“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.”_ Ever since Oba Akiolu, the King of Lagos said the above words to leaders of the Igbo community, the incident has become one of the most talked about topic in Nigeria.
Some people have called for the king to apologise to the Igbo people, others have threatened to take him to the International Criminal Court, and others have created various memes on social media, which mock the king. Some people are still in denial and refuse to admit that the king made such a comment, while others are supportive of the comments.
To get a better appreciation of the significance of the event, it is important to examine the incident from a holistic point of view rather than focusing solely on what the king said. In the next couple of pages, I will try to analyse the event from a multi-dimensional viewpoint by examining a) The Speech b) The King c) The Venue d) The Supporters e). The Target and f) The Others
The Speech
The comments made by Oba Akiolu has all the hallmarks of an extreme form of hate speech bordering on an incitement to commit genocide against the Igbos resident in Lagos State. The king’s speech dehumanized the Igbos and they appear to have been singled out for PDPs strong showing in Lagos during the recently concluded general election. This is despite the fact that people of other nationalities also voted for PDP and the actions of OPC probably dissuaded people from coming out en-mass to vote for APC due to fear of violence. The assertion that Igbos came to Lagos without houses and now have houses can be construed to be a threat that their properties are not safe if they go against the king’s wishes. In addition the statement that Igbos will perish in water is inflammatory and could possibly lead to violence. The speech breaches Chapter IV Section 34 of the Nigerian Constitution which states, “_Every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person, and accordingly — no person shall be subject to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment_.” It also breaches Article 25 (3) (e) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which states that a person who “_directly and publicly incites others to commit genocide_” has committed a crime against international law. While Article III of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide states “_Direct and public incitement to commit genocide_” is a punishable event.
The King
In Yoruba culture, the king is given the utmost respect. Oba Akiolu as the king of Lagos is a high ranking king and a man full of authority.
His influence extends to the 17.5 million people that live in the state.
What he says carries a lot of weight and this was evident when people were clapping as he threatened the Igbos with sudden death. Since the king boasted that he should be called a bastard if his threat does not come to pass, this could motivate some of his subjects who revere him to attack the Igbos in order save the king’s face. Furthermore, in the event of an attack against Igbo people, the attackers can easily evade personal responsibility by appealing to the king’s authority.
The venue
Even though the speech was made at the king’s palace, Oba Akiolu’s area of influence covers the entire Lagos State. Lagos is a melting point where people of different cultures congregate. As the economic capital of Nigeria, it attracts people from the four corners of the country. Many Igbos have come to Lagos to live the Lagos dream. Igbos are very entrepreneurial and have been able to make a success of their sojourn in Lagos. They have set up shops, businesses, built houses, climbed the corporate ladder and are also making in roads into politics.
From history up to the present, we learn that very often, when foreigners prosper in a foreign land, sometimes the host community becomes wary, especially in times of economic hardship. From Scripture, we learn that when the Jews began to prosper and multiply in Egypt, King Pharaoh stirred up the Egyptians against the Israelites saying, “_Let’s figure out a way to put an end to this. If we don’t, and war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us and escape out of the country_.”
Where do we go from here
When we look at the king’s speech in isolation, it can be easily dismissed as either a joke or as an intervention in the political process. But we should not look at it within this narrow prism. The combination of a powerful and influential king who makes a vitriolic statement targeted at a marginalised ethnic group (within the historic context of a genocide that took place nearly fifty forty years ago) listened to by a supportive audience and ignored by passive bystanders in an environment of scarce resources is a toxic mix. We can’t afford to be silent.
But as Edmund Burke once said, “_Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it_.” So the Federal government needs to put in place a legal framework to address the issue of hate speech and incitement to commit genocide. Nigeria sits on a fault line of religious and ethnic tension. A misguided statement from the mouth of a person of influence could be the fuse that ignites the whole religious or ethnic powder keg.
Furthermore, it’s time to address the Biafra question once and for all. I know this will be uncomfortable for many, but we cannot move forward as a country if we continue to sweep the atrocities of Biafra aside. As I have argued before, the issue of reparation for crimes against humanity inflicted at our Igbo brothers and sisters during the war needs to be considered.
A detailed account of the Nigerian civil war should be included in the school curriculum so that children can have a better appreciation of the importance of ethnic harmony. If there is space in our educational curriculum for Mungo Park, William Wilberforce and Lord Lugard, I see no reason why we shouldn’t create space for the root cause of the Civil War, the numbers of death during the war, the human sufferings as a result of the war and the lessons learnt from the war.
Finally, there needs to be a revolution in our collective thinking.
Tribalism should have no place in our country. Ethnicity and nationality are not mutually exclusive concepts. It is not an either/or; it is a both/and. We can be proud of our Yoruba/Urhobo/Igbo heritage and still be proud to be Nigerian. Every Nigerian has the right to live in any part of the country without fear of harm. Lagos will always be in the South West so people should not be afraid that “outsiders” are coming to take the land. There is enough room for all of us to live in perfect harmony. We should also realise that we are all interdependent on each other. The South relies on the North for its beef; The rest of the country relies on the Niger Delta for oil; Our Igbo athletes and footballers bring joy and pride to all of us when they excel in global sporting events; our Yoruba financiers help lubricate the Nigerian
economy. Nigeria is greater than the sum of its individual parts. So let’s put our differences behind and work towards making our great nation Nigeria greater.
I began this article by quoting a king and I will end this article by quoting another king– Martin Luther King who once said:
”We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”
Eko o ni baje
DAILY INDEPENDENT
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