general election in Nigeria at this stage in 2023 with his last minute burst into the arena. I understand that they’ve invested their energy, faith and resources into this elections hence it’s incomprehensible for them to even imagine that all their investments are gone just like that. Hence they have to resolve to the accusations of malpractices. Those who say there was rigging in Lagos against Obi forget that even if he gets a million votes in Lagos Obi still can’t win the general elections. In fact even if he gets 10 million votes he will still not win. The reason is very simple. Our constitution says no matter the amount of votes you get if you don’t win 25% votes in 2/3 of our 36 states you cannot be declared a winner of the presidential elections. It’s similar to the Electoral College rule in America. Unfortunately Obi can’t win 25% in 24 states of 36. Right now he has not succeeded in getting that. Without it I’m sorry he’s already lost. No other way to win without that even if half of the country votes for him, no, not in Nigeria of today.

Forget about rigging, the issue is not about rigging at all it’s about his lack of popularity in almost half of the nation. Talking about rigging, Obi and his supporters could also be accused of same. I just sent you a video where Obi’s followers wanted to kill somebody who didn’t support his party in eastern part of the country, the video is in your inbox. I have sent you another video where his followers were trying to bribe the INEC officials. I also sent you another one where his supporters were arrested in Lagos with fake voters materials. So, the point I’m making is malpractices could have happened from all sides. But it’s not the reason why Obi won’t win.He will lose because he is not popular on ground all across the lengths and breaths of our country Nigeria.

Unfortunately,you only mostly listen to his followers on internet because of their pro-active position online.  Remember I told you that Obi’s support base is majorly the elites youths and the people of his Igbo region. Yes, the elites can speak on internet but remember that 50% of our people can’t even communicate in English language, some of them don’t even know what internet is, especially in the core northern region of our country. Even though these people are illiterates yet there are those grassroots politicians that they know and follow on the ground. The relationship with those grassroots politicians and the disadvantaged masses is what is called in Nigeria a “structure”.  A structure they had built over time, which is a trust relationship between benefactors and beneficiaries. These people are in the majority numbers in our country, while it’s only 20 million Nigerians that are on internet in a country of over 200 million. 

Friends, You have known me personally over the years and you know my track records in Europe. On the other hand you don’t even know those people on the internet whose videos and writings you were sending to me to comment on. I have to say that not all these people are correct in their reasoning and arguments. Some of them I must say are simply ignorant and sour losers. Most, I’ll say are sincere and innocent people who don’t know what it takes to win or loose an election. Majority are too young to recollect what used to be called elections in Nigeria. Especially in the days of our former President Olusegun Obasanjo who happens to be from the same state with myself and a father figure also. Yet, in his days elections results were simply written not counted. Moreover, they must be written according to the dictates and caprices of the President himself. Ironically, it’s this same former President Obasanjo that is one of those calling for an abortion of this ongoing electoral process, just because it’s not going his way. It’s worth noting that Obasanjo is one of the promoters of Obi and his Labour Party. Empirically speaking though, true researchers will find these elections are by far the best and fairest in the modern history of Nigeria, thanks to the use of top notched technologies and the new electoral laws.

It’s no more possible to rig elections as in previous years in Nigeria. Let me tell you now that Nigeria will not burn down. More so, Tinubu will win the elections this year even if it’s conducted a thousand times. On the other hand, Obi who is making the most noise won’t even come second even if the elections are held a thousand times. In these particular elections he can only be third. The reason is simple the two leading political parties have spent years to build a nationwide relationship and political affiliations (structure) that clearly give them an edge in these   elections. Obi needed a little longer time to do the same, but instead of his followers to take this to heart and go to work on their weaker link, they want to rather believe in an instant miracle. Especially when they have some visible results on ground already. Their attitude is like tomorrow will never come either we take it all today or we tear the nation apart. 

What their leaders are not telling them is that each result that is being declared carries the signature of all party agents at the polling stations that attest to the validation of each results. So their agents already agreed to these results on national television too. Because before the declaration the Chaiman of INEC asks if there are objections or queries and he gives answers and explanations before the declaration. Unfortunately most people have parochial interest that things must be as they want it at all cost. This point is further confirmed by the results coming in already. The fact that where Obi is known or popular he won there and where he is not popular he failed woefully such that he could not even get 25% in those places because they don’t know him enough. Unlike, the other two leading parties who easily secured 25% in the required 24 states of the federation unlike Obi who could not even secure 25% in 20 states. Compare that to 33 states where APC’s candidate is already having over 25% of the votes. Talking about rigging these elections there are some facts on ground that show that to accuse the ruling party of rigging is to be malicious and disingenuous. 

Here are some of these facts: 

1. The presidential candidate of APC the ruling party could have easily do the rigging in Lagos because Lagos is his strong hold. Just like in Obi’s stronghold the votes recorded for him are up to 90-99% of the votes there. By the way what’s the essence of APC rigging Lagos and still loose it, if someone wants to rig isn’t it to win? Why rig and still allow your opponent to win? Crazy logic isn’t it? The ruling party was supposed to also accused Obi of rigging at their backyard to explain off their loss but they showed a bit of maturity by taking all results in good faith. 

2. The sitting President promised to deliver his stronghold for his party the APC, yet he lost his very own state to PDP yet no crying of foul play. If anything, he should have done everything to rig the elections in favor of his party, yet he didn’t do so. The ruling party should have been shouting of a foul play as the reason why they lost but they have been rather more magnanimous I must say in their loss.

3. The campaign Director of APC the ruling party could not even deliver his state and also lost his senatorial bid. I would think these are those who were to put in all efforts to rig these elections yet they allowed Obi and his party to win in their backyard to their shame 

4. Another fact is that the state with the largest number of votes apart from Lagos is also ruled by the APC and they had hoped to win the state called Kano state in a big way. You know what, they lost it too to another opposition party and still they took it in good faith. Yet you want to tell me their is rigging? Bearing in mind that the Governor of this state is a best friend to the APC candidate.

5. Another Governor who is the most passionate supporter of the APC candidate also lost his state of Kaduna to Obi even though it’s an APC controlled state. This is despite the fact that this particular Governor had publicly vowed to deliver the state to their candidate.

If these top leaders of the party could not rig the elections to protect their reputation and integrity in their own turf how then would they manage to go rig in other peoples territories when they don’t control and have much less power to do anything. Now let’s compare these to what obtained in Obi’s stronghold where as seen in the video I sent to you the so called Obidients were threatening to linch anyone who votes against Obi right there in polling stations. But apart from the video please judge by these statistics below:

Enugu State: 

1. ANINRI LG: Valid votes 11889, LP – 11339. The rest is shared between 18 other parties including the ruling party of that state. The party with all the votes is Lsbour Party of Peter Obi

2. AWGU LG: Valid Votes 20713, LP 19803. The rest is shared between 18 other parties including the ruling party of that state. The party with all the votes is Lsbour Party of Peter Obi

3. Enugu East: Valid Votes: 49729, LP: 48085. The rest is shared between 18 other parties including the ruling party of that state. The party with all the votes is Lsbour Party of Peter Obi

4. Enugu North: VALID VOTES: 45764, LP. 44666. The rest is shared between 18 other parties including the ruling party of that state. The party with all the votes is Lsbour Party of Peter Obi

5. Enugu South: TOTAL VALID VOTES 39554, LP 38511. The rest is shared between 18 other parties including the ruling party of that state. The party with all the votes is Lsbour Party of Peter Obi

Please judge by yourself where is it looking most likely there was rigging in the two scenarios I have just painted. Bear in mind that I sent you the video where in one of these eastern states the mob were about to kill a gentleman just because they suspected that he voted to the ruling APC. Is this type of intimidation also not equal to election malpractices and rigging? There abound scary and horror stories from party agents who went to represent their parties in our eastern states. They testify to the fact that the amount of fear and intimidation at the polling stations were so much that they dare not utter a word against the malpractices if you want to escape there alive. This was also attested to by the INEC officials the Copers they all said they had to keep quite to escape with their lives. So to me the cry of the Labour Party is like a pot calling the kettle black. 

Please note that I only quoted results from 5 local governments out of 85 or so local governments in the eastern part of the country, which is the stronghold of Obi. Also note that there is no single state in the whole of the nation where these type of total results were recorded for a single political party. It only happened in the East of Nigeria, yet no one is complaining about this. I do hope I’ve been able to bring to your understanding the true picture of what’s going on in my beloved country. Most importantly I hope I’ve been able to allay your fears about the happenings in Nigeria. I did this as a sign of my respect for you friends. Please keep Nigeria in your prayers. Thank you so much for your time and attention.May Nigeria Succeed And May All Her Haters Live Long To Witness It. 

For The Love Of God, Church And Nation. 

Dr. Sunday ADELAJA

Disclaimer: 

The opinions and views expressed in this write-up are entirely that of the Writer(s). They do not reflect the opinions and views of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or any of its employees. The designations employed in this publication and the presentation of materials herein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or its employees concerning the legal status of any country, its authority, area or territory or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. Equally, the sketches, images, pictures and videos are gotten from the public domain.

Blindly, people are too divided along ethnic and religious lines and therefore support politicians based on religion and ethnicity rather than track record and capacity to deliver good governance.

Ethno-Religious Diversity and Political Leadership: Nigeria is at a crossroads. We have lost our moral compass. Yet, we are parachuting deeper and deeper into the valley of bigotry, uncouth and stupidity. We may never soar again like the eagle of which in these current elections circle, religion seems to have the upper hand. Therefore, if we don’t deliberately recalibrate our patently defective value system our beloved country Nigeria is doomed and may likely explode before our “Koro koro” eyes. Undoubtedly, religion and ethnicity have fully developed into monsters and are a very big threat to Nigeria’s unity.

Although politics is a man-made game, nonetheless some of us have inadvertently dragged the name of God into the game through religious leaders leading to unwarranted divisiveness. How divided we are as a people: first, ethnicity, and now religion is added by leaders of the faith. Religious leaders in the country need to refrain from stoking the embers of hatred and disunity, resorting to scorched-earth rhetoric at this time could trigger unintended consequences. Notable among the utterances were the unnecessary vituperations and activities of some religious and past political leaders.

Sadly, this has become the norm in many of our churches. My worry is that if the church drags itself into partisan politics, then it would have lost its moral authority to pontificate because it has made itself an interested party. Indeed, the church cannot be on the moral pedestal to preach against certain conduct of society if it has not gone through purification by purging itself of those who are diminishing its authority. Given that situation, it is not surprising that public support is very high for fundamental change in our political system to make the system work better. This is exemplified by the conduct of clerics like Paul Eneche of Dunamis church.

Let me be clear, we have mannerless people on social media that can’t express themselves without an insult added, to now include the kind of recklessness from the pulpit that will set us up for failure and violence of unimaginable magnitude. Pst Paul Eneche undoubtedly a cleric with profound oratorical articulation cannot be said to be ignorant of the weight of certain threatening sermons. Simply put, religion is mental slavery. religion should be viewed only to the extent to which it entrenches humanity. It is instructive to note that the goal of ‘gaslighting’ is to deliberately mess up your head. It’s not a mental illness, but a form of manipulation that promotes emotional and mental abuse.

As such, the consequences of politics-of-bitterness are grievous enough to make one outrightly condemn in the strongest terms, the irresponsible, insensitive, reckless and provocative message of Pastor Enenche in his sermon on Sunday 26th February 2023 to congregants and Nigerians via the social media platforms. When we set this quest for truth as our intention, we are opening ourselves up to finding a new awareness of what is, rather than what we believed previously. Only then can we allow the screens of judgement and bias that we have manufactured within us to slowly drop away?

This is a life-long process, but it is empowering to know and understand that almost anything in life can be adjusted with a change of perception. Elections should ordinarily be festivals of democracy; not do-or-die affairs, but Nigeria’s political history has recorded episodes of elections as wars. Blindly, people are too divided along ethnic and religious lines and therefore support politicians based on religion and ethnicity rather than track record and capacity to deliver good governance.

Fundamentally, our citizens particularly the restive youths are incapable of sound reasoning and involuntarily gullible – that is the reason why the likes of pst Paul Eneche should desist from further inciting statements from the pulpit. Therefore, Enenche’s hate speech from the pulpit violates the law of the land and he should be reprimanded for such incongruence. Finally, I like to place it on record, that history beckons as the verdict of posterity are inevitable. We cannot afford another version of June 12, 1993. NIGERIA WILL BE PEACEFUL.

Richard Odusanya, Email: odusanyagold@gmail.com

Disclaimer: 

The opinions and views expressed in this write-up are entirely that of the Writer(s). They do not reflect the opinions and views of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or any of its employees. The designations employed in this publication and the presentation of materials herein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever of the Publisher (Nze Ikay’s Blog) or its employees concerning the legal status of any country, its authority, area or territory or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. Equally, the sketches, images, pictures and videos are gotten from the public domain.