Out of all the nominees for minister, only Bode Augusto failed to make it. He was too “arrogant”. That word sounds too familiar to any Lagosian. It is a word used to disguise a form of discrimination perpetrated on Lagosians for ages. In this case, there is even a better reason: people in his home State were against him. Even though it was clear that those who signed petition against Bode Augusto did not meet the minimal requirement for a petition to the House. In other words, their names and addresses were not known in Lagos. They were sent by career politicians who are natives of Lagos.
During the time of Abacha, some people were called cowards for not fielding a candidate for President. When they were reminded that Tunji Braithwaite a prominent man came out boldly as a candidate, the funny joke was: A Lagosian? Who will take you seriously?
Now, this is a respectable, educated and an activist by any universal standard. Yet, his candidacy was a joke to some who never achieved half of this man’s sweat. It was a joke to the rest of the Country, but not to Lagosians.
It used to be that they were not educated enough, they like fancy clothes, cars and girls. You can not even marry their girls. That is why some always send for their wives from home. Go to anywhere in Nigeria you will find the same people with those faults but in the case of Lagosians, they turn them into poster boys. It has been used to deny many Lagos natives who paid their dearly dues respectable status in life. But I do not really think other Nigerians realize it as a form of discrimination. One can still discriminate without realizing it; it is the impact and consequences on the victims that count.
Some of us who went to secondary schools outside Lagos faced so many stereotypes, as we were supposed to be able to fight with the worst instruments in those days, which was a broken bottle. They expected us to brag with everything but also empty headed. The only comfort was that their girls loved us. It could be the bad boy syndrome. As many of us defied some of these stereotypes, they would doubt if we were from Lagos.
There was a senior boy I still remember very well who would announce class by class that every junior boy from Lagos must come by his bed after 9.30 pm study period to kneel down and put our hands up for no reason. He did not care if your parents were from there but lived in Lagos or if you were Lagos native, as some students tried to dissociate from us to avoid punishments.
My first year outside Nigeria, I registered at the university where I met some Nigerians who came the same year. They were surprised to see me in school. I was supposed to be in my mustang chasing girls all over the town. I had the last laugh and I always remind them today that contrary to their predictions that I would be lost, it is some of them who never made it back home to live. One of them used to boast that his children were going to live in his village. If he could not live there, I had wondered how his children were going to find their ways there.
A few years ago, the Governor of the State was not from Lagos, leader of the Senate was not from Lagos, the Chief Justice was not from Lagos and the Head of Service in the Ministry was not from Lagos. There should be something somebody from Lagos could qualify for, didn’t you think so? Even when the Chief Judge was given a list of qualified lawyers, he said he was looking for merit irrespective of State of origin. Who would take that from him in his own State?
There is no State in the whole of Nigeria where Awolowo is more popular, alive or in death than Lagos. When Obasanjo was looking for someone to fill a slot for Lagos, he got the name of Awolowo’s son as an ambassador. Haba, nobody qualified from Lagos? We were cheated in spite of our love for Awo and his family. But they are not from Lagos.
Yet of all places in Nigeria, Lagos is the most accommodating place to live. As we used to say in Lagos, if a stranger enters Lagos today, he or she would be fed and clothed before the end of that day. So we expect most Nigerians to love us in return. Actually many do. If they do not know you, they know or might have gone to school with a member of our families.
Luckily, most of these stereotypes are nothing more. That is why it kills me when people in their matured age still use childish behavior to reflect their deep prejudice against us. Even some friends can not understand why I was so pissed by the arrogant aspersion cast on humble Bode Augusto. You see, they can not understand. It’s a Lagos thing.
Of course some Lagosians are guilty of some of these things but so are many others. It is a form of prejudice to typecast those from Lagos for something we all do. It is really frustrating to subject a man out of many to questioning for over two hours answering every question brilliantly and getting praised later for his knowledge only to deny him based on frivolous excuses. It is like going for a job interview, as some can relate, only to be told after all praises about your qualifications; that you are over qualified.
It does not make a difference to me personally whether Bode Augusto got to be a minister or not. None of my friends who were in position of power could come out and say I have ever asked them for anything but fair is fair. Nigerians even have this reluctance of asking those younger than them for anything. So if I never asked my friends of about the same age, I can not hope for asking Bode Augusto. I just think that he was cheated and short-changed for being OmoEko. Anyone else with such dazzling performance during the process could have been easily confirmed.
No hard feelings.