The Ogu/Egun ethnic nationality in the Badagry area of Lagos State, under the aegis of Gunuvi Rights Initiative of Nigeria, has protested against their exclusion from the forthcoming national conference.
They said the exclusion was a proof of their marginalisation in the state and demanded that the situation should be remedied.
The Lagos State government had sent six names — Mr. Femi Okunnu, Mr. Supo Sasore, Prof. Tunde Samuel, Mr. Waheed Ajani, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Oshinowo-Balogun and Chief Rabiu Oluwa — to the secretariat of the national conference in Abuja as representatives of the state.
But the National President of GRIN, Mr. Bokoh Oluwole, and Secretary-General, Mr. Ogunbiyi Isaac, in a letter to Governor Babatunde Fashola, dated March 4, said the representation of Lagos State in the confab should have reflected the cultural and ethnic configuration of the state.
The letter, entitled, ‘Unfair exclusion of Ogu/Egun ethnic nationality from Lagos State list of names to the national confab’, was obtained by our correspondent on Sunday in Abuja
GRIN said Ogu/Egun ethnic nationality who “constitutes the pivot of western civilisation in Nigeria”, deserves a place of pride in matters of national significance.
The group said, “It should be realised that the history of Nigeria will be incomplete without reference to the Ogu/Egun people of Badagry in Lagos State, bearing in mind that Badagry, apart from being predominantly Ogu/Egun speaking, also constitutes the pivot of western civilisation in Nigeria.
“We believe that Lagos State representation to the confab should have reflected the cultural and ethnic configuration of the state.
“In this regard, the Ogu/Egun speaking people of Nigeria, on behalf of whom we are writing, are descendants of Adja-Popo sub-group who migrated from Dahomey Empire and settled in the present-day Badagry and its environs in the 15th Century long before the Berlin Conference of 1885 (Partitioning of Africa).
“We therefore seek that the voice of the Ogu/Egun speaking people be heard at the national conference.”
The group said the Ogus constitute about 15 per cent of the population of the state and should be given a slot “in matters of this nature.”
“We are of the view that all hopes are not lost because we believe in your sense of fairness, judgment and spirit of accommodation which has seen you through the act of successful governance in Lagos State,” the group added.
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