By Comfort Obi
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has just donated the sum of N100m to the victims of the fire incident at the Akere Spare Parts Market in Ajegunle.
The market, which shops are mainly owned by traders of Igbo extraction, was deliberately set on fire by thugs in the aftermath of the victory of Peter Obi, Nigerian, an Igboman, and Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, over Bola Tinubu, a Nigerian, and Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Lagos in the Presidential Election of February 25, 2023. So, the Igbo bore the brunt of that defeat of Tinubu, a Yoruba.
Let me say here that I like Sanwo-Olu. I have met him, officially, only twice since he became the Governor of Lagos State. I like his unassuming appearance. I, also, like his calm disposition. And I like his carriage.
Until he sacked former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode from the office of Lagos State Governor in an unprecedented palace coup, in 2019, I never heard his name before. But I took to him because of the way he handled the dirty darts thrown at him in the run-up to the Primary where he floored Ambode. He was dressed in all kinds of robes, including that of a mad man. He was called a psychiatric patient. They said he was taking treatment at the Gbagada General Hospital. I wondered why Gbagada when Lagos boasts of one of the best psychiatrist hospitals in Nigeria – the Federal Government-owned Yaba Psychiatrist Hospital – until I found out his wife was, at the time, the Chief Medical Director at Gbagada. Sanwo-Olu took that garb in his stride. He simply dismissed it as nonsense, and laughed it off.
It was one of the reasons why I was one of the first who stood on the line in the 2019 Governorship Election to vote for him at my polling unit.
In addition to all that, I had always seen Sanwo-Olu as non tribalistic. For, I am. In all my adult life, almost every help extended to me, most of my break- throughs, have been, mostly, from non-Igbo.
So, I was not surprised that the Governor visited the Akere market to sympathize with the victims, and donated the sum of N100m to them. I have been told he did so because he is facing a battle in his quest for a second term in office. I have been told he did so because for the first time, a serious candidate in facing the ruling Party in Lagos thanks to the Obi effect. I have been told that he did so because Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the Lagos LP Candidate, had earlier visited the traders and donated the sum of N15m to them. But what do those matter? If Sanwo-Olu wanted, he could have ignored that visit, kept back (his) N100m, and have his Press Secretary issue a message of sympathy. That’s what most Governors and Politicians do. Or, are you not having fun by their recent “fake cares?” Don’t be deceived. They don’t care. They are looking for votes. Thereafter, their “niceness” is gone. Their gates are double-locked. With the number of thugs in Lagos rooting for Sanwo-Olu, it won’t have mattered whether he went to Akere or not. They will muscle him in.
N100m is a huge sum of money, though. And, I join the victims to thank the Governor. But it is time to ask Sanwo-Olu how much the money he donated is worth.
Is it worth the life of anybody? Is it worth the life of the Security Guard who was callously killed? Is it worth the trauma, the heartache, the heartbreak, the sense of helplessness, the sense of hopelessness, the sense of rejection, the sense of stigmatisation, and just suddenly finding out that one is living in the midst of one’s enemies?
Given that I sincerely like Governor Sanwo-Olu, it is difficult for me to say this. But no time is more appropriate than now to tell him that he has not done well in the protection of the Igbo and their properties in Lagos. Especially, Igbo traders. He seems to have sold them to politics. He has donated them to politics. Under his watch, the lives of the Igbo, especially those who live in less “fanciful” environment have been recklessly and brazenly threatened. Under his watch, they have been treated as sub- human beings, like nobodies, their rights trampled upon!
I have lived in Lagos for about 20 years, and I have never witnessed this kind of dreadful and scary situation where the Igbo are being shown this level of hatred. It is unprecedented.
In the past three weeks, the Igbo in Lagos have been through hell and back. The hatred, the animosity towards them cry to high heavens. And why? Just because one of them is vying to occupy the highest office in the land – an office which, since 1999, has been occupied by every other Zone in Nigeria.
In these past weeks, in Lagos, the Igbo have been so scared they are afraid of even their own shadows. A number of them have stopped going to the market for fear of their lives – the women in particular. Many have locked up their shops and stalls, But even then, the locked up shops and stalls are not safe. They are identified and looted or set on fire. Nobody cares. Or asks questions. Where are Joe Igbokwe and Co? Why are they not condemning this scary situation?
Parents have stopped their children from going to school, for now, for fear of being humiliated, as exemplified by the accursed Headmistress of one school who suspended a pupil because she used a poster of the LP which had Obi’s photograph, to wrap her exercise book. In fairness to Sanwo-Olu, the Headmistress has been suspended, and is under investigation. But, the public would like to know the outcome.
During the Presidential election, the Igbo, or anybody who look like an Igbo, were openly stopped from voting. They were humiliated. They were called names. Their ballot papers were torn before them. Gates to polling units were shut against them. They were visited with violence. Igbo blood was the order of the day. Why? What particular crime did they commit?
For the records, the Igbo are no parasites in Lagos. The mega city, city of excellence, that Lagos answers today, couldn’t have been possible without the huge contribution of the Igbo. Yet…
The precarious situation of the Igbo in Lagos has just worsened, days and hours to the Governorship/ State Assembly elections.
To stop them from voting, a Traditional Ruler deliberately fixed the traditional Oro Festival to coincide with the elections, just to stop them from coming out to vote. The areas affected are heavily populated by the Igbo. Mum is the word from the Lagos State Government.
The notoriously popular Musiliu MC Oluomo, who threatened the Igbo openly on February 25, the day of the Presidential election, hasdone so again. This time, more brazenly, on the eve of the Governorship/ House of Assembly Elections. His hate speech forced the wife of the LP Governorship Candidate, Dr. Ifeyinwa Rhodes-Vivour, to raise an alarm. She called for his arrest over such hate speech.
Oluomo, in a viral video on Twitter warned those who will not vote for APC to stay home on Saturday, and not come out. He said: “We have begged them. If they don’t want to vote for us, it is not a fight. Tell them, Mama Chukwudi, if you don’t want to vote for us, sit down at home. Sit down at home.” This is a serious threat. It is an intimidation. It is a veiled warning to the Igbo, ( having mentioned Mama Chukwudi) to stay home or be killed. The question to ask Oluomo is: who told him there are no Igbo in Lagos voting APC? Are Joe Igbokwe and clan, for example, not Igbo? Are they not voting for APC. And there are hundreds like him. I had earlier, proudly, admitted to voting for Sanwo-Olu in 2019. I vote capable individuals, not Political Parties.
This brazen threat is why Mrs Rhodes-Vivour asked for his arrest. In a tweet, in response, through her Twitter handle @ifyAniebo she also called on Governor Sanwo-Olu to call “his thugs” to order. She said “This man can confidently threaten voters because he is state backed. This isn’t the first video of him threatening voters but somehow he still has not been arrested.
“@jidesanwolu call your thugs to order. This is a democracy not a dictatorship.”
She is spot on. In more civilized climes, a number of arrests of those openly threatened lives of people could have been arrested.
Which is where Sanwo-Olu and the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, have failed.
Since Oluomo’s threat, what has been the reaction of the Lagos State Police Commissioner? Did he call Oluomo to order by inviting him for an advice, a warning, if nothing else? Not that it would matter. The Police would shockingly watch as the thugs run riot, most times.
What has been Sanwo-Olu’s reaction? Oluomo is his staff. He is the Chairman of the Lagos State Parks Management Committee. So, his staff, in charge of a money-spinning Board. What has stopped the Governor from calling him to order? Doesn’t the Governor know that a large population of his subjects in Lagos are afraid of what tomorrow, and the days following it will bring? What has stopped the Governor from making a broadcast to call to order those threatening the lives of his subjects? Is MC Oluomo stronger and more influential than the Governor? Or is he? Do the thugs who, a couple of days ago, wreaked havoc on the Igbo and their properties in Surulere have more powers than the Governor?
Or do they have official support from somewhere? What about those who set fire in Akere Spare Parts Market? How many of them have been arrested?
So, I ask again: What is Sanwo-Olu’s money worth in the face of the violence and destruction visited on the Igbo in his domain? Or is he waiting for another arson, another gruesome murder, as was the fate of the Security Guard at Akere Spare Parts Market so he can donate more money? Why is he incapable of arresting the situation? The money is worth nothing, really.
Elections will come and go. But the wound, injustice, the pain, inflicted on people will not be easily forgotten. They will be a constant reminder of a weak leader, and an uncaring and lawless society. And, it’s such a big shame.
Obi is the Editor-in-Chief/CEO of The Source (Magazine), https://thesourceng.com. Email: [email protected], [email protected]
