No permission was obtained for the EndBadGovernance protests.
The state govt tried to declare it illegal but the organizers insisted on the right of every Nigerian to protest.
There is no evidence anywhere that Obi supporters demonstrated in Alausa or carried any flags to Alausa.
You continue to conflate the significance of the flag of the Labour Party, a national registered Nigerian political party, with that of IPOB, a South East secessionist group, because the Labour Party candidate Peter Obi and IPOB are both from the SE:
" Whether jubilant Obi supporters waved labour flags mixed with IPOB flags is of no significance"
So, is the title of "anti-Igbo ( SE) ideologue" not a good name for you?
Bros, we can conclude that you have nothing to contribute on this matter.
Bottom line- the Biafra=Igbo=IPOB correlation is a fallacy.
Nigerians are collective victims of the multi-ethnic political class.
All that ethnic infighting does not serve the interests of the populace.
Without the splitting of the electorate through such diversionary measures, there is almost no way Tinubu is getting a second term anywhere bcs of the suffering he has imposed on Nigerians through his removal of fuel subsidy without economic safeguards for the populace, the same safeguards he learnedly argued needed to be put in place before such a removal, at the succesful demonstration he, Soyinka and fellow travellers carried out to stop GEJ from doing what he, Tinubu did on the first day he came to power, deflecting the responsibility for that strategic policy move to his predecessor, his fellow APC President Buhari, a most unleaderly behaviour.
Thank you Oluwatoyin for your splashes of spittle and recoiling of your tongue inwardly in twisting my assertion, that it was reported that jubilant supporters of Obi carried IPOB flag to Alausa, in Ikeja, the seat of Lagos State Government, to imply that Igbos carried IPOB flags to Alausa. On Wednesday, 27 August 2025, you stated categorically that it was impossible and improbable for demonstration to take place in Alausa because of the security facilities there. Despite the fortification of Alausa, you now claim to have demonstrated in Alausa for your self-styled, End Bad Governance. Certainly, you and your cohorts must have obtained permission to demonstrate and were directed to which routes you should follow and the final place the demonstrators should assemble. Unlike your legal demonstration, jubilant Obi supporters demonstrated spontaneously without permission from the authorities after Obi was declared a winner of the Presidential election in Lagos. Whether jubilant Obi supporters waved labour flags mixed with IPOB flags is of no significance and of course the demonstrators did not obtain the consent of Obi before engaging in their illegal demonstration on his behalf. You asked me, "Are you now conceding that the idea that the demonstrators carried IPOB FLAGS TO THE GOVERNMENT OFFICES AT ALAUSA IS EITHER IMPROBABLE OR IMPOSSIBLE?" To that I will say that your question is surreptitious because I have never at any time during our written dialogues maintained that "demonstrators carried IPOB flags to Government offices at Alausa." In fact you commenced your written dialogue of 27 August 2025 with reference to me thus: This is not true - many online Nigerian newspapers reported that jubilating Obi supporters CARRIED IPOB FLAG TO ALAUSA IN IKEJA, THE SEAT OF LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT. Throw away your noxious Ifa oracle, you will be able to see the difference between what I wrote, "Obi supporters carried IPOB flag to Alausa, in Ikeja, the seat of Lagos State Government," and your oracular version, "demonstrators carried IPOB flags to the government offices at Alausa. Of course, Professor Òrúnmìlà who listens only to the voice of demons and claims to understand their language will always tell us that he can transform a scurrying rat into roaring lion.S. KadiriOn Saturday, August 30, 2025 at 4:00:00 PM UTC+2 Oluwatoyin Adepoju wrote:"the cerebral, comically uninformed cosmic clown"
Cornelius
A magnificent combination of ideas begging to be actualized in imaginative literature.
Cerebral, yet comically uninformed and clownish, the entirety wrapped in a cosmic context.
I could ask an AI to compose a story to bring this rich constellation of ideas to life.
Thanks
Toyin
On Sat, 30 Aug 2025, 09:22 Cornelius Hamelberg, <cornelius...@gmail.com> wrote:Does the cerebral
comically
uninformed
cosmic clown
think
that Baba Kadiri
wants to have a serious discussion
with a crazy mo-fo like him ?
BTW, those of us with a sense of humour
prefer to be entertained by Mr.Macaroni
Just ask the axis - "he knows everything"
Not funny : "Joseph was not carpenter"
On Friday, 29 August 2025 at 23:02:57 UTC+2 Oluwatoyin Adepoju wrote:Oga Kadiri,
The relationship between the topography of Alausa and its security architecture dictates the kind of activity possible there.
Understanding those parameters means one can anticipate the kinds of activity possible in those locations without the need for one's physical presence there.
Secondly, my knowledge of Alausa and its security configuration in relation to its topography is reinforced by the fact that I have been part of a group of demonstrators there during the relatively recent EndBad Government demonstrations and can testify to how far into the location we could go and the terms that enabled our presence in a section of Alausa, terms that are not likely to have been extended to Labour Party demonstrators and which would have been utterly impossible for IPOB flag waving demonstrators.
1. Alausa Security Architecture
Are you now conceding that the idea that demonstrators carried IPOB flags to the government offices at Alausa is either improbable or impossible?
You seem to be modifying your claim to reference demonstrations in Lagos generally rather than reaching the seat of government in Alausa, the incredible claim you were earlier eager to promote?
The following summation of yours is a geographical and historical contradiction:
Abuja is the seat of Federal Government of Nigeria and security wise government offices, national assembly and the presidency are well fortified.
Similarly and as it is in all the States of Nigeria, Lagos State Assembly, Governor's, Commissioner's and Government's offices are fortified.
Just as demonstrators can protest and wave any kind of flag they want in other parts Abuja the seat of the Government of Nigeria without reaching the Presidency, National Assembly, Ministries, Departments and Agencies, so can people demonstrate in Alausa without affecting areas where the government structures are situated"
Geographical Contradiction
Its not possible to demonstrate in Alausa without reaching the seat of government beceause the government offices are central locations of Alausa.
Google "Alausa" and see its description as the seat of Lagos state government.
Historical Contradition
Your argument is contradicted by the facts of protests at Alausa.
Demonstrations at Alausa
I was part of the relatively recent End Bad Government protests the final day of which took place in Alausa.
The march of protesters started in another part of Lagos and proceeded to Alausa.
We were able to assemble on the main road at the sides of which are various government offices and commercial establishments such as Ikeja City Mall.
We could not move into the road leading off the main road into the governor's office beceause that road was blocked by a thick phalanx of battle ready policemen.
Even our presence at the perimeter of the section leading to the governors office was made possible by the understanding of the authorities, possibly mindful of the Ikeja Toll Gate disaster who allowed the EndBadGovernance protests at its Mile 12 centre and its Alausa convergence but hedged it with heavy, battle ready, thickly armed police and military presence, on foot and in such assault vehicles as armoured personnel carriers.
I was there and recorded almost everything and can share the action videos, video interviews and images if required, which I did through a dedicated WhatsApp group.
In the light of the relationship between the geography and security architecture of Alausa, in particular, and Lagos State in general, when a fantasist declares that anyone carried the flag of IPOB, a SE secessionist group declared a terrorist organisation by the Nigerian government to do whatever at Alausa, the sheer ridiculousness of the idea should be clear.
No one can "invade" Alausa without weapons nor can they go beyond the main road branching off to the office of the governor.
The other claim that Labour supporters demonstrated in that zone, the other edge of which is also a busy commercial hub containing the Ikeja City Mall which has a cinema, a bookshop, an eatery and various other businesses is unlikely.
The IPOB connection is the height of the ridiculous.
Only a suicidal person would carry the flag of a federal govt listed terrorist organisation to an environment engineered for rapid armed forces response.
But should we blame you?
You might not live in Nigeria, might know little about the geography and security of these environments you are pontificating about or even about Nigerian govt security in general to recognize ridiculous claims when you see them.
Also ridiculous to the point almost of craziness is the claim that Obi supporters "invaded" Alausa with the Labour Party flag on Obi's victory.
Your candidate has won, defeating the lion, the hitherto almighty Jagaban, in his own den, Lagos, described as his fiefdom for decades.
You then carry yourself and proceed to Alausa, the seat of govt where his influence is described as reigning supreme, presided by a governor described as hand chosen by him?
To achieve what?
To hasten your journey to eternity?
You can be accussed of anything, you can suffer physical abuse for which you might never get justice and all bcs of an unnecessary move in the face of an already certain electoral victory.
What you might have been misled by is a video visible on a Google search for " ipob flag in alausa" but which commentators debunk the claim of a flag being waved on a road leading to Alausa as an IPOB flag and even though it was identified as a Labour Party flag with Obi's name, the gathering was not at Alausa.
On the Lagos is No Man's Land Claim
You are yet to establish the Abia state governor ever made such a nonsensical claim.
Even then, does he represent Lagos Igbos?
Googling the Lagos is No Mans Land concept demonstrates the various personalities it has been asdociated with.
Between History and Fantasy, Between Fact and Bigotry
Why have I gone to all this trouble?
So as to do my own duty in dispelling fantasy described as history, bigotry presented as fact.
Having failed to validate your claim that Obi's supporters carried an IPOB flag to Alausa, and serving us with a deadlink that you claim leads to a report that it was actually a Labour Party flag, you conclude:
" Evidently, whether it was IPOB flag or Obi's party flag that was waved, a victory demonstration was staged at Alausa"
You struggle to assert something you have never been able to prove, either after the last elections when you projected this fantasy or now.
Not only that, you conflate the significance of the flag of a registered political party in Nigeria, the Labour Party, a party taking part in elections nationwide, with the flag of a seccetionist group limited to Nigeria's SE, which has no interest in Nigeria and which is declared as a terrorist group by the Nigetian govt.
Why are you doing this?
Bcs the Labour Party Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, is from the SE, and people like you automatically conflate SE(Igbo)=Biafra vision=IPOB.
What is the business of a person seeking national office with secessionist dreams?
Can he do it singlehanded in a complex system of govt?
Buhari did everything he could to favour the imperialistic agendas of the Fulani militia and violent Fulani herdsmen led by Miyetti Allah, even co opting the security services and the judiciary but the massive pushback ensured they have remained within their traditional hunting grounds of the Middle Belt while even Buhari's state Katsina has become a centre for terrorism possibly enabled by the lawlessness his govt enabled through the Fulani armed groups and their civil society spokesmen whom he allowed to reign as a parallel govt.
If Cornelius and yourself persist with those comically uninformed claims and analyses, I might not respond agsun bcs I won't be able to afford the time.
On Thu, 28 Aug 2025, 16:38 Cornelius Hamelberg, <cornelius...@gmail.com> wrote:Out of sheer frustration, trying to cope with reality : Satirical news sitesRapidly approaching nihilism, there's also the Theatre of the Absurdto give yourself a back to reality pinch , to examine and self-examine....Some states within the federation think that the whole body politic is sick,is dysfunctional, and they therefore want to cut out , want a divorce, think andfeel that they would be far better off on their self-governing own.That's the genesis of the secessionist dream...On Thu, 28 Aug 2025 at 16:33, Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com> wrote:When the bizarre truth is oftimes stranger than fictiona short list , none from this centuryOn Thu, 28 Aug 2025 at 13:14, Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com> wrote:"A practically impossible conjecture."
You "wonder" how I "came by these negatively ethnocentric and reality-defying conjectures."
This phrase comes in handy : Elementary, my dear Watson , and here are the simple reasons why you're not me and please take note when it comes to what you call "reality-defying conjectures" or "these negatively ethnocentric and reality-defying conjectures" there's almost no limit to the mind's fantasies, sky, moon and stars are not off limits and as you take off, as you say, "Exploring Every Corner of the Cosmos in Search of Knowledge", please remember this, remember who you are , and may your tribe increase
You "wonder" how I "came by these negatively ethnocentric and reality-defying conjectures."?
I "came by these negatively ethnocentric and reality-defying conjectures", because, it could be that I am a racist, a tribalist, and to quote what you said to me I " might need better grounding in the background to these issues" that I am " so confidently addressing."
All this may be true, because
(a) unlike you, I was baptised in the holy waters of the Umuahia River (full immersion) and kept the company of Biafran war veterans in Umuahia, and especially in ABA and Owerri and through my relatively long liaison in that region (1981-84) developed some close friendships and strong affiliation with some of the indigenes. But long before that, during the Biafra War which I followed closely -from a great distance, from the beginning to the end, occasionally listened to Ojukwu's live radio broadcasts with Chuks and some other Igbos students - to the extent that emotionally, sympathetically and empathetically I should hope that I know what I'm talking about
(b) given your austere high seriousness and what you may mis-apprehend as some kind of general levity on my part, about some of these matters (and take note, the word levity has nothing to do with the Levites) I do not presume that you are familiar with the genre known as satire , nor I take it as for granted that you ever read Gulliver's Travels or that you occasionally read The Onion
A question for you : Do you think that John Lennon had Chinua Achebe's There was a Country, and then composed Imagine as a heartfelt response ?
On Wednesday, 27 August 2025 at 17:39:30 UTC+2 Oluwatoyin Adepoju wrote:IPOB and Igbo are not necessarily united.
The current situation in the SE is so bad, from the business emasculating strategy of every Monday sit at home to widespread and murderous lawlessness emerging from IPOB militia who have gone rogue, some say, that IPOB has been thoroughly demarketed in the SE, talk less Lagos, where Igbos would thank God for their distance from
the mayhem.So the idea of a Lagos centred or general IPOB mindset covering a decisive population of Igbos in Nigeria is most unlikely.
On demographics, how many Igbos can there possibly be in Nigeria,and in what positions i
of authority, in contrast to Yorubas, Hausas and others that can move to Igboize Nigeria politically?A practically impossible conjecture.
I wonder how you came by these negatively enthocentric and reality defying conjecjures.
On Wed, 27 Aug 2025, 10:43 Cornelius Hamelberg, <cornelius...@gmail.com> wrote:Oluwatoyin
You ask," Can you point to evidence that justifies your description of the Biafra vision as one of conquest of Lagos rather than of secession of the Igbo heartlands in the SE?"
That was some faulty ( insensitive) reading on your part, completely misunderstanding and misinterpreting both my tone and my intention. I was only joking. To fast forward such a vision , I suppose that if the Igbos populated Nigeria fast enough, in accordance with Professor Mobolaji Aluko's usual good-hearted best wishes " May your tribe increase" , then after a referendum in say circa the year AD 2070 when the population of Nigeria would have exceeded 700 Million, the Igbos could simply vote overwhelmingly by a two-thirds majority to change the name of the country from Nigeria to Biafra and thereafter raise their flag over the whole Federation.
Someone could then write some hall of fame poetry about the miraculous event.
Song : I believe in miracles
On Wednesday, 27 August 2025 at 01:21:16 UTC+2 Oluwatoyin Adepoju wrote:Thanks CorneliusShould you not focus on speaking for yourself instead of this tendency to quote FFK and Kadiri?Can you share with us evidence about this No Man's Land mantra of dominance you ascribe to Igbos?As for your critique of Obi as moving across parties, why are you vilifying him for what is a general Nigerian political culture?Can you point to evidence that justifies your description of the Biafra vision as one of conquest of Lagosrather than of secession of the Igbo heartlands in the SE?On Tue, Aug 26, 2025, 2:32 PM Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com> wrote:Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju,
dear patient one,
listening to My Back Pages
I sometimes wonder,
where is your sense of humour?
You remember, about ten years ago, all the hullabaloo
about the Oba of Lagos (jocularly) threatening to drown
all his Igbo friends in the Lagos Lagoon
if they did not support
his own chosen candidate ?
Ceasefire? Where?
You may if you like, stop right here
and read no further :
Femi Fani-Kayode and the Igbos of Lagos
This reminds me of the Torah portion Parshat Shemot / Parshat Shemot , of special relevance , the probable fear /fear-mongering among Yoruba stalwarts, Yoruba nationalists, cultural chauvinists, die-hards like our Femi Fani-Kayode, not without cause, another demographic nightmare this time about Lagos, Nigeria, a very particular fear, the fear of being outnumbered in their own LAGOS, their own piece of God's real estate, being outnumbered by the upstart, long-shuffering, stiff-necked, stiff upper lip, chest-beating, self-righteous, acronym. "I. Go. Before. Others", immigrant Igbos who are now to be seen everywhere since they started their veritable invasion of Lagos a few decades ago
Exodus 1 : 7 -10 ( King James Version)
"but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them. Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. "Look," he said to his people, "the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country."
What you refer to as " anti-Igbo has been variously explained to me by the following analogy : you let the itinerant wanderer in, give him a pallet on the floor in your kitchen ,and gradually, gradually he takes over the rest of your living space and eventually declares himself "Lord of The Manor !" I last heard this analogy from an Algerian acquaintance who was trying to get me all worked up about Israel and the Pals, he wanted to know whether or not I thought it was right that the Israeli settler now wanted to evacuate his Palestinian brother from his own kitchen ?
Here's the foundation to whatever narrative is there for you to understand: You don't go to another country - by air, sea, road or rail) are warmly welcomed by the generosity of the indigenous Yoruba inhabitants of that place, occupy vast swathes of it -. and ( as Fela would say, "gradually, gradually") as your numbers increase -. and by dint of hard work , as you begin to enjoy the fruits of your labour, begin to show some economic dominance and prosperity, you start telling the original inhabitants that the land where you are now prospering is a " No Man's Land." Acting on such a perception is bound to have some consequences , some repercussions - perhaps, some serious backlash such as you taking some "flak" -you go on an ideological rampage ,they go on a punitive, physical rampage to cause some damage...
I suppose the ultimate nightmare for the ultra Yoruba / Oduduwa nationalists is that the Igbo population in Lagos state could so increase and outnumber the Yoruba, that in a couple of years the Igbos could after a referendum on secession, raise their flag over Lagos and declare that state the New Biafra because they have an overwhelming, absolute majority. Israelis also have or used to have a fear known as the demographic nightmare
I don't know what are the ideological foundations or platform of the PDP of which Obi was a leading member and thought that it was his turn to be ratified as their presidential bearer - instead of Alhaji Atiku
Conversant with the ideological roots of the British Labour Party - and over here, Sweden's Social Democrats, I must confess that I was more than slightly taken aback by the popular Nigerian media's vision of "Obi's Labour" - a party that he became a member of on the ( date) which he took over within a few a few days, and helter-skelter their presidential candidate a few days later
In part, this is the kind of Chameleon that Baba Kadiri was talking about… one who jumps from one ideological platform to another - today he is a " liberal -conservative" whatever that means in the the Nigerian political jungle/ spectrum - tomorrow he is a wannabe leader of "The Conservatives" -like Margaret Thatcher, and Ginny come lately, Kemi Badenoch , then he's born again on board with the Labour Party (Nigeria) next thing you know he's wearing the mantle of the late Karl Marx - like a bumble bee of no fixed ideological commitment or location, any which way the chop money must come…
As per Baba Kadiri's painstakingly accurate narration,
"However, four days to the PDP presidential primary election, Tuesday, 24 May 2022, P. G. O.O. resigned his membership of PDP. On Friday, 27 May 2022, Obi joined the Labour Party. On Monday 30, 2022, Labour Party had its presidential primary election and Peter Gregory Onwuabuasi Obi emerged as the presidential flag bearer of the party. If the Labour Party had complied with Section 77 (2&3) of the Electoral Acts 2022, it ought to have sent its membership register to INEC latest May 1, 2022, and the name of Peter Gregory Onwuabuasi Obi could not have been there since he was not a member until Friday, 27 May 2022. The implementation of why political parties are required to submit their membership register to INEC thirty days before their primaries, congresses or conventions is to ensure that a person must have been a member of a party for, at least, 30 days to be qualified to contest for an elected post on behalf of the party. Peter Gregory Onwuabuasi Obi was a member of Labour Party for 72 hours when he became their presidential candidate in contravention of *Section 77 (3) of the Electoral Acts, 2022, specifically enacted to prevent those who failed to obtain nomination of their party to contest for an elective post to cross over to any of the small parties to buy nomination. That's how lawful Peter Gregory Onwuabuasi Obi the Chameleon is."
On Tuesday, 26 August 2025 at 01:44:43 UTC+2 Oluwatoyin Adepoju wrote:To the best of my knowledge, such a thing has never happened -the Obidients"... exuberance /over-enthusiasm when some of them went on the rampage in Lagos, claiming Lagos to be " No Man's Land ".II understand it as a narrative created by APC Lagos when they lost the Presidential election to Obi"s Labour.Hopefully the same multi-ethnic coalition which defeated them will do it again.I have been following the subject closely before, during and after the elections.People need to breathe after the less than people elevating politics of the Nigerian political class.All this talk of owning or not owning Lagos is ultimately a smokescreen created by people whose interests is in distracting the electorate while they emasculate them of their political vision to unseat vested interests impoverishing Nigerians.ThanksTheyOn Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 10:04 PM Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com> wrote:Oluwatoyin,
Once upon a time, only because of Uncle Jeff ( John Bandele Jeffery-Coker) and Herbert Macaulay, I became interested in the early history of Lagos mostly gleaned from Michael Crowder's The Story of Nigeria. I am not a Lagosian , unfortunately, I never kept the appointment I had with my friend Chris Okonkwo at the Surulere Night Club. Maybe, just as well.
You had better look into this matter of who is saying most vociferously that "Lagos is no man's land". I daresay that it's not the original Yoruba inhabitants that are making that kind of outlandish, absolutely preposterous Christopher Columbus type of claim. Unfortunately, some of the people asserting " Lagos is no man's land" took some flak. Well grounded or not, I'm sure that you must have read about it in the newspapers. It was discussed in this forum.
You must understand that people - Nigerians - including Nigeria's former Minister of culture and tourism could get a little emotional when defending or asserting some proprietary rights over their own hometown and homeland. Take Freetown for example once the capital of the Western Area of Sierra Leone , which was a crown Colony. The very last time that I was there - and for only a total of ten days - 20th April to 30th April 1970 and then back to Ghana - the population of Freetown was less than 250,000 souls. Today it's over 2 million, with an overwhelming influx from the former protectorate…
Today's Cosmopolitanism does not necessarily confirm the idea that "Lagos is no man's land" - Search - or that New York, London, Paris or indeed Jerusalem
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAGBtzfOozsAAP-oWnh%2BcDGbLoivGKh%3DCpqYp%2BF2hBpUQTzMk5w%40mail.gmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment