The other day Lagos state government through its Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs led by its Commissioner Olugbenga Oyerinde, a non -Lagosian , launched what it called automated indigeneship certificate.
At the occasion, Oyerinde was represented by one Dr Funmilayo Sokunbi , another non-Lagosian who parroted about the modernization process that will capture all Lagosian indigenes across the country.
Equally, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Sesan Ogundeko also represented by Olawale Abdullahi, both whom are apparently non-Lagosians , praised the initiative as cutting edge technology that will ensure that the certificate has all the trappings of digital innovations with bar codes and other alleged safeguards.
We at De Renaissance Foundation are at total variance and conflict with this very ambiguous digital approach in identifying indigenous Ibile people of Lagos state. The project appears to us as a back door attempt to virtually strip the indigenous communities of their ancestral identities and foundational heritage. We do hope this is not part of the Akure declaration where Governor Sanwoolu indifferently lumped Lagos state within the South West orbit.
It really defies logic and and civilized appropriateness that the authentication of indigeneship can be translated to a mere unfeeling , remote mechanical assessment lacking human input.
This is wrong-footed, lacking in candor, voided of traditional and cultural necessities without which the whole process is tantamount to a mockery of our Ibile, Lagosian identity. It is like opening the doors to any Ugochukwu, Chukwuemeka, Onanuga, Abdul- Yisa or Sangoleke to switch their names , concoct Lagosian family roots and fraudulently claim Lagos indigenous identity.
We doubt if this programe is well thought out.
It is indeed a nasty way of turning Ibile indigenes into stateless nigerians, turning lagos state into a Yorubaland without identity. We call on our traditional institutions, elder statemen, all lagos state students from all persuasions and who are of lagos state origins, all men, women, young and old, and every Ibile homestead regardless of their party affiliations to stand up and resist this backward government 419 erasure of indigenous affinity of a people with four centuries of native habitation before 1914.
This lagos state administration is doing everything possible to capture the state from the indigenous communities and reduce us to serfdom .This attempt will fail.
Alas, the age old profiling and authenticating indigenous identity is through physical engagement with our traditional rulers who will ask whoever claims to be an indigene series of questions about his family roots, the family compound, their native friends, intimate enquiry of their ancestors, our distinct cultural norms, our kings, our heroes and numerous other queries that only the natives can answer with effortless precision and clarity. Only this method is the most authentic and fair process of identifying our Ibile people. Nothing else will do.
The other day we all saw the absurd video evidence of all kinds of non-Lagosian people claiming Lagos State in a dubious effort to enlist in the Nigerian Army. This is what the so called digital process will now legitimize.
Certification of our identity through some ambiguous non-human procedure is tantamount to ethnic warping and distortion.
This is not a personal challenge. It is our collective responsibility. In this historic moment, let our traditional leaders stand up and be counted. From Eleko to Anyangburen, Oba Akran, Olu of Epe, Olu of Ikeja and all other traditional rulers, this is your moment to identify with the good cause. The various indigenous clubs ranging from Eko club, Owuri club, Badagry elites, Epe club and many others should buckle up and join this defining moment to rescue our people from ethnic oppression.
This cannot and must not prevail.
Media Office
De Renaissance Patriotic Front, Lagos
