From Scotland, lesson for Nigerian bigots

Thu, Mar 30, 2023
By editor
12 MIN READ

Opinion

By Emmanuel Onwubiko

RISHI Sunak is a wealthy Indian born British politician who has since October 2022 assumed the mantle of  the political leadership of one of the World’s  richest democracies as the Prime minister of Great Britain or United Kingdom following the resignation of Ms. Liz Truss. Liz Trus a native Briton, lasted about 100 days as the PM but importantly, she was the Premier during whose tenure the Queen of England- Elizabeth the 2 died after over 70 years as one of the World’s most charismatic monarchs. Sunak succeed a White woman and there was no case of any public spat over the fact of his origin which is traced to India. 

Only forty eight hours ago in Scotland, a Muslim of Pakistan nativity became the first secretary of Scotland or what can be referred to as the head of the parliament of Scotland within the United Kingdom.

The diversity we see in the politics of Great Britain, conveys the strong message that Countries that are in a great hurry to advance in terms of commerce, tourism, sciences, sustainable development, innovative ideas and also expand in good governance practices, are often welcoming to peoples of the World who have the skills to contribute to the growth of their nations. Few days back, news emerged that Australian scientists have developed a cure for epilepsy.  Australian nation is open to people from all over the World just as Australia uniquely welcomes genuine refugees fleeing from wars, famine, pestilence and terrorism. 

However, the example  of Great Britain is diametrically opposed to what some local politicians in Nigeria are determined to plant into the sub-consciousness of children and generations yet unborn that they are first and foremost more loyal to their nativity than they are to Nigeria as a nation State. Bayo Onanuga and Femi Fani Kayode who even fathered 4 Igbo boys, are some of the bigoted politicians that have used incendiary and inciting statements to instigate inter ethnic disharmony and conflicts between Yorubas and Igbos- two of Nigeria’s biggest ethic nationalists found in the Eastern region and Western region. The politics of who would be elected the governor of Lagos State became the rallying point for these unacceptable levels of bigotry and spreading of hate filled statements by the aforementioned duo. Bayo Onanuga was so shameless to a point of saying that he is first a Yoruba man before being a Nigerian and then he made one of the most incendiary and irrational statements by saying that the year 2023 governorship poll should be the last time Igbos should participate in Lagos politics. By the way, this local bigot and ethnic urchin is not even from Lagos State. Femi Fani Kayode who is more or less very inconsistent and largely lacking moral principles, is also against Igbos getting interested in Lagos politics. He himself is from Osun State. Bola Ahmed Tinubu who has been caught on tape castigated Igbos after he lost the Presidential election in Lagos is also not fromLagos State. Those who are the Indigenous People of Lagos are Yorubas but they are accommodating. 

We read so much of these toxic messages during the February 25th 2023 Presidential Poll in Lagos. 

The All Progressive Congress presidential candidate and now the INEC declared President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu surrounded himself with many of these ethnic irredentists and bigots such as Femi Fani Kayode, Bayo Onanuga and the Chief political thug Mc. Oluomo, as I have earlier mentioned. But can I refer these bigots such as Bauo Onanuga who claims to be a journalist to go study Rishi Sunak and the other Muslim guy in Scottish politics who just wona jackpot. 

Who is Rishi Sunak? So asked a British journalist by name Helen Sullivan in her piece published on Tuesday 25 Oct 2022.

She wrote the following: Ultra rich, young and the first person of colour to become UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak will also make history as the first practising Hindu to lead the country

The man who has become the UK’s 57th prime minister is richer than the King and, at 42, younger than every predecessor except William Pitt the Younger.

Rishi Sunak will also be the UK’s first ever person of colour to lead the country, and first Hindu prime minister.

Recently, she said,  her newspaper asked if he was too rich to become PM. On Monday, 195 Conservative MPs answered. So how did he get here?

Here is about his Youth: Sunak was born in Southampton in 1980 to Indian parents who had moved to the UK from east Africa. His father was a GP and his mother ran her own pharmacy. The eldest of three children, Sunak was educated at a private boarding school, Winchester College, which costs £43,335 a year to attend. He was head boy, and has in recent years made multiple donations of over £100,000 to the school.

Sunak went on to study politics, philosophy and economics at the University of Oxford, like so, so, so many before him. He was awarded a first-class degree. He later gained a master’s of business administration (MBA) at Stanford University, where he met Akshata Murty, his future wife, but where few others remember him.

On the Scottish Muslim born First Minister of Pakistan origin, a reporter wrote thus: Humza Yousaf has broken Scotland’s biggest glass ceiling. As the new first minister of the devolved government, the 37-year-old becomes the first person of color and the first Muslim to fill the top job.

“My grandparents made the trip from Punjab to Scotland over 60 years ago. As immigrants to this country who knew barely a word of English, they could not have imagined in their wildest dreams that their grandson would one day be on the cusp of being the next first minister,” Yousaf said in an acceptance speech on Monday after securing a majority of votes to replace Nicola Sturgeon as leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP).

Zara Mohammed has broken some barriers of her own, as the first Scot, the first woman and the youngest person ever to head up the Muslim Council of Britain. Mohammed says Yousaf’s election is a “momentous occasion, not just for Scots, but for Muslims across the UK.

Humza Yousaf beat his competitors on Monday to become the head of the governing Scottish National Party (SNP). The 37-year-old became the first Muslim leader of a major UK political party and also the first Muslim to lead a country in Western Europe. In his victory speech, Humza Yousaf said he will deliver Scotland’s independence. He is of Pakistan origin.

“The people of Scotland need independence now, more than ever before and we will be the generation that delivers independence,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters in his victory speech. He also talked about his grandparents who arrived in Scotland from Pakistan in the 1960s, barely speaking any English, and said they would not have believed “in their wildest dreams” that their grandson would one day become first minister of Scotland.

In his manifesto night’s address to his party,  he said: Can I thank the National Secretary for overseeing the ballot and our team at Headquarters for their efforts throughout this process.

It is hard to find the words to describe just how honoured I am to be entrusted by the membership of the SNP to be our Party’s next leader, and to be on the cusp of being our country’s next First Minister.

Can I begin by paying tribute to my colleagues, Kate and Ash.

During almost 20 hustings it probably felt like we saw more of each other than we did our respective partners. You both have put in an incredible shift, and I know you will continue to work hard as part of Team SNP.

I am not just humbled, of that I most certainly am, I also feel like the luckiest man in the world to be standing here as Leader of the SNP, a party I joined almost 20 years ago and that I love so dearly.

Friends, the late John Smith got it absolutely right when he said, “The opportunity to serve our country, is all we ask”.

To serve my country as First Minister will be the greatest privilege and honour of my life, should Parliament decide to elect me as Scotland’s next First Minister tomorrow.

And just as I will lead the SNP in the interests of all party members, not just those who voted for me, so I will lead Scotland in the interests of all our citizens whatever your political allegiance.

If elected as your First Minister after tomorrow’s vote in Parliament, know that I will be a First Minister for all of Scotland, that I will work every minute of every day to earn and re-earn your respect and your trust.

Can I thank the National Secretary for overseeing the ballot and our team at Headquarters for their efforts throughout this process.

It is hard to find the words to describe just how honoured I am to be entrusted by the membership of the SNP to be our Party’s next leader, and to be on the cusp of being our country’s next First Minister.

During almost 20 hustings it probably felt like we saw more of each other than we did our respective partners. You both have put in an incredible shift, and I know you will continue to work hard as part of Team SNP.

I am not just humbled, of that I most certainly am, I also feel like the luckiest man in the world to be standing here as Leader of the SNP, a party I joined almost 20 years ago and that I love so dearly.

Friends, the late John Smith got it absolutely right when he said, “The opportunity to serve our country, is all we ask”.

To serve my country as First Minister will be the greatest privilege and honour of my life, should Parliament decide to elect me as Scotland’s next First Minister tomorrow.

And just as I will lead the SNP in the interests of all party members, not just those who voted for me, so I will lead Scotland in the interests of all our citizens whatever your political allegiance.

If elected as your First Minister as he has, after tomorrow’s vote in Parliament, know that I will be a First Minister for all of Scotland, that I will work every minute of every day to earn and re-earn your respect and your trust.

Then just read the idiocy of opinions from Bayo Onanuga, the spokesperson for Bola Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council, on Sunday wheteby he pushed an outright exclusion of Nigerians of Igbo extraction from Lagos political power, marking an escalation of ethnic controversies that enveloped the governorship election of March 18.

“Let 2023 be the last time of Igbo interference in Lagos politics,” Mr Onanuga said, tweeting a photo of Peter Obi, an Igbo from Anambra State who backed Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, a Yoruba from Lagos, in the Saturday’s election. “Let there be no repeat in 2027.”

Mr Onanuga, one of the president-elect’s top aides who’s expected to play a key role in the incoming administration, further said: “Lagos is like Anambra, Imo, any Nigerian state. It is not No Man’s Land, not Federal Capital Territory. It is Yoruba land. Mind your business.”

It was unclear whether or not Mr Tinubu shares Mr Onanuga’s position on the recent political developments in Lagos. Another spokesman for the president-elect did not immediately return a request seeking comments. Mr Tinubu, however, sued for national coherence following his victory last month.

For decades, Lagos, a state in Yoruba-dominated southwestern Nigeria, has played host to citizens from other parts of the country who also play active roles in its business and politics.

However, says the Premium Times, a newspaper owned by a Yoruba, Nigerian most cosmopolitan city has been rocked by divisive ethnic tension this election season as politicians pull ethnic strings to gain an advantage.

Mr Onanuga’s statement targeted at the Igbos, which has been widely condemned by Twitter users, comes as President-elect Tinubu prepares to take over leadership of a highly polarised country.

In the February 25 presidential election, Mr Obi’s Labour Party defeated Mr Tinubu, the ruling All Progressives Congress presidential campaign, in Lagos, where Mr Tinubu was once a governor from 1999 to 2007 and held the de facto position as the godfather of all governors since then.

Though Mr Tinubu emerged winner of the presidential election after all results from all 36 states were collated and announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mr Obi’s victory in Lagos came as a shocker to many. The declaration of Mr Tinubu as president is now being challenged at the election petition tribunal.

Saturday’s governorship in Lagos saw APC thugs roaming the streets warning citizens who will not vote for their party to stay at home.

This followed an earlier threat by notorious Lagos thug, Musiliu ‘MC Oluomo’ Akinsanya, threatening Igbos who will not vote for the APC in the governorship election to stay at home.

Mr Onanuga’s comments came as Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu appeared set to win reelection in Lagos, a victory many already condemned as coming via maximum ethnic violence unleashed on Igbo residents across the nation’s commercial capital on Election Day.

Sadly, the so-called President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu has yet to publicly rebuke those two attack dogs namely Bayo Onanuga and Femi Fani Kayode.  Fani Kayode was even reported exchanging words like a village woman trader with a British diplomat who cautioned against spreading hate messages. To even remember that Femi Fani Kayode went to school even for a day in Britain that is so diverse, reminds me that a leopard won’t change it’s colour come what may. Bayo Onanuga and Femi Fani Kayode are two of the most dangerous ethnic bigots in Nigeria. 

***EMMANUEL ONWUBIKO is head of the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA and was NATIONAL COMMISSIONER OF THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF NIGERIA.

A.

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