NIGERIA: TIME TO TERMINATE THE THOUGHTLESS THREATS OF THUGS AND TOUTS
By Bala Ibrahim
Nigeria earned the name the Giant of Africa for a number of reasons, amongst which is its vast land, diverse peoples, huge population and its enormous oil and other natural resources. Nigeria also made name because of the volume and value of its professionals abroad, leading to the regular applauds it receives, for the works of its sons and daughters under the platform of the Nigerian Professionals in Diaspora, NPID.
Within the six geopolitical regions of Nigeria, the south west, always prides itself as the first beneficiary of western education, because, the first form of Western education system in Nigeria started in 1842, in Badagry and Abeokuta, by the Christian missionaries, who opened the first primary school there. From the south west also, came Professor Aliu Babatunde Fafunwa, the first Nigerian Professor of Education. As Minister for Education, Professor Fafunwa was in charge of the biggest school system in Africa.
History is also giving credit to the south west, for producing late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who introduced the free and compulsory education program in Western Nigeria, in 1955. But despite this long shopping list of firsts, to the credit of the south west in terms of western education, the south west, knowingly or unknowingly, is permitting itself to be mentioned by history, as the reservoir of people with crude approach to the problems of contemporary politics.
Because of the special advantage they have in Western education, the people of south western Nigeria, are suppose to lead in activities that are associated with making decisions on power relations among the member states of Nigeria, as well as in the distribution of power and resources. Yes, they ought to be so politically polished, because of the advantage they have in Western education. They should be leaders in research across a range of substantive areas, including the study of the Politics of democratic states and that of authoritarian states. However, for some bizarre reasons, the reverse seems to be the case, on a number of occasions. Why?
Last week, a group of people, mostly members of the Nigerian community from the south west, that are resident in the UK, besieged No 10, Downing Street, London, the official residence of the British Prime Minister, under the leadership of a Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Igboho, asking the UK government to consider the creation of a Yoruba nation. That action came with two embarrassments to Nigeria, I think.
The first is the personality of the leader of the agitation, when perused through the prism of the region he came from in Nigeria. The second is the timing of the protest, when juxtaposed with the where about of the Nigerian President, H.E. Bola Ahmed Tinubu. As of the time of the presentation of the request, the President was either in London, or reportedly, on his way out of London for Paris. To call for the balkanization of a country, at a time when the officially recognized leader of the country is out of the country, and on holiday in the country of request, is not only demeaning, but humiliating to the constitutional leader. More so, when the leader and the agitators are from the same geopolitical region of the recognized country.
No wonder the Federal Government was quick to react, by dismissing the move and the reports claiming that the United Kingdom endorsed the petition. In a statement, put out by the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb Eche Abu-Obe, the Government described the whole thing as highly misleading:
“Following media reports on the petition submitted at No. 10, Downing Street by Mr Sunday Adeyemo popularly known as Sunday Igboho, the British High Commissioner in Abuja was invited to shed light on the issue. During the meeting, the High Commissioner noted with concern that the matter was overblown, indicating that the media reports were highly misleading.”- Amb. Eche Abu-Obe.
It may interest the reader to know that Sunday Igboho is inconsequential, when the issue at hand has anything to do with formal education. Igboho is not amongst the people of the south west that can be described as having or showing a rational, modern, or well informed outlook. He is simply benighted. Yet, he is agitating for the freedom of the South West. In October 2023, Sunday Igboho was released in Benin where he had been arrested after fleeing the police in Nigeria in 2021.
In an article written by Tayo Mabeweje, he expressed his dismay thus: “What is most concerning about the entire situation is not just the predictable rejection by the UK, but the fact that a figure like Igboho—a self-styled freedom fighter with no formal education or understanding of governance—has been able to rise to such prominence. This speaks volumes about the failures within certain sectors of the Nigerian society that allow individuals like Igboho, a political thug, to spearhead movements of such a serious nature”.
On Monday, October 25, 1993, a Nigerian Airways Airbus A310 flight from Lagos to Abuja was hijacked by 4 teenagers, aged 16 and 18, namely: Richard Ogunderu, Kabir Adenuga, Benneth Oluwadaisi, and Kenny Rasaq-Lawal. All of them were from the south west and members of the Movement for the Advancement of Democracy (MAD). Shortly after that embarrassing episode, came the birth of the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, which was formed in 1994, to promote the Yoruba people and their culture. The leader of the Congress is called Ganiyu Adam, another man with deficit in formal education. Their mission is an autonomous state for the Yoruba people.
The question begging for answer is, where are the Yoruba elites, with the accomplishments, comprehension, vision, and the desired respect that could be taken seriously by everyone, including the international community? Why should an educationally advantaged people, permit mediocres to be thoughtlessly thinking for it, sometimes with threats?
Indeed the time has arrived, for the termination of such thoughtless threats by thugs and touts.
NIGERIA: TIME TO TERMINATE THE THOUGHTLESS THREATS OF THUGS AND TOUTS