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How The Yoruba Can Deal With The Igbo....azuka Onwuka by fabrista(m): 7:37am On Aug 18, 2015 |
For decades, the Igbo and the Yoruba have lived in
peace but have bickered ceaselessly like cat and
dog. On April 22, 2014, I wrote an article entitled,
“‘Tom and Jerry’ relationship between Igbo and
Yoruba to highlight the inherent strengths of these
two ethnic groups and how they can positively
direct these strengths for the good of the two ethnic
groups and Nigeria in general. I added another
article on April 21, 2015, entitled, “Lagos is not a ‘No
man’s land’ but to underpin how the two ethnic
groups can work together.
However, one complaint some Yoruba have against
the Igbo is that the latter are limiting the
opportunities available to the Yoruba by being in
control of their homeland in the South-East and also
sharing the opportunities in the South-West with the
Yoruba. If the Igbo were all resident in the South-
East, and only come into the South-West to transact
business and go back, some maintain, there would
not be much problem. But the idea of the Igbo
settling en masse in Yorubaland, especially Lagos,
buying property massively, controlling some
markets and products, and having a say in the
politics of the South-West seem threatening to
some Yoruba. It creates the impression that the
Igbo usually hold an annual general assembly in a
30-million-man capacity stadium at which a
directive is issued to every Igbo person to go to the
South-West and take it over. But as has been
shown, the Igbo are investment-driven, and land
seems to be the best investment in Nigeria,
because of its ever appreciating value and the
protection it gives to the owner from landlords who
talk down on tenants, increase rent at will and eject
tenants at the flimsiest reason. The Igbo are proud
people who don’t like living at the mercy of any
“master”.
One weird alternative is to send all Igbo out of
Yorubaland. But that option is not an option because
the Igbo are Nigerians and have a right to reside in
any part of Nigeria without any passport or
residential permit. Secondly, even if the Igbo and
the Yoruba don’t belong to the same country, the
global standard is that people are free to reside in
any country once they have valid papers, and they
have a right to own property once they can afford it.
Currently, Nigerians reside in all parts of the world
and own property there without being citizens of
those countries.
However, there is an option that will balance the
skewed equation between the Igbo and the Yoruba
and reduce the tension between the two ethnic
groups. That option is to have a strategic migration
of the Yoruba in droves into Igboland, residing there
with their families, transacting business, buying
property and participating in the local politics and
social activities in Igboland. Currently, many Yoruba
seem to be averse to living in other parts of Nigeria
outside the Yoruba enclave. Interestingly, they love
to live in large numbers in the UK and the US.
Even in the choice of university, it is the same
story. The PUNCH edition of August 10, 2015
published a news story on page 6 on the result of
the post-UTME examination released by the
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. The person
with the highest score was Igbo (Onyenachi Nze).
Two people tied at third position, and one of them
was Igbo (Jude Epunam). If you check the results
released by universities which are based in the
South-East, Yoruba names will be few and far
between, not because they don’t want to admit
Yoruba students, but because they rarely apply to
South-East universities or even those in the South-
South. In my class of about 70 students at the
University of Nigeria, Nsukka, we had only one
Yoruba student.
Once the Yoruba take a decision to “invade” the
South-East in large numbers, the relationship
between them and the Igbo will improve greatly.
They will stop feeling short-changed by the Igbo.
While an Emeka is buying a house in Okota, an
Ayodele should be buying a house beside Emeka’s
ancestral home in Amawbia. While a Dozie is calling
himself Eze-Igbo of Ojo, a Dayo is calling himself
Oba Yoruba of Ngwaland.
That was why I was very happy when Ekiti State
mooted the idea of sending some Ekiti youths to
Onitsha and Aba to acquire trading skills and
craftsmanship. We Nigerians love to see the bad
sides of each ethnic group rather than the good
sides. Each ethnic group has some great qualities
that anybody who is not enslaved by tribal
supremacy and hate can copy and put to good use.
My 21-year sojourn in Yorubaland has added some
value to me.
In all parts of the world, settlers always have an
edge to succeed more than the indigenes. Why?
Settlers come with different perspectives. They
naturally think outside the box. They see things
differently and therefore spot opportunities that
indigenes can’t spot. They have more drive to
succeed. While sons of the soil live in their own
houses and pay no rent, and have access to
farmlands where they can get food for free, etc,
which make them complacent and conceited,
settlers know they have to succeed or die of hunger
or get booted out by their landlords. They are also
not bogged down by their culture or positions. A
prince in a foreign land will pocket his title and do
even menial jobs to succeed, but he can’t do the
same in his own land.
While growing up in Nnewi in the South-East in the
late 70s and early 80s, I saw hired farm workers
from Enugu and Ebonyi send their Nnewi
counterparts out of business. They came in with
hoes whose blades were three times the size of the
hoes used by Nnewi farmers. So, they worked
faster. And unlike the Nnewi hired workers for
whom you must provide one meal plus wine per
day until they finished working for you, the Enugu/
Ebonyi workers demanded no such thing. They got
the job done fast, get paid, and move on to another
job. Soon, nobody was hiring the Nnewi workers,
and they fizzled out.
Ghanaian tailors, barbers, cobblers, etc, did the
same thing to their Nnewi counterparts when they
came into the town in the late 70s and early 80s.
The bottom line is that people who want to pay for
goods and services want new, better, faster and
more cost-effective ways of offering them. They
don’t care about your race or religion or nationality.
That is why settlers have an edge over indigenes.
So for the Yoruba involved in house construction,
architecture, roofing, tiling, wiring, plumbing, auto
mechanics, panel-beating/car-painting, house-
painting, fashion designing, herbal medicine,
hairdressing, nail-fixing, upholstery, restaurants/
bars, etc, it may be time to seek a new territory.
Igboland needs your fresh perspectives and
artistry.
In China, Chinese food would seem ordinary, but in
Africa, Europe or America, it is exotic. The same
thing goes for something as ordinary as roast
plantain (boli) or specially prepared goat meat called
asun. Because these are Yoruba meals, if prepared
in the South-East by a Yoruba person, they are
seen as exotic delicacies.
When there is an influx of Yoruba into Igboland, it
will create more competition there. Variety will be
added to the lifestyle in Igbo land. A win-win
situation will be created. The Igbo will no longer feel
that they are being foolish by investing in Yoruba
land without the Yoruba reciprocating.
Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe with Dim Emeka Odumegwu-
Ojukwu and Chief Obafemi Awolowo could not unite
the Igbo and Yoruba. On the contrary, they created
a deeper gulf between the two ethnic groups. The
absence of regional governments has created an
absence of central figures in Yorubaland and
Igboland that can champion an honest and enduring
Igbo-Yoruba relationship. A real handshake across
the Niger is therefore essential now more than ever
before. 1 Like |
Re: How The Yoruba Can Deal With The Igbo....azuka Onwuka by swtchicgurl: 7:38am On Aug 18, 2015 |
I didn't read it. 1 Like
|
Re: How The Yoruba Can Deal With The Igbo....azuka Onwuka by bigfrancis21: 7:19am On Aug 19, 2015 |
Insightful write up. |
(1) (Reply)
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