This Is How Igbos Are Discriminated Against In Nigeria.
Today, statistically, the Igbo people as I have said earlier, are the most enterprising people in Nigeria. As a result of their high level business activities the Igbo nation are responsible for between 60-70 percent of all imports into the Nigerian nation. Obviously, all these imports are being supplied to the Nigerian market. Nigeria provides for the Igbo people the market and the consumption of their goods and products imported. Their business acumen are being realized and better realized in a united Nigeria than in a less and constrained geographical territory.
How can the Igbo people claim marginalization when they are responsible for 70 percent of the imports of the whole country? If you take Nollywood for example, the Igbo people control that as well. Many other spheres and economic life of Nigeria are under the control of the Igbo people. It is therefore illogical to talk about marginalization. If the Igbo people have been marginalized as the Southern Sudanese were marginalized in Sudan, or as the English speaking people of Cameroon are marginalized in Cameroon, they would not have been allowed to control 70% of all imports. As of 2008, 80 percent of our movie industry was in the hands of the Igbo people. Many Nigerian cities and states are totally dominated by the Igbos with no mass killing or eviction. In fact, many of them are not just welcomed, especially in the western part of Nigeria, South-South, and the middle belt, many of them are actually celebrated.
I watched the 2013 and 2015 world-conquering Nigerian U17 football teams. How beautiful it was to see that no nationality was protesting or complaining of marginalization in the national team this time. The picture of the national team was such that at least six of all the players were from the east (Igbo), Five were from South-South, two were from the west and all the rest were derived from among the over 371 tribes of Nigeria. Not a single one from the north, yet nobody complained. In a society where there is discrimination and deprivation, they would not have allowed the Igbo to control the majority of the spots on the team. But thank God that today in Nigerian sports, we are getting to a place where if you are good enough, you are allowed to express and display your talent. Believe me, in marginalized societies it doesn’t matter how talented you are, you are still not allowed to take the place of the majority nation. Friends, Nigeria has gone a long way, let’s work together to make it even better.
Yet despite this wide acceptance of Igbos in Nigeria people like Nnamdi Kanu keeps heaping up insults on the Nigerian state and on other ethnic groups in the country. Meanwhile, his people live as neighbours amidst of these very people, hence creating enmity in the 371 nationalities in the country against his own Igbo people that he claims to be working for. He calls Nigeria a zoo and its citizens baboons. More so, many Igbo indigenes are now suspects among those they live, since an endorsement of Kanu equals to endorsement of all the evils he utters against Nigeria and her citizens. I personally think that every Igbo person who is not in support of these antics of Kanu should speak up to make his or her position known, so as not to become a victim of any reprisals from those who feel insulted by this proxy Igbo leader. The problems Kanu and his group is going to create for the Igbos is going to be too much to bear if upright Igbos don’t arise to stop him now.
He stirs emotions everywhere he goes, but ends each visit with a call for financial support. Special accounts were opened in America, Austria, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Online financial payment platforms were quickly set up, as Biafran hopefuls were made to part with their hard-earned money. The question is, is Nnamdi Kanu fighting for the Igbo cause or for his pocket at the end of the day. I know there are more capable Igbo men and women who could easily silence this noise maker, but I wonder why too few are willing to confront him head on. The damage he could bring to Igbo people could be much worse than that of the Biafra-Nigerian war. Someone must begin the campaign to liberate the gullible people who have been deceived by him. I tell you that Nnamdi Kanu and his IPOB clique is a greater danger to Igbo land than Nigeria, he is making people to think that Nigeria is the enemy but he is a bigger enemy of Igbos than Fulani or Hausa people.
The movement that Nnamdi Kanu started is doing more evil to the Igbo people at large than good, no matter what his followers think. He clearly brings a bad odour to the atmosphere when Nigerians ought to be celebrating one another. The leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, Mr Nnamdi Kanu, often ask that the governorship election in Anambra State as well as other elections in Nigeria be boycotted. The belief of Kanu and IPOB is that such an act would “send a strong signal” to Nigerians that it is serious about its quest for a referendum on Biafra. It’s a counter productive strategy that will only allow the worse candidates to win, thereby strengthening the feelings of deprivation among the people who couldn’t exercise their franchise.
While that is still causing ripples, IPOB keeps making announcements of its Day of Rage when Biafrans would publicly burn their Nigerian voter cards and passports to show their disgust with Nigeria. This time they wanted people to sit at home on the 31st of May 2021, if you dare to go against their restrictions they issue threats of what they’ll do against you and your family. I see all these antics as counter productive to the cause of Igbos in general. Hence all Igbos should speak out against the actions of IPOB for they are bringing more evil against them and their land than the Nigerian government they so much resent. IPOB and Nnamdi Kanu are the real reasons for Igbo troubles.
Another thing IPOB does that brings evil on all Igbos is the new weird trend among young Igbo members of IPOB who have become so uncultured and caustic in their comments on social media that it is shocking and embarrassing to any civilised people anywhere. They create fake social media accounts with the Biafran flag as their profile picture. If you agree with them, you are their darling, but once you disagree or ask for caution, you are assaulted with all manner of insults and attacks. They mill around like soldier ants from one online thread to another, talking the same way, as if they are high on something. This is how much these gullible souls have been brainwashed by the lies of Nnamdi Kanu. They have been schooled in the art of rudeness and verbal attacks; they believe that to be seen as fearless one has to be exceedingly rude. This doesn’t project the Igbos well at all, you almost begin to think that it’s a culture among this people to behave like this. The enlightened Igbos must raise their voices against this contamination now so they don’t hijack the true and honourable culture of Ndigbo. As far as I’m concerned even though there are issues to be resolved in Nigeria, these issues should be resolved together as educated and enlightened people following due political processes. The methods of IPOB will only end up hurting the Igbo people more.
At this juncture I’ll have to quote the famous Chinua Achebe, what does he say about Nigeria, let’s see “There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership.” Notice that Achebe is talking about Nigeria and not Biafra. More so, he admits that there is nothing wrong with Nigeria, so the problem is not Nigeria, yes we have leadership problem but it’s a general problem of all tribes in Nigeria. Achebe, Azikiwe and Ojukwu all advocated for a United Nigeria, I’m not sure Nnamdi Kanu is wiser or better than these great Igbos. I’ll expect my reasonable Igbo brothers to follow the real Igbo leaders, rather than a proxy opportunist like Nnamdi Kanu.
For The Love Of God, Church And Nation,
Dr. Sunday Adelaja.
