VP Osinbajo shares encounter with tribalistic landlord while searching for house in preparation for marriage

The Vice-President of Nigeria, professor Yemi Osinbajo, has shared his experience while he was house-hunting before he got married.

Taking a trip down memory lane, Osinbajo narrated how he was almost refused an apartment by a landlord who was wary of his profession and also had a deep-seated resentment for the Yoruba sub-ethnic group he belongs to — Ijebu.

He disclosed that it was painstaking getting an apartment at the point when he was to get married.

Sharing his experience, the VP stated via his verified Twitter account with his then-landlord, “In 1989, I was about to get married and I was searching for a good house to rent. I met my landlord who happened to be an elderly lawyer who obviously did more real estate than legal practice.

“He let me know that there were three categories of people he would not rent property in his care to – Igbos, Ijebus and lawyers. I was disqualified on two accounts. He then said to me, pointing behind him at a few shriveled-up books on a small bookshelf, that he had the arsenal to destroy any tenant in court if I gave him any trouble. He later, to his embarrassment, discovered that I was a Law teacher and adviser to the then Attorney General of the Federation and of course, that I am also Ijebu.

“I have shared this story to illustrate a point that I think is hugely important which is that prejudice and bias are natural aspects of human nature. Everyone has prejudices and preferences that are reinforced by stories and narratives.”