Sunday Ani and Bianca Iboma-Emefu
It was a moment of joy on Saturday, August 8, 2020. The Igbo Speaking Community in Isolo Local Council Development Area, Lagos State, celebrated some personalities in their host community, who had created a platform for Ndigbo to participate in political affairs of the local government.
The event was attended by several top Igbo personalities in Lagos. Awards were given to the immediate past chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos, Chief Oladele Henry Ajomale, Oba Kabiru Kolawole Alawi Adelaja Agbabiaka, Osolo of Isolo, the APC Chairman, Isolo LCDA, Gani Abiodun Bello and the immediate past APC Chairman, Isolo LCDA, Alhaji W.A. Raji.
President of the Igbo Community in Lagos, Mr Sunday Udeh, said the awardees were being recognised and appreciated for their individual and collective roles in building ethnic bridges in Isolo LCDA. He described their contributions to the growth and development of the Igbo community in Isolo as immeasurable. He said the hospitality, love, care and support provided by the leadership of the community has made Isolo a comfortable home for the Igbo such that they now live in peace with other ethnic groups in the area.
He said: “Today, the Igbo Speaking Community in Lagos, the umbrella sociocultural body of Ndigbo in Lagos State, in conjunction with its Isolo chapter, is here to appreciate the great people of Isolo Kingdom, heroes of democracy, and our partners for their kind gesture to Ndigbo to participate in the governance of Isolo LCDA. We are here to say thank you for giving us two councillors, Kanayo Osondu, (Okota Ward) and Magnus Chidiebere Iheasirim (Ajao Estate ward). At the executive arm, we have the Senior Special Assistant, Ethnic Affairs, Franca Ene Udogwu, and others. Even at the party level, you still gave us the Assistant Secretary, Prince Sylvester Obi, as well as Policap Kpatuma, Sunday Damian and others occupying various positions in the ward executives of the party. We are happy Isolo is leading other LGAs in building ethnic bridge of peace and harmony.”
He also called on the Igbo all over the country to unite and speak with one voice without which it would be difficult for them to attain the much-desired political height in Nigeria.
He promised to do everything within his power to ensure that Ndigbo remain supportive and loyal to the party and government of Lagos State.
In his acceptance speech on behalf of other awardees, Ajomale, who was conferred with the award of a Pan-nationalist, commended the Igbo group for the award.
Ajomale, a member of the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), said the award for him was a call to do more.
“Any award given to you is a recognition of what the community considered to be your contribution to the progress of either their community or the area where you live. I have been living in this community with the Igbo for a long time and we have been coexisting like a family politically, socially and otherwise.
“I promote what I feel is just, whether you are Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba; I just promote something that I feel is just and I think that they have seen that in me and decided to honour me today with my little contribution in Lagos, either within the party or the state in general.
“I thank the Igbo community and ask them to continue with the good works. There is no need for us to quarrel. You are contributing your quota to the development of Lagos State. I promote what I believe in regardless of your ethnic background. I am a Nigerian not just from the Yoruba race.”
“The Igbo have been living here with us in our community and contributing their quota to the development of the state. When you look at Isolo today, the Igbo population is almost 45 per cent, which is almost half that of the Yoruba. So, with their contributions, Isolo is being noticed everywhere and if they have decided to honour me today, I think it is something to encourage me to be able to do more for the community and the unity of the Igbo and Yoruba,” he said.
The former APC chairman said he created the Igbo coalition in the party based on his conviction that politically they needed other ethnic groups in Lagos.
“To build ethnic bridges and resolve the many challenges of the community, I decided to build clusters where every ethnic group in the community could participate in the political affairs, apart from the economic development they are involved within Isolo and this has worked out for us,” he added.
“There is a passion within the Igbo community to work with us and create an understanding, and enabling environment between the Igbo and the Yoruba. The Hausa also have their group and they are in thousands and so is the South-south people. So, it is not only the Igbo. I thank God it is paying off because we have not lost any election in Lagos State since then and I was chairman for almost 13 years. So, by the time I became chairman of the party, I so understand them because we had created these clusters within our party that we can work together effectively and efficiently,” he stated.