It seems to have become a common trend in Nigeria to put forward an appetiser before serving the main course of scandalous information in one's possession. It happened with Ekitigate and now the latest issue is centred around the Oba of Lagos.
Oba Akiolu was reported in the newspapers this morning that he said the Ibo people in Lagos would perish in the lagoon if they failed to vote for his and the APC's candidate Akinwunmi Ambode in the Lagos gubernatorial election scheduled for Saturday April 11.
The report was carried by a few newspapers including the Thisday newspaper and the source quoted was a certain Freedom online news outlet and they had graphic quotes attributed to the Oba. The first time I became aware of this story was while listening in to a newspapers review on Smooth FM and one of their popular reviews known as Chxta Bee was making his contribution via a phone call and he seemed unusually agitated about the inappropriateness of what the Oba said and it took the intervention of the main presenters to curtail his attempt to get really personal with the Oba.
I was pretty much not convinced about headline and I wondered how anyone in his right senses could make such unfortunate statements about an entire ethnic group. Social media was dominated by contributions for and against the Oba and it only served to exposed the residual and surplus animosity that still rules the hearts and minds of Nigerians. It was not really the comments attributed to the Oba that really bothered me; what was of greater concern to me was what people especially the main politicians who stood to benefit the most were making out of it all.
I read at least 3 posts on the Facebook profile page of Jimi Agbaje the PDP candidate and could not help but notice his blatant attempt to whip up ethnic sentiments to tip the Lagos elections to his favor. He was all about how the APC's brand of "change" only served to intimidate the Ibo tribe with violence. Long before any audio recording of the Oba's statements were made public; Agbaje had heaped practically everything on the APC and nowhere on his posts did he condemn the Oba for his unfortunate words. Is the Oba of Lagos a spokesman of the APC? Is he their godfather?
The audio recording eventually surface and it seemed to have Chxta as the source. There were actually 2 separate audio recordings which I listened to. The first was about 1.52 mins and had the Oba addressing the Ezes who had come to meet with him. Oba Rilwan sounded to me as an arrogant man who tries to feign humility from time to time. He berated his guests for apparently voting for Jonathan last Saturday perhaps against his wish. He spoke to them like he was their commanding officer, reminding them that he was in charge of Lagos and his subjects all had no choice but to fall in line. He said Tinubu and Fashola did his bidding and Jonathan was his son who he spoke to everyday. It seemed like he mentioned the name Andy Ubah somewhere along the line when he engaged the head of the visiting delegation. He said the fellow was with him till 12 midnight the previous night.
I am of the belief that the comment which has been transposed to include all Ibos in Lagos was directed at the more than 1 score Ezes who had come to visit him. He practically cursed them that they would die in 7 days and perish in the lagoon if they went back on whatever understanding he had struck with them. I believe he was only leveraging on their superstitious side to drive home the importance of his demand. I really do not know what amount of influence the Oba of Lagos assumes the Ezes have over their people to warrant the exchange he had with them. It is common knowledge that the majority of Ibos especially in Ibo dominated residential areas voted with a main agenda of earning victory for Jonathan and the PDP in the 28th of March but I doubt if this was due to instructions given by the Ezes. The Oba must have feared that such a voting pattern threatened his "authority" over Lagos and possibly his source of livelihood.
The second recording was mainly about the spokesman of the Ezes who seemed at ease with all the Oba had said; he laughed loudly from time to time before getting into his address. He obviously eulogised the Oba and sounded to me like he was apologetic about the events of 28th of March after which he reassured the Oba that the Ezes had his back with all of them shouting out the name "Ambode" rather cheerfully once. He talked about the breaking of the kolanut they had at the meeting and promised that they would all be back to party with the Oba after the elections. I am not sure if I heard the Oba sounding it out to him to come along with his young daughter.
The atmosphere in that room sounded cheerful to me and apart from the boastful utterances and curses made by the Oba; nothing sounded out of place.
Jimi Agbaje has spent this obvious gaffe to label the APC as ethicist and intolerant. He has called them violent but has forgotten that armed youths go around in his campaign vehicles while the OPC at one time went about intimidating Lagosians with weapons and smashing campaign boards of his opponent. The roads one can term as federal roads in Lagos are largely dominated by his own billboard with large stretches of the Ikorodu Road, airport road and the third mainland bridge dominated by his "taking education more seriously" campaign ads amongst many others. He has the federal roads while Ambode has the state roads which pretty much sounds fair but intolerant.
I believe JK is playing a really dangerous game exploiting ethnic divides and the residue of Jonathan support left in Lagos. I was of the opinion that the failure to return Jonathan would deflate his supporters enough to disregard the gubernatorial polls but Agbaje is desperate to arouse them. There is a publication attributed to the Agbaje camp detailing to Ibos how the APC plans to rout their economic activities amongst a few other issues. Assuming he wins and installs fair taxes; will he miraculously revamp Ladipo and Alaba markets to world class facilities or would he tell these traders who he is banking on now that "nothing for them"? Would Agbaje populate his cabinet and the Lagos state civil service with non-Yorubas to compensate for their support? Will he govern Lagos and obliterate all classes of monarchs in Lagos?
The Oba of Lagos made inappropriate statements to his guests and considering the context of that meeting; I don't think it is a hate speech or a call for genocide which some people are making it out to be. The Ezes to what I understand do not dictate to their kin in Lagos and they only know what they received from the Oba and have to account for. The Oba although he claimed to have picked Ambode is not the spokesman or the mascot of the APC. His statements were unfortunate and largely overzealous in an attempt to ensure his favored candidate wins. It is not news that he is partisan, he has not hidden his preference so this disclosure really should not affect how people decide who they vote as governor of Lagos.
Some people have based their choice of Agbaje on the premise that he looks the part and speaks well unlike Ambode who many see as a stooge. Agbaje has tried to distance himself from his party but I insist that one cannot really be separated like that; if he was running his campaign solely on the sale of diazepam and anti - malarial tablets from his shop I could have agreed.
A story was told to me by a colleague about a couple of Ibo extraction who took their very ill child to a general hospital in Lagos for emergency care. That child was taken in and treated till she got better. After a few days while the child was being prepped to be discharged; the mother asked the doctor what their bill was fearing that herself and her husband would not be able to afford whatever was mentioned. They were then informed that everything done for the child was free since that was Lagos state policy. They were overjoyed and as they made to leave, someone asked them if they would vote the APC in this election. I was shocked when i learnt that the response of the couple was No!! This is what it is like for many in Lagos and Nigeria; there is really nothing that would change their mindset and Jimi Agbaje is unfortunately banking on that.
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