There was an uproar in the country on Monday over the threat made by the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, warning Igbo residents to vote for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos, Akinwunmi Ambode, otherwise they would perish in the Lagos lagoon, Thisday reported.
But even as the APC and Oba’s palace scrambled to “clarify” his statement, which was published by several print and online media including THISDAY, the audio and video recordings of Akiolu’s hate speech to Igbo leaders who had met with him at his palace Sunday had gone viral, resulting in a social media backlash against the Oba, his candidate, and the APC.
Akiolu’s clarification, signed by the Opeluwa of Lagos, Chief Lateef Aderibigbe Ajose, on behalf of the palace, said: “My attention has been drawn to a publication in a national newspaper where HRM Oba Riliwanu Akinolu was alleged to have threatened Igbos in Lagos to make them vote for Ambode.
“Last Sunday, all honorary Eze Ndigbos in Lagos paid a courtesy call to HRM Oba Akinolu. At the meeting the visitors praised the Oba for his fatherly support for and cooperation with Igbos in Lagos.
“They assured him of their continued good neighbourliness with other tribes in Lagos and support everything that will further strengthen that harmony.
“Oba Akiolu on his part acknowledged the enviable performance of Governor Fashola and his contribution to the growth of investment in Lagos. He gave the assurance that he was not disturbed or angry with South-east and South- south votes for President Jonathan as perceived by the Eze Ndigbos.
“The Oba thereafter called on the Igbo chiefs to show appreciation to Lagos State by supporting his candidate Mr. Ambode for continuity of excellence as they have earlier promised.
“He assured them of his continued support and assistance where needed and the meeting ended with the traditional breaking of kolas, alligator pepper, bitter kola, and pouring of libation on the ground.
“It was within this context that the tradition of Lagos with regard to the lagoon came up. It was noted that whoever works against the throne and the interest and peaceful co-existence of Lagos would end up in the lagoon as per tradition.”
The statement added that the Lagos traditional ruler stated further that the Igbo people had not betrayed the throne, saying, “Lagos has also not betrayed the Igbo people. Lagos has done so much to make the Igbos comfortable and to prosper.
“For this, we expect reciprocal respect and understanding. The Oba of Lagos prays that the Lagoon and the throne will continue to bless and protect all those who reside and visit Lagos.
“Oba Akiolu is the father of all irrespective of tribe, religion or political persuasion. In Lagos, we have an old traditional proverb that relates to the Lagoon.
“The Lagoon is unique to Lagos. The proverb stresses the need for unity and understanding when you do business in an environment and in this case when you live and do business in Lagos.
“Oba Akiolu prays for peace for the land of Lagos and prosperity for all its inhabitants.”
Also attempting to do some damage control was the APC governorship candidate in Lagos State who restated his commitment to lead a government of inclusion where every Lagosian, irrespective of tribe or ethnicity, is carried along in the quest to make Lagos greater.
He said this monday while receiving a donation of buses from the Nigeria Progressive Ambassadors at an event held at the APC party headquarters in Ogba, Lagos.
“Every group in Lagos is safe in my hands as governor. I will not discriminate against any religious or ethnic group. It is our Lagos and we must build it together,” Ambode stated.
Speaking further, Ambode said: “In my acceptance speech after the primaries, I made this note that I will be a governor for all and Lagos is safe in my hands. I want to build on the foundation of unity, peace and progress and development laid by my predecessor.
“I am your best choice for a Lagos that must continue to thrive. And though tongue and tribe may differ, we stand in brotherhood in Lagos from the smallest ethnic groups to the major ones. We are all stakeholders.”
However, in a sharp rebuke yesterday, the spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, said the Oba’s threat against the Igbos was “ominous and unacceptable”.
According to him, “The truth is that we (PDP supporters) were threatened with ethnic cleansing and religious carnage in the north had (Muhammadu) Buhari not won the presidential election on March 28th and had President (Goodluck) Jonathan not quickly conceded defeat.
“We let that go and kept the peace but now our traditional supporters are being threatened in Lagos and in many other states as we approach the April 11th governorship elections.
“Let two things be clearly understood. In-as-much as we all want peace in this country and in-as-much as Jonathan has graciously and quickly conceded defeat in the presidential election, this does not mean that we are weak or powerless.
“Let it be clearly understood by all and sundry that any attempt to kill, maim or molest our supporters in the north, in the west or indeed in any other part of the country either before, during or after Saturday’s governorship elections or any attempt at ethnic or religious cleansing by the APC, their supporters or their friends and agents will be deemed unacceptable and will be met with defiance, contempt and a well-orchestrated and solid resistance.”
Fani-Kayode said the APC threats and attendant rubbish that go with them must stop, adding: “No one is intimidated on our side and neither do we fear for the future because God is with us, He is faithful and He is in perfect control.
“This is an election and it is not a war so we must be civilised, restrained, gentle and courteous in all our ways and dealings.”
He reminded the APC that it won the presidential election by only 2 million votes, meaning that the PDP has 12 million loyal foot soldiers and supporters in this country and that was no mean feat.
“Those 12 million voters cannot be ignored or treated with disdain and contempt. They must and will be respected,” he stated.
He said that the PDP is a strong party, adding “We are confident for the future, we are ready for anything and most important of all we are ready for the polls on Saturday.
“We take this opportunity to urge the PDP faithful in Lagos to go out and vote en masse for the PDP. We urge them to vote for Jimi Agbaje and to free Lagos State from the shackles of darkness and oppression. We urge them to stand firm, to hold their heads up high and to do their very best.”
Fani-Kayode also made the same pleas to PDP supporters in Oyo, Rivers, Plateau, Imo and Kaduna States.
Similarly the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh said it was indeed most “unfortunate that a royal father of the status of the Oba of Lagos should attempt to drag the revered traditional institution into partisan politics to the level of threatening innocent Nigerians with the view to prevent them from freely exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right”.
He added: “Our response to the Oba of Lagos is that he cannot play God and can never be God. God owns the universe and every part of it and can never share His glory with any human no matter how highly placed.
“We therefore call on all Nigerians in Lagos State: all Igbos, Hausas, Yorubas and people of other tribes; all northerners and southerners; all Christians and Muslims to turn against this unpatriotic stance, by coming out en masse to vote for the PDP candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje on Saturday.
“Undoubtedly, this anti-Nigeria position reminds one of the 2013 inhuman and callous arrest, detention and eventual ‘deportation’ of non-indigenes by the APC-led government of Lagos State and confirms fears that the APC is indeed on a mission to destroy our national unity, balkanise the nation and obliterate the personal freedom Nigerians enjoy today.”
Metuh alleged that the APC had started terrorising supporters of the PDP with vows to make life unbearable for them when it eventually assumes power.
“Our investigation reveals that many of our prominent supporters have been marked. The process has already started with threats to the life, family and business of the Chairman of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah for supporting PDP candidates and helping non-indigenes win some Lagos seats in the National Assembly on the platform of the our great party.
“Indeed, if these threats on innocent Nigerians constitute the picture or foretaste of the order of the day when the APC finally assumes power at the centre, then the nation is in serious danger.
“However, the PDP states in very unambiguous terms that Nigerians would not accept such under any guise what so ever.
“We therefore urge General Muhammadu Buhari as the leader of the APC to call his members and supporters, particularly in Lagos and Ekiti to order; especially bearing in mind that it was the peaceful atmosphere and the level playing field nurtured by the PDP-led administration that created the room for his emergence at the presidential polls,” he said.
On its part, the Igbo-bi-Nezi Congress, a socio-cultural group in Lagos, expressed shock over the Oba’s threat against the Igbos in the state.
In a statement signed by Chief Christopher Ihejirika, Director General of the body, and Jonathan Agumadu, Publicity Secretary, it said: “We at the Igbo-Bi-Nezi Congress woke up this morning to read, with shock, in nearly all the national dailies, a cowardly statement credited to the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, conveying serious threats to Igbo voters who live and work in Lagos.
“We feel thoroughly disappointed that a highly placed traditional ruler would be so misinformed and that he had to permit so much hatred for our people and, also to his own subjects.
“Akinwunmi Ambode and Jimi Agbaje are both Yorubas of Lagos State origin who are seeking popular mandate for the number one office in the state on the platforms of APC and PDP.
“For the benefit of those who may not have read Oba Akiolu’s rather unfortunate threats, which adorned the front pages and early pages of some leading national dailies today, April 6, 2015, the utterances as published, could steer trouble, create bad blood, and promote anarchy in his domain.”
The group condemned in its entirety, the statement made by the Oba of Lagos against Ndigbo. It however called on all Ndigbo to be “law abiding, go about their lawful duties and businesses, vote their conscience, but remain eternally vigilant”.
It further warned that the group would hold Oba Akiola responsible for whatever untoward that happens to Ndigbo in Lagos State, and called on the international community to take note, including but not limited to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague.
Also, the Catholic Church yesterday cautioned the Oba of Lagos against inflammatory comments against Igbos living in Lagos over the forthcoming governorship election.
Reacting to the Oba’s threat, the Caritas Nigeria and Justice Development and Peace Commission of the Catholic Church said the comments were derogatory, particularly coming from a royal father.
According to the church, “We are totally shocked to read about the threat handed down by Oba Akiolu to the Igbos in Lagos.”
The church questioned why the Oba singled out a particular ethnic group for his outburst? “Does it mean a Yoruba or Hausa person living in Lagos who votes for Jimi Agbaje will go scot free but any Igbo who votes for Agbaje will drown in the Lagoon?
“Does it mean that people should vote out of fear and not their consciences? Would such an election be free and fair, where people have to vote out of intimidation? Does not the threat of the Oba Akiolu amount to voter intimidation?” it asked.
The church called on the Oba to withdraw his curse and rather appeal to the people, for indeed, “such a threat may amount to playing God and God who is a merciful father will not allow his children to die so senselessly just because they were fulfilling the dictates of their conscience”.
In another reaction, an Igbo group, Igbo Professionals Lagos (IPL), described as unacceptable, regrettable and unfortunate comments credited to the Oba of Lagos.
IPL, in a statement yesterday by its Convener, Mazi Chigo Ukatah, said: “This insult on the Igbo is getting out of hand. We’re shocked to read the vituperations ascribed to an ordinarily royal father who in the first instance should be apolitical and a father to all.
“We’re further confounded that the Oba of Lagos, who should know the meaning of democracy has gone above board to declare what we consider should engulf the nation in yet another civil war.
“Yourubas and Igbos have been living harmoniously together but this callous, unguarded statement of a ‘father for all” has shown the type of father he is.
“We state unequivocally, that the Igbos who are industrious, law-abiding citizens of Lagos State will not constitute nuisance to the law but would not be pushed to the wall by anybody.”
Joining others to condemn the Oba’s threat against the Igbos in Lagos were civil rights society groups and former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Bode George, who criticised the monarch for his unsavoury statement.
George said the traditional ruler owes the Igbo people an apology, because with the esteemed position he occupies, he should not have been partisan.
“I’m advising him to back down and apologise to the Igbos in Lagos. Nobody can threaten them. This is uncalled for. Let me assure all non-indigenes, especially the Igbos, nobody can decree the day you will die. It is just an empty threat.
“So I’m calling on the non-indigenes, particularly Igbos, to come out en-mass and vote for the PDP in the April 11 governorship and state assembly elections,” George urged.
In the same vein, leaders of notable Yoruba socio-political groups: the National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin; Razaq Oladosu (Oodua Democratic Coalition); Segun Aka-Bashorun (Project Change Nigeria); Kolawole Onifade (Oodua Nation in Diaspora); Francis Abayomi (Yoruba Think-Tank); Makanjuola Muhammed (Oodua Youth Congress); Ambassador Kunle Adeshokan (Federation of Yoruba Consciousness and Culture); Alhaji Tunde Abioye (Yoruba Soveriegn Defense Agenda); and Kola Are of the United Self-determination Platform of Oodua, all disagreed with the Oba’s astatement.
According to Odumakin, who addressed journalists at his Otedola Estate office, “If he (Oba Akiolu) denies the statement in which he was extensively quoted, it means the reporter who wrote the story qualifies as the greatest fabricator in the Guinness Book of Records. We doubt his denials. We see it as damage control tactics.
“His actions and statements have been very crude, indecent, un-royal and it is un-Yoruba in every way. We are waiting for the media organisations that published the story to stand by what they have published.” He urged all Igbo residents in Lagos to vote according to the dictates of their conscience.”
However, a Lagos-based tourism expert and an indigene of Abia State, Mr. Charles Ukomadu, in another statement, called on his kinsmen to ensure that they do not make enemies with the political class in the state over frictions that are traceable to politics.
“Very soon, politics will be over and we will continue our businesses here in Lagos. So it is best that we are not seen as a problem to any of the parties ahead of the elections.
“But I will also want us to remember that the APC, which has been at the helms of affairs in Lagos has not been discriminatory against our people,” he said.
Preceding the reaction by various groups, were the comments on the social media where the Oba’s statement generated a major backlash for him and the APC.
Expectedly, his remarks generated a huge controversy, pitting Igbos against the Yorubas, with a majority condemning the statement on the social media.
One Yemi Adebowale said: “Now that Oba Akiolu has choose (sic) to play God over the people of Lagos state, he has forgotten Pharaoh, Herod, Nebuchadnezzar, etc.
“I hope he will be ready to compete with God almighty himself who has the power to make kings and dethrone them too. This is a big disgrace from a monarch.”
One Uko Francis replied: “And on this note, I hereby call on all Igbos, Ijaws, Ibibios, Aniomas, Igbirras, Tivs, Idomas, Binis, and all non-haters of true democracy to vote for Jimi Agbaje, so that we can truly show he is a bastard indeed.”
Taking offence at Uko’s choice of language, one Akomolafe Akolade said: “Omo ale ni e o Francis (meaning you are a bastard Francis). You are calling a first class Oba in Nigeria a bastard? Highly disappointed in you no matter how rational your sentences are.
“Can you call your father a bastard or has he been always right in all of his decisions? Please refrain from comments like this for your own sake.”
There were still some like Otito Dara who expressed disbelief that a highly placed traditional ruler could have made such a statement.
His comment read: “The Oba of Lagos could not have said this, I don’t think a highly revered Oba could have said this. Yorubas are not ethnic haters and as such this report should be dismissed.”
Another who simply identified himself as Shola Holdings said: “We should thank him. He only helped Jimi Agbaje. No true son of Lagos/Yoruba land will be happy with a paramount ruler who stoops this low.”
Another commenter called the Masked One said: “The Oba has unwittingly shot himself in the foot for I foresee a protest vote against his candidate Ambode.
“His unguarded utterance only goes on to prove that there is more to the contest for who owns Lagos than meets the eye.
“Thank God the ICC chiefs are still in Nigeria and this irresponsible outburst from Emperor Akiolu will not escape their attention.”
Also, former Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, in her reaction to the “clarification” provided by the palace on behalf of the Oba, said that the statement merely raised more questions instead of clarifying issues.
“That rebuttal just released from the palace of the Oba of Lagos does not persuade at all. That clarification rather raises more questions.
“The Oba should personally calm all anxieties by speaking openly and directly to this saga. His message is lost in transmission for now.
“Shame on anyone responding based on ethnic/political sentiments to beat down scrutiny of the Oba of Lagos saga. We must be collective in values.
“Can the Palace officially provide clips of the meeting between the Oba of Lagos and Ndi Igbo? Surely those ubiquitous IT recordings of events can be found,” she said.
Many others who shared her sentiments were also quite vocal on the issue, pointing out that the Oba skirted around the issue.
