Their latest headache now is Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu and his quest to needle them, prick them and cause them some discomfort in Lagos State. ICHEOKU says try as he may, Bola Tinubu will not succeed, admitted he might cause some harm, using his now newly found alliances up North. But he should be a good student of history and understand that at the end of the day, the just will always triumph, no matter how long the tribulation lasts. So, until he can fully establish that Ndigbo are not Nigerians, with the attendant rights of citizenship therein, including the right to reside and pursue their callings in any part of Nigeria, including Lagos, as bona fide citizens of Nigeria, he is but laboring in vain in his vainglorious pursuit to drive them out of Lagos and confiscate their assets.
Possibly, he is still pursuing the title of Yoruba generalissimo, the Aare Ona Kakanfo, by pretending to be protecting Yoruba people from the encroaching Ndigbo people. A matter which ICHEOKU thought was already nipped in the bud, when he was bypassed by the Alafin Of Oyo, who rebuffed his lobby for title when he gave it to OPC Ganiyu Adams.
ICHEOKU understands that the Jagaban of Borku Land is still smarting about his none conferment with the title and also that no first rate Yoruba Oba has so far recognized him by honoring him with any coveted title of repute, due to his alleged questionable pedigree. Now, he is lashing out from a long pent up and bottled up anger, in a desperate bid to woe the Yoruba Nation, to see in him, a fighter, a protector and a defender in chief of their interest; and found a new piñata and punching bag in Ndigbo Lagos, who are lawfully and legally residing and carrying out their merchandising business in Lagos as of right.
All Bola TInubu will succeed in achieving is to make the Tinubu name a pariah and repulsive name to Ndigbo world wide, it, added to Awolowo and Buhari as well as Gowon. If this is the legacy which he wants to leave behind, let him carry on soldier; but his anti Igbo actions will only last as long as he lives and still remains a powerful politician, but will definitely not outlive him. If such ephemerality is worth tarnishing his family name for eternity, oh well and dandy, like Dame Patience would say, let him KONTINUE; otherwise beating an immediate fast retreat will be advised.
But why Ndigbo Lagos have indulged him and tolerated his awful antics thus far, and have not yet come up with a decisive response to it is rather befuddling. Instead, they have been knee jerky and Tower of Babylon-like with their variegated reactions, some of which are bothering from the insane to the absurd. A product of a traumatized collective psyche, indicative of a people still suffering post war fretting and fidgety syndrome, and seemingly still afraid, confused and helpless, within the Nigeria State. Imagine the panic that developed within the Ndigbo Lagos community, just because Bola Tinubu wanted to be shown some respect and possibly handed a portion of Ndigbo baked pie in Lagos.
ICHEOKU makes bold to state that anti Igbo sentiments in Western Nigeria Yoruba people did not start today nor with Bola Tinubu. It will also not end tomorrow either, because the rivalry between the two Nations, Yoruba and Igbo, is deeply rooted. It has been there since the two Nations' paths crossed and it permeated the general strata of both people. It is a competition for prominence and dominance and who will lead the Southern Nigeria in their face-off against the more united North. This is the simple reason for the rivalry between the two nations in Nigeria. Remember that Gbolahan Mudasiru evicted Ojukwu from Vilaska Lodge and Babatunde Fashola deported some Ndigbo from Lagos. So Tinubu is not doing today what was not done in the past.
The Yoruba man does not like the feeling of being dominated and each time another Igbo man forks out another N150 million to purchase another swamp land plot in Lagos, the Tinubus of Lagos see it as a threat to their ownership of Lagos; because they clearly understand that possession is 9/10th of ownership and that he who owns the land owns the fealty. This is the reason Palestine people are not sold land in Israel, fear of domination. But unlike the Jews of Israel, the Yorubas of Lagos love their owambe and they must find the money to do funerals of their several decades old departed loved ones and it does not matter if it is for the fifth time. Such an easy money can be gotten by turning over a swamp plot to the Igbo man and the circle goes on without any end in sight.
ICHEOKU says it is on record that Obafemi Awolowo used this "palapo" sentiment to sway Yoruba politicians out of supporting Nnamdi Azikwe, who was on the cusp of becoming the premier of Western Region when the Awolowo engineered carpet crossing saw Zik's lead of the Western House of Assembly at Agodi Ibadan, evaporate before his eyes like the early morning dew. Obafemi Awolowo introduced tribalism in Nigeria and used it to deny Nnamdi Azikwe, his earned right to the premiership of Western Nigeria. This tribalistic gamesmanship created the big chasm which still exist today amongst the various Nationalities that are amalgamated in Nigeria, which has made national unity near impossible. Needless to add that Zik angrily left Ibadan and moved back to the Eastern Region House in Enugu and similarly pushed away Eyo Ita from his assured premiership of the Eastern region, thus adding to the disunity in Nigeria.
The same Yoruba benefactor in chief, Obafemi Awolowo, also led the "Starvation is the best instrument of warfare" effort of the then Nigerian government, against Biafrans. A strategy which killed more than 3 million Biafran women and children during the Biafran war, thanks to a heartless demon, but who is nearly deified by Yoruba people. A case of one man's meat another which is another man's poison; as Awolowo can never be forgiven by Ndigbo, not for the callous atrocities which he carried out against the people.
ICHEOKU makes bold to say that Obafemi Awolowo, who is celebrated by the Yoruba Nation as their messiah, will forever be derided by Ndigbo as a devil incarnate, who every Igbo person prays found a very fiery discomfort in the hottest part of hell and will remain there confined, until hell freezes over. The same Awolowo led the indigenization program which privatized foreign companies in Nigeria and auctioned them off to his Yoruba people when he gave Ndigbo only twenty pounds from whatever they had in the banks prior to the war. If these do not sound like an anti Igbo vengeful actions, what else will suffice?
Then let nobody forget that the Western government also introduced the abandoned property saga, which led to many Ndigbo properties being seized in Lagos, Ibadan and other Yoruba Western cities. Prominent among these properties was VIlaska Lodge, 10 Queens Drive Ikoyi, Lagos, which became subject of an extensive litigation between Ojukwu and the Lagos State Government. The disputation went all the way to the Supreme Court (Lagos State Government V. Ojukwu, (1986) 1 NSCC Vol 17), which ruled that citizenship of a country includes the right to own properties and carry on businesses in any part of the country. The court frowned at the speed with which Lagos State Government evicted Ojukwu from the premises, stating that a citizen of Nigeria cannot legally abandon his own property, in his own country and gave Ojukwu back his properties in Lagos State. It is also instructive that upon eviction, that Ojukwu remained homeless outside the perimeter fencing of Vilaska Lodge, until the Supreme Court restored his right to his property.
The Yoruba man does not like the feeling of being dominated and each time another Igbo man forks out another N150 million to purchase another swamp land plot in Lagos, the Tinubus of Lagos see it as a threat to their ownership of Lagos; because they clearly understand that possession is 9/10th of ownership and that he who owns the land owns the fealty. This is the reason Palestine people are not sold land in Israel, fear of domination. But unlike the Jews of Israel, the Yorubas of Lagos love their owambe and they must find the money to do funerals of their several decades old departed loved ones and it does not matter if it is for the fifth time. Such an easy money can be gotten by turning over a swamp plot to the Igbo man and the circle goes on without any end in sight.
ICHEOKU says it is on record that Obafemi Awolowo used this "palapo" sentiment to sway Yoruba politicians out of supporting Nnamdi Azikwe, who was on the cusp of becoming the premier of Western Region when the Awolowo engineered carpet crossing saw Zik's lead of the Western House of Assembly at Agodi Ibadan, evaporate before his eyes like the early morning dew. Obafemi Awolowo introduced tribalism in Nigeria and used it to deny Nnamdi Azikwe, his earned right to the premiership of Western Nigeria. This tribalistic gamesmanship created the big chasm which still exist today amongst the various Nationalities that are amalgamated in Nigeria, which has made national unity near impossible. Needless to add that Zik angrily left Ibadan and moved back to the Eastern Region House in Enugu and similarly pushed away Eyo Ita from his assured premiership of the Eastern region, thus adding to the disunity in Nigeria.
The same Yoruba benefactor in chief, Obafemi Awolowo, also led the "Starvation is the best instrument of warfare" effort of the then Nigerian government, against Biafrans. A strategy which killed more than 3 million Biafran women and children during the Biafran war, thanks to a heartless demon, but who is nearly deified by Yoruba people. A case of one man's meat another which is another man's poison; as Awolowo can never be forgiven by Ndigbo, not for the callous atrocities which he carried out against the people.
ICHEOKU makes bold to say that Obafemi Awolowo, who is celebrated by the Yoruba Nation as their messiah, will forever be derided by Ndigbo as a devil incarnate, who every Igbo person prays found a very fiery discomfort in the hottest part of hell and will remain there confined, until hell freezes over. The same Awolowo led the indigenization program which privatized foreign companies in Nigeria and auctioned them off to his Yoruba people when he gave Ndigbo only twenty pounds from whatever they had in the banks prior to the war. If these do not sound like an anti Igbo vengeful actions, what else will suffice?
Then let nobody forget that the Western government also introduced the abandoned property saga, which led to many Ndigbo properties being seized in Lagos, Ibadan and other Yoruba Western cities. Prominent among these properties was VIlaska Lodge, 10 Queens Drive Ikoyi, Lagos, which became subject of an extensive litigation between Ojukwu and the Lagos State Government. The disputation went all the way to the Supreme Court (Lagos State Government V. Ojukwu, (1986) 1 NSCC Vol 17), which ruled that citizenship of a country includes the right to own properties and carry on businesses in any part of the country. The court frowned at the speed with which Lagos State Government evicted Ojukwu from the premises, stating that a citizen of Nigeria cannot legally abandon his own property, in his own country and gave Ojukwu back his properties in Lagos State. It is also instructive that upon eviction, that Ojukwu remained homeless outside the perimeter fencing of Vilaska Lodge, until the Supreme Court restored his right to his property.
So, ICHEOKU says that Ndigbo merchandizers in Lagos should build on the experiences of Ojukwu at Vilaska Lodge and face down Bola Tinubu squarely, the legal way. They should drag the Lagos State Government and Bola Tinubu to court and let the court resolve their status in Nigeria, if need be. Such an opportunity to resolve whether they are bona fide citizens of Nigeria with the inherent right to reside and carry on business in any part of Nigeria, including Lagos State, must not go to waste.
So, regardless of what Bola Tinubu might do to them or throw at them, to provoke them into action, they should ignore any direct action in response and let the court deal with it. Ndigbo must not play into Bola TInubu's hands and/or accept his bait for a street fight, because they cannot win a pig in a mud fight. Once the court decides whether any Nigerian is more Nigerian than the other, then, Ndigbo's place in Nigeria will become inviolable and will no longer be at the mercy of any one man's lucid intervals nor dictated by his emotional roller coasting waves, his highs and lows.
ICHEOKU therefore advises Ndigbo Lagos merchants to sue Lagos State Government and join Bola Tinubu as a co-defendant, over the constant harassment which are meted to them on a nearly regular basis, at their places of residence and businesses throughout Lagos State, including the Trade Fair Complex. That is how issues are resolved in civilized societies and not through street thugs and motor park touts. The court is a better way of resolving issues in disputation; and if the court of first instance is not favorable, appeal its decision to the next in the hierarchy and up to the Supreme Court. But this morbid fear of Bola Tinubu must stop and stop right now on its tracts.
The continuous fretting about and thrusting hands of frustration in air; frantically bemoaning your fate and accusing Bola Tinubu of all manners of invectiveness must stop. You have a recourse in the courts and you can go there to resolve whatever fear, real or imagined, which is simply deprecate and does not help anybody in the circumstance. Bola Tinubu is not your problem, picking the right course of action is the problem; and you can still make up for the lost grounds by first obtaining an injunction against the adverse parties to stop them from harassing you in your place of businesses and/or shutting down your businesses. If you feel you suffered loses, an action for damages can also follow.
ICHEOKU is emphatic that only greedy and jealous people covet other people's properties and assets. This truism might not be far from the driving factor in the current imbroglio between Ndigbo Lagos merchants and Lagos State Government/Bola Tinubu. The only way to conclusively resolve this impasse is by obtaining a valid subsisting order of court, which will permanently maintain the status quo or order an agreed indefinite terms of a peaceful co-habitation between the two Nationalities. But things cannot continue to go on in its current form, with all the panic and needless uncertainty.
In addition, Ndigbo Lagos can use their large number as a bargaining chip and threaten a boycott of anything and everything with Tinubu's name on it and by proxy of anyone holding on his behest or behalf. His hotels, shopping centers, airline and newspapers will by then be fair game for targeted boycott. But should all these fail to influence his actions, then just wait him out, because at 60 plus years old, age is no longer on his side, as nothing lasts forever. As with every mortal, he too will soon depart this earth, as he has already lived more than he will ever live in the future. Thereafter his departed, normalcy can then be restored once again in Lagos among all and every Lagosians, irrespective of the ethnic tribe which they may come from, that calls Lagos State home. So, until then, let every nwa afor Igbo in Lagos, take it gently.
So, regardless of what Bola Tinubu might do to them or throw at them, to provoke them into action, they should ignore any direct action in response and let the court deal with it. Ndigbo must not play into Bola TInubu's hands and/or accept his bait for a street fight, because they cannot win a pig in a mud fight. Once the court decides whether any Nigerian is more Nigerian than the other, then, Ndigbo's place in Nigeria will become inviolable and will no longer be at the mercy of any one man's lucid intervals nor dictated by his emotional roller coasting waves, his highs and lows.
ICHEOKU therefore advises Ndigbo Lagos merchants to sue Lagos State Government and join Bola Tinubu as a co-defendant, over the constant harassment which are meted to them on a nearly regular basis, at their places of residence and businesses throughout Lagos State, including the Trade Fair Complex. That is how issues are resolved in civilized societies and not through street thugs and motor park touts. The court is a better way of resolving issues in disputation; and if the court of first instance is not favorable, appeal its decision to the next in the hierarchy and up to the Supreme Court. But this morbid fear of Bola Tinubu must stop and stop right now on its tracts.
The continuous fretting about and thrusting hands of frustration in air; frantically bemoaning your fate and accusing Bola Tinubu of all manners of invectiveness must stop. You have a recourse in the courts and you can go there to resolve whatever fear, real or imagined, which is simply deprecate and does not help anybody in the circumstance. Bola Tinubu is not your problem, picking the right course of action is the problem; and you can still make up for the lost grounds by first obtaining an injunction against the adverse parties to stop them from harassing you in your place of businesses and/or shutting down your businesses. If you feel you suffered loses, an action for damages can also follow.
ICHEOKU is emphatic that only greedy and jealous people covet other people's properties and assets. This truism might not be far from the driving factor in the current imbroglio between Ndigbo Lagos merchants and Lagos State Government/Bola Tinubu. The only way to conclusively resolve this impasse is by obtaining a valid subsisting order of court, which will permanently maintain the status quo or order an agreed indefinite terms of a peaceful co-habitation between the two Nationalities. But things cannot continue to go on in its current form, with all the panic and needless uncertainty.
In addition, Ndigbo Lagos can use their large number as a bargaining chip and threaten a boycott of anything and everything with Tinubu's name on it and by proxy of anyone holding on his behest or behalf. His hotels, shopping centers, airline and newspapers will by then be fair game for targeted boycott. But should all these fail to influence his actions, then just wait him out, because at 60 plus years old, age is no longer on his side, as nothing lasts forever. As with every mortal, he too will soon depart this earth, as he has already lived more than he will ever live in the future. Thereafter his departed, normalcy can then be restored once again in Lagos among all and every Lagosians, irrespective of the ethnic tribe which they may come from, that calls Lagos State home. So, until then, let every nwa afor Igbo in Lagos, take it gently.
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Christy 'Apena' Essien-Igbokwe , the wife of Jegede Shokoya of the New Masquerade and Nigeria's lady of songs is dead; she was 51years old. Although her family claimed that "brief Illness" killed her like so many Nigerians; Icheoku retorts that it was most likely AKwa Ibom voodoo and remote control that was used to arrest her. It is on record that she had fallen out with the governor of her native Akwa Ibiom State and have been having a relentless war for political turf with the governor? So who knows whether she was sacrificed to Ekpe cult or even Alusi-Okija as an offal; afterall African science is still very much alive and portent. May her soul rest in peace.
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