Festus Keyamo, the spokesperson of the Bola Tinubu presidential campaign council, have knocked Bayo Onanuga for making vile remarks against Nigerians of Igbo descent.
Mr. Keyamo dissociated himself from Mr. Onanuga’s brash comments threatening Igbos against interfering in the politics of Lagos, while emphasising that the commercial hub, which has long been home to people of various ethnicities, was “not No Man’s Land,” but rather “Yoruba Land.”
“No one should ever rile a whole tribe & this applies to all sides – North/South/East/West in Nigeria’s politics,” the lawyer tweeted to school Mr Onanuga to be respectful of other ethnic groups.
Popular political pundit Kayode Ogundamisi, in a similar manner, excoriated the president-elect’s aide for stooping low to make the toxic anti-Igbo comment that could further fan the embers of ethnic strife already bedevilling the nation and push it to the verge of a civil war.
“Egbon this tweet is beneath you o! Considering you may also likely be holding a position in the incoming government of BAT,” Mr Ogundamisi wrote on Twitter. “When the other side of your political divide are going low, you shouldn’t be going lower. O wrong o,” the pundit said to correct Mr Onanuga.
On Saturday evening, Mr Onanuga tweeted: “Let 2023 be the last time of Igbo interference in Lagos politics. Let there be no repeat in 2027. 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.”
Mr Onanuga’s bigoted tweet and the brazenness to pin it to his profile have renewed worries among Nigerians who believe the president-elect, an advocate of national coherence after his election victory last month, should not be surrounded by persons who are intolerant of other ethnic groups.
