Rhodes-Vivour berates Obasa for attempting to divide Lagos residents
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Labour Party (LP) Lagos governorship candidate Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour has criticised state Assembly Speaker Mudashiru Obasa for proposing to make laws that will protect the property rights of indigenes.
Obasa announced in his Speakership election acceptance speech last week that Lagos is Yorubaland and its lawmakers will enact laws to protect indigenes even if it means reversing existing laws.
Rhodes-Vivour reacted on Twitter to warn him not to divide Lagos residents along ethnic lines.
“By considering this regressive bill, the Speaker disregards the spirit of the Nigerian Constitution and perpetuates a discriminatory system that divides our society along ethnic lines,” he said. per Vanguard reporting.
“The proposed bill undermines the principle of private ownership and could severely affect investment, economic growth, and overall prosperity in Lagos State.
“By considering such legislation, the Speaker is sending a damaging message to local and international investors, discouraging their participation and confidence in the state’s economy.”
Rhodes-Vivour also warned the proposed bill will discourage the participation of local and foreign investors in the Lagos economy.
He urged the state Assembly to instead make laws that will “protect heritage, historical sites, and traditional institutions from political vandalism.
“The speaker of the house announced his intention to make laws to protect indigenes. ‘They will reverse the reversible’ I believe that the time for this ethnic dog whistling must come to an end. With an election that ripped our social fabric, it is time for healing.
“We expect a policy that compensates indigenes for lands seized by the government, education bursaries, and inclusion of an independent traditional institution in governance. Not threats to property rights enshrined in the Constitution.”
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Even Tinubu’s wife, Remi, grouses against Ibos
Obasa was simply replaying the tape of ethnic profiling used during the election earlier this year when those considered non-indigenes were disenfranchised and those among them who turned up to vote were attacked mainly by thugs rented by the All Progressives Party (APC) of Bola Tinubu, who is now President.
In September 2022, Tinubu’s wife, Remi, then a Senator, described “Igbo people” as immigrants in Lagos and said they were ungrateful for being “accommodated”, a weird claim giving that both she and her husband are also not indigenes of the state.
“We will entreat all the deities of Lagos to chase Igbo people out. Igbo who didn’t marry Yoruba, we will inherit them. Given how much we love Igbo, you now want to spoil everything,” Remi said in video posted on social media.
“You are not the only tribe in this place, Hausa are here, we accommodate them, Calabar are here, we accommodate them. But Igbo are proving difficult. We will inherit you.
“Despite the love we have for you… others are here and we accommodated them.”
Remi, now Nigeria’s First Lady, is not more Lagosian than anyone else, let alone some Igbo whose parents were born in the country’s most cosmopolitan state, the only one where tribalism does not play any major role in social mobility.
Bola and Remi not native Lagosians
Wikipedia says “she [Remi] hails from Ogun State” where she attended secondary school. Meaning, Remi’s father was from Ogun. Because her cousin Tee Mac declared publicly in July that both their mothers are “Itsekiri” – meaning, from Delta.
As for her husband Bola, it is public knowledge his father was from Osun, a state still claimed by the son in his political manoeuvrings.
Bola Tinubu was Lagos Governor for eight years, from 1999 to 2007. Remi had been a Senator since 2011 and was in September 2022 a third term Senator, representing Lagos Central in the National Assembly (NASS).