An appeal for calm in Ile-Ife

THERE are conflicting reasons for the unfortunate chain of events that triggered a full-blown confrontation in Ile-Ife between gangs of local youths in the early hours of Wednesday, March 8. According to one account, passions were inflamed when a jealous husband (an Ife man apparently) found out about a tryst between his wife and another man, a Hausa, whom he then promptly set upon. In another account, what happened had nothing to do with an extra-marital affair, but that things got out of hand when an Ife man mobilised his friends to seek revenge on behalf of his wife, a trader who had apparently been strong-armed by a Hausa man. In a third version, the fracas in Ile-Ife was set off by local agents involved in a vicious power struggle between factions of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).

At any rate, Ile-Ife woke up on March 8 to the sound of dane guns and clashing machetes, as a free for all ensued between aggrieved H-ausa and Ife youths. In the melee, several people (seven or 10 depending on the source) were killed, while property estimated in the millions was destroyed. Business activities screeched to a halt as banks and private concerns, fearing opportunistic invasion by hoodlums, quickly battened down.  Speaking on the incident, the Seriki Hausawa of Ile Ife, Alhaji Abubakar Madagali, described as untrue and baseless, insinuations that the crises had  an ethnic coloration, saying the violent attack was precipitated by a disagreement between two people. He contended the unfortunate incident was hijacked by hoodlums who unleashed mayhem on  the community when they had no means of defending themselves.

Similarly, the president of    the  Ife  Progressive  Forum/ Action Council, Comrade Lawrence Awowoyin, maintained that the crisis was masterminded by hoodlums, stressing that there was no political or ethnic undertone to the crisis. He said: “The entire citizenry of Ife-land wish to express our abhorrence of the unfortunate clash between certain individuals around Sabo area of Ile-Ife which led to loss of lives and property. The love of Ife people towards all ethnic groups from time immemorial is not in doubt. The crisis was an offshoot of a misunderstanding between two individuals at Sabo area of Ile-Ife. The misunderstanding was unfortunately hijacked by hoodlums in the area. In view of this, the fracas did not emanate from Ife community but was masterminded by hoodlums from the two aggrevied individuals.”

This incident is indeed very unfortunate for several reasons. First, it dials back some of the progress achieved over the years in burnishing the image of the university town following the catastrophic Ife-Modakeke conflict of the 1990s. Second, it undoes much of the good work that the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has done since his inauguration in 2015. Third, it brings back the foul odour of tribalism and ethnicity in a town which otherwise boasts an excellent record, and at a time when Osun State and the country as a whole can ill afford it.

To this end, we are gladdened by the quick and positive intervention of ordinary citizens of Ife (Yoruba and Hausa alike), public officials, the state governor, Rauf Aregbesola, the Ooni, the Osun State police command, and staff of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital. From the smoldering ashes of incinerated automobiles and damaged trust, there have emerged inspiring reports of ordinary- and not so ordinary- people who bravely crossed ‘ethnic lines’ to protect neighbors they have known for their entire lives. In a typical show of magnanimity, the Ooni of Ife threw the doors of his palace open to people fleeing the fracas, while Alhaji Mamuda Mandagali has been involved in the efforts to douse tension.

We hope that the foundations of mutual trust can be rebuilt on such gestures of everyday kindness, official positivity, and patrician generosity. The empaneling of a Truth and Reconciliation Committee by the Ooni of Ife to investigate the origins of the deadly fracas is a step in the right direction. Hausa and Yoruba communities in Ile-Ife have lived peacefully together for generations. The nefarious activities of hoodlums and ethnic jingoists should not be allowed to sour this history of peaceful intercourse.