In the wake of the recent demolition of illegal structures at the Lagos International Trade Fair complex, a familiar and troubling figure has seized the microphone. Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the last election, has once again crossed the line from political criticism into the dangerous territory of ethnic provocation. His recent statements are not just misguided; they are a reckless endangerment of the very people he claims to champion—the innocent Igbo citizens living peacefully in South-West Nigeria.
It baffles the mind that a man of Obi’s political experience, a former governor no less, appears to have learnt nothing from the tragic history of conflict in this nation. From the scars of the civil war to the recent, painful upheavals instigated by IPOB in the South-East, the lesson has always been that stoking the embers of division leads only to conflagration. Yet, here he is, fanning those very embers in Lagos, a city that has historically been a melting pot of Nigerian enterprise and harmony.
Yoruba people are, by nature, liberal and enlightened. For generations, the South-West has been a home for all, a place where your origin matters less than your contribution. But statements like Obi’s are poison. They are deliberately crafted to create hate, to make the average Yoruba man or woman, who isn’t even engrossed in the APC-versus-opposition squabble, look sideways at their Igbo neighbour with suspicion. He is playing a perilous game of ethnic politics, and if he is not called to order, the trust that has been built over decades could erode, with consequences that will be felt long after 2027.
The central question that Mr. Obi and his co-patron, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, have conveniently avoided is one of simple governance: the rule of law. Both men hold leadership positions within the ASPAMDA traders association. Why did they not advise their constituents on the existence of building regulations and the critical need for compliance? The land belongs to the Federal Government, but the right to approve structures rests with the Lagos State Government. This is not a secret.
Where was Obi’s voice when these illegalities were being committed? And where was Joe Igbokwe, a man who has benefitted immensely from Lagos State, first as APC spokesman for a decade and now as a Special Adviser? Their silence while the laws were being broken, and their loud condemnation only when the law was enforced, reveals a cynical political strategy that places populist rhetoric above public safety and order.
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This hypocrisy is staggering. We have not forgotten that as Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi himself rounded up citizens of Yoruba extraction and deported them to Lagos. We recall how he dealt with protesters in his state with an iron fist. The simple, commonsense principle is this: what is not good for Anambra should not be good for Lagos. You cannot champion lawlessness in another man’s state while enforcing strict order in your own.
It is the height of irony that Mr. Obi, who has been unable to rein in the marauding killers terrorizing his own homeland in the South-East, finds the time and voice to pick fights in Lagos. While Anambra bleeds, he embarks on a tour of demolition sites in Lagos, attempting to relaunch his uncertain 2027 political journey. This strategy is not only dead on arrival; it is irresponsible.
The message from Lagos must be clear and unequivocal: Eko oni gbagbe. We will not tolerate any form of lawlessness. We will not allow our state to be turned into a political battlefield for a man who cannot secure peace in his own region.
It is time for the esteemed leaders of the South-East to call Mr. Obi to order. His bitterness and pettiness are creating a debt of hate that ordinary, law-abiding Igbos in Lagos may be forced to pay. And that is a price Lagos, and indeed Nigeria, cannot afford.
