Saturday, August 17, 2013

Igbo bashing, what were Ahmadu Bello, Samuel Akintola and Awolowo opinions

Igbo bashing, what were Ahmadu Bello, Samuel Akintola and Awolowo opinions

Never knew what exactly it meant to say or call somebody an ‘ Adult in child’s body until I read Fun- Kayode’s rumbling chatter or schizophrenic gibberish. I swear Kayode like my nine old son (when he is frustrated) does not own enough intellectual development to either hate anybody or mean any evil against Igbos as he rebelliously test his vocabulary war-chest and debate abilities. And like most nine 9 year old, Kayode is seeking attention by displaying what in his mind, is his great oratory abilities.

As we all know, when one in self-deceit and self-doubt exaggerates one’s own abilities he then challenges him or they he perceives as equals or better than he or she thinks of self. Great men or warriors do not challenge the lowly or the ordinary person. So when the child megalomaniac, Great Funny- kayode calls Igbos name and challenges them for a duel he either undoubtedly takes  Igbos as his equal or greater than his self exaggerated worth and believes that he will get a good run for his bet and challenge. But the only problem here is that there won’t be any show or spectacular to watch because kayode is that 9 year old boy test-taunting a vicious, ruthless yet benevolent warrior that he is dreadfully aware of.   Kayode’s gibberish op-ed or whatever it may be called was childishly boastful that it reminded me of my elementary and junior high days when we boasted of the superiority and great accomplishment of our towns, people, and groups. Like students of junior highs, Kayode’s rants are but self-serving comments that can only be made by a tribal xenophobic airhead that his is;

kayode is that nine old Yoruba boy trying to escape from, to overcome , to immune against, his Igbo fear by taunting them; trying to know how far he could get or trying to see if he could get away with it. But gripped by fear as he realized that he has gone overboard in his taunting of Igbos, he then begun to coalesce futilely all Nigerians against Igbo. He has begun to narrate Igbo crimes against all other Nigeria ethnic nationalities. But being a 9 year old he neither witnessed the civil war nor was he aware of the resilience of hated but blessed Igbo people. Kayode is too childish, not old enough to know that no amount of gang up against Igbo would rival the one that preceded, led to and prevailed during the civil war. Being only 9 years old, Kayode is too superficial to notice that Igbos are in full cognizance of their true nature in Nigeria, their bad fate but blessed nature. One could not resist asking how this 9 old inarticulate buffoon with empty ego become a minister in Nigeria. Well this puzzle is not a rocket science because this is Nigeria for you, the land of mediocrity.

Every important personality, learned, every reputable legal scholar of Yoruba descent has said that Fashola’s internal deportation of Nigerian citizens is immoral, illegal, unconstitutional and therefore condemnable. So Igbos should take comfort in the unbiased nature of Yoruba's important personalities. Nonetheless, Igbos must not make the mistake of be naïve or complacent because the ordinary, unaccomplished, common Yoruba man like any unaccomplished man anywhere in the world dwell self with envy, jealous hate and dislike of the accomplished men living in his midst especially if the accomplished man is seen as a foreigner, an outlier. The poverty of the unachieved but hateful person or persons is like vicious circle that reinforces itself because these haters instead of pursuing their goal and destiny they spend greater percent of their time, and human energy unproductively, extorting, hating and envying thereby keeping selves perpertually in the same predicaments of envy, jealous, poverty and ignorance .

Yes, Igbo should neither be complacent nor underestimate the dangers pose by these scumbags because they seem to be in majority in every society. Yes, poverty is not a crime but when one’s poverty and idleness constitute deliberate danger to the successful, to the hardworking, to the self-made individual then poverty becomes a crime that must be checked by any means necessary. It is legal, ideal and even a responsibility to confront the government that through bad polices or no policy, or through corruption makes the citizenry poor. But it is a misplaced anger, stupidity for the poor to confront another citizen just because this citizen is successfully in-spite government bad policies and corruptions.

Igbos' success in Nigeria is neither magical nor criminal but rather the product of good business strategy, planning, vision and of course shrewdness. But vision is the single most important factor responsible for Igbo business success.   This vision is the reason Igbos are fixated in real property acquisitions whether in the North, West or South South  because an Igbo man thinks more for the future, for the economic wellbeing and welfare of his offspring more than he thinks of himself and his immediate need. This is why other Nigerians especially Yorubas poke fun on Igbo man about going on rags and hungry why he has fortune lying somewhere. Different People, persons and cultures have different priorities; some live in the immediate and worry less about tomorrow, some live for others and while some don't even want to live at all. And the point being, we should not envy others for what they have or have not because we do not know the culture, the mind set or what scarifies or lack thereof that gives them happiness and sense of fulfillment. Wealth accumulation for future generations give the Igbo a sense of fullfilment while a Yoruba believes in the immediate  pleasure or hedonism and a typical Hausa/Fulani derives joy in fuedal theocracy irrespective of his own status in such feudal monarchism.

                                                                                                                                
Ask one million Nigerian Igbo haters why he or she hate Igbos one will get one million different answers, like Igbos are criminals, armed robbers, arrogant, domineering, frugal, misers, money lover, bad-mannered, untamed, trouble makers etc. And another one million uniform, same or similar unanimous answer of Igbo greed or tendency to dominate will be echoed. The one million different answers are useless since they appear to reflect one million individual different views of one million Nigerians about Igbos. Take armed robbery for example, the most dangerous, notorious criminal armed robbers, Dr. Oyenusi, Anini, Monday Osumbor, and now Godogodo Nigerians ever known are all none Igbos. Another example, the stealing from or the looting of the Nigeria treasury are done by the groups, Hausa/Fulani and Yoruba that controls and runs affairs in Nigeria since 1966. These are facts and not Funny Kayode’s tortured truth. Another example is violence, except reprisal attacks Igbos do not attack the guests among them Nigerians or foreigners alike. But Yorubas in one time another have attacked or threatened to attack Igbos and Igbo businesses in the West. Unprovoked attacks of Igbos in the North are a daily occurrence. Why the threat of attack on Igbos in the West and North is a daily phenomena.

Now the question that had always begged to be asked is why the Igbo hate in Nigeria? To answer this question one must go back to the other one million unanimous answers that one million Nigerians gave as the reason they hate or put mildly the reason they dislike Igbos. And that resounding and unianymous response is that, Igbos are Greedy and exhibit domineering tendency. If one million other Nigerian gave this same answers about Igbos there must be some elements of tangible truth or perceived truth to it. Now let as do justice to these unanimous feelings about Igbos by many other Nigerians. First greedy is universal human-animal natural instinct that is inseparable from the fundamental law of self-preservation. There is not wrong, illegal, sinful, evil and dirty about greed except one allows his greed to push him or her into hurting, maiming, others. But if greed is bad what would one say about Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba government officials that have for over 50 years controlled and used their high positions in the government and Looted, stole and ran Nigeria to near extinction? Greedy is drive and will that gives meaning to life, the self preservation. He who is not greedy lacks the will to self-preserve, the will the live. Lack of greed or the will to live leads to either laziness or hopesless or both, and these two are dangerous dispositions. If greed was such a bad thing the Lord would not have possessed it in aboundanc, remember, He want 100% of all beings to be for Him.

Igbo domineering tendencies; in the early 60s Sarduana of Sokoto Ahmadu Bello in a not accusatory manner yet in bad light accused Igbos of domineering tendencies. He said ‘employ an ebo as a laborer today within a yeaa he will emerge as head man' Did you notice that Sarduan did not say Igbos are criminals.’ Fellow Nigeria, what is wrong with this Igbo picture as depicted by Sarduana?. In my opinion, that one strived and rose from ashes to glory should be encouraged, praised, and replicated because this is what living should be about. But again Meritocracy in ‘mediocre society is crime punishable by hate, anger, envy and scorn. Fears of Igbo domination were Samuel Akintola’s night, morning, afternoon songs of worry. Sir Awolowo was also dreadful of Igbo domination. Neither Akitola nor Awolowo said, thought or feared that Igbos were predisposed to crime or social vices. As a matter of fact in the 60s when Yoruba land was in political turmoil, burning, engulfed with political assassinations and thuggery, South East was in perfect peace. The reasoning behind Sardunna's Igbo characterization is very understandable and pardonable because he was a product and custodian of Islamic feudalistic theocracy. But for Awolowo and Akintola the disparaging of Igbo was political, tribal and fear of formidable competitor, the Igbo.

So, every honest Nigerian sees and knows that Igbo Nigeria problem is envy, and jealousness by the many who naturally are enemies of progress and success not just in Nigeria but the world over. So the hate and dislike of Ibo by any other ethnic nationality has nothing to do with the evil or wrongs the Ibos did. But instead Ibo hate and disdain are envious in nature; Ibo hate are due to Ibo’s unmatched competitiveness,  carrier successes private and public by the majority of the Igbo populance which unlike in the West and north where fews bougiers control 99% of the wealth and 98% of the masses go hungry. The Igbo crime in Nigeria is the fear of Ibo domination as voiced by Sardauna of Sokoto Ahmadu Bello, Akintola, Awowolo and others as earlier  as the time of Nigeria independence. My concern is that these hate and envy toward Igbo has reached a disturbing crescendo even after 50 years Igbo was shutout of the management of the affairs of this country; relegated to second classism and asked to eat under the table. The Igbo hate has uped geomtrically just because, in-spite all odds and stumbling blocks and marginalization of the Igbo by the ruling class Igbos have managed to remain afloat and relevant, and  those hunting for Igbo heads are increasingly more aggressive to serve Igbo heads in their soups.

Fate wise, Igbos are like German Jews who during the reign of Nazi fascism were apolitical yet fate could not save them from the impending holocaust. It was Long period of unfounded envy, jealousness, hate towards German Jews that led to the Holocaust. The envy, anger, jealousness, hate towards Igbo of eastern Nigeria have reached that feverish and holocaust proportion. This is not crying wolf it is facts on the making and when it completely unfolds I will be called a prophet but I am no prophet and nothing close but I know and studies human inklings.

We ought and must love peace and one another but I am also of the view that South East policy makers must see the wisdom in maintaining within the confines of the law a regulated vigilante and militia force for minor internal security challenges within SE and for initial response to unwarranted provocations from without. Today South West has OPC and recently large quantity of explosive Ordnance was intercepted in one of the South West states. South South has MEND and other insurgent groups, North Central have Ombatse, North West and North East zones are undoubtedly the most insurgent infested zones. Sometimes ago a North West governor was illegally importing arms into the country.

 I believe that a measure of force is required to maintain mutual fear and respect. As long as some envious, jealous, lazy, groups out there, sees Igbo’s self-defense vulnerability, see no threat of harm from the Igbo, sees Igbo as a punching bag without consequences they will not stop poking their lazy leprous fossilized hand-mind in the Igbo eyes. Is not a question of if but when will attack on Igbo happen. As it has always happpend, in no distance time these Igbo haters will attack Igbos living among them mainly to take over and or destroy Igbo wealth and properties in their area of influence. These people are cowards and will attack with vengeance and furiousness the weak uses to attack perceived uberman, the Igbos. Truly, Igbos are not coward if they were they would not put their lives and wealth on their haters reach but I am not sure Igbos have emergency plan to respond to sudden unprovoked attacks from their detractors.

Nonetheless, as long as we say one Nigeria I do not fault any Igbo man for building business or structure in any part of the so-called one Nigeria. But the Igbo, who make that choice of building outside Igbo land undoubtedly knows that there may be the need for him or her to defend, protect or abandon such structure. I know businesses; buildings are hard earned possessions but material things come second to man’s dignity, and life. So as long as there exists a one Nigeria mantra either in truth or in deceit Igbos who built outside South East should know to prepare to lawfully and forcefully defend what is theirs and as a last resort abandon such properties or structures.

In a federating republic like Nigeria, sovereignty or power belongs to the people, the citizenry of which indigenous people are part of. In Nigeria constitution, indigenous people of which almost every Nigerian is one some place, are neither superior nor entitled more rights than any other citizen because again sovereignty belongs to the citizenry. A citizen of a country or state is anyone who is either natural free born, or a naturalized citizen who resides in the state, pays taxes and fulfills his or her civic duties. Yes, Yorubas may be the indigenous people in the Lagos State territory but their indigene-ship neither negates the right of other citizens nor the citizenship status of other Lagosians who are not of Yoruba descent or whose ancestry are not indigenous Lagosians. A city, state, nation without the poor is perverted and one that ill-treats its poor is cursed and only waits for its own demise.

When people call Lagos a-no-man’s land they do not mean that there are or there were no indigenous people of Lagos territory they simple mean to say that there is no ethnic nationality one would not found in Lagos. Many of my Yoruba friends and acquaintances especially the none-lagosians do describe Lagos as a-no-man’s land. Lagos as a-no-man’s land is short way of saying that every group, ethnicity can be found in Lagos and must people do not say it with malice. But this is beside the point, Lagos being called no-man’s land or not is but red herring, a distraction from the issue at hand; which is the legality and constitutionality of internal deportation of Nigerian citizens. Before now I never heard of indigenous Lagosians complaining about people calling Lagos, a-no-man's land.

There are so many generations of Yorubas who are British citizens and they will take offense if English people belittle, make mockery or denounce their citizenship just because they are not native or indigenous English. If a Yoruba would enjoy British citizenship, except for enviousness, jealousness, hatefulness and ignorance I do not see why an Igbo with business, real property, pays taxes, performs civic duty and lives in Lagos would be denied Lagos citizenship just because his is Igbo. It is a pity, petty, shameful, primitive and troubling that any Yoruba in today Nigeria would on bases of ethnicity or indigene-ship challenges the right of an Igbo Lagos property owner to Lagos citizenship. The indigenous Lagosians were not indigene of Lagos from the eternity, were they? 

In Americas, in Australia, in South Africa, the white Europeans settlers enjoy full citizenship but an Igbo in Lagos is being treated like an alien from another planate. This is why progress has eluded Nigeria and black race as a whole. Because black people in their primitive mentality only occupy themselves with envy, hate and witch hunt of the successful.

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