When Silence Is No Longer Golden

The last has not been heard of the dreaded Lagos APC thug who goes by the nickname “MC Oluomo”.

One would at first imagine that the level of preparedness of our security agencies for the 2023 polls will see to people like MC Oluomo cooling off in at least one of the police custodies in the country already but rather he still appears in public doing what he knows best to do, which is, to be issuing political threats on behalf of his party, the APC.

Tinubu who is known to be his godfather must as a matter of urgency understand that by virtue of his proclamation by the Mahmood-led INEC that he is President-elect of Nigeria means he should start seeing himself as a national leader and no longer as a regional leader that he used to be.

Tinubu is supposed to fight for every Nigerian regardless of tribe or religion. By virtue of his being President-elect, pending the decision of the courts, he is no longer a regional leader but a leader for all Nigerians. When a tout, a nonentity comes and insults an entire tribe yet the President-elect has not released a single statement, one would rightfully be shocked as to what kind of President Tinubu will be. How does he intend to unite Nigeria if he can’t see the fact that a well-known thug is threatening the citizens he intends to govern, as President? He should not forget that the country is tensed already. MC Oluomo threatening the Igbo race for political reasons, stands condemned. This same thing happened in Rwanda about 30 years ago where people were abusing each other’s tribe, the rest of which was the Rwandan genocide of 1994. It is not nice of Tinubu that a member of his own party and his own political party is threatening a tribe and consequently a whole nation and yet, such member of his party is still walking the streets of Nigeria freely.

If Igbos are being attacked in Lagos and every other place, posterity will judge Tinubu who can at least call MC Oluomo and his cohorts to order.

Every well-meaning Nigerian must condemn the video of MC Oluomo threatening the Igbos living in Lagos. Ordinarily, it is the right of every Nigerian to live, work anywhere in Nigeria and to vote for whoever he or she wishes to vote for, without being threatened, hounded or coerced.

I enjoin the Governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu to condemn the video and call MC Oluomo to order. He can’t afford to pay deaf ears to the danger that MC Oluomo’s threats to the Igbos in Lagos portends at a time like this.

For the record, Tinubu’s wife is from Itsekiri part of Delta State. His son is married to a Lebanese woman. It is even a fact that Tinubu himself is not even from Lagos State.
By these facts, Tinubu himself is a beneficiary of the accommodating nature of Nigerians, why then is MC Oluomo, his mentee in politics above caution on a matter as sensitive as this? Why exactly is Tinubu keeping quiet.

At this juncture, silence is no longer golden.

Tinubu must speak and he must speak now. He must make hay while the sun shines, as MC Oluomo is becoming a very big monster that must be curtailed already. The IG of police and the head of the DSS and all other security agencies in the country must on account of the recent video of MC Oluomo threatening Igbos in Lagos, take MC Oluomo into custody already to at least serve as deterrent to other thugs around the country, threatening Nigerians all over the place for whatsoever political reason.

Enough is enough, Tinubu must begin to act as a leader for all Nigerians. Tinubu must speak to his mentee, MC Oluomo, now, to call him to order, at least for the sake of the least decency expected of what a President of Nigeria should act like.

Emmanuel IK Umeh is a Public Affairs Analyst and he writes from Anambra State.