…Commends Uzuegbuna Okagbue for leading and protecting their political cause
The Yoruba community in Anambra has narrated their experience in the state during the just concluded 2023 Presidential Election. Addressing journalists in Awka Anambra State capital on Thursday, the leadership of Yoruba community in Anambra State regretted that incidences of ethnic tensions and smear shaped nearly all issues of national discuss, particularly in the buildup to the 2023 General Election. Describing these ethnic tensions as unreal and unconnected to what is actually on the ground, the community noted that their experience is somewhat different from the popular narrative during the election. They also recalled that although the tension was high before the election, but surprisingly, it was only Uzuegbuna Okagbue, Chief of Protocol to former Anambra governor Chief Willie Obiano, who consulted with the Yoruba community and asked for their support and vote for President Bola Tinubu. Aside Okagbue, no one else spoke to the community as a group about voting or supporting any other presidential candidate, the community said.
Addressing news men, the president general of Yoruba community in Awka, Alhaji Ademola Okeleye noted that he has been in Awka for over twenty years. “I have been living in Awka for about thirty years. I came to Awka in 1993. Since I started practice as an accountant and chartered accountant before Governor Mbadinuju, no government in Anambra has failed to give me job”, Alhaji Ademola said. Furthermore, Ademola remarked that the community has been living in harmony with their host community. “Igbos are not hostile to us. In fact, we just had our event as we are planning to build our community hall, an Igbo man gave us 18 tenths free of charge. One supplied drinks to us. As a chartered account in Anambra State, I have 20 to 30 employees who are nearly all Igbos. Two of my partners are Igbos, as well.” However, Alhaji Ademola regretted that if the ethnic tension people are fanning is not quenched, then, the problem will continue. “If we can’t correct the impression of the young ones, this division will continue”, he said, charging the media to rise to this responsibility.
Speaking, the Oba of Yoruba community, Alhaji Abdulrasaq Oladimeji Olahan, observed that during the 2023 general election, it was only Uzuegbuna Okagbue that came to them and asked that they support and vote APC candidate, Bola Tinubu. According to the Oba, the visitation by Okagbue was significant because they were encouraged. “During the election season, just before the presidential election, the tension was high. But it was only Uzuegbuna Okagbue that came and saw us; he treated us well and asked us not to fear because that Anambra and Nigeria is for all of us. No one else visited us or asked for our support for anybody. Chief Okagbue’s visit gingered us and gave us courage,” Oba Olahan recalled. The irony was that while many were fanning ethnic division between Igbos and Yorubas prior to the election, Okagbue an Igbo man from Anambra was campaigning for a Yoruba man, among Yoruba people in Igbo land, the General Secretary of the community wondered. “In fact, for Chief Okagbue to come and ask for our vote for Tinubu, it shows the kind of man Tinubu is, this tells you that these divisions some people create are not real. The perception that there is hostility is not true. It is usually championed by people of low mentality who have not travelled,” Alhaji Kehinde Alade, the secretary general of Yoruba community, added.
For Idris Agbaje, one of the leaders of the community, the Yoruba community in Anambra state is in thousands. Some are artisans, many are civil servants and some are professionals in various fields. He moreover said that the community lives in harmony with their host in Anambra state. Mr. Idris also emphasized that the tension during the 2023 election was unnecessary and unreal, while noting that many members of the Yoruba community in Anambra are married to Igbo women. On his part, Femi the adviser to the Oba of Yoruba community in Anambra who is married to Igbo woman said that the community lives happily with their host. He however observed that the Yoruba community knows that they are not indigenous people; hence they respect their host communities. “We caution ourselves within our community, there is always home advantage, so we can’t be dragging anything with our host communities,” Femi said.
The just concluded 2023 presidential election raised ethnic tension between some Yorubas and Igbos beyond the rooftops. Particularly on social media, all manner of arguments and ethnic slur were hurled by members of the two groups to each other. But in reality, the two ethnic groups have so much more in common than those insulting each other on social media might be willing to admit.
He is a Technical Assistant to Governor Willie Obiano’s Special Adviser on Legislative Matters, whoonce was a Special Adviser to a former Deputy Speaker of Anambra State House of Assembly. Ebuka is a second class upper division graduate of Political Science from University of Calabar, Calabar Nigeria and holds a Masters Degree in Political Science with specialization in Government and Development Studies, from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Nigeria
