Voice of Emancipation: Staying Focus on the Task Ahead

By Kayode Emola

The 2023 Presidential election has created a lot of stir in Nigeria, and we may not have seen the last of the uproar. The ethnic nationalities who profess so much to hate Nigeria helplessly, especially the Igbo and Yoruba are now at loggerheads justling for political positions in the same Nigeria. This can only mean that some of our people do not understand that you can either be totally free or totally bound, there is no half-way house.

We have allowed politicians to use their divide-and-rule tactics to blindfold our eyes such that our people completely forgot anything about self-determination. Several Yoruba people who have reservations when it comes to Igbo affairs and vice versa are helpless when they see the scheming going on by some Igbo people regarding Lagos. However, I believe the time is ripe for a mature conversation between the Igbo and Yoruba people if we want to move forward progressively.

Whilst I believe a Yoruba National Conference is long overdue, there is an urgent need for the elders on both the Yoruba and Igbo sides to convene a conference of sorts on how future relationships will be handled. This will ensure that there is no bad blood lingering around pre-and-post-independence.

The continuous claim by many Igbo people that Lagos is a no man’s land will no doubt infuriate the owners of the land who are by all means welcoming. In case people don’t know during the 1914 Nigerian amalgamation, Lagos has just around 154,000 population, whereas a place like Ibadan had over 1.5 million people. The colony of Lagos back then had one-third of the present landmass of Lagos of today as Ogun and Ondo states parted with a substantial part of their land to Lagos.

Even in London today, where we have more foreigners than original white British, I do not think anyone had dared to say London is a no man’s land. It would be respectful for those like myself who are not originally from Lagos to be mindful of the privileges we have enjoyed and continue to enjoy in a cosmopolitan city like Lagos.

For my Igbo brothers and sisters who had hoped for an Igbo Presidency as if that is the surest pathway to Biafra nation, I will say think again. Nigerian politicians care less about the welfare of the people as they are mostly concerned about the welfare of themselves and their family members. Even if an Igbo man wins the presidency, he or she does not have the power to unilaterally change the constitution to grant a Biafra nation.

This is the reason; both the Yoruba and Igbo people must urgently develop a framework on how to push for a sovereign national conference within the first 6 months of the incoming administration. We must work together on the basis of trust and mutual respect for each other in order not to continue in the mistakes of the past.

In the past, Nnamdi Azikiwe had thought he would rule Nigeria and if it so happens, he must fight to protect ‘One Nigeria’ at all costs. Chief Awolowo too had thought if he becomes President of Nigeria, he can bring transformational change to the ordinary people of Nigeria. Even Buhari with all his high-handedness in the last 8 years is leaving Aso Rock come May 29, 2023. This must teach us that ‘POWER’ is transient and we must not be too carried away with it.

Very concerning is the way we the Yoruba people fell for the cheap propaganda of the politicians concerning Lagos and inevitably became their campaign managers in an election we do not believe will transform the fortunes of our people. The majority of us overnight became interested in who governs Nigeria or any part of it, especially Lagos rather than focus on how we would achieve our own Independent Yoruba nation.

The truth is we can either want total separation from Nigeria or work together to reform Nigeria. We definitely cannot have both and that is why our progress is stalling. Both the Yoruba and Igbo nation must decide now if they want to become independent or remain in a divisive, poverty-ridden Nigeria.

Our Yoruba people have forgotten so soon, what the Yoruba serfs parading themselves as leaders did to their own people during the last 8 years of the Buhari regime and especially the ENDSARS protest in Lagos. Many innocent people lost their lives and victims’ relatives were not compensated for their loss, and many more were unlawfully detained without due recourse to the rule of Law. I am in no way against those actively campaigning for the candidates of their choice for the gubernatorial and other state positions. I just want us to have a mechanism in place to hold our leaders to account.

My take is after the 2023 election is over, how do we effectively communicate to our people that we are not ourselves actually a political party. Are we not also falling for the same trick the politicians have always been using to hold us bound, putting us under pressure at the last minute, using ethnicity and religion to divide us in order to gain our support for their political ambition only to make us forget our mission.

To be honest, I care less about who becomes Lagos state governor, and truth be told, so long as we are still living in Nigeria, we cannot escape scenarios like this. If we the Yoruba continue to delay our exit from Nigeria and continue to bury our heads in the sand rather than stand up for what will truly make us free, then many more occurrences like this are on their way.

It is sheer ignorance that is making some Igbo people behave like they can conquer and control Lagos. Not even the British with their heavy machine guns could do it, if the Yoruba people are not talking, it is not because they are deaf or blind. Yoruba people know how to fight and win their battles; therefore, I will urge us to be cautious at this time.

The onus is on all of us to focus on the actualisation of an independent Yoruba and Igbo nation separate from Nigeria where we can choose who comes or stay in our country based on trust. We should know that even this world we live in does not belong to anyone of us. We are just caretakers who will give stewardship of how we used the time and resources that were placed in our care.

I urge our people to know that Lagos can never be a no man’s land and any ethnic agenda against the Yoruba people in Lagos will not be welcomed. Lagos is open to everyone and all are welcome to stay, build a happy life and be prosperous but we should be respectful of our hosts in their benevolence.