By Sunny Igboanugo

Let me start this story with a digression. All the same it’ll be relevant and tied to the main import of the subject matter. It happened some decades back. Then yours truly was the Correspondent of The Guardian in Enugu. But I was quite influential – as influential as journalists in those days were – a small man in a powerful garb. Working with The Flagship of Nigerian journalism made you even more so – an important man. Its identity opened steel doors and elevated you to sit at table with the high and mighty, who not only respect you, but fear you too.

But much as I operated at that top level, again to emphasise, not by my power, but on the wings of that powerful medium, I didn’t entertain myself with the seducing thought that I had arrived at the port of destination for the Nigerian big man. I still recognised where I truly belonged. That place was with the people

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So, I could safely say I was at the centre of activities, not only in that state, but even much of the South East in general given the strategic place of Enugu. In fact, my office at Number 23 Edinburgh Road, was the accurate example of what the late Igwe Osita Agwuna depicted to be the picture of palace of a true king. Such a palace, he said should never be surrounded with a wall, to enable both humans and spirits have free ingress in and egress out.

I remember the likes of Asisi Asobie, the President of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), who used it as their war room to plot their battles with Umoru Gomwalk, then Sole Administrator of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) – one of the many outlandish features of the Sani Abacha junta, arguably, Nigeria’s most despotic and brutal military leader.

Politicians, visiting and resident, professionals, visiting and resident – all manner of people strolled in, individually either to meet and greet or engage in other businesses. Labour leaders, students and their leaders, injured citizenry – everyone came to meet and greet, lay their complaints, submit their petitions or engage in other businesses.

That is how I came across the story I’m about to narrate now. Sometime within this period, Enugu was awash with some of the most bizarre tales, ever conceived and contemplated by human mind. It was a period of mindless police brutality. It came in different forms, shapes and sizes. Many of them came to my table as victims sought solutions.

In one instance, one of my cousins came to my office one afternoon, highly agitated. What was the problem? A squad of policemen swooped on their compound the previous night and picked up two of his elder brothers, he narrated, tears welling up. What did they do? Nothing! Police just sighted them sitting idly in front of their house and dragged them into their vehicle and sped off.

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Immediately, I ascertained where they were being detained, I set off. At the Abakpa police station, the DPO, put up the usual deadpan no-nonsense expression – their entry point for business. His story was that my cousins were raided at a “dark spot,” where they were smoking Igbo. For evidence, he called on one of his men to bring the “exhibit.” Soon an empty can of shoe polish was produced. Opening it, the DPO displayed stubs of wrapped, half-finished hemps.

Of course, I wasn’t a novice. I understood the picture clearly and what he was driving at. But I was also prepared. I betrayed no emotions. In my mind I was already calculating the number of times the same exhibit would have been on display in so many other cases. So, my next line was to ask what would be the next step.

Can I take them on bail? That was my next move as I decided to play along. I knew what to expect toeing this line, having been a customer in terms of how many times I intervened in other similar cases. I could see the self-induced anger. I wasn’t showing the right attitude expected of one whose wards were criminals. After all he had shown me the evidence in the stubs of Indian hemps, which was supposed to convince me to that effect. I was too relaxed and confident instead of being scared, diffident and panicky.

I watched him flare up and go into self-induced rage. As he vibrated on top of his voice, almost accusing me of being their patron in crime, I just stood up and walked out of his office. The unschooled would have started begging. That pretended anger was supposed not only to cow, but to deflate me and set me on for the next thing – negotiation.

I simply went upstairs to see the Area Commander who was a friend of the media and particularly my personal buddy. After giving me the usual chummy welcome, he simply burst into hearty laughter halfway into my narration of the encounter downstairs. You no tell am who you be? I knew and my friend knew that I understood everything. There had been so many debates and encounters between us about the subject matter for him not to understand where I was coming from.

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He simply put a call to the supposed angry DPO and invited him to the party? I could see the shock in his eyes as he walked into the office to witness the hearty, convivial atmosphere between the man he had just walked out of his office and his boss. You no know Sunny from the powerful Guardian? Sunny is our friend o. Na him dey help us fight crime now!

That did it. I not only left that office with my cousins, the supposed criminals much later, I left as a friend of the same man, who had almost called me a patron of criminals just some hours earlier. There was no need for us to push the subject. All of us knew that no crime was committed. I agreed with my new friend that profiling was part of crime-fighting – his drift and excuse for his previous action. I also agreed on the enormity of crime and the need to employ peculiar solutions in peculiar circumstances to fight crimes. I just had to agree – just for peace to reign.

Each of us knew the true story. He knew I didn’t believe him. It would have been a different story if I wasn’t from the powerful Guardian, with a friend upstairs. With someone else, that allegation could have stood and those “exhibits” in the shoe polish can would have counted. In fact, it could have graduated from smoking Igbo to armed robbery or any other imaginable crimes, for which those my cousins could have added to the list of Awaiting Trial Mates in some prison somewhere if they failed to do the needful.

Those exhibits stood in so many other numerous cases as proofs against several victims that were so unlucky at that time. The case I just narrated, is one of the countless other cases that came in different shapes and forms at that time. Imagine a case in which policemen would hire a commercial bus, arrive at a bus-stop and pick passenger, only to discharge them at police stations as criminals.

Those who could not afford the prescribed amount – N500, N1,000 or N5,000, depending on the going price for the day imposed as bail fees, simply became true criminals and were detained permanently. Nobody even had the heart for pity to free anyone – you’re just a commodity – too bad if you had no money – your fault, not theirs.

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I won’t be surprised if many of them are still in prison till date, victims of trumped-up charges. It was when I was so inundated with multiple complaints in this regard that I upped the ante. One day I decided to see the police commissioner. Unlike the Area Commander, the CP was not truly a friend, but unlike the DPO, he was also not uncouth or unfriendly either.

In the paper I filled, I had deliberately tagged my purpose for the visit: Police Brutality in Enugu. It was after a long back and forth, questions and answers, arguments and counters, that the police boss, told me what I’m about to share with you now, my compatriots, which I believe is quite germane in what we are contending with as a country today, at this moment – evidence!

Here is what he said. Hope you have the heart to contain it. Laugh or cry, if you would! “If you truly want to be a patriotic citizen, there is only one way to help the police,” he said. I waited. Then the bombshell. “If you see any policeman bullying anybody taking bribe or engaging in any fraud, drag him to me and see if I won’t punish him.”

I simply stood up, looked hard into his face and walked out. Of course, I took in the smirk in his face and the smile playing at the corners of his lips. They spoke more than words. They were signs of triumphant expression. He believed that he had won the argument and defeated me, his opponent. Now imagine me, an ordinary, bloody civilian dragging a policeman with a gun, probably high on something, by his trousers to his boss to prove that was taking bribe. Tell me the difference between that and jumping from the last floor of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. 

This is the case of Dele Farotimi today. The mantra in certain quarters since the palaver with the fiery activist erupted on December 3, when he was spirited away from his office in Lekki part of Lagos, is that he must prove his case that the Nigerian judiciary as an institution is rotten. Many of those elevating this mantra to a deafening din, know that the institution is as rotten as the bloated stomach of a dead dog. Yet, they sing along.

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They pretend they didn’t hear Ahmed Bulkachuwa – that Senator who regaled the whole world through the Senate chambers during the 2023 valedictory session about how he “encroached on the freedom and independence” of his wife. They pretend they did not understand that the man was simply relating his hand in making his wife, a judge, who later rose to preside over the Court of Appeal to bend backwards to skew justice, just to “help” his colleagues.

They probably did not hear Rochas Okorocha, another Senator, who also pled with Godswill Akpabio and Ahmed Lawn at the same forum to teach him the magic that made them return to the Red Chambers. They’re probably struck with Mongolian Idiocy Syndrome, not to know what the ex-Imo governor and their colleague was driving at was pointing to the manifest corruption in the judiciary – the same crime for which Farotimi now his neck on the guillotine.

Recall that Akpabio, now Senate President and Lawan, each contested against President Bola Tinubu in the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the National Assembly and against the backdrop of a clear law barring them from contesting any other election within the same election period, returned to contest for the same chambers. Has anyone explained that magic Okorocha, Senator from Imo State sought yet?

Less than 24 hours after the Supreme Court verdict on the 2023 presidential election, Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammed, only next in command to then Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Ayo Ariwoola, captured almost the same thing Dele did, only that he did not mean it when he said that the judiciary leadership stank, but was only saying that it didn’t smell roses. So, they are in search of evidence.

Just like that police boss that demanded of me to drag corrupt policemen to him before he could take the required action to save the citizens of Enugu from their nightmare, Farotimi’s adversaries, many of them the lawyers through whom the massive corruption in the judiciary has been caried out are also searching for the same thing – Proof! They, like the Enugu police boss know what they seek is almost impossible.

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They know the only way Farotimi could prove the rot is to perhaps round up the culprits at the crime scene. In other words, they want him to drag the corrupt, bribe-taking policemen to that police boss. How would he do that? You could always also recognise the same triumphant smirk, mimicking that police boss as I left his office in utter disgust as they demand of the same EVIDENCE, today. Just like that day!

Well, by their standard and prediction, Dele’s day with the jailor is assured. But by the time Dele walks into the jail house, chained arms and legs, because he had no evidence, the mantra of these antagonists would have been complete. So, their joy. But to many others, the clanging sound of the chains would also be a reminder that Nelson Mandela and many other global greats, also walked this path, heads unbowed.

Interestingly, many of those who cheered and jeered to the melody from the chains, as he took that walk to Roben Island, in South Africa, also lined up to witness a different melody as the same man waltzed through the same path, 21 years after, this time, without the chains – the melody of thunderous ovations and the clatter of excitedly eager tongues. Though some of them were denied the chance of witnessing it, their children represented them. Only this time, they watched with heads, bowed!

So, it might be with Dele Farotimi. Those who cheer and jeer today in triumphalism, should not be quick to forget that even in Nigeria, there are a surfeit of examples to authenticate that inscription on the body of that lorry labouring through the ditches on Lagos-Benin expressway – No Condition is Permanent. So might it be with Dele. The irony of life!

My name is Sunny Igboanugo and I’m The Tiny Voice!

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Sowore is putting every spin to turn the table against Peter Obi using the Farotimi case. He wants to exploit it to gain cheap political popularity.

In his little mind, he believes Obi is his albatross and once he’s out of the way he’ll be the natural replacement and most probably inherit the massive support of the Obidents.

Such asinine childishness. So, he’s worked very hard at it, introducing all manner of innuendos and direct attacks in his attempt to skew the minds of the people.

Imagine his suggestion that the reason the Ekiti Court delayed granting bail to Farotimi is because Obi visited Afe Babalola “to beg.” Of course, he failed to provide the “HOW” of such a spurious position.

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Like Reno Omokri, his half-self, he believes his audience should either take his word for it or figure the rest out for themselves. But the bottomline, is that Obi must go as a sellout to be replaced by Sowore the Rock of Gibraltar. He wants to take over.

Like many of his ilk, he fails to understand that Obi is what he is because of a single element – sincerity. The people who believe in and follow him know that he doesn’t lie or attempt to deceive them.

Unlike Sowore and Reno his half-self whose every public move is laced with subterfuge, half-truth, outright lies and deceit, Obi’s followers can predict that his intentions are pure and genuine even if they don’t agree with the method.

Of course, being human, there’s no way he’ll get it right in all cases and all the time. So, that margin of error must be allowed, not as a way of betrayal but a natural human failing.

Take the case in question. Farotimi was so supportive and inebriated in the Obi project that he became one of his campaign spokesmen.

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Till his current ordeal, he still professed his belief in the Obi idea of a New Nigeria. He has given countless reasons for this choice including why he dumped the same Sowore and embrace the Obi project.

On the other hand, Afe Babalola is also believed to be his (Obi’s) supporter as well, though apparently not as virulently as Farotimi, which invariably qualifies him as an ally in the New Nigeria project.

So, in Sowore’s infantile mind, it’ll be wrong for Obi to troubleshoot in a situation in which two of his allies in the same project are in dispute regardless what’s in issue?

In other words, not plunging into blind support for one party over the other is the harakiri Obi has committed – that Obi should have either drawn his bayonet and driven it though the heart of the legal luminary to show his solidarity or taken newspaper adverts to castigate him?

So, today, if Farotimi also takes on Ayo Adebanjo, the Leader of Afenifere, who staked everything including his high position of Yoruba leadership to support an Igbo man, perhaps over a church dispute between them, Obi should abandon every other option and join in the roforofo fight?

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To prove what, please? On the other hand if Farotimi institutes a legal case against Obasanjo another of Obi’s allies, over personal wrongdoing as President, Obi should just key-in or else risk a fatal fate?

Even Farotimi will be a huge disappointment to think in that direction. From the look of things, Sowore is projecting that the first thing Farotimi would do on regaining freedom is to call a press conference to tear Obi apart as a traitor and announce the withdrawal of his support.

Well, we shall watch him do that and see where it leads. Let’s see how many Nigerians will join him if he says that Obi is no longer his model for taking Nigeria out of the woods and that it’s Sowore henceforth.

Of course, the Farotimi Nigerians know is a wise man who knows the difference between white and black and who is fake between Obi and Sowore.

He knows why Ijebu garri is so sought after unlike the other makes. If he changes his mind because of the propaganda by people like Sowore, it means he’s simply not what many think of him.

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To begin with, where is the Mother of all Protests Sowore promised? Has he mobilised it yet? December 10 is come and gone without as much as a whimper anywhere in Nigeria, not to talk about the US and UK where the world is supposed to see rising dusts from human feet.

That’s how to determine fakery from the real, how to separate the grain from the chaff. That’s how to also know who’s serious and who’s a noisemaker.

Obi never hid where he stood on the matter. He was among the first to lash out against the authorities on the method of Farotimi’s arrest and demand his release. That should serve.

As for Sowore, the joke is on him. He would have to prove that he’s not even a mole camouflaging as activist as many suspect. Nigerians are not all fools yet.

Certainly, they know their docility has not gotten to the level they’ll be led by the nose and start looking in the direction of a Sowore as a replacement for Peter Obi. Their mumu will get to a head the day they start considering that.

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Dele Farotimi himself knows the difference between a lizard and crocodile, butterfly and bird. Not a million Sowores are likely to change that.

Of course, nothing suggests that Sowore is not intelligent enough to realise that the only workable way to the kind of society he claims to be crusading for is to team up with Peter Obi, who has proven even to his worst enemies that he’s not only a man of premium character but equipped with the right tools to fix Nigeria.

So, not doing so, shows he’s either a willing tool in the hands of the people he daily accuses or is himself afflicted with the same disease of selfishness and greed, and to mimic them when he sees the opportunity, which is bad enough.

My name is Sunny Igboanugo and I’m The Tiny Voice!

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By Sunny Igboanugo

When I first saw the video of one young man on WhatsApp gleefully announcing that the Commissioner of Police in Lagos had barred Ajofia Nnewi masquerade from coming into the state, my immediate reaction was incredulity. This is not possible, I said to myself. But then…! I remembered that this is a new Lagos.

Yes! This is a completely new Lagos – the Lagos of the All Progressives Congress (APC), where Ndigbo have been confined to a special place – mimicking the Jews in Nazi Germany – targeted before the World War and became the sacrificial animals during its pendency to the extent that six million of them were fed into the gas chamber.

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Nobody knows how long the current onslaught will last. But surely, for as long as the APC remains in power in the state and continues to draw the type of strength it is currently enjoying from the national level, there is every reason to fear. Much of what is happening is beyond mere hatred for Ndigbo per se, but a deliberate political strategy and the only way not only the party, but its patrons could survive in power.

So, instead of dismissing it totally, as I would ordinarily have done some 10 years ago, in the old Lagos, before the current blitzkrieg, I sought to first authenticate the story. I began the search and discovered that the source was sequel to a video in The Yoruba Times, quoting a supposed “traditional Igbo man,” as saying that the dreaded masquerade was “making its way into Lagos.”

I don’t know when the said platform being quoted published the original story under reference or when the entire saga started. But the story I found through my perusing the internet, titled: Police bar Igbo masquerade from entering Yoruba indigenous land of Lagos, citing cultural sensitivity, security concerns, published on December 05, 2024, went thus: “The Lagos State Police Commissioner, CP Ishola Olarewaju Olawale, has prohibited the Ajofia Nnewi Masquerade from entering Lagos for the Igbo Festival, citing concerns over public safety and potential breach of peace.

“This decision was made during a meeting between Igbo stakeholders in Lagos and the police commissioner. Recall, The Yoruba Times reported a video of a traditional Igbo man who said the masquerade, Ajofia Nnewi, is making its way to Lagos December 12, 2024.

“The Ajofia Nnewi Masquerade, notoriously referred to as the “Evil Forest,” holds significant cultural and traditional value in Igbo society. However, its proposed appearance in Lagos has been met with strong opposition from various Yoruba communities in the state, who have expressed concerns and reservations about its presence.

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“CP Olawale explained that residents, including indigenes, were uncomfortable with the masquerade’s presence in Lagos after a group boasted about unleashing mayhem. He played a video recording of the masquerade performing rituals, which raised suspicions about their intentions.

“The police commissioner emphasized that every tribe has its own masquerade, operating within their tribe, and that Ajofia is an Igbo masquerade that should not come to Lagos State, which is another tribe.

“Eze Nwachukwu, responding on behalf of Ndigbo, thanked the CP for the meeting and acknowledged the message. Despite Eze Nwachukwu emphasis on peaceful nature of the festival featuring the Ajofia Nnewi Masquerade in Lagos, indigenous people of the state have expressed strong objections to its appearance, citing concerns that it could pose a risk to individuals who are unfamiliar with the traditional significance and cultural context of the masquerade.

“According to report, In Igbo mythology, the Ajofia Nnewi Masquerade is believed to possess spiritual powers, which can be unsettling for those who do not understand or share the same cultural beliefs. Furthermore, the masquerade’s name, “Evil Forest,” evokes a sense of mystery and foreboding, which can be intimidating to those who are unfamiliar with its cultural significance.

“The Ajofia Nnewi Masquerade is traditionally not performed in front of women, which can create an air of mystery and exclusivity around the masquerade. The masquerade’s performances often involve elaborate rituals and ceremonies, which can be perceived as “dangerous” or “-threatening” by those who do not understand their cultural context.”

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I still don’t understand the story. None of the basic questions someone not conversant with it would ask was answered. What is the event the Ajofia is supposed to attend on December 12, by whom and for whom? Those details were not provided either.

But on the other hand, I ask myself, would the purveyors actually go to the extent of using the name of the Commissioner of police to concoct such a tale assuming if it is false? Therein lies my confusion. But the authenticity or otherwise of the story is not really the important issue. What is, is the spirit behind it.

That is where I shall concentrate. Pray! When has Lagos transformed into such a provincial, straight-jacket, air-tight environment that residents, particularly the non-Yoruba and more particularly the Igbo ethnic community, now have to watch their every step and all utterances in order not offend their “benevolent, gracious and accommodating” hosts? Do they need a special approval in matters of like this?

When has Lagos left the realm of an open, robust, thriving, global entity, which like the iroko tree, inhabits all manner of animals acting in their true, natural and undiluted characters, to conduce an ecosystem of individual and interdependent firmament?

When have Accra, Cairo, Abidjan, Nairobi, Johannesburg, and other cities across Africa, with which Lagos used to sit at the table left it behind for it to grovel for crumps underneath, by being led to assume this stiff, clumsy and insipid toga? Is this the idea of a mega-city or has that idea been abandoned? Pray! When has Lagos become a city for the Yoruba and no longer a potpourri, melting pot of Nigerian – nay global space?

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At what point did it lose its original texture? How long will it last and who stands to gain in the end if the current patrons succeed in this backward agenda? Now, let me tell you more about Lagos, with this Ajofia issue in mind. I have the authority to say so, because I saw Lagos with my own eyes, as a child and now an adult.

There have been numerous Ajofias that bestrode the streets of Lagos with residents – young and old – Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Bini, Efik, Idoma, et al, trooping out in excitement to applaud and celebrate. I say so, because I was one of those who were in those streets. There was one as tall as a tree, taller than Ajofia, said to have come from Kwale, a community in Delta State. There was one of Ijaw origin. I saw a dangerous one from Igala in Kogi, said to be very dangerous. We all saw them here in Lagos.

So many Ajofias, have performed at Tafawa Belewa Square, the centre of Lagos. So many have done so at the National Stadium, at the National Theatre, now The Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts. So many have done so at less fanciful big arenas. They had done so in the presence, sponsorship and excitement of the leaders of Lagos, some of whom are still alive and in authority today. I say so because I’m a witness.

In other words, I can authoritatively say that Ajofia coming to Lagos is not something new. What is, is that Lagos is gradually transforming into something else. A tiny group of people obviously enjoying a lavish endorsement of high authority and boasting same, have seized the space, making their own rules, In those rules Ndigbo have become sworn targets, some sort of guinea pigs for a nihilistic agenda.

This group, I’m not afraid to say, is tiny and infinitesimal. But it is highly dangerous. They neither represent the original or present Lagos, nor the Yoruba. Mostly those the train has left behind, they find accommodation under a fertile ground of the APC in the state. Between them is a symbiotic relationship where they become footsoldiers for the APC, which now finds them as convenient and willing tools – foot-soldiers in the quest to remain in power, in return for all manner of favours, including the alluring dream of possible seizure of Igbo properties and businesses in future.

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To underscore this fact of its political nature, this new, but dangerous trend, no doubt came to the fore in the run to the 2015 general elections, when the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, threatened to drown the Igbo in the Lagos Lagoon, if they failed to key into the APC agenda of continuing in power. That was the first time Ndigbo were mentioned by name openly.

Now, there has been numerous interpretations – one of which was that Kabiesi, was simply entertaining himself with his friends – the Igbo, as monarchs are wont. After all, a king is permitted such pastime – a king does as he wishes – is a popular. But the danger therein is that many seem to have taken it to heart upped the ante to what it is now.

Suddenly, a new phenomenon under the cloak of “Yoruba culture” is now being used to adorn what is clearly a political agenda. In subsequent elections, that “joke” from Kabiesi, has become the anthem of a certain established mindset. Last year, in the run to the general elections, videos and audios of Ndigbo being invited, where they were warned that it is offensive to think or act independently of their host, who have been so “generous” and “accommodating” to them.

There is an “accommodating spirit” to which everyone of them must obey as a sign of “respect” in return for this kindness. Mind you, this injunction doesn’t apply to any other ethnic group. The Hausas with an appreciable size, almost as large as the Igbo are exempted from the same injunction for obvious reason.

Now, what is that respect? Simple answer! Vote the APC. That is the only way to live and operate in Lagos. Of course, the consequences of not obeying that injunction have since resonated in the weeping, wailing, mourning and grinding of the teeth at the Alaba International Market, Ladipo Auto Spare Parts Market, Balogun Market and many other places where the Igbo reside or conduct their businesses, in the last few months. The Ajofia Nnewi story, could only be a further escalation of the sad trend to press home the point.

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Unfortunately, though sad on all sides, based on the possible outcome now and in the future, these tiny patrons of the evil agenda do not seem to realise that they are backing the wrong horse. Their choice of the Igbo, makes the plot a futile dream and a lost battle. If only they could allow a little bit of history to guide them.

Now, even if they manage to recreate the Rwanda scenario by either annihilating the entire Igbo or chasing them out of Lagos; even if they succeed in taking over those thriving businesses, the edifices at ASPANDA, Alaba, Ladipo and Balogun; even if they seize all the beautiful houses and everything Ndigbo own in Lagos, which serves as the major attractions to many of those in this sustained plot, what next?

That is the question? Haven’t Ndigbo been annihilated before? Haven’t their properties been seized before? What’s the result today? How long would those businesses last before those hoping to seize them blow the proceeds? How far would the edifices last in their hands before they become decrepit and useless for lack of ideas and resources to maintain them?

Okay, assuming, but not conceding the possibility of Ndigbo not voting in Lagos again, because if offends “Yoruba culture,” does it guarantee the retention and sustenance of the APC forever as they desire. Of course the answer is obvious – Nada! Was it Ndigbo that made the party lose so woefully in the presidential election of last year, before the resort to a new strategy?

Yes! Take Ndigbo out of the equation totally, the APC will still lose in a free and fair election in Lagos and elsewhere, as they have been losing for several years now. The reason, is also not farfetched. Elections are a function of the mind. Voters naturally get weary of going in one direction.

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The relay race between dominant parties in many climes where votes are rarely manipulated gives impetus to this factor. Just a few days ago in Ghana, the National Democratic Congress (NDC),  has just won power back from the National Patriotic Party (NPP). A few weeks earlier in the US, it was the Republicans that displaced the Democrats through Donald Trump. African National Congress (ANC), in South Africa is fast losing grip of power despite its historic place in the country.

It is only in countries like Nigeria that people express such “love” for their oppressors such that they had to endure such immense pains in the 16-years of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Not until Barak Obama and his same-sex-loving government came to their rescue, Nigerians would probably have continued to “vote” the party till date and even till the 100 years its leaders had predicted it would be in power.

Bottomline: Enough of the scapegoating! For this is what all the Ajofia story is all about. There should be a limit to targeting a people. Someone must quench this appetite of the APC, lest the world would be dealing with another sad story.

Even in the #EndSARS violence that engulfed the entire Nigeria in 2020, some people still found a way to try and pin the Lagos edition on Ndigbo. Apart from the burning of the BRT buses, they were accused of invading the Iga Idunganran palace of the Oba. But for the intervention of some “right-thinking” leaders, aided by video evidence clearly contradicting the false narrative, who knows what would have come out of that ugly episode.

No doubt many are still at work pushing the envelope. But it won’t change anything in a people who by all standards and on all accounts are the only visibly True Nigerians. Furthermore, let a thousand Bayo Onanugas rise to warn Ndigbo to steer clear, let ten thousand more MC Oluomos prevent them from voting, APC in Lagos is on a slaughter slab already, as a natural course of action.

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Ajofia Nnewi has traversed the farthest end of the earth. It has performed in Europe and America. No doubt it is quite fearsome. Yet it is an entertaining masquerade. It is not even the biggest or most dreaded Igbo masquerade. There is the Ijele, known for its majesty and beauty. There is the Okwomma and Mgbadike, depicting valour and strength.

Though hitherto restricted to their original Igbo domains, today, they have become global symbols of national culture, exported beyond Nigeria for tourism and theatre. Even Flavour Nabania, Nigeria’s iconic singer, invites masquerades on stage during his performance in Nigeria and abroad without offending anyone’s culture.

So, the APC goons in Lagos, cannot stop their dwindling fortunes by targeting Ndigbo. They have blamed them for the Ogunpa River overflowing its banks and for the flooding in Lekki. Ndigbo have been blamed for their wives not conceiving or failure to get erection in the other room. Soon, they will make it an offence for Ndigbo to breathe the same air with them, because doing so, would contaminate the “Lagos culture.”

Sad enough the plot instead of being confined in its proper place in Lagos APC, is being packaged and sold as a Yoruba agenda. No. Check again. There is no other Yorubaland exhibiting this trend. Many Yoruba compatriots, practically flinch at the idea. They see it as a total anathema and offensive to the true, open boisterous Omoluabi spirit their people have popularised over time.

Sadder day will come the day the evil plotters successful sell that package. That will be the tragedy. Luckily however, Nigerian history has proven that every political situation no matter how odious has a shelf life. The APC will not be different. Its expiration may it not be too far. In fact, it looks closer than farther. Then, Lagos will return to what it used to be – Eko pabere rara – Lagos doesn’t take nonsense at all!

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My name is Sunny Igboanugo and I’m The Tiny Voice!