As Nigeria approaches the 2027 elections, the emerging tensions in Lagos and other urban centres underscore a pressing truth: electoral stability cannot be taken for granted in a rapidly changing federation.
For the Southwest, the task ahead is not to inflame ethnic divisions, but to confront legitimate indigenous anxieties through lawful reforms, civic protection, and proactive governance before political grievances mutate into insecurity.
Southwest Governors, working through regional coordination platforms, must urgently convene on electoral peace-building, residency integrity, and the protection of host communities—particularly in Lagos’ border, riverine, and commercial corridors where demographic pressures are most acute.
State Houses of Assembly across the region also have a duty to pursue stabilising frameworks that strengthen local governance without violating constitutional citizenship.
This can include enhanced collaboration with INEC on residency verification, tougher enforcement of tax and business compliance, improved land-use transparency, and stronger community security protocols to prevent intimidation or disenfranchisement in future elections.
At the federal level, the National Assembly must recognise that Nigeria’s constitutional order is increasingly strained by outdated assumptions in a highly mobile, economically unequal society.
If residency-based electoral safeguards, clearer state autonomy, and modern federal balance are now required to preserve peace, then those reforms must be pursued through constitutional amendment—not through denial, silence, or crisis-driven reaction.
Lagos remains the nation’s most cosmopolitan hub and economic engine.
But openness without structure can breed instability, and diversity without credible safeguards can fuel political resentment.
The moment therefore calls for responsible leadership: reforms that protect indigenous heritage, secure electoral participation for all residents, and prevent Lagos—and Nigeria—from sliding into avoidable electoral conflict.
The time to act is not in 2027. The time is now.
Professor Adetunde Oluwole.
Yoruba Indigenes Forum.
Headlinenews.news Special Investigative Report.
