For whatever reason, no serious-minded, focus-driven, and people-oriented government worth its mettle would pursue marginalization as a state policy and get away with it. In part because marginalization should be last on the agenda of any governor who wants to be remembered long after the die is cast. In any way, issues of legacy for prosperity can only be dispassionately assessed and thoroughly evaluated through the lens of justice, fairness, and equity—not through callous and insensate statements that knock people’s sensibility and sensitivity to the ground. Whether now or later, the long arm of karma will definitely catch up with any elected officials or their appointed counterparts who betrayed the people’s trust, regardless of who they are and where they reside.
Of course, Nigeria is replete with example of people who rise to power only to enrich their cronies, inflate contracts, and audaciously lie to people in their faces—but then have their names and reputations snuffed out from the good book of history. Apart from corruption that has turned Nigeria into a laughing stock globally, one other frighteningly disturbing nightmare for the country is marginalization. The hydra-headed monster that has clogged the country’s wheel of progress, stunted its growth, and foot-dragged its development. Where you have a system that excludes some people, denies them opportunities, or robs them of their dues, then you know such a system can never produce anything but muted development. In that instance, you don’t need a soothsayer to tell you the gap between the rich and the poor is not just unbridgeable; it’s also insanely and ridiculously unstoppable. In Nigeria, as in other third world countries, you are either fabulously wealthy or miserably poor. There is no middle ground. No begging bow approach.
Crucially so, the inequality gap between the rich and the poor is no longer jumping over the roof; it is flying high in the sky—away from the reach of the common man. And as stark reality continues to stare us in the face, marginalization of this kind needs no region or religion—it cuts across the country’s nooks and crannies meandering through each region with mirthful recklessness.
Consequently, millions of Nigerians across regions and religions simply wallow in this artificially destructive and harmful pit—think of why the country is infamously dubbed the “world capital city of poverty.” But marginalization goes beyond the realms of social status or class struggle. There’s an irrefutable demarcation between the major ethnic groups and the hundreds of minorities. Where you are born is not just crucial to what you become; it’s also instrumental and fundamental to what becomes of you. The North and South dichotomy, for example, is as old as the country itself, and that has perpetually been tied to the apron string of identity politics. Sharing formulas, resource control, and access to opportunities—to name just three—also follow this vicious circle. No country or state ever reaches its optimum potential where marginalization is a state policy. While marginalization is frequently pronounced in Nigeria, regardless of the degree of bigotry and discrimination, it is rarely discussed at the state level. Interestingly, findings have shown that each state of the federation has its own unique way of enacting the winner-take-all system.
But even at that, most governors have cleverly devised various ingenious ways to make marginalization less apparent. That way, the sensibilities and sensitivities of people being marginalized become insulated from having their anger spill over into sheer outrage. In Anambra, identity politics manifest greatly depending on which denomination you belong to: Catholic or Anglican. Among the Benue people, the dichotomy takes on a different dimension: it is ethnically motivated: either you are Tiv by tribe or forget about being the state governor. In Oyo, being an Ibadan man is a huge advantage. The winners-take-all rule favors Muslims in Kwara state, particularly those from Ilorin. “Identity politics,” Robin Diangelo, author of White Fragility, averred, “refers to the focus on the barriers specific groups face in their struggle for equality.” Reflectively, most of the nuances that influenced the continuous and ferocious rise of identity politics in our society were simply a matter of survival. Those who bemoan the actions or inactions of a government often do so because of a perceived threat to their existence—the beneficiaries of marginalization and discrimination have no reason to challenge the status quo.
But here in Oyo State, no sitting governor has been so consistently accused and criticized for covert and overt bigotry against the Muslim populace than Governor Seyi Makinde. For the past three and a half years, Governor Makinde has watched cheerfully and gleefully as his Christianization agenda gained steam, much to the chagrin of people of other faiths who adored and admired his leadership style. Unsurprisingly, the Governor is always quick to defend and dismiss his Islamophobic stands whenever he’s in front of Muslim leaders. The most recent of which is that of Thursday, December 22, 2022, where the Governor happily informed his visitors about his latest appointment, in which 10 out of 33 appointed Education Secretaries were Muslims! Only God knows what the governor thinks of Muslim leaders and their followers.
But that wasn’t his first. At the 8th Omituntun Ramadan lecture on the 20th of April, the Governor took time to deny and refute allegations of bias and unfair treatment levelled against him by Ogbomosho Muslims. Similarly, the Governor also took time to remind his audience that “Muslims produce all of the Senators both in the 8th and 9th Assembly, so his reason for handling party tickets to Christian candidates a la carte is justified. “All the senators we have in the 9th Assembly are Muslims,” he was quoted as saying by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Taiwo Adisa. “The same thing happened in the 8th Senate,” he continued, “they were appointed not because they were Muslims, but because it was God’s and the people’s will.” But what if we dug into the first, second, third, and even this fourth republic to understand the power dynamics, identity politics, and weaponization of religion to stamp out a section of society? We are literally going to be gob-smacked.
Under Governor Seyi Makinde, three notable Muslim organizations have remained relentless in their pursuit of justice for their people. The Muslim community in Oyo State is one. The Political Awareness Group (PAG) is another, and the last but not the least is the Muslim Rights Concern Group (MURIC). Headed by the fearless Alhaji Kunle Sanni, the Muslim community in Oyo has remained undaunted in calling the attention of the world to the in-your-face crass discrimination exhibited by the governor. One of the most intensifying public interventions by the community is the mysterious deaths of three Muslim judges-in-waiting in 2021 and their swift replacement with their Christian counterparts. That the Governor refused to approve the names of qualified Muslim lawyers for months but was quick to do the same when the table turned shows the deep-seated bigotry that has pervaded the government. To better understand the judicial composition in the state, it helps to look at the list of old judges in the state. For one, the old judges are 24 in number. The state Chief Judge, Hon. Justice M.L. Abimbola, leads the pack of 23 other eminent legal titans. Of the 24 old judges, 13 are Muslims. The remaining 11 were Christians. But when it came time to add up the list of judges in the state, three Muslim lawyers—one from the state high court, another from the Ministry of Justice, and the last from the NBA—sailed through the battery of tests designed to whittle down their drives. It was their brains, not their faith, that helped them overcome the various obstacles planted in their path. Quite frankly, there’s no denying that those Lawyers were eminently qualified. Unfortunately, they are not going to live to enjoy the sweat of their labour just because their appointments would give Muslims the numerical strength in the state judiciary—a reality that the government and its handlers will never allow to happen. “Shocking, dispiriting, emotionally numbing, and mysteriously heartbreaking” could not even capture the feelings of Muslims across the state, one Muslim cleric told me.
Abdulrasaq Bolaji Agoro, an Igboho-born legal practitioner who dropped dead on July 18, 2021, after observing the Maghrib prayer, was the last to embark on the journey of no return after waiting endlessly for the governor’s approval to no avail. Before him were Barristers Halimah Badru, who was the Registrar of the Oyo state high court, and Wasiu Gbadegesin, who, until his death, was the state solicitor general and permanent secretary of the Oyo state ministry of justice. One account revealed that Barrister Gbadegesin was frustrated to death because of his refusal to exonerate Chief Bisi Ilaka from an incident that took place during the Oranyan festival in Oyo town and where one civilian was reported to have lost his life. That of Agoro might be connected to being from the same hometown of the illegally impeached Deputy Governor! Of the new judges, only Hon. Justice K.A. Adedokun is a Muslim. The rest are Christians: Hon. Just. O.A. Adetujoye, Hon. Just. O.O. Ajadi, Hon. Just. F.B. Segun-Olakojo, and Hon. Just. E.A. Taiwo.
But the bigotry that has pervaded this government even transcends the judiciary. From the Governor (Seyi Makinde), to the Secretary (Mrs. Olabamiwo Adeosun), to the Chief of Staff (Segun Ogunwuyi—he replaced Chief Lukman Bisi Ilaka), to the Deputy Chief of Staff (Ademola Ojo—he replaced Mr. Olawale Abdulmojeed Mogbonjunola), to the Speaker (Rt. Hon. Edward Debo Ogundoyin), it is deeply troubling that a governor elected by both Muslims and Christians has continued to use the state as a tool to exclude people of other faiths from relevance. The pattern of aggrieved politicians also follow similar trajectory: Engineer Rauf Olaniyan, Hon. Mulikat Adeola Akande, Alhaji Adebisi Olopoeniyan, Hon. Muraina Ajibola, among others. Of course, there’s also the likes of Mr. Femi Babalola, Hon. Michael Okunlade, Sen. Femi Lanlehin who have parted ways on account of principle and not religion. Still, the pattern is too close to be coincidental. Of note is the form recruitment into TESCOM, civil service commission and other less known appointments took cutting off others who are also qualified. Evidently, this governor is determined to continue on that same ruinous path that is capable of turning people against each other. Now think of this: In whose interests would those highly powerful and influential people decide?
For the records, no one expects Governor Seyi Makinde or others like him to completely favour Muslims or traditional worshippers at the expense of his brethren. That cannot even happen in America, where democracy originated. But as Heraclitus reminded us “If it were not for injustice, man would not know justice”.
OYO101 is Muftau Gbadegesin’s opinion about Issues affecting Oyo state, published on Saturdays. He can be reached via @TheGMAKing on Twitter, muftaugbadegesin@gmail.com and 09065176850
