The Lion called a meeting of all the animals in the forest and proclaimed...."all animals young and old shall prosper as long as you understand and acknowledge that, I, Lion am king of this Jungle..."

All are welcome but Lagos is Yoruba Land. This is an incontrovertible fact.

The inability to grasp this simple concept may have cost GRV his electoral aspiration.

Igbo voters apparently have short memories. Two weeks ago Lagosians turned out en-masse and cast their presidential votes in favour of Peter Obi, Igbo's voted for him because, well...he is Ibo and Yorubas voted for him too because quite frankly they had had enough of Tinubu and wished to send him a message, and heavens forbid Atiku ever becomes president! For a brief moment it seemed all Lagosians were on the same page united by a common will and then.... Igbo voters changed their tune, the Presidential numbers had barely been announced in Obi's favour before the mood soured, emboldened and giddy by Obi's narrow win in Tinubu's backyard, old tropes began to surface and trend...."Lagos is a no man's land" "we developed Lagos" "we are going to capture Lagos" e.t.c.

The Igbo electorate in Lagos mistook what was essentially a Yoruba protest vote against Tinubu and negated the fact that the presidential vote for Obi comprised a sizeable Yoruba vote. It was not the tidal wave of Igbo mass votes that could bring about a landslide in local or Gubernatorial elections. The numbers were simply never there.

Into this toxic mix steps GRV, a gubernatorial contestant of no known antecedents beyond a double-barrelled surname and a mixed heritage. Ordinarily, his mixed heritage should have stood him in good stead aferall, he is of Yoruba and Igbo blood. What could have been better in a state as diverse as lagos? But GRV seemingly went out of his way to malign, alienate and disparage an important segment of the electorate that he professed he wished to govern, his campaign was deemed divisive and dismissive of the Yoruba electorate who were already suspicious of a Non-Yoruba speaking twice failed political lightweight.

On 18th March the bubble burst. Igbo voters felt the full electoral wrath of their seething Yoruba neighbors, miscreants took to the streets, ballot boxes were snatched Igbo voters suppressed and heads were cracked, it was a visceral if shameful expression of determinism by badly educated and ill-informed thugs. However, it was less about voting (GRV was never going to win) but more about sending a message, a reminder if you will, lessons delivered lessons learnt.

All of this said, the Igbos and Yorubas endure, they are merely two sides of the same coin. They represent the most progressive aspect of the nation, and Igbo's are capable of incredible kindness to their Yoruba brethren when the mood takes them and vice-versa. It is the entrepreneurship and economic gravitas of both peoples that has developed Lagos into one of the largest economies in Africa, neither side can afford fratricide The wounds are never deep, we fight and argue one day and the next day we are going to owambe's, long may that continue.

The Yorubas are a fair people, it is well understood in the proper circles that taxation without representation is a recipe for disaster, but, there is a process and there are niceties to observe. One day surely, an Igbo man ..or woman, fully competent, engaging charismatic and respectful of the norms of Lagosians will be governor of Lagos state voted for by the majority of Lagosians simply because he /she is the best person for the job, why? because, that is what we do in Lagos and we will be all the better for it.

But remember, Lagos is Yoruba land and all shall prosper.

indianajones:
The Lion called a meeting of all the animals in the forest and proclaimed...."all animals young and old shall prosper as long as you understand and acknowledge that, I, Lion am king of this Jungle..."

All are welcome but Lagos is Yoruba Land. This is an incontrovertible fact.

The inability to grasp this simple concept may have cost GRV his electoral aspiration.

Igbo voters apparently have short memories. Two weeks ago Lagosians turned out en-masse and cast their presidential votes in favour of Peter Obi, Igbo's voted for him because, well...he is Ibo and Yorubas voted for him too because quite frankly they had had enough of Tinubu and wished to send him a message, and heavens forbid Atiku ever becomes president! For a brief moment it seemed all Lagosians were on the same page united by a common will and then.... Igbo voters changed their tune, the Presidential numbers had barely been announced in Obi's favour before the mood soured, emboldened and giddy by Obi's narrow win in Tinubu's backyard, old tropes began to surface and trend...."Lagos is a no man's land" "we developed Lagos" "we are going to capture Lagos" e.t.c.

The Igbo electorate in Lagos mistook what was essentially a Yoruba protest vote against Tinubu and negated the fact that the presidential vote for Obi comprised a sizeable Yoruba vote. It was not the tidal wave of Igbo mass votes that could bring about a landslide in local or Gubernatorial elections. The numbers were simply never there.

Into this toxic mix steps GRV, a gubernatorial contestant of no known antecedents beyond a double-barrelled surname and a mixed heritage. Ordinarily, his mixed heritage should have stood him in good stead aferall, he is of Yoruba and Igbo blood. What could have been better in a state as diverse as lagos? But GRV seemingly went out of his way to malign, alienate and disparage an important segment of the electorate that he professed he wished to govern, his campaign was deemed divisive and dismissive of the Yoruba electorate who were already suspicious of a Non-Yoruba speaking twice failed political lightweight.

On 18th March the bubble burst. Igbo voters felt the full electoral wrath of their seething Yoruba neighbors, miscreants took to the streets, ballot boxes were snatched Igbo voters suppressed and heads were cracked, it was a visceral if shameful expression of determinism by badly educated and ill-informed thugs. However, it was less about voting (GRV was never going to win) but more about sending a message, a reminder if you will, lessons delivered lessons learnt.

All of this said, the Igbos and Yorubas endure, they are merely two sides of the same coin. They represent the most progressive aspect of the nation, and Igbo's are capable of incredible kindness to their Yoruba brethren when the mood takes them and vice-versa. It is the entrepreneurship and economic gravitas of both peoples that has developed Lagos into one of the largest economies in Africa, neither side can afford fratricide The wounds are never deep, we fight and argue one day and the next day we are going to owambe's, long may that continue.

The Yorubas are a fair people, it is well understood in the proper circles that taxation without representation is a recipe for disaster, but, there is a process and there are niceties to observe. One day surely, an Igbo man ..or woman, fully competent, engaging charismatic and respectful of the norms of Lagosians will be governor of Lagos state voted for by the majority of Lagosians simply because he /she is the best person for the job, why? because, that is what we do in Lagos and we will be all the better for it.

But remember, Lagos is Yoruba land and all shall prosper.

Make your region enviable first before trying to run for position in Lagos. You can’t convince us with words. We work with action.

2mch:

Make your region enviable first before trying to run for position in Lagos. You can’t convince us with words. We work with action.

I hear you