Apex Igbo social cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has condemned a comment attributed to the Baale (local chief) of Igbara community, Jakande, in Eti-Osa local government of Lagos State to the effect that “only residents who have their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and are ready to vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC) would be allowed to do business with them in the community.”
A statement by the spokesman of Ohanaeze, Dr. Alex Ogbonnia, he said Jakande made the remarks while addressing his cabinet on Monday, January 30, 2023.
Ogbonnia said the traditional ruler threatened, “We are ready to fight; yes, I am not hiding it; I have narrated everything to you. In Nigeria, there is Lagos; in Lagos, there is Eti-Osa; within Eti-Osa, we have Igbara community and by the grace of God in Igbara today, we can take our decision.
“You want to vote for PDP or Labour Party? Not here…among others.”
Ogbonnia recalled that in April 2015, the Oba of Lagos, His Majesty Rilwan Akiolu was quoted to have threatened the Igbo living in Lagos that “anyone that fails to vote for the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) would perish in the lagoon.”
He said though His Majesty was able to restore the Igbo confidence in him when the late Ambassador George Obiozor, the former president-general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide led a delegation to pay him a visit with respect to one spurious and frivolous allegation against the Igbo in Lagos State, the Ohanaeze spokesman insisted that the remark by His Majesty was to say the least, most unwarranted.
Ogbonnia called on the presidential candidate of the APC Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the governor of Lagos State Babajide Sanwo-Olu, security agencies and indeed the lovers of democracy in Nigeria, to caution the Baale for such “unreflective, provocative, incendiary and inflammatory remarks by a Baale in Lagos State.”
“In other words, self-esteem, achievement motivation, resourcefulness, hard work, forthrightness, tenacity, friendliness and cosmopolitanism are the hallmarks of the Igbo persona, but to threaten the Igbo is to embolden them to the contrary. Intimidation is not only antithetical to democratic norms but a source of allergy to the natural Igbo reflexes.
Ogbonnia therefore urged the Igbo in Lagos and indeed everywhere to ignore all forms of retrogressive subversive shenanigans and stand up for your rights.
