Until the coming of Nnamdi Kanu and his IPOB, no Nigerian ever accused Ndigbo of hate. None!
The Igbos were only chided on their “love for money”.
Still, even at that, while some people said this of Igbos, and felt Igbos could do anything for money, many other people, made the same claim about Igbos, but more out of admiration and in awe of Igbo’s spirit of enterprise, and the uncommon ability to create water in the desert. Many progressive and forward-looking people from other tribes got drawn to the Igbos just to tap from their “money and business sense” as well as their never-say-die spirit.
Personally, I experienced this when I got to Lagos. The son of my landlord who already had a thriving timber business, decided to stick to me, even when I was only looking for a private school in which to teach, just to keep body and soul together. Austin never stopped saying, “Omo Ibo, before I know it now, you go don hammer”. He believed I would never teach for long; he was sure that in few months or years, the Charles he was looking at would be a different person. That was how many people looked at Igbos in the past…..with admiration, with respect, and in awe. Never as hate mongers!
In 1999, Dr Alex Ekwueme was on the verge of clinching the PDP presidential ticket. In fact, if it weren’t for the interest of the vacating generals in Olusegun Obasanjo, Ekwueme would have trumped all others that vied for the party’s ticket. And if he had, becoming the nation’s president would have been faite accompli, since it was only PDP that had the required national reach.
It is instructive to note that while Ekwueme put himself forward, there were no insinuations from any quarters about how the Igbos hated other tribes, nor any questions of “who do they think will vote for them after all the hate and curses?” Note too that in the primary election, Ekwueme got votes from Hausas, the Yorubas and the rest of Nigerians. No one talked about how Igbos were unfit to rule Nigeria. No one talked about punishing them because of the civil war, nor was it ever made an issue. PDP was the leading party and had many Igbos confidently jostling for the party’s sole presidential ticket. And they all fancied their chances. Wow!
But it changed! With the coming of Nnamdi Kanu and his IPOB, it all changed.
Chief Ralph Uwazuruike led Biafra agitation before Nnamdi Kanu. But he never used unprintable names on the Yorubas, the Fulanis nor the Hausas. Never!
He never taught the Igbos that they were the greatest thing to have happened to humanity nor taught them that they were the most intelligent tribe on earth. He didn’t have to; people of other tribes knew our worth, and accorded us commensurate respect.
Today, things are no longer the same. Mention “hate”, and Igbo quickly comes to mind. If the accusation is not that they hate, it is that they are hated.
In the past, under Uwazuruike, his fight was against the government, and he had support from many other tribes, and could easily traverse the entire nation to have talks with members of other tribes. Many were sympathetic to his cause, whether they believed in it or not. He never made Igbos enemies to other tribes.
Today, once you see insults and curses on Facebook, look well, you know those behind them. And one wonders how this could help the cause of Ndigbo.
This is a tribe reputed for their love for strangers, kindness, hospitality and intelligence. Sadly, a very vociferous minority is casting the entire tribe in a very bad light.
A lot has changed, and we can’t continue to pretend as though all is well. It is time to tone down on the tirades and learn to play once again in a multi-ethnic set-up which is what Nigeria is.
O si taa di nma, o dibara gboo.
Charles Kaye Okoye
Now, watch as they come for my head and insult the hell out of me!