Igbophobia and the Politics of Manufactured Enemies: A Reflection on Nigeria’s Fragile Cohesion

[John Onyeukwu]

Igbophobia and the Politics of Manufactured Enemies: A Reflection on Nigeria’s Fragile Cohesion

 How ethnic fear has become a tool of political survival, and a threat to the moral and economic foundations of our democracy.

 John Onyeukwu (Published on the Backpage of Business am Newspaper of Friday October 10, 2025)

Professor Moses Ochonu’s recent Facebook wall commentary on the rise of Igbophobia in Lagos is not merely a historical analysis, it is a moral warning. He exposes a growing political phenomenon where fear and resentment are deliberately manufactured to serve elite interests. This trend reveals a dangerous corrosion of civic ethics, democratic values, and the developmental possibilities of our federation. Nigeria, a country whose strength should lie in its pluralism, now risks becoming hostage to the politics of manufactured enemies. It is a sobering reminder that when leaders manipulate identity for political gain, they unleash forces that neither they nor the state can ultimately control. Such divisive politics chips away at the delicate trust that holds a multiethnic democracy together, replacing shared nationhood with suspicion, and citizenship with ethnic survivalism.

At the philosophical level, Igbophobia is not just prejudice; it is a betrayal of the moral contract that underpins citizenship. When political elites sustain their relevance by pitting one ethnic group against another, they corrupt the idea of justice and destroy the moral foundation of democracy. True citizenship cannot thrive where belonging is conditional and humanity negotiable.

The current wave of anti-Igbo sentiment represents the collapse of ethical leadership in public life. It teaches ordinary Nigerians that the measure of worth lies not in contribution, but in ancestry. Such a society quickly degenerates into moral chaos, where competence is sacrificed on the altar of conformity, and truth becomes tribal. The resulting moral vacuum fuels cynicism, alienation, and disengagement, the very conditions that allow bad governance to persist. Once truth and morality are subordinated to identity, integrity loses meaning, and civic dialogue becomes impossible. Over time, citizens stop aspiring to shared ideals and retreat into ethnic cocoons, leaving the public sphere hollow, intolerant, and vulnerable to manipulation by those who profit from division.

Politically, as Ochonu rightly observes, this phenomenon is not accidental. It is a well-calculated act of political engineering, tracing its roots to the 2015 election and the strategic alliance between the Southwest and the North that brought Muhammadu Buhari to power. What began as expedient power arithmetic has now metastasized into a culture of ethnic suspicion and targeted hostility.

The tragedy is that this politics of polarization yields short-term political capital but long-term national decay. Once ethnic mobilization becomes normalized, no group is safe. When the alliance fractures, as history suggests it will, today’s architects of bigotry will themselves become tomorrow’s victims. The cycle of hate has no permanent winners, only a country perpetually at war with itself.

What we are witnessing, therefore, is the weaponization of identity, a cynical use of ethnicity as political blackmail. It is as much about forging internal cohesion among the Yoruba elite as it is about demonizing the Igbo. Every identity movement that seeks power through exclusion must invent an enemy. The Igbo have merely become the convenient “Other” of the moment. Yet, this manipulation corrodes democratic competition itself, replacing policy debates with emotional warfare and reducing the civic space to a theatre of ethnic fear and elite propaganda.

From an economic standpoint, this politics of prejudice is ruinous. Lagos, the epicenter of this rhetoric, thrives precisely because it has been a magnet for all Nigerians. Its innovation, entrepreneurship, and resilience are the product of diversity. To turn that diversity into a weapon is to undermine the very foundation of the city’s success.

The informal economy of Lagos, the markets, the small enterprises, the property ecosystem, depends on trust, collaboration, and cross-ethnic cooperation. When fear replaces fairness, the market suffers. Investors retreat, cooperation declines, and communities withdraw into ethnic enclaves. Hate has an economic cost: it breeds inefficiency, discourages innovation, and shrinks opportunity. Over time, even state revenue and urban productivity are affected, as social fragmentation disrupts consumer confidence and local commerce.

At the national level, development cannot take root in an environment poisoned by ethnic hostility. Infrastructure, education, and industrial policy require trust and collective purpose. A nation divided in spirit cannot unite in strategy. The human capital that drives growth is crippled when identity determines inclusion. The prosperity that Nigeria seeks depends on a shared sense of belonging; without it, even the most ambitious economic blueprints will fail to take root or yield sustainable progress.

The most alarming danger is psychological. Nigerians are slowly being conditioned to view one another not as citizens, but as competitors for survival within a zero-sum state. Once this mindset hardens, even the strongest institutions cannot guarantee stability. The idea of Nigeria collapses long before the state itself does.

Democracy presupposes a shared moral space, a minimum trust in the fairness of rules. When identity becomes the rule and justice the exception, elections lose legitimacy, and national cohesion evaporates. A country that normalizes bigotry will soon find that it cannot sustain either unity or democracy. The real tragedy is that such division erodes the emotional glue of nationhood, the invisible sense of mutual obligation that binds people beyond ethnicity or faith. When citizens cease to believe that their fate is intertwined, patriotism dies, and the state becomes an empty shell. The result is not only political instability but moral fatigue: a society too fragmented to imagine a common destiny, and too distrustful to pursue collective progress.

To rescue Nigeria’s plural democracy, we must rebuild a civic philosophy grounded in fairness, not fear. Citizenship must be reclaimed from the ethnic brokers who profit from division. The media, academia, and faith communities must stop amplifying tribal anxieties and start cultivating empathy and truth. They must become the conscience of the nation, spaces where facts are protected from distortion and humanity is elevated above politics.

The Yoruba ronu bigotry that Ochonu critiques is not unique; every region has its variant. But what makes this moment dangerous is its institutionalization. It is now expressed through social media disinformation, political propaganda, and cultural revisionism, tools that can outlast their creators and reproduce hate even without active political orchestration. The normalization of prejudice through jokes, memes, and selective history is reshaping public consciousness, especially among the youth, threatening to make intolerance a civic instinct.

Nigeria must choose between the convenience of scapegoating and the courage of nation-building. The former may win elections, but only the latter will build a future. That future demands three things:

Firstly, a return to civic ethics and moral leadership that upholds truth as the foundation of governance. The nation must rediscover the moral courage to speak truth to power and demand accountability without bias. Leadership, at every level, should once again be measured not by rhetoric or tribe, but by integrity and a demonstrable commitment to the public good. Nigeria’s crisis is not just one of systems, but of sincerity. A new civic ethic must therefore be cultivated, one that treats public office as stewardship, not entitlement.

Secondly, a rejection of fear-based mobilization and a revival of issue-based politics that rewards competence over identity. For too long, politicians have weaponized ethnicity and religion to secure power, turning citizens into captives of suspicion. The path forward lies in a political culture where ideas, performance, and accountability take precedence. Electoral campaigns must become contests of vision, not venom, where candidates’ debate solutions, not origins.

Thirdly, the harnessing of diversity as a competitive advantage rather than a curse, investing in inclusion as a growth strategy. Nigeria’s demographic and regional variety can power innovation, creativity, and productivity if the right incentives are built into national policy. From local enterprise to national planning, diversity should be seen as an asset, a force multiplier for prosperity. A Nigeria that values every identity as a contributor to progress will not only grow richer but also fairer, stronger, and freer.

Until we do, the dream of a united and prosperous Nigeria will remain perpetually deferred, not by outsiders, but by the enemies we invent among ourselves, and the silence of those who should know better. Our undoing lies not in foreign conspiracies but in the internal fractures we refuse to heal, the prejudices we normalize, and the collective apathy that greets every act of injustice. Until conscience outweighs convenience, and courage becomes the national instinct, Nigeria’s promise will continue to flicker, brilliant yet unrealized, within the reach of a people too divided to grasp it together.

John Onyeukwu
http://www.policy.hu/onyeukwu/

 http://about.me/onyeukwu
“Let us move forward to fight poverty, to establish equity, and assure peace for the next generation.”
-- James D. Wolfensohn
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[Cornelius Hamelberg]

Stockholm

People's Planet 

10th October ( My mother's birthday ! )  

Dear John Onyeukwu,

Ideally, I suppose that if a referendum could be arranged to decide the matter, it would be found that many Nigerians would prefer to be confined to prosper in their own  self-governing ethnic enclaves and thereby reduce inter-ethnic friction to a bare minimum.

In the meantime we have to contend with the realities of melting pot Lagos, Nigeria's commercial hub with its Ethnic Yoruba majority, just as Anambra has an overwhelming Igbo majority to the extent that Peter Obi won 95 % of the votes in that State in the last Presidential Election.  

Right now, the eye of the storm : Igbos in Lagos

Not asking for the impossible, but in the name of peace & love, only asking for a national miracle of dialogue and reconciliation  : If Peter Obi could kindly declare some unalloyed support / commitment to ensuring that President Tinubu wins his home state, Lagos State, in the next Nigerian Presidential Election, then “things” could simmer down considerably. But such an impossible miracle is unlikely, and if the temperature is not brought down significantly, dramatically, we could be in for more “flesh and blood breaking down”.

Therefore, many thanks for this timely, poignant appeal. The saying is “ A stitch in time saves nine”. That’s why your appeal - your memorandum of understanding, and your deep preach. forward-looking ethical moralising should be widely disseminated, because just like some of the other phobias such as once upon a time “ Negrophobia” - that’s what it was called back then, the viruses known as antisemitism (“the world's oldest hatred”), Islamophobia, tribalism (distinct from some of the bragging rights of ethnic chauvinism) violent, insane & indiscriminate ethnicity-based antagonisms, and of course rampant racism that is still spreading like a wildfire in The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar, there is nothing as reprehensible and as vile as Igbophobia, no matter where it occurs in Nigeria or elsewhere,  and it has been growing in intensity at a very alarming rate, especially in Nigeria where most Igbo people live, as if to add more sorrow to tragic truths such as “ Home is where the hatred is “ 

I like to present myself as an unbiased observer when I say that unfortunately for igbos, as we all know, Igbophobia has been exacerbated by the Biafran war which has left some indelible scars, and any new intimations of separation, IPOB, secession,” Lagos is no man’s land” etc just resurrects ghosts that can so easily be exploited by politicians who are adept at fanning the flames of divisiveness to their own advantage, especially in their own home territories. Just now, Igbophobia is rearing its ugly head in Lagos more than anywhere else, perhaps - ” democratic competition”,  that's where Igbo presence and Igbo success is most visible outside Igboland and therefore liable to generate some envy, and  hostility / xenophobic feelings in those who more properly/parochially speaking  care less about titles such as “Cosmopolitan” since they believe themselves to be the real Lagos indigenes and don’t give a rat’s tail about what someone like our venerable Kwame Anthony Appiah has to preach about “Cosmopolitanism”

Reading some potent diatribes from someone as enlightened as Femi Fani-Kayode one gets the impression that Lagos is the equivalent of what in the Israeli-Palestinian imbroglio is referred to as occupied territory. Conversely, try convincing a diehard Zionist disciple of Jabotinsky, that The City of David  otherwise known as Yerushalayim  “is a no man’s Land”  and you’ll probably have another war on your hands.

( To be continued) 

[Salimonu Kadiri]

Igbo-phobia and the Politics of Manufactured Enemies: A Reflection On Nigeria's Fragile Cohesion. How ethnic fear has become a tool for political survival and a threat to the moral and the economic foundation of our democracy - By John Onyeukwu.

According to John Onyeukwu's admission, his above titled article was prompted by his access to "Professor Moses Ochonu's recent Facebook wall commentary on the rise of Igbo-phobia in Lagos." To begin with, I want to draw the attention of Mr. John Onyeukwu to the fact that Professor Moses Ochonu and his pal, Professor Farooq Kperogi, were active members of this forum before they silently withdrew their engagements because of what I believed was due to their intolerance to criticisms and objections to their opinions by other members on this forum. Since I do not have access  to the original article of Professor Moses Ochonu's essay on 'the rise of Igbo-phobia in Lagos' that has either influenced or misled Mr. John Onyeukwu's into writing the way he has done in his above multiple titles, I wish to warn against what Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie  called the 'problem of a single story.'

For us, Nigerians in Diaspora, we have to rely on social media and probably from our relatives and friends in Nigeria in order to get acquainted with the political and economic situations in Nigeria. Mostly, I have read in online Nigerian newspapers about demolition of buildings not only in Lagos but also in Anambra, Enugu, Rivers and Niger-Delta States. The demolition of buildings in each state, and even in Abuja, which are still ongoing have nothing to do with ethnicity but violations of town planning laws. It is, for an instance, illegal to encroach on wetlands originally designed to retain excess rainwater, and filled it up with sand and gravels to erect buildings as it has happened in Lagos State. However, it appears as if demolition of illegal structures in Lagos are being regarded as anti-Igbo measure by ethnic irredentists whereas the demolitions in Anambra, Enugu, Rivers and Niger-Delta states are considered normal.

Shortly after the January 15, 1966, coup d'état in Nigeria, Professor Kenneth Dike, the then Vice Chancellor of University of Ibadan said in a convocation address that 'the worst pedlars of tribalism in Nigeria are the intellectuals.' Elaborated, I will say, the educated elites competing for political and official positions in Nigeria often play the ethnic card in order to secure political office and official employment. If one visits any of Nigeria's big local market, may be in Sokoto, Maiduguri, Kano, Makurdi, Jos, Enugu, Onitsha, Aba, Port Harcourt, Benin, Ibadan, and Lagos, to mention few, one will find Nigerians of all tongues and mostly illiterates buying and selling amicably without any dispute whatsoever. When the educated Nigerians enter their midst, tribalism will break out. To the so-called educated Nigerians, the tribe of a person in office is more important than the ability of the person to perform according to what is required in that office. Of what use, for an instance, is the tribe of  Minister of Water Supply when the whole nation, including his/her own ethnic group, lacks potable water? Whereas everybody knows that potable water cannot, and can never, be produced by chanting ethnic incantation, tribal hypocrites always blame the tribe of the incompetent Minister of Water Supply and his/her officials who a times are a mixture of many tribes.

 

In the online Nigerian Vanguard of October 1, 2025, one Clifford Ndujihe wrote an article reminiscent of Professor Ochonu's "the rise of Igbo-phobia in Lagos." https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/10/nigeria-at-65-ethnicisation-of-poltics-the-ticking-time-bomb/ On reading through the article, I discovered that Mr. Clifford Ndujihe fell into the same tribal pit he was out to warn others not to fall into by falsifying history.

 By S. Kadiri    (To be continued)   

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Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Igbophobia and the Politics of Manufactured Enemies: A Reflection on Nigeria’s Fragile Cohesion

 

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[Cornelius Hamelberg]

Baba Kadiri,

Concerning Yoruba - Igbo relations, as Jesus said , “ let your heart not be troubled “

They should take comfort in the blood of Jesus as a unifying factor, based on the fact that at least half of the Yoruba have Lord Jesus as saviour, in common with our Igbo brethren….

We can safely conclude that just like the cost of groceries in Sweden at the moment, so too the cost of ignorance is high for everybody, especially the wilfully ignorant.

I doubt that Mr. Clifford Nduja’s [Nigeria at 65] Ethnicisation of politics: The ticking time bomb which was published on the 1st of October could have been influenced by Professor Ochonu’s Facebook piece which was only published on the 6th of October , six days ago….

I would like to allay your fears about what you fear could be the contents of  “Professor Moses Ochonu's recent Facebook wall commentary on the rise of Igbo-phobia in Lagos” - because I’ve just read it  -it was posted six days ago - and he does raise some interesting points which I’m posting below for your perusal and eventual engagement. You could also click on his name and read  updates on the interesting  67 comments , 303 likes and 44 loves that the post has generated so far

Moses Ochonu 

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Igbo people need to understand some things:

1. The rising Igbophobic bigotry in Lagos has only recently found a convenient political target in the Igbo, and we can date this shift to the 2015 election.

2. Before the Yoruba-Hausa/Fulani political alliance that brought Buhari to power, that is, before the Igbo became targets, Lagos-centered Yoruba ronu bigotry targeted Northerners broadly and the Hausa-Fulani in particular.

3. I’m a historian and like other historians I’m not a fan of predicting or modeling the future. However, some things are quite easy to predict with a reasonable degree of certainty. One of those things is that if/when this Southwest-North political alliance fractures as it surely will, Lagos-centered Yoruba ronu bigotry will revert to its default setting of anti-Northern vituperations. Remember when the Lagos-Ibadan press was perennially obsessed with so-called Caliphate born-to-rule hegemony?

4. The Yoruba ronu bigots of Lagos are mainly hinterland Yoruba people who have assimilated into cosmopolitan Lagos Yoruba identity. Some of the bigotry is thus the proverbial zeal of the convert, classic overcompensation. Some, if not most, indigenous Lagos Yoruba do not subscribe to the unfolding ronu Igbophobia and are scandalized that it is being promoted in their name and in the name of their state/city, but they’re powerless to stop it, having themselves been stripped of power and influence and placed in merely tokenistic positions. I have heard muted but audible echoes of their own struggle against the capture of their state and their subsequent marginalization within it.

5. Yoruba ronu irredentism is not a random campaign of bigotry, nor is Lagos its accidental epicenter. It’s a carefully thought out political strategy of blackmail. Yoruba people do not hate Igbo people, but the spectacular and controversial political theatre of anti-Igbo political mobilization has both short term and longterm political utility. Second, Yoruba ronu Igbophobia is as much about forging and projecting Yoruba political unity as it is about blackmailing the Igbo. It is as much about the Yoruba self as it is about the Igbo Other. Every project of internal political unity requires the creation and/or magnification of an evil, threatening Other. The Igbo have therefore merely, temporarily been shoehorned into this expendable position.

Kenneth Ikonne

I totally agree, Sir!

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Abdulrazak Ibrahim

 

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Highly educating. Thanks my brother

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Ediri R. Idimi

Counter reaction needed

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Yebo Stephen

This is spot-on.

Hausa and Fulani are two distinct ethnic groups.

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Everyman Eleanya

Hmmmmm. Insightful.

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Thomas Nwachukwu

Well said, it situates the robustness of the ronu support, for the survival of their sectional political interest.

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Casmir Ejike Okoli

We understand that the Ronu people are a very vocal insignificant minority even in Lagos and beyond. With the manipulation of the 2023 election, they were still humiliated in the presidential election. I agree with you that it will die in no time. The big christian denominations had achieved a lot for Yoruba-Igbo unity. I grew up in Lagos in the 1980s and I know how things were. By the early 2000s the relationship had improved so much before the noisy Tinubu boys came in 2015. Soon Tinubu will be gone and the few of them will have to hide their faces in shame.

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Isaac Yaki

Let’s imagine ourselves in the southeast, is there a Hausaphobia/Islamophobia? Is there a Yorubaphobia over there?

In the north the feeling is mutual, there’s no much love lost nor found there when folks of different ethnic or religious extraction are talked about.

There is a mutual hate and lack of respect across major ethnic groups in Nigeria, and politicians across divides are taking advantage. It will be dishonest to reduce it to a one way traffic if we must find lasting solution and eventually build a veritable country.

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Njoku Ndudiri Wisdom

So much sense in this ...

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Emeka Ezekwe

Very insightful,someone also said last week “This too shall pass”,the major issue was the scandalous and humiliating defeat of Tinubu in Lagos by Peter obi in the last presidential election which most ronus are yet to assimilate…… that defeat also shows that majority of the Yorubas are not bigots and may not support what many of the political jobber ronus are currently doing

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Jerry Anyim-atata

The yoruba ronus are political terrorists from ara ilu oke. They are not, in anyway, different from Boko Haram.

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Nnaemeka Itiri

This is expository...

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Oluwakemi Stephen Adeyemi

Hello Professor Moses Ochonu,

An insightful piece as always. I have a question on point 2, apart from the Hausa-Fulani born to rule narrative which I perceive to have been led in the traditional media (and thus elite-led), are there other examples of Yoruba-ronu against the Hausa-Fulani?

My perception is that the current Igbophobia seems to be spread among everyday person amplified also by the media (social media, this time). Do you think there is any difference between the two types of Yoruba-ronu you have identified?

Is it worth asking what members of the two ethnic halves can do differently? I imagine that you may not be disposed to answering this question.

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Fatai Akeem Abiodun

Not exactly as you posited. Yorubas don't hate anybody.

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Abubakar Acheneje

What I think is currently playing out as “Lagos-centered Yoruba ronu bigotry” is a very narrow political philosophy championed by Tinubu and his close associates, and heavily funded by his war chest in response to the triumphant emergence of the Obidients movement. That movement had Tinubu and the people around him confounded. Initially, they tried to dismiss the movement as an Igbo based movement, but the “Obidients movement” proved to be a pan-Nigerian movement, populated by disgruntled Nigerians from all parts of the country. Recall that the only coherent campaign speech Tinubu gave in the build up to the 2023 election was given in Yoruba, and heavily laced with anti Igbo and anti Peter Obi rhetorics. “Emilokan” was coined from that speech. Everything else Tinubu ever said was a collection of mumbo jumbo rants, lacking in philosophical soundness

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Mazino Dickson

The political tango actually started when Jonathan was president in 2011. Then the election of Igbo members to the state HOA and HORs. It is the first into the core political life of Lagos that is the problem. The Yorubas categorically don't want any political interference. That is the issue. The 2023 elections worsened it especially after Obi won in Lagos and the emergence of Rhodes Vivour. Since then there has been no let off. Some Igbos have not helped matters too, the no man's land mantra added fire to the explosive scenario

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Emmanuel Adewumi Oladimeji

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Olu Wella

Quite right. The Yorubas have always had anti-North sentiments right from the imprisonment of Awo to the June 12 debacle.

Among the Igbos in Lagos, you'd often hear the phrase "Oso Abiola" used jokingly to describe a situation where it’s better to flee than get caught up in an impending fight. "Oso Abiola" simply translates to "Abiola’s Run." This refers to an episode in the 1990s when Igbos fled Lagos in large numbers, believing that the Yorubas were preparing to fight the Hausas over the annulment of Abiola’s mandate.

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Shittu Fowora

Prof., you’ve raised solid points here. One reason I often refrain from responding to hate messages against the Yoruba is that our people have long been unfairly blamed for many things. I can't feel any less Yoruba because of the uncouthness of poorly-bred people(and they exist across ethnic groups). Even the support some of us gave Buhari in 2015 led to Yoruba being cast as “second fiddle,” with unprintable and disparaging remarks flooding the streets of social media. Hatred is not a strategy, but that's the basal level some subsist at, and operate from.

The calculated silence of a Yoruba person is often a way to see through the mischief of traducers and form an independent judgment. Nigeria will exist beyond the forthcoming elections, and most Yorubas have already made up their minds regardless of political currents. That reality will neither soothe the anger of those who are bitter nor undo the friendships and associations many of us have built over the years – with Hausa/Fulani, Igbos, and others alike.

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Jones O. Ogorry

Very correct.

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Ezie Amobi Lewis

Bravo! This captures it. As a psychologist, I could tell you there is also a psychological dimension to this – the self and the other. The overall aim is, while the masses battle each other, the elites (who are of course of the warring ethnic group of Igbos and Yoruba) would be enjoying themselves gleefully. It is only an absolute dunce that would allow bigotry overshadow his/ her senses.

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Ugo P. Onumonu

Well articulated. There's no problem between the Igbo and Yoruba.

The current atmosphere is created by the TINUBU's kind of politics.

Power is transient! It's a matter of time...

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Chukwuebuka Ucheagwu

Convenient half truth! This Igbophobia that is well crafted in Lagos is a pan-Nigerian reality that has been deeply carved in the flesh of this country from its very inception.

Making it just the so-called 'non-indigenous Lagos Yoruba' thing is pure bastardization of facts not uncommon among Nigerian 'elite'.

From the early days of this country, Chinua Achebe has diagnosed that Nigeria has Igbo problem. Nothing has changed or will change, until the Igboman is really tired of being the scapegoat.

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Oduorah Paul Okechukwu

Aptly captured.

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Kevin Nnadi

FFK even became Chrislam Palestinian. All his vituperations about Sokoto caliphate suddenly passed away and Nigerian Christians are no longer persecuted. A honorary citizen of the just recognised Palestinian state. The edit is familiar.

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Joe Attueyi

 

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You, Sir, are a brilliant analyst

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Mitterand Okorie

 

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Thank you, Prof.

One thing that may be worth adding is that the new fervent Igbophobia fever is proudly sponsored by Tinubu. Statements by special media aides of the president and Lagos State Governor evidences this. There are even statements from his wife, the First Lady engaging in this bigotry. Moreover, the APC identity which the president has so far sculptured is also built around that Igbophobia. To the point that Igbo APC politicians have to profess loyalty to the party by exhibiting self-hate.

Peter Obi winning Tinubu in Lagos was a grape too sour for him to chew, essentially because they would’ve have been more Yoruba votes casted for Obi than him. It does make sense that politicians like Tinubu who thrive on division and crude provincialism would fuel and fund this bigotry.

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Enejere Mc Paul

God bless you sir.

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Ezigbo Mmadụ

That's why I try to use Ronus when I'm responding to them. The reaction of Ibadan people against Sanwo Olu's appointee when he called Gbadebo monkey tells you all you need to know about this your beautiful write up.

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Musty LaLa

 

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You are right Prof. Until 2015, those of us non Hausa Northerners in Lagos were hated and categorised along the Hausas because of the annulment of the June 12 and deãth of Abiola . Even before 1993, the Hausaphobia was already rife in SW and most Lagos centred press created a hated campaign against the North. Hausa and the Northerners found some reliefs with the birth of APC and emergence of Buhari as President. That marriage of convenience will come to an end ahead of 2027. We are gradually seeing some SW guys that hitherto praise everything North and are now turning against them due to their opposition against Tinubu.

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Ise Oluwa Bakare

I don't know the obsession about Lagos state.

Lagos alone can not even install the president.

Lagos is not even the HQ of the Yoruba political system...

Make everybody get out self.

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[Cornelius Hamelberg]

Correction (my mistake): The seasoned Clifford Ndujihe is the author of [Nigeria at 65] Ethnicisation of politics: The ticking time bomb  and not " Mr. Clifford Nduja”

Especially for those who are hard or harsh in judgement, here’s a possible explanation about a matter of common interest to Igbo , Yoruba and the rest of mankind :

John Onyeukwu identifies certain Nigerians’ panache as something that Aristotle (384–322 BC) identified a long time ago . John says, “ Aristotle spoke of akrasia; knowing the right thing but lacking the will to do it.”

 

It could be a grievous fault or maybe only a “venial sin” that  Paul, Apostle to the gentiles, Christianity’s preeminent theologian, moral adviser, and a role model that so many Igbo and Yoruba Christians look up to and like to quote,  also confesses , “ I know the right thing but I do the wrong thing”

[Salimonu Kadiri]

A subtitle in Mr. Clifford Ndijuhe's referenced article in the online Nigerian Vanguard reads, "Origins of Ethnic Politics." Here follows excerpts from it: "The Western Region crisis of the 1950s, arguably, marks the beginning of ethnic politics in Nigeria. In the 1951 Western House of Assembly's elections, the National Council of Nigerian Citizens, NCNC, led by Dr Azikiwe, an Igbo, had gained a foothold with 43 seats compared to 37 seats won by the Chief Awolowo-led Action Group, AG. Both Azikiwe and Awolowo won their seats. While Azikiwe won from Lagos, Awolowo won from Ogun (? There was no Ogun then).

Given the prevailing parliamentary system of Government, the NCNC, upon the inauguration of the House was to form the government while the AG would serve as opposition. However, a day or two after the election, the AG lobbied some Yoruba members of the NCNC and other members-elect. On inauguration day, before officials embarked on the exercise, 20 NCNC members and six others from the Ibadan Peoples Party, IPP, cross-carpeted to the AG, shooting its members to 57, while the NCNC depleted to 23. Till date, that event, surreptitiously engaged with sartorial flamboyance in Ankara Group Dressing Solidarity, handed the AG a majority, which made it to form the cabinet with Awolowo as premier while Azikiwe became the leader of opposition in Western Region."

Mr. Clifford Ndujihe would appear to have been engaged in fraudulent distortion of history of Nigeria in order to arrive at the conclusion that ethnic politics in Nigeria began in Western Region in 1951. To begin with, when Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe returned to Nigeria in 1938 via the then Gold Coast, the present day Ghana, he met two political parties. They were Nigerian National Democratic Party, NNDP, and the Lagos Youth Movement (LYM). The LYM was founded in 1933 by Dr James Churchill Vaughan, Ernest Ikoli and Samuel A. Akinsanya. When Hezekiah Oladipo Davies returned to Nigeria from London in 1937 as a Lawyer, he joined the LYM, whereby he helped to redraft its constitution and renamed LYM to Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM) in 1938. Up to 1937, the NNDP led by Herbert Macaulay had won all elections to the Legislative Council in Lagos. However, in the 1938 Legislative Council election, the NYM defeated NNDP and Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe decided to join the NYM. "Among the leaders of NYM at this time," Azikiwe wrote, "were Dr Akinola Maja, H.S.A. Thomas, Jubril Martin and Mr (now Sir) Kofoworola Abayomi. Prominent among its (NYM) BACK-BENCHERS were Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief S. L. Akintola, J. A. Tuyo, Hamzat A. Subair, F. Ogugua-Arah, Shonibare and L. Duro Emmanuel. (see p.309, Zik - The Selected Speeches of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, 1961)" For Azikiwe to regard himself and others as BACK-BENCHERS in the NYM of that time pointed to the calibre of the leaders of the organisation.

In 1940, Dr Kofoworola Abayomi, departed to London to study ophthalmology in United Kingdom and his seat in the Legislative Council was later declared vacant by the Governor. The President of the NYM, Ernest Ikoli declared his interest to contest the election and so was his Vice, Samuel A. Akinsanya. Awolowo supported Ernest Ikoli following the convention in the Movement that where the President decides to contest in an election, he would automatically get it without opposition. On the other hand, Azikiwe supported Samuel A. Akinsanya. While Ikoli contested the election on the platform of NYM, Akinsanya contested as an independent candidate. However, Ernest Ikoli won the bi-election and the matter would have been considered settled democratically. But Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe resigned from the NYM in 1942 together with Samuel A. Akinsanya and others. For Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, it was obvious that the leadership role he had envisaged for himself, as a 'Back-bencher in the NYM,' could not be achieved because of the calibre of the persons at top hierarchy of the NYM. Therefore, he exploited Akinsanya's intransigency against the NYM to resign from it with the aim of scuttling the Organisation.

 Lacking a political platform on which he could act, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe launched the first tribal Union in Nigeria in 1943 which he named Ibo Federal Union and installed himself as its President. At its meeting in Port Harcourt on December 28, 1948, the name was changed to Ibo State Union and Azikiwe continued to be its President. It was not until 1948 that Egbe Omo Odudua was formed in Lagos by Sir Adeyemo Alakija, Dr Akinola Maja, Sir Kofoworola Abayomi, Chief Bode Thomas, Chief H. O. Davies, Dr Akanni Doherty and others. Northerners also founded Jamiyyar Mutanen Arewa which later transformed to the political Party, Northern Peoples Congress (NPC). After forming the Ibo Federal Union in 1943; Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe proceeded to single-handedly form the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons, NCNC, on August 26, 1944 and appointed himself as its Provisional General Secretary. Thereafter, he wrote to allocate offices in the Party to some personalities and requested each person to confirm if the allocated office was accepted or not (see p.312, ZIK - The Selected Speeches of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe). In spite of the fact that Herbert Macaulay was only two months away to celebrate his 80th birthday, Azikiwe made him the President of the NCNC. It is remarkable that the NNDP of which Macaulay was the President had been winning all elections to the Legislative Council following the implosion within the NYM over Okoli and Akinsanya election crisis. Azikiwe's trick, therefore, was to inherit the well-established oldest political party in Nigeria, NNDP, from the aging Macaulay. Azikiwe succeeded with his trick when Herbert Macaulay died on May 7, 1946 and Nnamdi Azikiwe inherited the NNDP of which he was the president simultaneously with the NCNC. Consequently, in the December 1946 Legislative Council Elections, the NNDP featuring Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, H. P: Adebola, T.O.S. Benson, Dr Ibiyinka Olorunnbe, and Prince Adeleke Adedoyin won all the five seats for Lagos.

Towards the end of 1948, Ibo Federal Union changed its name to Ibo State Union with Azikiwe still being its President, making him to affiliate the Union to the NCNC. Thus, in his presidential farewell message delivered at the close of the IBO STATE ASSEMBLY meeting, convened under the auspices of IBO STATE UNION at Aba on June 26, 1949, Azikiwe said, "Compatriots of the Ibo nation, we have deliberated  over affairs of vital importance to the Ibo nation for two days....... Now, the time has come for us to depart to the various corners of Ibo-land. ... Go back to the folks at home and tell them that the sons and daughters of the Ibo nation are alive to their great heritage. ... Tell them that the Ibo stands solidly behind the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons, ....." (see p. 246 - 247, Zik - Selected Speeches of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, 1961). May I pause here to inform Clifford Ndujihe that Ibo Federal Union and its replacement, Ibo State Union, preceded Western House of Assembly's election of 1951.

Concerning the results of the elections to the Western House of Assembly in 1951, Clifford Njudihe asserted that while Azikiwe's NCNC won 43 seats, Awolowo's AG won 37 seats. However, Mr. Njudihe narrated that on inauguration day, "20 NCNC members and Six others from the Ibadan Peoples Party, IPP, cross-carpeted to the AG, shooting its members to 57, while the NCNC depleted to 23." If the AG had won 37 seats and it was true that 20 NCNC and 6 others from IPP had crossed over to the AG, then the actual number of the AG in the Western House of Assembly would have increased to 63 and not 57 as claimed by Mr  Ndujihe. In 1951, Lagos was a part of Western Nigeria and five seats were allotted to Lagos for the Western House of Assembly Election that year. The NNDP and not NCNC featured candidates for Lagos seats in the persons of Nnamdi Azikiwe, Adeleke Adedoyin, Dr A. B. Olorunmbe, H.P. Adebola and T. O. S. Benson. Although, NNDP won all the five seats for Lagos in the Western House of Assembly in 1951, Azikiwe's NNDP/NCNC never won majority seats as falsely narrated by Mr Clifford Ndujihe. Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, in his ZIK - Selected Speeches Of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe spoke on the result of the election to the Western House of Assembly in 1951 thus, ".... by the time a Constitutional Conference took place at Ibadan, towards the end of 1949, a new Constitution confirmed the carving up of the country into three constituents, as originally conceived by Chief Bode Thomas. Not only that; a new political party had arisen on the horizon of Nigerian politics, with the name of Action Group, and carrying this Thomasian banner of extreme  regionalization, it won majority seats at the general election to the Western House of Assembly to form the Government of the Western Region. (see p. 324, Zik: Selected Speeches of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe.) If Nnamdi Azikiwe could admit in writing that the Action Group won majority seats in the Western Region Assembly's election in 1951, from where did Mr. Clifford Ndijuhe get his information that Azikiwe's NCNC won majority seats in the said election? In order for us, Nigerians, to make progress, politically and economically, we must learn to read our history as it is and not as we want it to be.

S. Kadiri

 

---

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com>
Sent: 10 October 2025 23:51
To: USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Igbophobia and the Politics of Manufactured Enemies: A Reflection on Nigeria’s Fragile Cohesion

 

--

[Cornelius Hamelberg]

Stockholm

Mother Earth

Peoples’ Planet 

Sweden 

16th October, 2025 

Baba Kadiri,

The saying is that “all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing” - and that is what happens when spurious statements are left unchallenged. 

On a particular occasion it is reported that Jesus said, “ I tell you, if these keep silent, the very stones will cry out”

The other saying  is attributed to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels : 

“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”

And so it is that you Baba Kadiri are a boon to this society, because that was a beautifully executed quod erat demonstrandum and for that you must be commended. It’s equally desirable that for the benefit of everybody ( mankind), Mr. Clifford Ndijuhe sees it as his moral obligation to retract those grossly erroneous and misleading aspects of his article that should be retracted in light of your corrections.

However - still focused on the subject matter under our purview, “Igbophobia and the Politics of Manufactured Enemies”, if true - about the current state of health of Mr.Nnamdi Kanu  as we are expected to understand from this  video testimony “ NMA 'Ambushes' Nnamdi Kanu In Court, Insists He Has No Life-Threatening Ailment -IPOB Lawyers React

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4-wFTrfim0&list=WL&index=1) 

and other matters concerning Nnamdi Kanu’s health issue ,  I believe that the real danger is being exacerbated by one of Mr. Kanu’s legal advocates inflammatory rhetoric  in that video, that “ the Igbos are on trial, this is a war against the Igbos” and that it should be in the better interests of the Nnamdi Kanu camp to tone down the rhetoric and to lower the temperature, even if they believe that Brother Nnamdi Kanu is representing the best interests of all Igbos…

[Salimonu Kadiri]

We are all born somewhere by parents with specific tribe(s) that we never chose, and had no chance to choose which ethnic group we wanted to be born into. Therefore, it is stupid to judge anyone on account of his/her paternal or ethnic origin which was not chosen/decided by any individual.

In one of the Googles posted by you, Cornelius Hamelberg, I found the following excerpts, "Yes, Igbo-phobia has been significantly exacerbated by the Biafra War, which intensified marginalization and discrimination against the Igbo people. The brutal conflict and its aftermath created lasting trauma, reinforced stereotypes of Igbo ambition, and led to post-war marginalization of their political and economic interests. This has fueled lasting sentiments of exclusion and suspicion that continue to manifest as Igbo-phobia. On the contrary, I see, in this context, IGBO-PHILIA AND THE POLITICS OF MANUFACTURED ENEMIES. After the war, the only position an Igbo person has never held id the President of Nigeria. The Vice President to President Shehu Shagari between 1979-1983 was Dr Alex Ekwueme, an Igbo person. Of course there are many other tribes in Nigeria that have neither produced President nor Vice President.

Tochukwu Ezukanma writing in the online Sahara Reporters in 2013 averred, "Since the nightmare days when the Igbo defeated, battered and tattered, stumbled out of the last vestiges of Biafra, we have made enormous progress across the whole spectrum of the Nigerian social life and gained the respect and confidence of other Nigerians. Igbo land is landlocked with large tracts of infertile land and a population density three times that of Yoruba land. ....// Our boundless resourceful energies and effervescent entrepreneur spirit are unyieldingly spilling beyond the confines of our regional borders, and have thus driven us to every nook and cranny of Nigeria. OPERATING WITHIN AN EXPANDED FRONTIER - ONE NIGERIA - IS TO OUR (IGBO) ADVANTAGE." 

Talking about the influence of the Igbo on the impending 2015 presidential election in the Online Nigerian Guardian of 9 July 2013, the then President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Gary Enwo Igariwey said, "We have the population and the Igbo are the only people with over a 25 per cent spread in any part of this country. WE ARE NOT UNDERDOGS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, WE HAVE THE CAPACITY TO DECIDE WHO CAN BE PRESIDENT OR WHO CANNOT BE BECAUSE WE HAVE THE NUMBERS." We have to be warry about Igbo-philia extremists shouting and screaming about Igbo-phobia where there is none. On June 18, 2017, Biko Agozino posted on this platform under the caption: IGBOPHOBIA AS A LAMENTATION FOR HELP.  For my engagement on that topic see, https://groups.google.com/g/usaafricadialogue/claAPNKgdXiu

S. Kadiri

---

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com>

Sent: 16 October 2025 21:41

To: USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Igbophobia and the Politics of Manufactured Enemies: A Reflection on Nigeria’s Fragile Cohesion

 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/d6228d10-490e-4a59-90f0-a2aefac70579n%40googlegroups.com.

[Cornelius Hamelberg]

Dear Baba Kadiri,

This time you'll have to admit that either you have accidentally & unintentionally misquoted me / an excerpt / excerpts that you allege I posted or that it's both disingenuous & uncharacteristically & uncharitably rascally of you to deliberately misquote me, so that you could make the salient points that you wanted to make.

Where did I write ” or post, "Yes, Igbo-phobia has been significantly exacerbated by the Biafra War, which intensified marginalization and discrimination against the Igbo people. The brutal conflict and its aftermath created lasting trauma, reinforced stereotypes of Igbo ambition, and led to post-war marginalization of their political and economic interests. This has fueled lasting sentiments of exclusion and suspicion that continue to manifest as Igbo-phobia. “ ??????

https://tinyurl.com/2xzneq5y

On the contrary, I did write these two sentences:

“I like to present myself as an unbiased observer when I say that unfortunately for igbos, as we all know, Igbophobia has been exacerbated by the Biafran war which has left some indelible scars, and any new intimations of separation, IPOB, secession,” Lagos is no man’s land” etc just resurrects ghosts that can so easily be exploited by politicians who are adept at fanning the flames of divisiveness to their own advantage, especially in their own home territories. Just now, Igbophobia is rearing its ugly head in Lagos more than anywhere else, perhaps - ” democratic competition”,  that's where Igbo presence and Igbo success is most visible outside Igboland and therefore liable to generate some envy, and  hostility / xenophobic feelings in those who more properly/parochially speaking  care less about titles such as “Cosmopolitan” since they believe themselves to be the real Lagos indigenes and don’t give a rat’s tail about what someone like our venerable Kwame Anthony Appiah has to preach about “Cosmopolitanism””

Secondly, who told you that “we never chose, and had no chance to choose which ethnic group we wanted to be born into.”?

According to some religious speculation  - Metempsychosis -  Kabbalistic ideas about  the transmigration of souls , similar ideas and beliefs found in Hinduism and Buddhism, and of course both Igbo and Yoruba beliefs in reincarnation , that due to some laws that govern karma, the soul chooses its parents and which ethnic group it wants to be born into.

[Dr. Oohay]

Apparently, neither “phobia” nor “philia” holds MUCH water culturally speaking in the case of Naija. This “copula” evokes what I would call a Dedan as in the co-authored play THE TRIAL OF DEDAN KIMATHI. As a copula, the “fear-love” in question (in the case of Naija) culturally denotes a geo-cultural set of mixed realities: we love to hate some of us AND we hate to love some of us. When either overwhelmingly overcomes the other, we begin to fear love or we begin to love fear (whatever that means). “Dedan” in the context of a culture means a particular “person”or a particular “people” or a set of persons and places. So a main problem of Naija AIN’T a phobia or its other twin. I call the problem a geo-historicality. The positive can always appear: we can always change things — WE CAN ALWAYS re-set the SET of issues. SET logic all the way. Aka Omaha Poker.

Dr. Oohay

https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/edc13eb1-fcd6-4ff7-9029-394f4bd50e1an%40googlegroups.com

.

[Cornelius Hamelberg]

Dear Baba Kadiri,

As per our telephone conversation, very sad & sorry

that of course you were not misquoting me

you were quoting some spurious Googled materials 

and of course , with reference to your assertion that  

“we never chose, and had no chance to choose which ethnic group we wanted to be born into. Therefore, it is stupid to judge anyone on account of his/her paternal or ethnic origin which was not chosen/decided by any individual.”

you are obviously in essential agreement with the  Rt. Hon. William Shakespeare who in circumscribing the tragic hero, ironically, through the mouth of Prince Hamlet, opined

“So oft it chances in particular men T

hat, for some vicious mole of nature in them, 

As in their birth,- wherein they are not guilty, 

Since nature cannot choose his origin,- 

By the o'ergrowth of some complexion,

Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason, 

Or by some habit that too much o'erleavens 

The form of plausive manners, that these men 

Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect, 

Being nature's livery, or fortune's star,

Their virtues else- be they as pure as grace,

As infinite as man may undergo- 

Shall in the general censure take corruption 

From that particular fault. The dram of e'il 

Doth all the noble substance often doubt

To his own scandal.”

The idea of reincarnation was tragically taken to its most negative extreme when the late Chief Sephardic Rabbi Ovadia Yosef of Israel made this statement which he later repented and, recanted and apologised : The six million  who perished in the Holocaust were reincarnations of the souls of sinners, people who transgressed and did all sorts of things which should not be done. They had been reincarnated in order to atone

Needless to say that If anybody else said such an atrocious thing, such a one would be charged with antisemitism, and possibly saying saying similar things could result in being accused of Igbophobia / Igbo-foe-bia , abi?

On Saturday, 18 October 2025 at 13:56:46 UTC+2 Salimonu Kadiri wrote:

[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

 

                                        The Venom of Femi Fani Kayode

                                                             APC Spokesman

 

                                                           From his Twitter Page

 

1. 

 

 

Femi Fani-Kayode

 

@realFFKMarch 21, 2023

 

The single greatest lesson that the 2023 presidential election has taught us is that God will NEVER allow a practising sodomite and his repugnant retinue of perverts, pimps, fraudsters, court jesters, degenerates, monkeys, slaves and malefactors to lead Nigeria. 2.

Femi Fani-Kayode

 

 

... They can best be described as wake up calls and the propositions and counsel that are being suggested and offered must be considered by all the relevant stakeholders in Yorubaland generally and Lagos particularly before it is too late. Clearly thanks to the insulting ways and disrespectful tone, words and attitude of those that came from the east to settle amongst us yet covet our land and seek to destroy everything we value and stand for, Yoruba nationalism has come alive again. Our gullible liberalism and naive wokeism has resulted in a dangerous, hard line and pronounced backlash which is fuelled by anger and which cannot be easily managed and contained. Our people are now counting the cost of our innocent yet disastrous open door policy and disposition as a direct consequence of the excesses and provocative actions of the Ibos in Lagos. And what is that cost? If you really want to know let's go back in time a little. Permit me to take you on a walk down history lane. When Nnamdi Azikiwe, the NCNC and the Igbo State Union tried to take over Yoruba land in the 1952 Western Regional elections he lost to Obafemi Awolowo and the Action Group by a very narrow margin. I believe it was by two seats in Parliament and Action Group was saved from a Zik victory only because they went into an alliance with the Ibadan Peoples Party which gave them a majority of two in Parliament! That is how close it was. Had it not been for that Zik, an Igbo man, would have been elected as the first Premier of the old Western Region and the Yoruba would have eventually lost EVERYTHING including their language, culture, heritage, land and values. After his defeat Zik packed his bags and said the following famous words: "I shall return to the east from whence I came". Thereafter he went back to the old Eastern Region to be elected Premier. 71 years later the story appears to have repeated itself. The Ibo, this time led by one Peter Obi, a shady and manipulative trader who was fuelled, strengthened and emboldened by his relative success and gains during the presidential election in the state two weeks earlier, tried to forcefully take over Lagos in the 2023 Governorship election by intimidation, threats and propaganda and by fielding a young and impressionable man by the name of Chinedu Rhodes-Vivour who neither speaks nor understands Yoruba, whose family derives from Sierra Leonne and Opobo in Rivers state, who has strong sympathy for IPOB, who was part of those protestors that wreaked havoc and set Lagos on fire during the Endsars riots and who, like his misguided, violent and aggressive supporters, claimed that Lagos is a "no man's land" as his candidate. Thankfully they failed and the young man was roundly defeated by Jide Sanwo-Olu, a young, diligent, hardworking, civilised, decent and focused administrator and bona fide Yorubaman. It is now time for Peter, Chinedu and all their Obidient supporters to follow Zik's noble example, tread the path of honor and either respect us and live with us in love and peace or go back to the east "from whence they came" . They will do far better there. We in the South West must do a lot of soul-searching and educate the liberals in our midst about the dangers of being too kind, too charitable and too accommodating to the alien land grabbers and usurpers that have infiltrated our territory. We can show them charity, love and kindness but this must never be at the expense of our values, identity, dignity, culture or heritage. We must endeavour to ensure that history does not repeat itself again, that this terrible cycle of our Ibo brothers repaying our good with ingratitude and subterfuge stops and that they never have the temerity and effontry to claim that Lagos, or indeed any other part of Yorubaland, is theirs again. (FFK) 3. March 20, 2023 RESPECT US OR LEAVE!

"Don't stay in Lagos, and benefit from the leadership, infrastructure and economy Lagosians built over time, yet carry resentment towards them. You threaten violence and de-market Lagos on social media. You have options. Behave or relocate!" -

@renoomokri

. Let me open this short contribution by saying that I completely agree with the views expressed above by Pastor Reno Omokri. Let us hope that those he is attempting to offer such wise counsel appreciate & accept it before it is too late. I am constrained to go further by saying that I also share the views of my dear friend, brother & colleague, Omo Oba Bayo Onanuga, who reflected the views and thoughts of millions of our fellow Yorubas when he expressed deep and legitimate concerns about the attempt by the Ibo community in Lagos to take over our land and claim it as theirs. This is something that they themselves would never tolerate members of any other ethnic nationality to attempt to do in the east and neither would any of us try it. The truth is that if you insist on living in someone elses land or territory you must respect them. And as they say, respect begets respect. If you must live amongst us kindly refrain from poking your fingers into our eyes simply because we gave you the space & afforded you the opportunities that you have refused to offer us in the east. We do this because we are a decent, civilised, kind-hearted, peace-loving and just people who believe strongly in the ethos of charity, plurality of community, efficacy of racial and religious harmony, peaceful-coexistence & full & unfettered integration. That does NOT however mean that we are fools. Our history proves that we are slow to anger but irresistible in battle. It is not wise to provoke us or raise our sleeping sword. Being too kind, accommodating & charitable has its price and it appears that we the Yoruba may have learnt this the hard way. Opening up your home to a stranger & being your brothers keeper is one thing but giving him your head & all that is dear to you on a platter of gold is quite another. The truth is that the Ibo in Lagos are no longer welcome by the people of Lagos. And unless they change their attitude quickly & drastically it may well be better for them to go home. As a consequence of recent events & the outrageous & insulting "Lagos is a no man's land" battle cry & mantra which many Ibos in Lagos espouse & constantly bellow & mouth, many of our people believe that Alaba Int. Market, Computer Village, Trade Fair & other places that they have occupied & taken over should be evacuated & vacated & converted to schools, deep sea ports, housing estates & amusement parks. That is the level of anger & view of millions of our people today & we ignore those views at our peril. They also believe that we should act fast & make the necessary changes in our attitude to non-Yoruba settlers and aliens and reflect on our propensity for being too "woke" & too liberal in our dealings with them. This view was ably reflected by

@adeosunm

when he tweeted the following a day after the Governorship election in Lagos. He wrote, "Congrats to putting an end to the issue of real ownership of Lagos. Going forward, let there be a review of the following: Land ownership and rent law. Elective & appointive policy. Ethnic concentration of markets. Limits to liberalisation culture. Teaching of Yoruba history. Be wary of usurpers!" Points taken & forceful, compelling & lucid they are too. In his own contribution

@LegendaryJoe

again reflected the mood when he tweeted the following: "We voted in Lagos today not along political lines but along the lines of heritage. We voted for our pride. We made a statement that our liberal nature should never be abused. What we won't attempt in yours, do not force on us. We voted to retain Lagos". These are insightful and incisive contributions & they must be taken seriously. 4. March 16, 2023

Conversation

 

 

 

By the grace of God on Saturday 18th March Babajide Sanwo-Olu will be re-elected Governor of Lagos state by a wide margin in a free and fair election which will be devoid of acrimony and violence. From that day on the bestial, venal, foul-mouthed and vile-tempered gutter rat called Jandor will crawl back into the sewer that it came from and rot away in the dustbin of history, never to be remembered again, whilst it's beleaguered, accursed, festering, moribund and dying party, the PDP, will finally be buried. On that day the Obidients will be taught the lesson of their lives and NEVER again will they have the audacity and effontry to say that Lagos is a "no man's land". On that day water will find its level, evil will bow before good, darkness will flee before light, giants will crush dwarves and never again will a bunch of insatiable and insufferable ingrates and rappacious and covetous aliens seek to occupy any part of Yorubaland and claim it as their own. To be sure, there is a place in Lagos for EVERYONE to live in peace and harmony regardless of tribe or faith but let them NEVER forget that she belongs to the Yoruba. Those that live in Lagos but that think and say otherwise or that maintain that she is a "no man's land" are not worthy of being described as honored, respected and welcome guests but rather reckless, greedy, vainglorious, and dangerous land grabbers, adventurers and usurpers who are NOT welcome in our midst or worthy of our civility and courtesies. Meanwhile let every Lagosian keep the peace and shun violence despite all provocations and insults on that day. The way to defeat and overcome our collective enemies and detractors is not by threatening, attacking, insulting and visiting them with thuggery and violence, as they are doing to us, but rather by maintaining our decorum, self-restraint, civilised disposition and self-respect and peacefully voting Jide back into power. That is the way to honor the memory of our reverred ancestors, redeem our self-respect, restore our dignity and secure our future as a people. May God guide us and grant us victory. 5.

Femi Fani-Kayode

 

 

 

Those that believed that Lagos is a "no man's land" have been roundly defeated, badly humiliated and finally taught the lesson of their lives by voters today in a peaceful, free and fair election. The matter is settled and the message is 8-fold: 1. That God answers prayers even in the most complicated situations and difficult circumstances , that He is able to deliver us from the hands of our strong enemies and the enemy within and that He rules in the affairs of men. 2. That Lagos belongs to the Yoruba. 3. That

@jidesanwoolu

remains Governor of Lagos state regardless of the threats, plotting, scheming, rantings and rumblings of envious, hate-filled, bitter, demon-possessed and satanicallly- inspired men. 4. That guests and aliens that reside in Lagos must know their place and NEVER claim the state as their own again. 5. That the liberal open door policy to guests and aliens must be reviewed and reforms and laws put in place to protect and secure the culture, identity and rights of the Yoruba in Lagos and to confirm and re-affirm the indisputable and incontrovertible fact that Lagos is not only part and parcel of the SW but also belongs to the Yoruba. 6. That motor park touts and sewer rats like Jandor and those that wish to sell their heritage and race down the river and join forces with those that claim Lagos is "no man's land" like Gbadebo have no place in the politics of Yoruba land. 7. That the fraternal alliance and strong political bridge that has been built between the people of the SW and the people of the North must NEVER again be broken and must be preserved and protected until the end of time. 8. That patience, good planning and a firm and strong resolve to do what is right, to maintain the peace, to honor God, to challenge and defy satan and to stand up for the truth always wins the day. These are the messages that have been sent and lessons that have been learnt over the last few days and weeks as regards events and the elections in Lagos state and we shall never forget them. Never again will ANYONE say that Lagos is a no man's land. Eko Akete, Ilu Ogbon! Eko O gba gbere rara o!

To God alone be the glory!

March 18, 2023

 

 

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[Cornelius Hamelberg]

Oluwatoyin,

This is serious : There’s The third Commandment, which commands the Israelites, “You shall not take the name of the L-rd, your G-d, in vain”, succinctly clarified here .

Nigerian politicians are of course not the same category as ancient Israelites, or, for that matter, modern ones, and it’s not as if Nigerian politicians go around routinely violating that commandment; as a matter of fact, to this day I’m only aware of former President Olusegun Obasanjo , once upon a time saying “God will NEVER forgive me if i support Atiku for president”

And now this opening salvo , and you call it “venom” 

As you can well understand, curiosity got the better of me, and I must admit that yours truly, a neutral, detached , non-allied observer was forced to double-check about the alleged “practising sodomite” etc ad nauseum. 

I was curious as to who the hell he might be and I’m sure that whoever he may or may not be, I suppose that the great majority of Nigerians resonate with Femi Fani-Kayode when he prays that “God will NEVER allow a practising sodomite and his repugnant retinue of perverts, pimps, fraudsters, court jesters, degenerates, monkeys, slaves and malefactors to lead Nigeria" 

Nothing new under the sun : 

There was the case of Canaan Banana  and indeed of Anwar Ibrahim

Not venomous : Dj Shinski

[ogunlakaiye]

Dear Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju, I want to know from you if the "VENOM OF FEMI FANI-KAYODE" copied by you from his Twitter page and posted on this platform were personal views of Femi Fani-Kayode or that of the political named, APC? My question becomes necessary since I am not aware that Femi Fani-Kayode is a spokesman for APC. 

Thank you in advance for your response.

S. Kadiri