THE presidential candidate of the All
Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola
Tinubu, returned to Lagos last Sunday
after emerging his party’s flagbearer in
the presidential primaries that took place
nearly a fortnight ago at the Eagles
Square, Abuja.
The euphoria of his supporters was
truncated at the Adeniji-Adele area of
Isale Eko as Tinubu, a former governor of
the state, departed the palace of the Oba
of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu. Hoodlums and
“area boys”, armed with stones, machetes
and other dangerous weapons, attacked
his convoy, shattering the windows of the
press corps bus and injuring a number of
journalists covering the event.


----This unfortunate act brought back the
memories of the attack on the Oba’s
palace during the mayhem that followed
the #EndSARS riots in October 2020.
Hoodlums had also invaded the royal
palace, desecrated it and carted away
some of the royal trappings and
paraphernalia of the paramount ruler.
Just over a week ago, violent gangs were
also mobilised to disrupt and scare away
intending voters who gathered to register
for their Permanent Voter’s Cards, PVCs,
in the Alaba International Market area.
Non-indigenes were asked to go to their
states and register. This is contrary to the
Constitution and the laws which empower
all Nigerian citizens with the freedom to
vote and be voted for in any part of the
country they reside.

---The threats of violence by armed gangs
have been the strategy used to prevent
Nigerians from exercising their franchise
on the basis of their non-indigeneship.
This was very rampant during the 2019
presidential election in Lagos.
As we start the journey into the
campaigns and other activities towards
electing new leaders at all levels in 2023,
we call on all stakeholders to embrace
peace and amity, respect the rights of
others and obey all laws guiding the
process. This is the only way we can
succeed in our search for the leadership
which can rescue Nigeria from its current
quagmire.


---Those who think they can gain some
political advantages by deploying violence
should know that no one has the
monopoly of it. It is easy to start an
attack, but no one can predict its
outcome.
Nigeria is already bedevilled by different
shades of terrorism as posed by Boko
Haram, Islamic State in West Africa
Province, ISWAP, Ansaru and armed
herdsmen attacking churches, killing
worshippers and carting away helpless
citizens into the wilderness for ransom.
Adding political violence to it could doom
the country and its 2023 agenda.


----Iamwilliamsfx