By Jude Opara
Conscience is an open wound; only truth can heal it—Uthman Dan Fodio. In recent times, a rather combustible inferno is being gradually ignited by some elements who have claimed that they want to ‘restore’ Lagos as a land of the Yorubas.
Specifically, the Igbo race is being targeted for a special reason. They are accused of saying that Lagos is a ‘no man’s land’. Some say the Igbos are gradually taking over the state, while another group will yell that they no longer respect their hosts.
Presently, this ethnic profiling has been gaining currency, even as it appears that the state government is tacitly supporting the action. This is because apart from the alleged demolition of houses belonging to Igbos under whatever guise, we have not heard of any condemnation of the coming from the government.
I am aware that as Nigerians we more often than not tend to pander to our tribes and other such cleavages like religion and orientation, but the rate at which this Lagos matter is going, if not checked could spell doom for the country, especially as we go into the 2027 general elections.
And talking about the election, it is a general knowledge that this profiling and barrage of attacks on the Igbos started prior to the 2023 presidential election, where for the first time since the return to constitutional democracy in 1999, the Igbos massively voted for one of their own–Peter Obi.
It could be also remembered that in the buildup to the last presidential election, Igbos were specifically targeted, some were prevented from registering and collecting their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) and on election day, most of them were physically stopped from exercising their civic rights.
Ironically, while the Igbos were freely derided especially by non- state actors, nobody made any concerted effort to stop them. A certain MC Oluomo went wild with threats that any Igbo who was not going to vote for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) should not bother coming out to vote.
In the viral video, MC Oluomo said; “we have begged them. If they don’t want to vote for us, it is not a fight. Tell them, Iya Chukwudi, if you don’t want to vote for us, sit down at home. Sit down at home.”
Unfortunately, when the criticism of that threat grew, the Force Spokesman Olumuyiwa Adejobi, simply said it was a joke.
“This person involved, MC Oluomo himself, I saw a video he did with one Igbo woman whose name was mentioned in the video of the threat, that it is not true. That he was making a joke with one particular woman and the woman came up to say it is not true. They are just throwing banters. It is a joke”.
“So let us take it like joke, like he has said. He has come out to debunk that it is not true. Let us leave it that way that it is not true. It is a joke between two persons in that area at that particular point in time.”
But on the day of election, that ‘joke’ became a threat because in parts of Lagos state, many Igbo people were prevented from voting while some were even physically assaulted and our Police who said MC Oluomo was joking with his neighbor did not do anything to protect the victims.
Section 41(1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended gives every Nigerian citizen the right to move freely throughout the country and to reside in any part thereof. Also, under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which Nigeria is signatory to, it states that individuals have the right to choose their place of residence and to pursue their daily activities without undue restrictions.
The truth is that this new wave of ethnic profiling of the Igbo people is part of the fallouts of the 2023 election where Peter Obi defeated Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in his home state. It is on record that after that election, many people who felt embarrassed thought that the best approach to it is to fan the ambers of bigotry between the Yorubas and the Igbos.
In the 2027 election, President Tinubu is supposed to have a clear advantage over any other challenger because as the incumbent, he has the opportunity to point at what he has been able to do in his first term. So it will be an irony if one tactic of an incumbent is to use cronies to instigate ethnic strife in the land.
Therefore, I am of the view that time has come for President Tinubu to speak up and call the Lagos state government led by Babajide Sanwo-Olu to order because his continuous silence on this delicate matter is no longer golden! The President must remember that his primary responsibility is the protection of lives and property of Nigerians, irrespective of whether they are his supporters or not.
Now, talking about the phrase ‘Lagos is a no man’s land’ is reported to have been said first by former Governor Lateef Jakande during his inauguration in 1979. He was referring to the then status of Lagos as Federal Territory where Nigerians from all parts of the country converge.
Some of those supporting the narrative that Igbos have declared Lagos as a no man’s land now argue that the state is no longer the seat of the federal government, but dose that negate the fact that most Nigerians have lived there all their lives?
Come to think of it, has the Igbo forcefully taken any land in Lagos? Is there any Igbo that ever had a property in Lagos without acquiring the land either from the indigenous owners or the state government? If Lagos is a no man’s land, why do settlers (including Igbos) go to the indigenous people to buy land? Would you have to pay money to anybody to build on a land that belongs to nobody?
As someone that once lived in Lagos in the 90s, that mantra of Lagos being a no man’s land was freely said by Lagosians whether they were Yoruba, Igbo, Igbira, Hausa or any other tribe. It was never attributed to only one group. Lagos as I used to know it was a place where people strictly minded their own business. People were less concerned about what their next door neighbor was doing. In fact, I severally witnessed on the streets where two people will be fighting, nobody will care to separate them, and they are left to fight till they get tired because ‘Lagos is a no man’s land’.
Many people have also said that what is happening in Lagos today is like a child trying to have his cake after eating it. Land has become very scarce in the state and some people came up with the disingenuous idea of harassing and forcing non-indigenes to relinquish the land they have bought and paid for. It is like selling a drum to somebody and when he decides to beat the drum he bought, the seller will start complaining that he was beating the drum loudly.
Recently, a group under the aegis of the Yoruba Elders Progressive Council has started pushing for the restriction of the duration of Certificate of Occupancy from the original 99 years to 25 years.
All these narratives are sold with the usual accusation of; “Igbos are becoming so overbearing, they no longer respect the owners of the land, they now boast of owning an entire street; they now say Lagos is not only for Yorubas” and so many other such unfounded accusations.
The other day, a colleague was arguing on this same banal claim and I asked him to just provide one evidence where any Igbo group or individual called a press conference to declare that Lagos is now a no man’s land. He couldn’t, all he kept saying is that one Chukwuma or Okeke posted such on social media.
Igbos have been living in Lagos, just as like in many other cities for a very long time, it is curious how it is only in Lagos that they are now having issues. In Lagos, the Yorubas had fought with another ethnic group in July 2016, August 2019, February 2002 and in July 2024 to mention a few. These fights were largely due to trade disputes in the market or over alleged violation of the Oru festival. Have they had such ethnic clash with the Igbos on the basis of disrespecting their culture?
It’s all about politics! Yes, the Igbo are reputed to be the second highest group in most Nigerian cities after the indigenous people, it didn’t start today. After the Tinubu presidency, this tension will gradually die down. Remember that on the same political issue, the Oba of Lagos once threatened to drown Igbos in the Lagoon should they not vote for their preferred candidate.
However, I will advise the Igbos and indeed every other parson living in any part of the country to always respect the laws and culture of the host community. Live within the confines of the law and ensure you don’t become an agent of disintegration.
Similarly, politicians and their cronies should stop instigating ethnic wars just to win elections because after the four or eight years of governance, the effect of the tension created will linger.
