Lagos State Government's Deportation of Igbos: Who is Fooling Who?
Much has been said about the deportation of about 70 people of Igbo
origin from Lagos State to Anambra State by Governor Fashola of Lagos
State. Depending on which side of the fence one is coming from,
Nigerians have criticised and supported action. Governor Peter Obi of
Anambra State has purportedly written to the President against his
colleague from Lagos State, while the latter has claimed his
counterpart should have communicated with him rather than turning the
situation into a media drama.
Hmmm! Drama in deed! I have grown accustomed to these shadow events by
Nigerian politicians who are almost always doing more than they are
showing. Oftentimes, what they show engage us in nonsensical
mudslinging while they get away with other deeper, shielded acts which
are their main intentions ab initio.
Having said these, one notes that there are many sides to this story
itself. First, the Igbo count this as one of the numerous instances of
their marginalisation within Nigeria. Two, being destitutes, according
to both governments neither of which wants these people.
My take: the situation this event presents is that of class rather
than ethnic segregation. It is to this second possibility that I
subscribe.
Why? The answer is simple: the victims are people rejected by both
governments. Lagos State government rejected these people and the
group repatriated earlier, not because they are Igbos but because they
are poor. If the government of Lagos wants Igbo people out of Lagos,
it'll concentrate on richer folks who will abandon property that will
automatically go over to the government. But when it is destitutes
that they are deporting, it is a purely class issue.
On the other hand, the government of Anambra and its people complained
because these folks are poor. Had people like the owner of Coscharis
and other influential businesses in Lagos owned by Igbos come down
from that bus at Onicha, the issue from this side would have been how
their estate would be repatriated from Lagos.
Moreover, we need to bear in mind that these victims didn't commit any
crime other than that they possibly do not have homes. And possibly,
the government of Lagos is more interested in conserving its newly
cultivated parks. The government of Anambra, on the other hand,
obviously do not want to spend its money on these people because of
their refugee situation. They would need money to settle down and the
government may not necessarily know where to put them.
Conclusively, Nigeria is one of the places on earth where welfarism
isn't in any book available to her leaders. It is a place where you
are nothing if you have nothing and you are everything if you have
something. Government in some saner climes is planned in such a way to
help those who have nothing. But here, you are less a citizen when you
have nothing. I've has a first-hand experience too. In Gombe, I
happened on a police security check and was unfortunately in a
commercial tricycle. The young recruit policeman start harassing me
because I took a call on my cell. I refused to come down from the
"keke" and the altercation continued. He kept speaking in Hausa and I
feigned not to know a single word of Hausa. Eventually, a superior
officer asked him to let us go. The next day, I passed in a car at the
same time, with a cell phone held to my ear and the same character
greeted me and waved me through. Ask me again why suicide bombers use
fairly used cars more often - because the police is busy harassing
"okada" and "keke."
Let's stop deceiving ourselves: it is simply about the haves and the
have-nots. If you have, you are somebody and if you don't have, you
are nobody in this place called Nigeria. And if you have, no one wants
to know how you got it.
Warning: If you don't have, be prepared to be deported one day whether
you are Igbo or not. I guess the Anambra government is seriously
looking for some Yoruba folks to deport. And when it succeeds, the
gesture will escalate and it will get to some of us too.
#justlaughingatourfolly
origin from Lagos State to Anambra State by Governor Fashola of Lagos
State. Depending on which side of the fence one is coming from,
Nigerians have criticised and supported action. Governor Peter Obi of
Anambra State has purportedly written to the President against his
colleague from Lagos State, while the latter has claimed his
counterpart should have communicated with him rather than turning the
situation into a media drama.
Hmmm! Drama in deed! I have grown accustomed to these shadow events by
Nigerian politicians who are almost always doing more than they are
showing. Oftentimes, what they show engage us in nonsensical
mudslinging while they get away with other deeper, shielded acts which
are their main intentions ab initio.
Having said these, one notes that there are many sides to this story
itself. First, the Igbo count this as one of the numerous instances of
their marginalisation within Nigeria. Two, being destitutes, according
to both governments neither of which wants these people.
My take: the situation this event presents is that of class rather
than ethnic segregation. It is to this second possibility that I
subscribe.
Why? The answer is simple: the victims are people rejected by both
governments. Lagos State government rejected these people and the
group repatriated earlier, not because they are Igbos but because they
are poor. If the government of Lagos wants Igbo people out of Lagos,
it'll concentrate on richer folks who will abandon property that will
automatically go over to the government. But when it is destitutes
that they are deporting, it is a purely class issue.
On the other hand, the government of Anambra and its people complained
because these folks are poor. Had people like the owner of Coscharis
and other influential businesses in Lagos owned by Igbos come down
from that bus at Onicha, the issue from this side would have been how
their estate would be repatriated from Lagos.
Moreover, we need to bear in mind that these victims didn't commit any
crime other than that they possibly do not have homes. And possibly,
the government of Lagos is more interested in conserving its newly
cultivated parks. The government of Anambra, on the other hand,
obviously do not want to spend its money on these people because of
their refugee situation. They would need money to settle down and the
government may not necessarily know where to put them.
Conclusively, Nigeria is one of the places on earth where welfarism
isn't in any book available to her leaders. It is a place where you
are nothing if you have nothing and you are everything if you have
something. Government in some saner climes is planned in such a way to
help those who have nothing. But here, you are less a citizen when you
have nothing. I've has a first-hand experience too. In Gombe, I
happened on a police security check and was unfortunately in a
commercial tricycle. The young recruit policeman start harassing me
because I took a call on my cell. I refused to come down from the
"keke" and the altercation continued. He kept speaking in Hausa and I
feigned not to know a single word of Hausa. Eventually, a superior
officer asked him to let us go. The next day, I passed in a car at the
same time, with a cell phone held to my ear and the same character
greeted me and waved me through. Ask me again why suicide bombers use
fairly used cars more often - because the police is busy harassing
"okada" and "keke."
Let's stop deceiving ourselves: it is simply about the haves and the
have-nots. If you have, you are somebody and if you don't have, you
are nobody in this place called Nigeria. And if you have, no one wants
to know how you got it.
Warning: If you don't have, be prepared to be deported one day whether
you are Igbo or not. I guess the Anambra government is seriously
looking for some Yoruba folks to deport. And when it succeeds, the
gesture will escalate and it will get to some of us too.
#justlaughingatourfolly
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