Agbaje and Ambode
We looks at the moves by the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party to woo non-indigene voters of Lagos
Some facts seem to be sacred in this election season. Both the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party concede that the APC presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) will garner most of the votes in the North-West where the Katsina-born candidate hails from.
Similarly, it is believed that most of the voters in the South-East will vote for President Goodluck Jonathan.
However, one question in the minds of politicians is how will the people of Nigeria’s most populous state, Lagos, vote?
Lagos, which has the highest number of voters in the country, is a Yoruba-speaking state but the state, being a former capital of Nigeria, is highly heterogeneous in demography. Unlike in other states where people are bound by a homogenous language, Lagos is home to all. It is widely believed that every Nigerian has at least one relative living in the state.
The Yoruba are the majority but due to the state’s status as the commercial nerve centre of the country, it has attracted a high Igbo and Hausa population. It is for this reason that the governorship candidate of the APC, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode; and his PDP counterpart, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, have been engaged in a contest of ethnic endorsements.
The PDP made the first move in 2013 by attacking the state governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, for deporting some destitute persons of Igbo extraction to Anambra State.
Fashola explained that the deportation had nothing to do with ethnicity as even Yoruba-speaking destitute persons had also been taken back to Osun State while some others from northern parts of the country had been taken the back to their states.
Specifically, the governor said due to the commercial nature of the state, Lagos had witnessed an influx of people from several states and many of them, who were destitute, had become a burden to the state government. The governor said some of the destitute, who were deported, had also informed the state government that they wanted to return to their home states.
However, because the said deportation came a few weeks before the Anambra governorship election, the issue was played up by both the PDP and the All Progressive Grand Alliance.
In the end, the APC governorship candidate in Anambra State, Senator Chris Ngige, lost to the APGA candidate, Mr. Willie Obiano, who emerged as governor.
Inspired by the Anambra tactics, the PDP hopes to adopt the same style in Lagos which has a high Igbo population. To this end, the PDP has handed two House of Representatives tickets and four House of Assembly tickets to the Igbo.
A PDP chieftain, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, who confirmed this to our correspondent on the telephone, said the PDP gave the tickets to Igbo in order to gain their support ahead of the elections.
The former Minister of Works said the APC had neglected non-indigenes in the state and the PDP had promised them a lot of goodies.
Lagos State has 20 local governments recognised by the Federal Government. The Igbo are clustered in Ojo, Ajeromi-Ifelodun and Amuwo Odofin local government areas.
The south-easterners are in large numbers in the Ladipo auto spare parts market in Mushin, the Alaba International market in Ojo LGA and Computer Village in Ikeja LGA and some markets on Lagos Island, especially Idumota. Also, there are large Igbo communities in the Aguda area of Surulere and the Ajegunle area of Ajeromi/Ifelodun LGA.
Investigations by our correspondent revealed that Agbaje has focused a lot of energy and time on the Igbo communities in Lagos.
Last week, Agbaje visited the Ladipo auto spare parts market where he promised better life for the Igbo traders. The PDP candidate who was greeted with the chants of Nzogbu Eyinba Enyi! (Igbo war cliant), told the Igbo that the APC government was anti-Igbo.
Fashola had in 2013 closed down the market for over a week over its poor sanitary conditions but Agbaje said the markets were closed because the state government was against non-indigenes. He said the state government was wrong to have put a Yoruba man as the leader of the Igbo-dominated market.
The PDP candidate, who was later endorsed by four Igbo groups, was conferred with the title of Ezi Nwanne Ndigbo 1 which means “dearly beloved brother from another land” by an Igbo group in the state. Conferring the title on Agbaje in his palace in the Surulere area of Lagos, Eze Cyril Anomneze also dressed the PDP candidate with the insignia of office, including a titular staff, beads and robe.
Explaining the reason for giving Agbaje the title, the group said, “The bestowment of Ezi Nwanne Ndigbo is in recognition of his readiness to partner the Igbo nation on assumption of office.
“Ndigbo will be part of the incoming administration of Mr. Jimi Agbaje in Lagos State. Ndigbo will work assiduously to accomplish a landslide victory for both President Goodluck Jonathan and Mr. Agbaje.”
Admitting that it was mainly the Igbo that would vote for Agbaje, Anomneze urged all Igbo indigenes across the state not to travel home for the Easter holiday which will hold between April 3 and April 6 so that they can vote for Agbaje on April 11.
However, the APC which has noticed this trend has already begun putting strategies in place to neutralise the support being received by Agbaje and Jonathan by the Igbos in Lagos.
The APC Publicity Secretary in Lagos State, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, an Igbo indigene, said he was aware of the antics of the PDP but maintained that the Igbo groups were mainly PDP groups using propaganda to deceive the Igbo electorate.
Igbokwe, who is the General Manager of Lagos State Infrastructure Maintenance and Regulatory Agency, said the Igbo should not provoke the Yoruba by being used to foist an unwanted party on Lagosians.
Igbokwe said it was unfortunate the PDP were playing divide-and-rule politics in a desperate attempt to woo the Igbo.
He said, “I am Igbo and I am the General Manager of LASIMRA. I am the publicity secretary of our party while Ben Akabueze is the Commissioner for Budget and Planning. We have Igbo indigenes in the judiciary. In schools, they are principals and vice principals, we have Igbo indigenes in the civil service but they (PDP) are not seeing it.
“Our people are substantial investors in Lagos. What my people have in Lagos, they don’t have a quarter of it in the whole of Igbo land. With all the things we have achieved here, we should be praising Lagos and the South-West for providing a conducive atmosphere for us to thrive.
“We control some of the markets in Lagos and we should be grateful for such hospitality. I have told my people that the people of Lagos have said they don’t want the PDP in their state and we must ensure that we do not go against their wishes. The Oba of Lagos has said the PDP is not good for Lagos and the people whose land we inhabit have said they don’t want the PDP and they (Igbo) have to listen. Let us not provoke the Yoruba. The Igbo have been having problems in the North, let us not cause crisis here. My people should not be used to go against the wishes of the Yoruba people.”
Similarly, a pan-Igbo group based in Lagos, Association for the Defence of Igbo Interests, urged all Igbo indigenes across the state not to vote for the PDP.
The Igbo group, led by its Coordinator, Prof. Chris Nwokobia; and its Secretary, Dr. Harris Chuma, said it would be wrong of the Igbo to be used as a tool by the PDP to take over Lagos as the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, has said voting in PDP in Lagos is against the wishes of the Yoruba and the gods.
Nwokobia, while addressing hundreds of Igbo indigenes and journalists, said the APC had not marginalised the Igbo in anyway.
He said, “It is better for the Ndigbo in Lagos to work with those they know than to plan a deal with total strangers. The Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwanu Akiolu, has told all Lagosians that they do not want PDP anywhere on their soil.
“Igbo in Lagos should listen to him as a mark of respect. The PDP has devastated Yoruba land since 1999 from Ogun to Oyo, from Ondo to Ekiti and to Osun. The PDP has devastated Nigeria in the past 16 years and made the country a laughing stock in the comity of nations. The Yoruba see the PDP as a virus. That is why they formed an alliance with the North to stop the PDP.
“If the Igbo make the mistake of investing in a dying horse by voting the PDP at a time other Nigerians are rejecting it for its 16 wasteful years in power, it will neither affect the electoral choice of Lagosians nor make any positive difference for Igbo. It will rather worsen their woes in Nigeria especially in Lagos where they co-exist and compete favourably with other Nigerians. Igbo be warned!”
Nwokobia said the state government had done more for Igbo than some state governors in the South-East.
He said one of the most sensitive positions in Fashola’s cabinet was being held by an Igbo while there are over 500 Igbo indigenes in the state civil service.
He added, “More than 500 Igbo are working in Lagos State ministries and LGAs in various capacities, including the powerful office of Commissioner for Budget and Planning being held by Ben Akabueze. Time and space will not permit me to mention their names here. In Abia State, Igbo indigenes were sacked from Anambra, Enugu, Imo and Ebonyi states from the civil service.
“The APC government in Lagos also funded the treatment of a popular Igbo actress, Ngozi Nwosu and other Igbo personalities such as OJB Jezreel, Prince Ifeanyi Dike, etc. abroad. Lagos APC government not only rehabilitated the family of the late Human Rights Activist, Chima Ubani, it also gave the family a house and offered his children scholarship to all levels of education when the Federal Government and his home PDP State government turned their backs on his family after he died fighting for the masses.
“APC government in Lagos has fought for countless number of Igbo Lagosians to get justice.”
The APC also seems to have received a boost by the unanimous and open support of the Hausa community. Already, the Arewa community has unanimously given its support to Buhari and Ambode.
The President of Arewa Community in Lagos, Kabiru Abdullahi, promised to move round the state to convince members to vote for Ambode.
The Hausas dominate Mile 12 Market in Kosofe LGA; markets in Agege LGA and Idi Araba in Mushin. They also have a large population in Eti Osa LGA and Ijora in Apapa LGA.
The Arewa youth leader, Alhaji Shehu Usman, told our correspondent on the telephone that the Arewa community had fully endorsed the APC.
He said, “We have endorsed the APC not because of Buhari but because of the cordial relationship we have had with the state government all through the years. We form the Amalgamated Foodstuff Ram and Cattle Dealers Association which comprises Mile 12 Market, Alaba Rago, Abutua Market, Oke-Odo Market, Ido Market, White Sand Market in Oto, Sabo-Ikorodu Cattle Market and Badagry Hausa Market.
“We will deliver to the APC even though it is mostly Igbo that have been given juicy positions among the non-indigenes in the state.”
As the heat of the electioneering intensifies, it is important to remember that Nigeria has not been able to successfully conduct a hitch-free population census before and the true population of the non-Yoruba speaking residents in Lagos is not known. However, political observers maintain that the strength of the Yoruba, would largely determine the swing of the political pendulum. After all, the majority will have their way while the minority will have their say.
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