ANALYSIS >> Lagos and politics of ‘non-indigenous’ leaders
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, who has hinged his campaign on freedom and entrenchment of true democracy in Lagos politics, said his quest would put an end to the scenario where some federal lawmakers elected from Lagos take all the salaries and allowances to contest for governorship in other states.
Agbaje had during one of his town hall meetings ahead of the governorship election in the state, brought to the fore the issue of how elective tickets in Lagos State are being shared over the years.
Agbaje was indirectly referring to House of Representatives member, Hon. James Faleke representing Ikeja Federal Constituency who was the governorship running mate to late former Governor Abubakar Audu of Kogi State.
After Yahaya Bello was put in place of late Audu by the APC before the concluding part of the governorship election in Kogi towards the end of 2015, Faleke, it would be recalled, was in court for almost a year, claiming he ought to replace the deceased candidate of the party.
Though Faleke did not win in the court, he remained the representative of Ikeja Federal Constituency of Lagos State in the House of Representatives.
Probably this is what PDP gubernatorial candidate Agbaje wants to stop in the event he wins the forthcoming election. But Faleke is not the only one who rode on the wings of Lagos to attain prominence.
The senator representing Lagos West, Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, was a favourite aspirant for Ogun governorship election until he recently withdrew from the race. It wasn’t clear the agreement reached with stakeholders in Lagos and Ogun which prompted his withdrawal.
The PDP in 2015 had more elected representatives in Lagos who were nonindigenes even as many of them are of Igbo extraction.
The Lagos State political terrain is considered the most inclusive and diverse in Nigeria with many nonindigenes aspiring for positions, thus affirming the popular cliché of Lagos being a “no man’s land.”
There have been unending debates over indigeneship in Lagos politics amidst grumbling in some quarters over how non-indigenes are taking over leadership positions in the state.
While it was argued in some quarters that some residents who have lived for more than 20 years in a state and have internalized with them can aspire for elective positions, indigenes are becoming increasingly averse to such suggestions and are beginning to raise a red flag.
But irrespective of what anyone might say, Lagos has evolved to be a model in tolerance and providing an open playing field for everybody to aspire irrespective of where he/she comes from.
Usually issues of indigeneship arise during electioneering. It would be recalled that during the peak of the controversy over Lagos APC primaries, the social media space was awash with reports about Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s paternity being traced to Ondo State. Incidentally, there was never a reference to his origin when the going was good within the ruling party.
The political oligarchy in Lagos controlled by the National Leader of the APC, Sen. Bola Tinubu, has produced many big wigs that have held big positions in the state without being originally from the state.
The case in point was the immediate past governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola who was Commissioner for Works under Tinubu. Even as governor of Osun State for eight years, Aregbesola remains, up till today, in full control of Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State described as the most populated council in Nigeria where the highest number of votes comes from.
The eight years of Tinubu produced countless number of non-indigenes who were appointed either as commissioners, special advisers or special assistants.
With this, Tinubu has deepened his inclusive politics by providing the platform for non-indigenes to contest for primaries and serve as either senators or members of the House of Representatives as well as in the state assembly.
Among those who have enjoyed this inclusiveness
in the current dispensation is Senator Adeola who has secured a second term ticket even though he hails from Ogun State.
In fact, the PDP leader in Lagos, Chief Olabode George, had recently accused the APC leadership of having disdain for Lagosians.
He said APC’s governorship candidate, Babajide SanwoOlu, his running mate, Obafemi Hamza; senatorial candidates for Lagos West and East, Senator Adeola and Hon. Bayo Osinowo are from Ogun State.
He said, “We have two men (Sanwo-Olu and Hamza) handpicked by the emperors. The Sanwo-Olus lived in Lagos for so long but they are from Ijebu Ife. The other one, the father of the deputy is from Ewekoro,” Chief George said.
“Now the disrespect for the indigenes is monumental,” he said. “All the senatorial candidates apart from Mrs. Tinubu who is Edo/Delta, all the other ones are from Ogun State. The East and the West senatorial candidates are both from Ogun State.
“So, we have governorship candidate from Ogun; running mate, Ogun; Senator one from Ogun, Senator two from Ogun. Are the Lagosians not existing? What is right is right. What is wrong is wrong. Our party is not a one-man party, it is a party of people of like-minds,” he added.
But many observers counter the assertion by Chief George, saying such scenario cannot be wished away in a cosmopolitan state like Lagos.
In 2015, the PDP produced three House of Representatives members who are of Igbo extraction. They include Hon. Rita Orji (Ajeromi/Ifelodun); Oghene Emmanuel (AmuwoOdofin) and Tony Nwulu (Oshodi-Isolo II) who recently defected from PDP to United Progressives Party (UPP) to contest the governorship election in Imo State where he hails from.
It is believed that Agbaje got larger percentage of votes among the Igbos in the state especially because of the Goodluck Jonathan’s effect as the former president was obviously the choice of all the Igbos in the 2015 election.
Besides, there are many Yorubas who are not originally from Lagos. Many of them, it was learnt, are also serving as local government chairmen, vice-chairmen and councillors in the state. This, according to analysts, reflects the cosmopolitan setting of Lagos where every Nigerian can settle and do their legitimate businesses.
Political analyst Dr. Kayode Esuola said it is “extremely” difficult to bar nonindigenes from contesting in a cosmopolitan state like Lagos. According to him, what is happening in Lagos State aligns with the provision of the constitution which recognizes citizenship as against indigeneship.
He said, “The question anybody will want to answer is, who is a Lagosian? Is a Lagosian someone born in Lagos or a Lagosian someone who has lived in Lagos, who pays his tax in Lagos, who has his properties in Lagos, whose kids school in Lagos?
“Are you just a Lagosian simply because your father belongs to that Brazilian hegemony in the postcolonial era? These are questions people really want to ask.
“What does the constitution say? The Constitution of Nigeria says very clearly that as a citizen of the country, you have a right and that right is not negotiable, to live and work in any part of the country and you have the right to aspire for political office in any part of the country, that is a matter of law,” he said.
To him, Lagos has become a model for other states to follow. Esuola who teaches Political Science at the University of Lagos, said the issue of indigeneship is a traditional sentiment adding, “people are gradually beginning to respect the law, to superimpose the law against traditional sentiments. Theoretically speaking that, in my view, is a very positive development and Lagos State should not only be commended, other states in the country should also emulate Lagos in a bid for us to achieve national identity”.
From the position of the party, the spokesman of
the APC in Lagos, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, said it would be absurd for anyone to talk about indigeneship in this 21st century especially in a state like Lagos which was the capital of Nigeria for 86 years and many people from all over the country invested in it.
He said, “In the 21st century we should not be asking where somebody is coming from especially in Nigeria. If our people could go to US and hold positions the other day I counted about eight Nigerians in the British Parliament. In America, they don’t know where you are coming from. Lagos was the capital of Nigeria for 86 years and everybody invested here.
“There is no serious Nigerian, no big man in Nigeria that doesn’t have investment in Lagos. You have one or two things to do in Lagos. Just like myself, I have lived all my life in Lagos. I came to Lagos since 1971 and returned in 1974, went to secondary school in the South-East, went to University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I have been here for close to 40 years. All my children were born here. We have to build this country. this place (Lagos) was the capital of Nigeria for 86 years and all Nigerians invested here.
“So, if you give anybody employment or allowed him to vie for anything, the person is not going to carry Lagos on his head to his state. All these primordial sentiments and ethnic preoccupations are holding this nation down and we are not making progress. Do you know that what Igbo people have in Lagos, they don’t have a quarter of it in Igbo land? Even the voting population of Igbo in Lagos is more than 40 per cent but nobody is seeing it. It is high time we threw away primordial sentiment and ethnic preoccupation in our politics”.
Irrespective of the grumbling in some quarters, non-indigenes remain a decisive factor in Lagos politics going by the position of the state as a commercial nerve-centre and melting point for all ethnic nationalities in the country. But analysts opine that the political parties should be able to manage the infusion of non-indigenes into the state politics to keep the peace and douse ethnic tension ahead of the 2019 elections. In all, the state remains a model for others to emulate in deepening national integration devoid of ethnic sentiments.