Halting the Developing Ethnic Crisis in Akure

All stakeholders must come together to stop the emerging tension between the Igbo and indigenes of Akure to avoid any escalation to a bigger crisis, writes Vincent Obia

The cold war in Akure between the town’s paramount ruler and the leader of the Igbo community is a rare instance in which Igbos living outside their native land can probably be said to have problems with their host communities due to alleged disrespect for the latter’s traditional institutions. It is a rarer occasion still of the Igbo being accused of challenging the traditional authorities of places where they live and ply their trades. But the word on the street is that the paramount ruler of Akure is held in contempt by the Igbo in the town. Some even allege that Igbos are motivated by an ethnic ambition to set up a chieftaincy institution parallel to that of the paramount ruler. Igbos in Akure deny these allegations.

Nonetheless, the whole scenario mirrors the old fault-lines in the makeup of the Nigerian nation. What began as a disagreement over the leadership of a traders’ association soon widened into ethnic divisions, with all the potential for becoming the source of a drawnout conflict. Governor Olusegun Mimiko has, reportedly, initiated measures, alongside the palace of the Deji of Akure, to settle the rifts. Leaders of the various communities must join hands with one another to nip the emerging confusion in the bud. They should address the crisis from the root.

But occasions like this also offer critical reminders and useful lessons to Nigerians on the need to help suture, rather than open, the old wounds that have all too often hindered national cohesion.

The trouble in Akure was said to have started at Mojere Market, a spare parts arcade in the town peopled largely by Igbo traders. The market union had traditionally been headed by Igbos. But some Yoruba elements from Akure were said to have sought a change in the pattern of leadership. They wanted one of their own, rather than an Igbo, to lead the market association. Bickering over how to bring about this change, it was gathered, was what basically snowballed into the whole tension.

To try to resolve the disagreements, the Deji of Akureland, Oba Ogunlade Aladetoyinbo, according to reports, had invited to his pal- ace the Eze Ndigbo, Mr. Gregory Iloehika. In the course of the discussions at the Oba’s palace, Iloehika was alleged to have said and done things that offended the paramount ruler. This, allegedly, made the indigenes angry. And it elicited tough reactions from the Oba.

The Oba, reportedly, dethroned Iloehika as leader of the Igbo community in Akure and ordered him to stop wearing any form of crown. He banned the title of Eze Ndi Igbo in Akureland and ordered a review and replacement of the title with what he termed a non-controversial honorary title. The Deji demanded an open apology from Iloehika that should also be published in the media.

The Oba was alleged to have set the above as minimum conditions for the Igbo to continue to ply their trade in the Ondo State capital.

The latest tensions in Akure have once again raised the issue of nationality and conflict in the post-independence Nigerian space. Truth is that Nigeria, a country of about 250 ethnic groups and approximately 500 indigenous languages, is naturally segregated. But the various peoples that make up the country can remain positively segregated. They can live together in harmony by mutually respecting the cultures and traditions of one another. In the particular instance of the Akure disagreements, the leader of the Igbo community does not have any justification to show a lack of respect for the traditional authority in the town. Law and morality demand that citizens subject themselves to such institutions and society treats them with respect.

But the rather draconian measures against the Igbo leader, allegedly, listed by the Akure traditional establishment do not seem to be a good way to settle the problem, normalise the situation in the town, and achieve better collaboration between all parties involved. While the paramount ruler of Akure may give all residents and groups in his territory dimensions on how to operate, and in fact, refuse association with any community leader that does not conform to the cultural norms, it does not seem proper to proscribe stools or titles that are traditional to a people. This is, particularly, when such titles are universal and bear no imprimaturs of terror, as well as have their origins in the native lands of the people that have them.

Akure, like many other cities in Nigeria, has for ages hosted a plurality of ethnicities that have dwelled and worked harmoniously together. The latest misunderstanding should not be allowed to damage relations between the indigenes and the Igbo community. All hands must be on deck to deescalate the tensions and rebuild relationships based on trust.