LP presses Tinubu to speak out against violence for peace to reign
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Bola Tinubu has been pressed by the Labour Party (LP) to publicly condemn attacks against and intimidation of Igbos in different parts of Lagos aimed at preventing them from voting in the governorship and state Assembly elections this Saturday.
LP spokesman Yunusa Tanko said the loud silence by the President-elect over the continuous ethnic profiling and hate propaganda against Igbos in Nigeria’s most populous state is dangerous for the country’s corporate existence.
He said Nigerians expect Tinubu as a leader and former Lagos Governor to have spoken out against threats and intimidation against the Igbo and other ethnic groups in the state.
He expressed regret that Tinubu’s silence supports the impression in many quarters that “he is the main enabler” of the attacks to suppress voters.
Tanko alerted him there is life outside politics, and the ethnic propaganda war against Igbos and other tribes in Lagos could escalate into a national strife hard to contain.
He reminded Tinubu that his failure to call to order the Yoruba people in the South West, who are majorly his supporters, also gives the impression that The New York Times is right in describing him as a divisive character.
“We are worried over what could become of Nigeria, especially grave danger to ethnic war against other tribes, if he presides over Nigeria as its President,” Tanko said in a statement.
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Reminders of Hitler and Rwandan genocide
“We must be reminded that when Hitler started with Communists, everyone kept quiet, he descended on Catholics, everyone kept quiet and he descended on Jews, everyone kept quiet because he was not Jewish, until Hitler descended on all,” Tanko added, per reporting by Vanguard.
“The story about the Rwandan example is too gory to contemplate. But, the way things are going in Lagos State, where Tinubu is also said to be a settler, shows that Rwanda can happen in Nigeria.
“This also serves a warning to all concerned citizens, brothers nationwide that Nigeria is one and no any tribe should be a targets, for political gain.”
On claims Tinubu does not want to speak out in a way that may favour his All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign strategy, Tanko countered that “statesmanship, more than any virtue, is a sine qua non for harmony in a plural society like ours.
“If I am Tinubu, I will call my supporters to order and reduce acrimony. For God’s sake, where is the unity in victory, albeit contested?
”Why is Lagos election a do or die for a President-elect? This a bad omen. Perhaps, Tinubu is angry that majority of voters in Lagos did not vote for him.”