APC tackles group as debate on Lagos governors’ indigeneship resurfaces

The controversy over the indigeneship of the Lagos State governors has once again sprung up as the leadership of the De Renaissance Patriots Foundation, a group of Lagos indigenes and elders, picked holes in the governance of the state, saying only an indigene can deliver the desired changes. Daily Trust reports that before now some […]

The controversy over the indigeneship of the Lagos State governors has once again sprung up as the leadership of the De Renaissance Patriots Foundation, a group of Lagos indigenes and elders, picked holes in the governance of the state, saying only an indigene can deliver the desired changes.

Daily Trust reports that before now some groups which claimed to represent Lagos indigenes canvassed for a governor who was an indigenous Lagosian.

Our correspondent reports that the issue of tribe and ethnicity often dominated discourses in Lagos politics, with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) giving little or no consideration to the state of origin or ethnic affinity of the candidates it put forward for federal, state and local government elections.

However, the 2023 elections threw up an ethnic narrative around the candidature of the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, who was accused of not being a Lagosian, but an Igbo man.

Before the 2023 polls, several groups of indigenes called out the governorship candidates presented by the APC, accusing the party of imposing non-indigenes on them.

Also before the 2023 elections, questions were raised on the origin of President Bola Tinubu who governed Lagos State from 1999 to 2007; with many insinuating without substantial evidence that his true origin was Iragbiji in present-day Osun State.

While the debate went down after the 2023 elections, the De Renaissance Patriots Foundation has, however, resurrected it, saying the struggle continues until an indigenous Lagosian emerges as the governor of the state.

The President of the foundation, Prince Adelani Adeniji-Adele, who spoke when the body was hosted by the Chairman of its Board of Trustees, Prof Adele Jinadu, stated that, “The governance of Lagos State is less than stellar, and only the passion of an indigene can do the right things.”

Major General Tajudeen Olanrewaju (Rtd), the Alternate Chairman of the Board of Trustees, said the leadership provided by Prof Jinadu had become inevitable because the struggle for the retrieval of Lagos State was one that would not be easy but a must-do.

Responding, Prof Jinadu said, “No one is too old for a cause like this because we are all affected by the marginalisation, deprivation and persecution to which the Lagos State indigenes have been subjected.”

But the Publicity Secretary of the APC, Seye Oladejo, in a chat with our correspondent, insisted that Lagos State had always been ruled by Lagosians, and warned against any narrative that could divide the state.

He said this was not the time for politics or political campaigns, insisting the state governor was presently concerned with delivering good governance for the people of the state.

He said, “They would need to shed more light on the context of the statement. Lagos has always been governed by Lagosians. What is out there is for our people to enjoy good governance and the dividends of democracy. The governor would not be distracted by needless politics.

“As a party, we would not be part of any narrative that would divide the people along ethnic, tribal and religious lines. In Lagos, you find it difficult to differentiate between those who have come to Lagos to do business, those others might want to describe as settlers, and those who are just passing through Lagos. We are all one big family.”

But a UK-based public affairs analyst, Abanikanda Olumoro, disagreed with Oladejo, saying the struggle by Lagos indigenes “for the retrieval of their constitutionally granted and guaranteed federating unit, otherwise called a state, cannot be distracted no matter how sweet-mouthed or prolific such propagandists can sound.”

Another APC elder, who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said, “While the group is entitled to its opinion, I think they need to tell us the definition of who an indigene is. The truth of the matter is that even the so-called indigenes, by the time you trace their roots, might turn out to be settlers from other parts of the country. What is important is that Lagos remains a model for governance in Nigeria, and the governor is rated one of the best-performing governors in Nigeria. This is the only state, a sub-national government, to invest in rail development, and people are happy with the government.”