Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour's experience of the Lagos state election raised several questions, including: do non-fluent Yoruba people face a cultural catch-22? Are they confined to either ridicule if they speak Yoruba or to coming across as out of touch if they don't?
The gubernatorial elections in Lagos State in February exposed the underbelly of the everyday tribalism that thrives underneath Nigerian society, even in cosmopolitan areas like Lagos. Despite Lagos’ seeming jovial diversity, sense of camaraderie, and famed owambe culture, questions of belonging, ownership and settler group rights have plagued the city since independence, and continually manifest during elections.
The Labour Party gubernatorial candidate for the state, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour (GRV), a 39-year-old, foreign educated Lagosian of both Yoruba and Igbo descent, emerged as a viable opposition for the Gubernatorial elections, and arguably served as the embodiment of these underlying ethnic, class, and generational tensions. Many analyses have paid particular attention to GRV’s mixed heritage and its significance amidst the backdrop of inter-ethnic tensions within Lagos State...
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