The chief spokesperson of Labour Party, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, has said the loud silence by the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, over the continuous ethnic profiling and hate propaganda against Igbo in Lagos State was dangerous for Nigeria’s corporate existence.
He said Nigerians expected that Tinubu as a leader and former governor of the state, should have spoken out against the threats and intimidation being targeted at the Igbo and Nigerians from the South/South region in Lagos and any other tribe.
Tanko, who noted this in a statement mailed to Vanguard yesterday, expressed regret that Tinubu’s silence had gone a long way to support the impression in many quarters that ” he is the main enabler.”
He reminded Tinubu that there was life outside politics, stressing that the ethnic propaganda war against Igbo and other tribes in Lagos could give rise to internal strife in the country, which might be hard to contain.
He maintained that Tinubu’s failure to call his people in the south west, who are majorly his supporters to order, also gave the impression that the New York Times was right in describing him as a divisive character.
Tanko said: “We are worried over what could become of Nigeria, especially grave danger to ethnic war against other tribes, if he presides over Nigeria as its President.
“We must be reminded that when Hitler started with Communists, everyone kept quiet, he descended on Catholics, everyone kept quiet and he descended on Jews, everyone kept quiet because he is not Jewish, until Hitler descended on all.
“The story about the Rwandan example is too gory to contemplate. But, the way things are going in Lagos State, where Tinubu is also said to be a settler, shows that Rwanda can happen in Nigeria.
“This also serves a warning to all concerned citizens brothers nation wide that Nigeria is one and no any tribe should be a targets, for political gain.”
Responding to claims that Tinubu does not want to speak out in order not to hurt the political campaign strategy, which might likely favour his party, Tanko declared that “statesmanship, more than any virtue is a sine qua non for harmony in a plural society like ours.
“If I am Tinubu, I will call my supporters to order and reduce acrimony. For God’s sake, where is the unity in victory, albeit contested?
“Why is Lagos election do or die for a president-elect? This a bad omen. Perhaps, Tinubu is angry that majority of voters in Lagos did not vote for him.”