DANGEROUS ETHNIC COLOURATION OF LAGOS GUBERNATORIAL CAMPAIGN

By Nnanna Otu, Lagos Bureau Chief

A National Daily recently did an expose on seven states where there are sufficient and compelling reasons to suspect that the gubernatorial elections and the post-elections fall out could result in violence. Top on the list of the volatile states according to the Daily is Kano State, closely followed by Lagos State. The impending gubernatorial elections in Lagos has taken such a frightening dimension and ethnic coloration that some observers believe that the build up to the Hutu/Tutsi genocide of 1994 in Rwanda hardly got to the present level of tension-soaked ethnic hype in Lagos today.

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu had had to stay back in Lagos yesterday to personally lead from the front and directly take charge of proceedings, even when there was an all-important meeting going on at Aso Rock, Abuja for persons elected on the platform of the APC in the last Presidential and National Assembly Elections.

The tension in Lagos is palpable and the fear is real. An Auto Spare-Parts Market at Ajegunle (an Igbo dominated suburb) was razed down in the wee hours of Thursday, 9^th March, 2023 with one of the Night Guards brutally murdered and goods valued at several billions of Naira reduced to dust. The second night security guard  who managed to escape from the arsonists was able to identify the ring leader of the rampaging mob, gave his name in an interview on Saturday 11^th March. As expected, nobody has been arrested.

There is a viral video making the rounds on Social Media of a man wielding an AK47 Assault Rifle in the Surulere area of Lagos, threatening to mow down any Igbo man who dares to come out on the 18^th of March to vote for Labour Party. According to him “they should go back to their states and vote for their Labour Party”. As at this moment, we have not heard that the DSS has taken him in. This is in addition to the election day threat to Igbos by MC Oluomo  who in the presence of the Police on the 25^th February, challenged any “Ibo man wey think they born him well, to come here and vote”.  As we speak, MC Oluomo is freely going about his daily chore with his routine of 6 armed Police Body Guards.

As soon as the Presidential Elections results in Lagos began to stumble in, the on-going political battle line in Lagos was foreseen, because of the overwhelming victory of the LP in that tranche of the 2023 General Election. Judging from the margin, with which the LP won, though many observers and analysts appear convinced that the INEC manipulated the result in order to close the gap between the winner and the loser in the state. Even at that, the APC sees the handwriting crystal clear on the wall, leading to very huge concern on the fate of the Party. This is because if things go the way of the February 25th presidential election, the party will likely lose again to the LP. This is the fear, the genesis of the present free reign of terror, intimidation and brigandage presently playing out in Lagos.

Rightly so, the APC is also jittery and worried over the possibility of losing Lagos, an unimaginable calamity by their conjecture as Lagos has never lost any election to another Party since the advent of Bola Tinubu as the Lord of the Manor of Lagos State. The Party is therefore throwing in everything at their disposal and working so hard to ensure that this record is not broken on the March 18th, 2023. Before the Saturday, February 25th presidential election, the two prominent gubernatorial candidates in Lagos were the incumbent, Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the APC, and Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran (Jandor) of the PDP, but with the Presidential Elections result, all of that have changed. At the moment, it would appear that the hitherto unknown candidate of the LP, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour (GRV) has become a force to reckon with, riding on the popularity of Peter Obi. His sudden rise to limelight has come with a lot of cost. Over the weekend, his campaign trail was attacked by thugs suspected to be APC hoodlums at the Epe area of Lagos State, he managed to escape unhurt. For the simple reason that his Party, the Labour Party enjoys massive following by Igbos, all manner of hate induced smear campaign have been directed at his person and his family. His fellow Yorubas of the APC persuasion see him as a renegade, a saboteur being used by Igbos in their unbridled and ill-conceived desire to take over Lagos. To make matters worse, his mother is believed to be Igbo and he is said to have an Igbo wife a situation that squarely puts him on trial amongst his kinsmen. Late last week, there was the slogan that said “we do not want a non OMOLUABI who cannot speak Yoruba at Alausa.”  He has screamed himself hoarse in a bid to establish his “Yorubaness”.

The feat achieved by the Labour Party in the Presidential Election forced a sudden downwards adjustment on the ranking position of PDP in the state, making the People’s Democratic Party almost irrelevant in the big battle and it is obviously late for any meaningful coalition discussions, because LP has shown strength and can stand alone. Reality appears to have dawned on the PDP as the erstwhile Deputy National Chairman of Party (South West) Chief Bode George yesterday appealed to the PDP gubernatorial candidate to step down for the Labour Party candidate so they can join forces to rescue Lagos from the 24 years of suffocating grip on Lagos by Tinubu. However, while the PDP may not stand a chance in Lagos, it is going to be truly epic battle between the party and the opposition in the states it lost in the presidential election due the irreconcilable issues, championed by the G-5 governors.

All said, Labour Party is highly favoured to clinch the coveted trophy of the State House at Alausa, Ikeja if only INEC comes out clean. The much the on-going threat, harassment and intimidation of Igbos can do is to scare some people away from the Polling Stations.