by Ayo Bankole Akintujoye

Can the south west singularly maintain the diverse market opportunity Lagos provides to potential and forever courting investors? Could the south west have fed Lagos with the economic boom and mega status it enjoys all alone?

Having survived this long in silence over this Femi Fani-Kayode-Orji Kalu hullabaloo, the discussions I had with friends on my Facebook page made me give up my resolve to remain quiet. I have followed FFK’s writings for months, and I have to repeat that I am yet to arrive at a better word for his writings than “ramblings”. He swings from blind spiritual extremist views in calling Obama the Antichrist who should not be voted for, to cultural extremism by over generalizing one man’s comments into an ethnic and uncalled-for outburst. I also believe it is disrespectful for a former minister and presidential spokesperson to call the comments of a former governor “unintelligent rubbish”, and I owe such a man no respect. While I agree that Orji Uzor Kalu went beyond bounds in labeling Lagos a “no man’s land”, and insulted the collective heritage of Lagosians, and by extension, the Yorubas, I still believe strongly that Fani Kayode’s response was utterly irresponsible.

A country’s greatness and strength lies in recognizing differences and working together to build them, but greater strength lies in respecting the sensitivities and ethno-religious fragility of your countrymen, and striving to respect individual and group differences in culture and religion. While some of us are advocating for a true federal system, where ethnic leanings will be held secondary and competence and integrity upheld as the main crux of leadership, Fani Kayode attempted to open old wounds with snide references to the pogrom and civil war, publicly condemning an entire Igbo race in a classic case of sheer fallacy of hasty generalization, and then attempting to grossly undermine the contribution of millions of Igbos to the socio-economic development of Lagos.

I believe Fani-Kayode would have done excellently well if he had taken on Kalu on his words and blasted him in return, infact, he would have gotten sympathy from even some Igbo kinsmen. But defending Lagos by undermining the history of a major race? In a culturally sensitive polity? How does that translate to being a responsible statesman and public figure? Was Fani-Kayode not singing Obasanjo’s praises when he withheld the Lagos funds for two years? If he loved Lagos that much, how come he was running his mouth so loudly against “perceived Obasanjo enemies in Lagos”?, and participated in a government that was committed to running Lagos aground? Please Fani cannot succeed in deceiving people like us with his sheer hypocrisy and desperate quest for relevance. He was almost worse than Abati in his days as the presidential parrot. We have not forgotten so fast. It’s time we started ignoring people who had decades of opportunities to make a difference, did nothing but enjoy the spoils of government, and then attempt to further plunge us into crisis when they get booted out of government!

I think we should break this down into tiny basic bits of rhetorics, so as not to get lost in all the barrage of historical banters, let’s look at it this way; we can all agree Kalu went overboard with his comment, and deserved to be “educated”, but after then, what next? Is it not a major feature of mega-cities to downplay indigeneship and promote diversity even while preserving cultural heritage? Was this not why and how Hilary Clinton could become a Senator from New York despite having never lived there, and offered “New Yorkers” unprecedented legislative service? Didn’t she become a New Yorker herself?

Now, to Lagos and the contribution of Igbos, or say, others generally, Can the south west singularly maintain the diverse market opportunity Lagos provides to potential and forever courting investors? Could the south-west have fed Lagos with the economic boom and mega status it enjoys all alone? How many cities in the world of Lagos’ status attained such with culturally parochial mindset? Is it New York, Bombay, Tokyo, Shangai, Seoul, Delhi or Mumbai? A first glance at those cities will show how much all of them have one thing in common; their openness to diversity and accommodating culture, where legitimate immigrants can come in, belong, and contribute to economic growth. We all know that the contributions of the Sage, Obafemi Awolowo to south west development cannot be underplayed or matched by any other statesman (I stand to be corrected), but again, after then what? If the south westerners were such geniuses at single-handedly feeding cities with mega population and turning them around to socio-economic hubs, then why has Ibadan, despite all Awo’s efforts, gone to sleep? Where is Abeokuta in the hierarchy of commerce? Then Akure, Ife, Ijebu, Oshogbo, Ilesha, Idanre, Akoko and many others? Why have they not all become another Lagos? Truth be told, NO MEGACITY ever REMAINS solely for indigenes, except it chooses to sacrifice such status, not even Kano’s economy was developed solely by Northerners, how much more almighty Lagos. So Fani’s claim that “…The Igbo had little to do with the extraordinary development of Lagos between 1880 right up until today. That is a fact. Other than Ajegunle, Computer Town, Alaba and buying up numerous market stalls in Isale Eko, where is their input..?” Is totally baseless and is borne out of either sheer prejudice, intentional hate, or outright  ignorance, which puts to question his so called “sound Cambridge historian” intellect. He even goes ahead to insult our intelligence by calling it a fact!

Have we also considered that a Wole Soyinka, Tunde Fashola, Bola Tinubu, Femi Okunnu, and many others with more direct stake, if they responded to Kalu, would have done so with deeper maturity? (Based on antecedents, your choice to disagree), if you agree, would this not be because they are probably more socially responsible? Would FFK have also said these exact things if he was still in government or position of responsibility? In plain terms, Fani-Kayode’s ramblings are purely hypocritical and irresponsible!

Having said that, I believe the true Lagos Igbos know and appreciate the fact that Lagos is NOT a “no-man’s” land, that is why there is an Eze-Ndigbo, who pays homage to the Oba of Lagos, that is why there are white cap chiefs, and traditional Lagos families like Kosoko, Dosunmu, Oniru, Etti, Olumegbon, etcetera. But then, I think the Igbos also have the right to ask for a sense of belongingness in a city where they are an integral part of socio-economic activity. For God’s sake, even Lebanese and Chinese lay claim to being “Lagosians”! Does that also mean they want to reclaim Lagos from the Oba?? Absolutely No! But that is the beauty of a city like Lagos, diversity and openness.

So therefore, our focus should be on educating the Orji Kalus of this world, putting them in their rightful place on the mat (where other respected statesmen sit on high tables), and shutting them up with more civil write-ups! Not ego-filled and boastful claims of intellectual astuteness like Fani-Kayode, when his so called writings lack depth and defies basic understanding of economics and sociology, talk less of history, and attempt to further fan the embers of ethnic hate by opening old wounds and insulting an entire race.

Long Live Lagos. And long live Nigeria.

————————-

Ayo Bankole Akintujoye tweets from @Ayobankole

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.