City Boy’s South-East invasion, by Ochereome Nnanna

Before now, not many people outside the South-West, especially inner Lagos circles knew, or bothered about the “City Boy” phenomenon. It was a byname invented for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu by his followers at the outset of the 2023 political season to emblematise his “street-smart” persona which has enabled him to streak from nowhere to President of Nigeria.

When I use the word:“nowhere”, I really mean it. Most of us were children of nobodies when we started in life. But we have family identities. Our parents are known. Even if our exact birth dates were not sure, our age mates, classmates, schoolmates throughout our educational odyssey and certificates are sure and verifiable. Our real hometowns are known.

City Boy became a wider social media event when Tinubu’s second but eldest surviving son, Seyi, approached some young, wealthy Igbo influencers such as Obinna Iyiegbu (Obi Cubana), Pascal Chibuike Okechukwu (Cubana Chief Priest), Emeka Okonkwo (E-Money) property magnate, Cletus Uzoezie Oragwa (Zenco), and others, to front his father’s City Boy Movement in the South-East. They eagerly embraced the call, rolling out brand-new buses with Tinubu’s tendentious “chain” emblem emblazoned. This immediately triggered a stampede of controversy in the South-East and beyond.

These Igbo jet-setters who were used to being vaunted for their achievements suddenly found themselves in a cloud of storms, especially in the social media. All sorts of dirty names were freely dredged up and heaped on them. Some said they were willing to sell out the Igbo nation because of money. Indeed, a counter-movement: “Village Boys”, suddenly sprang up, with volunteers coming out en masse. Village Boys are mainly an offshoot of the nationwide Obidient Movement which volunteers to work for the presidential aspiration of former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi.

In the South-East, the Obidients are mostly drawn from non-party affiliated activists. In fact, many of them are pro-Biafra individuals who become politically active when worthy and outstanding individuals such as Governor Alex Otti of Abia State and Obi are involved. These constitute over 80 per cent of the Igbo grassroots. Unlike other youths who are involved in politics for material gratification, the Village Boys elements are volunteers who are ready to pay the price if necessary.

The emergence of the Village Boys so soon after the announcement of the City Boy Movement in the South-East is beginning to look like two armies massing up on opposite sides of a drawn battle line. Things should not be allowed to proceed in this direction of a showdown because the Igbo nation will be the worse for it.

We don’t want what happened in Ogoniland in 1994 and 1995 to be re-enacted in the South-East. The Ogoni grassroots movement, MOSOP, saw the pro-Federal Government side led by the Ogoni elders as “sell-outs”, and massacred them. The Federal Government moved in, rounded up the Ogoni Nine and executed them. The Biafra agitation has radicalised the vast majority of Igbo grassroots towards a “Nigeria exit”-mindedness.

Whichever side anybody belongs to, it must be uppermost in their minds that Ndi Igbo do not kill one another because of politics. This is why the Igbo have the lowest incidence of political violence and killings in Nigeria throughout their history.

The City Boy proponents are mostly businessmen and socialites, not politicians. Every businessman needs critical connections and will do almost anything to get them. We have seen how Cubana Chief Priest has been bowing to bigger boys like Obi Cubana and Davido, not for money but connection. The City Boy gives the glamour boys the connection they need to advance and protect their businesses. Since when did Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Aliko Dangote and other billionaires reject the extended hand of a president? What matters is what Obi Cubana and co do with their involvement with City Boy. If they use it as an instrument of oppression or sabotage of the core Igbo aspirations, they will get their fingers burnt, putting it mildly. “Federal might” can only come to clean up the mess.

I do not see anything wrong in Tinubu using the City Boy as an instrument to get into the South-East politically. Ndi Igbo must be realistic and pragmatic. They might not have played any significant role in founding the All Progressives Congress, APC, the worst ruling party in Nigeria’s history. Tinubu may not be our idea of the right person to rule Nigeria. But in spite of everything, the APC now controls three out of five South-East states (Imo, Ebonyi and Enugu States). No one can pretend that APC is not in the South-East. The president and his party will be satisfied if they get at least 25 per cent of votes in the South-East in the 2027 presidential election.

Tinubu might be more eager to support the creation of an additional state in the zone and properly fund the South-East Development Commission, SEDC, if he is re-elected with a good showing in the South-East. I know that compromise does not sound like music in some ears. But the truth must be said. Let us approach this matter with the Igbo mantra: Egbe bere, ugo bere. Nke si ibe ya ebela, nku kwaa ya.

The kite should perch, the eagle should perch. No one should deprive the other.

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