[dropcap]V[/dropcap]ictor Hugo once said “no army can stop an idea whose time has come” and that “one can resist the invasion of armies but not the invasion of ideas”. In Lagos under ‘One Nigeria’ there seem to exist a silent economic war of destruction of livelihood, burning of markets in the middle of the night, extortion and harassment of genuine businesses by official area boys and street urchins, illegal/multiple taxing of business owners, in markets where Igbos operate e.g. Tejuoso, Alaba International and Ladipo. And now Oshodi electrical and electronic market.
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Many of these atrocious deeds are conducted at odd times when the traders won’t be available to resist the dastardly acts.
Over the decades in the South-West, the Yorubas have systematically burnt Igbo shops as a guise to hijacking the markets from Igbos.
Prior to the 2015 general elections, amidst the threat by the lagoon crooner to drown Igbos, 18 Chisco transport buses were criminally burnt down in Lagos and up till date nothing was done to bring the culprits to book.
A deceit where you are empowered to share my crude oil and wealth as ‘One Nigeria’ while I am considered a migrant to your State whom you’re just merely accommodating and may perish in the lagoon at your command.
It is a chaotic situation where the Oba of a place would invite the representative of a people for discussion in his palace as regards a market leadership dispute only to set an ambush for him and unleash hundreds of thugs to flog and disgrace him.
It is an unjust situation where you’re licensed to use foul means to destroy my business in your State with outrageous taxes.
You can close my business premises at will while your elites continue to shout ‘One Nigeria’ to cover up the evils and injustices prevalent in the land.
And you still expect me to be docile and continue to suffer silently as your hate and envy for my progress soar high.
Now, do you have any case for unity – fake or imaginary?
If you have there would be no need fooling and playing to the gallery and shouting ‘One Nigeria’.
Or have you ever heard ‘One Great Britain’, ‘One United States of America’, ‘One Germany’?
That shows that something is fundamentally wrong which many have been shying away from.
Is it a crime for any person/group to choose to opt out of a relationship?
Strange bedfellows, with irreconcilable value systems that are at best suitable for the individual selves, are not meant to be together!
The 102 years of existence attest to that verdict!
Okay, let end here with this.
‘Karma comes after everyone eventually. You can’t get away with screwing people over your whole life, I don’t care who you are. What goes around comes around. That’s how it works. Sooner or later the universe will serve you the revenge that you deserve.’ – Jessica Brody.
Chinedu Nwosu is a publicist, social media consultant, event planner, and political strategist. He is a graduate of the Lagos State University. Connect with him on Facebook and LinkedIn.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
