The real issue in the 2023 edition of Nigeria’s elections is the opportunity it created for the understanding of the mindset of cavemen in the country, especially those bred in Lagos, that appear like humans because they are dressed in the sort of robes that actual humans are dressed in. Those cavemen were dumped somewhere by civilization. They were exhumed for March 18 and unleashed on humans who had moved on with civilization. You call them thugs but they are cavemen. Some persons unearthed them, stuffed their brains with cotton wool, fed them the dregs of a meth production process and introduced them into spaces occupied by humans. And, sadly, they still roam the streets waiting to be used again in 2027 to advance a war that is needless, meaningless and useless and serves no actual purpose. They are a menace because Nigerian laws are impotent.
Let me put it this way. I was a student in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1992. This was during the presidency of Daniel Arap Moi of the Kenya African National Union (KANU). I saw Kenya transit from a one-party democracy to a multi-party democracy with Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenneth Matiba, and Mwai Kibaki and the rest contesting for power against Moi. The first multiparty election, which KANU won, expanded ethnic animosities among Kenyans and led to tribal ‘wars’, especially in the Rift Valley region. Hundreds, including children and day-old babies, were decimated and killed. Farms and businesses were destroyed. Houses were burnt and people were set several years back. As a student, I was surprised that a mere election could lead to such bloodshed and destruction. I beat my chest and boasted to fellow students (Kenyans, Ugandans and Tanzanians) that such could never happen in Nigeria. Almost 30 years later, I am proved wrong. It happened in Nigeria, eventually, though on a lesser scale. Could this be the end of it? No way! It will happen again because the signs are all over as they have always been.
Cavemen who are led by shadows, chase shadows and overlook reality. These cavemen created the delusional narrative that the Igbo people wanted to take over Lagos State. They credit the Igbo with “Lagos is no man’s land,” without producing proof. But the major reason for this was the loss of Lagos State by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the presidential election. Agreed that the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) is Igbo, that is, however, no scientific proof, mathematical truth or logic to conclude that all the votes for LP in the presidential election were cast by Igbo people only. Similarly, there are no scientific proofs to suggest that all the votes won by the APC candidate in Lagos were cast by the Yoruba only. So, the cavemen who manufactured that illogic were intentionally deliberate in singling out the Igbo for the loss of Lagos by the APC in the presidential election. The aim is clearly obvious. And it happens every four years. It was a psy-ops to create an anti-Igbo narrative that may fuel the grounds for genocidal acts. But what they do not know is that, in the quest for power, there are more Yoruba people, indigenes of Lagos and others, who look forward to wresting control of Lagos (a more than N700 million IGR economy) from the current holders. Those ones are not sleeping. They are working.
Unfortunately, those cavemen fail to realise that the status of Lagos evolved long ago. And it is still evolving. Though situated in Yorubaland, Lagos has become a cosmopolitan city and, as Nigeria’s business capital, has grown to become a centre of commerce, attracting people from all walks of life, even aliens. In the next 50 years, many will not speak of Lagos as a Yoruba state but as a megacity and business hub in Africa that will bring people of different nationalities who will not only build or buy homes there but will also inter-marry and get involved in all aspects of its life, including politics, much the same way people of all tribes live and get involved in the life and politics of all great cities of the world.
So, the earlier the cavemen begin to see this unfolding reality, the better they will bring themselves to manage the pain that will eventually come from the transformation Lagos into a global city where everyone who is interested in politics would seek to express their freedom just like Olukemi Olufunto ‘Kemi’ Badenoch did when she entered the race for the prime ministership of the United Kingdom even while she was still Secretary of State for Business and Trade; or like Chuka Umunna did when he also aspired to lead a kingdom, which now has Indian and Pakistani blood leading its political life. The closest indication Lagos has of this reality is the fact that the political leadership of Lagos has majorly been dominated by persons whose parents migrated from towns and villages outside a place that has now become the centre of excellence.
The evolving status of Lagos State, therefore, makes it imperative that Nigeria does not allow cavemen to scuttle a dream that could change the migration index and direct most African migrants to the state. For instance, the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical complex will attract thousands of skilled workers to Lagos. The prospect for growth is huge. Many of the workers will eventually settle in Lagos, inter-marry, raise new families and become the new Lagosians, just like many Yoruba, Igbo, Ijaw, etc, are doing in many cities of the world. The Eko Atlantic City is also a project that will draw into the cosmopolitan status of Lagos. Huge as it is, its prospects of bringing the Nigerian and global bourgeoisie into a new permanent settlement ought not to be destroyed by the myopia of caveman. In 2022, the Nigerian government granted citizenship to 286 foreigners, including “Americans, Europeans, North and South Koreans and Australians”. This adds to Nigeria’s status as a member of the global village, which is accentuated by the unfolding of Lagos as a village of the global community. At least, that is the next big picture for Lagos. Sadly, cavemen who are used to illusions lack the capacity to see the bigger picture. That is why they are stuck in their illusory world where minds are governed by shadows.
The future of Lagos needs protection from cavemen living in present times and masquerading as advocates of nationalism. Lagos will eventually be inhabited by people from different countries, ethnic and linguistic groups. These people will have only one tribe –the tribe of forward-looking humans who want to offer the best to themselves, and also live by the best. That is why it is a cosmopolitan city. But cavemen do not know this because they are led not to see and work for the next big picture.