As Lagosians await the announcement of their new governor after yesterday’s governorship election, the heart of the Oba of Lagos, Rilwanu Akiolu, must be beating very fast.
Akiolu may be held responsible if the reckless comment he made against the Igbo resident in Lagos caused the defeat of his candidate, Akinwunmi Ambode, of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Last week, Akiolu made an unfortunate comment which was akin to cursing the Igbo race resident in Lagos. For substantial part of the week, the comment rankled with the high and mighty, including the state and national APC.
Akiolu invoked the spirits of his ancestors while pouring libation and placed a curse on the Igbo resident in Lagos who would vote against Ambode, saying they would “die in the lagoon.”
He said on tape: “On Saturday, if anyone of you goes against Ambode who I picked, that is your end. If it doesn’t happen within seven days, just know that I am a bastard and it is not my father who gave birth to me.
“[President Goodluk] Jonathan is my son and I speak to him everyday. By the grace of God, I am the owner of Lagos for the time being. This is an undivided chair. The palace belongs to the dead and those coming in the future.
“On Saturday, if anyone of you, I swear in the name of God, goes against my wish that Ambode will be the next Governor of Lagos State, the person is going to die inside this water.
“I’m not ready to beg you. Nobody knew how I picked Ambode. Jimi (Agbaje) is my blood relation and I told him that he cannot be Governor in Lagos for now. The future belongs to God.
“I am not begging anybody, but what you people cannot do in Onitsha, Aba or anywhere, don’t do it here.
“If you do what I want, Lagos will continue to be prosperous for you. If you go against my wish, you will perish in the water.”
Reactions came from different directions – political, religious, social and economic quarters.
Those who have taken exception to Akiolu’s umbrage include President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari; former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu; Ambode himself; Ndigbo Lagos Secretariat; Ohanaeze Ndigbo; the Peoples Democratic Party; Jimi Agbaje Campaign Office; Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN).
Lagos APC spokesman, Joe Igbokwe, my brother and an unrepentant Yoruba apologist, issued a statement pleading with the Igbo to forgive Akiolu over “his slip of tongue.”
He urged them “to bury the hatchet in the interest of peace and harmony, considering the long standing relationship that had existed between the Igbo and the Yoruba since the inception of Nigeria.
“No human being is above mistake. People can make mistakes and correct them thereafter. [Akiolu] can make a mistake and we believe that the statement credited to him was a mistake. If to err is human, we plead with Ndigbo to let the sleeping dogs lie.
“Akiolu is not a card-carrying member of the APC. He is not a leader in the APC. He does not speak for the APC. He did not speak for Governor [Babatunde] Fashola of Lagos State. He did not speak for our national leader, Bola Tinubu. He did not speak for Ambode.
“Akiolu is at liberty to speak for himself and he spoke for himself only. Lagos APC appeals to Ndigbo not to take the statement as the position of the party in Lagos.
“We passionately appeal to Ndigbo not to carry the statement credited to Akiolu too far so as not to put a knife on things that have held us together for more than 50 years. If out of annoyance you throw your cap away, a mad man will take it and use it forever.
“A lot is at stake in Lagos. Lagos has been fair to Ndigbo and Ndigbo have reciprocated by taking Lagos as their home no matter whose ox is gored. Lagos APC believes that Ndigbo will not burn the bridges because of this minor setback.”
Akiolu’s comments show a traditional ruler who relishes in playing God, and appears to have diarrhea of a conscience laced with hate and bottled up paranoia.
His comment reminds one of some of the “mad” monarchs of the old, like Ludwig II of Bavaria, who said: “I wish to remain an eternal enigma to myself and others.”
It reminds me of Louis XIV of France, popularly called the Sun king, who believed that “his courtiers and France should revolve around him like planet.”
Those familiar with the tale of the first Tsar of all Russia called Ivan IV (The Terrible), whose nickname in Russia implies “imposing or threatening more than evil” can draw a nexus between him and Akiolu if we are sincere with what he in good conscience said concerning the Igbo.
By threatening the Igbo with the lagoon, we are reminded of how Ivan “took great pleasure in bringing members of the nobility to heel through torture and sadistic executions.”
But there were a few mad monarchs history cannot completely forget.
They include Augustus Caesar, famous for his Pax Romana (Peace of Rome), in whose reign diplomacy flourished in Rome; and Cyrus II of Persia (Cyrus the Great) under whose reign human rights and military strategy were greatly improved.
Ordinarily, our traditional institutions should be part of the bedrock of Nigeria’s democracy. In the pre-independence years, our monarchs were accorded some degree of respect and recognition that saw most of them playing active roles in moulding society.
Today, the story is different, perhaps because there is no prescribed role for traditional rulers in the Constitution.
But even at that, many had made cases for the traditional institutions to be given a pride of place in our day to day administration, by carving out a role in the Constitution for them.
But is it not becoming obvious that monarchs may be worse than politicians in terms of standing justice, equity and fair play on the head, going by the Akiolu example?
Akiolu, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, ought to be versed in human right issues. But he may not have lived up to what his pedigree demands going by his comment on the Igbo. He should be held accountable if Ambode loses the election.
When those who ought to know play God and arrogate to themselves the powers they do not have, it beats the imagination.
Who told Akiolu that Lagos is responsible for the prosperity of the Igbo residing here? Can we also say Lagos is to blame for those who are not prospering here?
How can he prove that it is the god of Lagos, rather than Amadioha, Uramurukwa, Ala Ogwuama, Ala Nweoriekpa, Onu Akpaka, Ogwugwu, Ala Ogbaga and other sundry gods in Igboland who are paving the way for prosperity for the Igbo and those who believe in their potency?
And where is the God Almighty, the Supreme Being in all these? I mean the Creator of heaven and earth and the rightful owner of the lagoon Akiolu is boasting with? Would Akiolu have emerged Oba if God had resisted or rejected him?
Until we learn to respect the dignity of human beings and believe that the death of one diminishes all of mankind, we are still living in the community of beasts.
My worry is that Akiolu’s comment will transcend the election. Some people are unrepentantly ethnic irredentists and would do anything to remain so. It is worse when what you hear comes from unexpected quarters.
There are some Yoruba landlords would never rent their property to an Igbo, and some Yoruba employers who will never give jobs to an Igbo.