Former education minister Oby Ezekwesili has pressed Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to show that the destruction of unsafe buildings at Alaba Market is not a political affront to Igbos.

“Mr Governor, please immediately publish details of each destroyed building and the dateline of Due Process rules that were exhausted by your Government before it was “removed,” Mrs Ezekwesili said. “It will be wise for the Governor to take this counsel on Transparency and Full Disclosure since it would provide evidence to the public that this is not a vengeful political attack against the predominant Igbo community in Alaba Market.”

Mrs Ezekwesili posed the question to the Lagos governor in a tweet on Tuesday, while also warning President Bola Tinubu to be careful in brewing “terribly toxic atmosphere against fellow citizens”.

“Let me also use this opportunity to really again advise the @followlasg and its cheerleaders including @officialABAT to be careful in persisting to brew a terribly toxic atmosphere against fellow citizens since before, during and after the 2023 elections,” Mrs Ezekwesili said.

Mrs Ezekwesili’s intervention comes as the Lagos State government embarked on the demolition of distressed buildings in Nigeria’s largest electronics market, the Alaba International Market.

Some traders in the market on Sunday alleged that the state government did not give any prior notice before starting demolition. But Lagos State Building Control Agency general manager, Gbolahan Oki, said 17 buildings in the Ojo Local Government Area where the market is situated have been assessed and approved for demolition.

Lagos, a state in Yoruba’s South-West geo-political region and Nigeria’s most cosmopolitan and commercial city, is a melting pot for Yorubas, Igbos and other ethnic groups coexisting peacefully. However, last general election in which Mr Tinubu was defeated by the presidential candidate of the Labour Party Peter Obi, in Lagos in the February 25th presidential election, elicited ethnic tension.

Peoples Gazette reported how Musiliu Akinsanya, an All Progressives Congress thug, threatened Igbo electorates who will not vote for the APC in the governorship election to stay indoors.

Bayo Onanuga, who was Mr Tinubu’s spokesperson during the campaign, also publicly pushed for outright exclusion of the Igbos from Lagos politics, describing the Igbos as existential threats to Yorubas after the governorship election in March.

“THE GOVERNOR SANWO-OLU-LED @FOLLOWLASG ON FRIDAY STARTED THE PROCESS OF REMOVING WHAT IT DESCRIBED AS DISTRESSED BUILDINGS IN THE ALABA INTERNATIONAL MARKET IN THE OJO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA”.

I HAVE A POLICY ADVICE FOR @JIDESANWOOLU THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR ALL SIDES AND THE… PIC.TWITTER.COM/VQZEJMAAMM

— OBY EZEKWESILI (@OBYEZEKS) JUNE 20, 2023

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