The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly Mudashiru Obasa has declared in his acceptance speech at the beginning of his third term in office: “Lagos is a Yoruba land as against the assertions of some people that it is a no man’s land….Therefore, part of our legislative agenda is to ensure the translation of laws passed by this House to the Yoruba language.” There is nothing wrong with the second part of this statement. The Nigerian constitution allows for the conduct of official business in major Nigerian languages like Yoruba.
But Obasa then went on to say: “We also aim at achieving our collective goals of creating a robust legislative framework that protects the interest of our people. Going forward in this wise, we are going to employ all legislative instruments for the support of the indigenes of Lagos. There would be laws and resolutions in the areas of economy and commerce, property and titles, and we will reverse all that are reversible to protect the interest of the indigenes.”
Obasa’s political godfather is President Bola Tinubu and it is clear that lawmaker is veering into gangsterism.
Lagos Speaker Mudashiru Obasa presiding over a gangster’s paradise
For starters, he is maintained in the standards that he has become accustomed to with public funds. Those funds do not just come from the indigenes of Lagos State but all taxpayers in the state. Tinubu’s supporters like to boast about how their man boosted internally generated revenue in the state since he became governor in 1999. This meant an aggressive drive of increasing taxes, many of which have been regressive. You would think that a legislator being paid by taxpayers would be interested in representing the people funding him and not just indigenes. “Taxation without representation is tyranny” – this was a popular slogan during the American Revolution in which the American colonists rose up against paying taxes to the British government in London without their interests being represented.
Additionally, Obasa is advocating illegality in an open and brazen manner, possibly buoyed by the (s)election of his godfather as president. The Nigerian constitution is clear that you can’t discriminate against fellow Nigerians on grounds of state of origin. Chapter 4, Section 42 (1) states: A citizen of Nigeria of a particular community, ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion or political opinion shall not, by reason only that he is such a person:-
(a) be subjected either expressly by, or in the practical application of, any law in force in Nigeria or any executive or administrative action of the government, to disabilities or restrictions to which citizens of Nigeria of other communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex, religions or political opinions are not made subject; or
(b) be accorded either expressly by, or in the practical application of, any law in force in Nigeria or any such executive or administrative action, any privilege or advantage that is not accorded to citizens of Nigeria of other communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex, religions or political opinions.
In lay terms, no state government should give privileges to indigenes that are not available to non-indigenes or place restrictions on non-indigenes that are not placed on indigenes.
Chapter 1, Section 1 of the constitution states: This Constitution is supreme and its provisions shall have binding force on the authorities and persons throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This means that no state legislature or any other authority can make laws or rules that run against the provisions of the constitution.
Obasa needs to be called out by all well-meaning Nigerians for this lawlessness and warned that he is sowing seeds that could lead to violence with his irresponsible words.
Human Rights Watch published a report in 2006: “‘They Do Not Own This Place’: Government Discrimination Against ‘Non-Indigenes’ in Nigeria, which highlighted in the words of Peter Takirambudde, executive director of the Africa division at Human Rights Watch, the fact that “these policies marginalise millions of Nigerians and fuel the fires of ethnic and religious violence.” He added: “The federal government must end its shameful record of indifference by acting decisively to eradicate this discrimination.”
It appears Nigeria has now moved from the “shameful indifference” of the federal government to discrimination being emboldened by the person sitting at the head of the federal government.
