By Segun Ajayi

In the build up to 10-day #Endbadgovernance protest, called by the Take Back Nigeria group, Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub and melting pot of cultures, was literally put on the edge. Being heterogeneous owing to the myriads of people that throng the city in search of better living, it’s no surprise ethno-cultural and political sensibilities are at variance. It then behoves on managers of the city to explore these differences to advantage.

In Lagos, two remote incidents sent dangerous signals ahead of the protest. The 2020 #EndSARS protest and its aftermath; and the toxic narratives that characterised the 2023 governorship elections in Lagos.

Real or imagined, a good number of people, mostly Lagosians perceived the riot that broke out after the Lekki toll gate debacle to have a colouration of South East/IPoB (proscribed Independent Peoples of Biafra). How could the people be sure there wouldn’t be a repeat should government be indifferent to the looming demonstration? In addition to these were venomous Yoruba and Igbo sentiments perpetuated before and during 2023 general elections in Lagos.

All these were in the mix prior to the just concluded #Endbadgovernance protest and someone had to step in and rally Lagosians into one indivisible entity. On whom would the mantle have fallen if not the state’s Executive Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu. For the amiable No. 1 citizen, it was another testament to his empathy and leadership acumen in a state couched “home to all”. First, the governor held a series of cross-cultural and civil engagements as testament to the social inclusivity leg of Sanwo-Olu’s T.H.E.M.E.S+ agenda.

Whether by fate or accident, certain events late in July presented themselves to Sanwo-Olu to explore. A harvest of deaths of three prominent Igbo sons and a daughter sufficed for the governor to condole with the bereaved South Easterners. So, it was Sanwo-Olu’s masterstroke at statemanship when he paid glowing tributes to the deceased patriots. Renowned industrialist, publisher and President-General, Ohanaeze N’digbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu died on 25 July at 82 during a brief illness.

Two days later, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, 52, died in the United Kingdom. Nigerians were yet to get over the deaths of the duo when the shocking death of iconic singer cum activist, Onyeka Onwenu was announced. She died at a Lagos hospital on 30 July at 72.

Those were Igbo sons and daughter who made Lagos their second home given the quantum of their investments in the state. Therefore,. the governor rolled out press releases extolling the virtues of the departed. The icing on the cake and evidence of Sanwo-Olu’s proclivities to sympathize and empathize was his visits to bereaved families of Iwuanyanwu, Onwenu and to the Park View, Ikoyi residence of the daughter of Federal High Court judge, Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, who was killed by unknown assailants in her home. The governor’s kind gesture towards a people in distress was the culmination of several assurances to South East businessmen in Lagos of their personal safety and their businesses. Moreover, Sanwo-Olu was genial with his address to Lagosians on the eve of the #Endbadgovernance protest?

Amid calls for patience and understanding, the governor reeled out various interventions by government to cushion escalating prices in the state. He reechoed the mitigating impacts of EKOCARES, an interventionist programme for Lagosians regardless of language or ethnic barrier. From the discounted sunday markets to reduction of transport costs, and free medical care (Ilera Eko), Sanwo-Olu reiterated government’s renewed commitment to easing economic the burdens on the people. It didn’t come as a surprise when elite Igbo traders in Lagos under the auspices of Alaba International Market Amalgamated (Electronics) in a viral video dissociated themselves from the planned protest. The traders claimed the motives of the protest organizers were not defined. Hence, they warned Nigerians to distance themselves from social media posts linking them with the demonstration. Just to drive home their point, the traders did a follow up video in a rendezvous of sort, feasting and drinking. Speaking in tongues ladden with sarcasm, they reiterated their earlier position noting they would chose protest at pepper joints above hitting the streets at the moment. The traders’ non-committal posturing in a way could have let out steam from the August 1 exercise.

It was against this background that the social media post calling for #IgboMustGo protest from August 20-30, this year turned out an anti-climax. The post made on the X handle of Lagos Pedia asking Igbos to vacate Lagos and the South-West region was outrightly condemned by Governor Sanwo-Olu. While distancing the state government from the post, the governor in a statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Gboyega Akosile described the post as reckless, divisive and a dangerous rhetoric. He restated Lagos remained home to every Nigerian citizen regardless of their ethnicity and religion. According to the governor, the post was not only reckless and divisive but an attempt to sow a seed of discord between the Yoruba, Southwest and other tribes, especially those who have made Lagos their permanent place of abode.