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WAKE UP: STILL ON DISCOURSE OF LAGOS AS AFRICA’S 5TH LARGEST ECONOMY – WHY NORTH SHOULD NOT BE IN IT
By BASHIR ADEFAKA
“Moreso, your Tinubu, for who you take Lagos to where the former capital of Nigeria no longer belongs, is the biggest beneficiary of Buhari government. So, stop making it look like Buhari or the North is the worst enemy that any Yoruba man can have in this planet. And even majority of Yoruba who who have made it in life can only have a Northerner to point to as their benefactor. Why do Yoruba not help themselves but in time of politics they mobilise themselves on the basis of sentiments against other tribes? I can’t be part of it.”
Still on Lagos as one of first five largest African economies, Professor Kamal Bello had made series of post in one day following my posted reservation and he appeared to concur with my views. But hours before that he had done an underground work – to address the anti-North hate that was later imported to the discourse – and that included his posts such as: “It’s a pity that some don’t know that Sardauna is loved in North more than Awo is loved in SW bcz of his good work there”; “What’s the essence of your education when you cannot think critically beyond ethnic, sectional $ selfish interest”; and the bigger one, “Nigeria elites are wicked. Based on sectional agitation against cancellation of June 12 election power shifted to South West. Unfortunately they refused to entrench power rotation in the Constitution but looking for third term and later install a terminally sick president who died before half of his first term. Their intention was to make sure rotational Presidency doesn’t work. Now towards 2023 they are going back to their 1993 sectional mentality.”
If I want to blame the former Nigerian university administrator for defending his position telling us the Southerners (I believe him to also be a Yoruba man) why the North and Sardauna are not what we want the world to know them to be, who says that I have the monopoly of attacks, albeit baseless, on other people’s tribes and values? Therefore, I have chosen to pitch a tent with him on this. If we are discussing Lagos, it didn’t start from us. It was as a result of an undue gloating by a people, who instead of accepting defeat they suffered from their arrogant persecution of a Nigeria’s doing-well governor just because of self interest of their political leader and mentor, decided to repackage their argument to tell us that their leader we refuse to accept in Edo made Lagos Fifth Largest Economy in Africa. But in the end, because we came up with a disclaimer, we are the bad ones. Allahu Akbar!
But I have taken solace in Professor’s other one: “We are not same. You lie to meet ur physiological needs (food, clothing,shelter) $ greed 4 power. All of which are not my problem”; adding, “If Lagos had built rail system since 1999 with it’s acclaimed richness the notorious traffic jam there would have become history.” The last one that brought about the bomber that I reacted to was where Prof said, “Lagos may be rich in terms of cash and can survive without FAAC but where are it’s unique developmental projects. Even light rail?” To this, a known South Westerner kicked and instead of addressing the issue of Lagos development misrepresented by his folks and which the Baze University teacher is talking about, he simply as easily as it used to be went straight for the jugular of the North. I take exception to that.
MY REACTION TO THE FACEBOOK DISCOURSE
Sir, you spoilt this argument of yours from the first word “If” and so I became helpless. If I am not mistaking, I was the first to make this issue against claimant of Lagos as Fifth Largest Economy in Africa a major post and so, from your last check I was not a Northerner. It thus hurts me that Professor Kamal Bello, a former Acting Vice Chancellor of a Nigerian public university, followed suit with a more established discourse in same matter of Lagos and the first, only and best response that can come from you is to go straight and attack the core North as “…has remained hopelessly underdeveloped and has remained the bastion of insecurity, abject poverty and squalor in Nigeria since independence,…”
Before I proceed, point of correction, if North has been in abject poverty since independence, how did Sardauna built Northern Nigeria without oil money? Yes, I have also always educated your likes that equally Papa Awolowo built Western Nigeria without oil money so was Zik Eastern Nigeria. The crop of Yoruba we have had after Awolowo are seriously missing it. They don’t even remember the facts of history that if Awolowo was as sentimental as they are today, when he and Sardauna and Zik founded Independent Nigeria, the development the country had before our generation would not come. But so sad, from Awo’s tribe, this kind of unresearched statement has come by the writing of a man, just for hate of the North. So sad! You also talk of insecurity in the North, yet all the suppliers of logistics and weapons we have had security arrest are of Southern origin. It this means we the Southerners have been happening making wealth from blood if Northerners. Is that not supposed to be the implication of your celebration of your unfortunate insecurity there? Moreso, you have your own insecurity in Yoruba Land but can afford to cover it and sing loud of others. Because it is a tribe you just unexplainably hate? I now tell you today, North is not as bad as you paint.
If you watch me, I became a BUHARIST because of hypocrisy of a majority that I did not want to be part of…even in the profession. Somebody wanted me to naturalise myself as a Northerner because he was not comfortable that I refuse to be anti-North for crying out loud. Yet, the day I gave a stunning post about Igbo U was warned inbox to drop it as it was praising another tribe while not doing so for my own tribe. What a society of ours! Yet, we blame it on “the marriage called Nigeria” which we keep erroneously claiming can’t stand. Whereas, we have the liver and the bile inside our intestine-lines to check being responsible for the problem we have as a nation: HATE.
We just hate the North nothing more nothing less. The last time a Nigeria’s President had peace in office was when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was there. Whether we voted or we did not vote for him, Yoruba had no problem with 1914 Amalgamation. All was well. Gani Adams-led OPC that he dealt with was offshoot of what remained from Abacha, Abdulsalami era. Going forward, we had no problem with Jonathan as President even though he would sack a Yoruba and replace him with an Igbo. In the end, we cried at a time but at election we went for Jonathan against Buhari because he is a Northerner. And more saddening, we have the temerity (and I keep saying it) to keep saying not even Yoruba but a man (Tinubu) singlehandedly installed Buhari as President.
I then challenged: “If Tinubu actually gave Buhari Yoruba votes, why was the vote virtually halfed with Jonathan and Buhari coasting in region of 3 million each?” If you want me to call Yoruba or South West significant to Buhari’s 2015 victory, quite well because it was something, the votes should have at least ended at 60 (APC) and 40 (PDP). That was not the case, yet, while no Northerner raised any such question, we were the ones jumping all over the place claiming Tinubu singlehandedly installed this Fulani man in government. Tell us how. Yet, you installed a Fulani man in government and followed him up with crisis here and there including ‘criminal herdsmanism’ you know is not true and Islamisation and Northernisation you cannot substantiate, just to see that there is no peace for him. What is then the basis of your claim? Tell us please.
And we keep saying if Buhari could have been President by not merging with Yoruba, why not before 2015? I then stand here to prove to you and others in this belief that Buhari had always won his elections from the time against Obasanjo to Jonathan because INTEGRITY with GOOD NAME has no problem being spotted out. What happened was that THE FIRST TIME NIGERIA ELECTIONS EVER HAD RESULTS WAS 2015. Go and check records. I was part of reporters of that fact coming from this Mahmood Yakubu-led INEC. Baba in my home town, Chief Olu Falae, defeated Obasanjo in the first election ever in Fourth Republic. Falae is another INTEGRITY personified. They said he collected N100 million Dasuki money but in an interview I did with him published by Vanguard and The DEFENDER last year before I departed for Saudi Arabia, he made the point clear and we know that other Afenifere might soiled their hands, not Baba Falae of Akure Kingdom.
Then where is this hate coming from?
We insist that Lagos as Fifth Largest Economy in Africa while Lagosians cannot sleep with their two eyes closed because of activities of armed robbers, cultists and people go through hardship caused by the fact that government power is handed to thugs should be rejigged. If anybody thinks he can drag us to supporting as president the godfather who has done this since 1999 and has not let any elected governor succeeding him be himself since he left power, it can only be a huge joke.
If you don’t live in Lagos, that is where we live and work. The fact that thugs decide how we live our lives and what we buy in the market of Tinubu’s Lagos put a permanent question on his 2023. Take it or leave it.
And funny enough you and others who share your sentiments would say he laid foundation for modern day Lagos. This is false. One, stop this idea of CLEANING THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF FOUNDING STARS TO IMPRESS YOUR OWN FIGURES ON PEOPLE. Tell us the place of Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande in modern Lagos. Tinubu erased his name in that and you are great with it. Tell us the place of Awolowo in Africa, BABA JEREMAIAH! Tinubu not only attempted to remove his name but failed, he tried to equate himself with AWO another ideologue of Nigerian politics.
Laying foundation for development. If this is true, why did he have problem with Fashola’s performance? And you will say after all, he installed Fashola but what if you install but don’t allow performance? Can you take the glory if he eventually performs? The truth is, Fashola takes the glory for Lagos and Jakande laid the foundation. Go and study it.
I remember I was one of the last Journalists that interviewed his deputy, Sarah Sosan. She was sacrificed because Lagosians (not politicians) refused to accept Tinubu’s attempt to do Fashola like he did Ambode only recently. Why then are you not getting this? Cheer sentiment? I can’t be part of this.
Moreso, your Tinubu, for who you take Lagos to where the former capital of Nigeria no longer belongs, is the biggest beneficiary of Buhari government. So, stop making it look like Buhari or the North is the worst enemy that any Yoruba man can have in this planet. And even majority of Yoruba who who have made it in life can only have a Northerner to point to as their benefactor. Why do Yoruba not help themselves but in time of politics they mobilise themselves on the basis of sentiments against other tribes? I can’t be part of it.
*WAKE UP is opinion article column of Lagos Journalist, Alhaji Bashir Adefaka. Reach him via his email: omope72@gmail.com
