Dr. Ugoji Egbujo

In April 2017, Igbo traders took to the streets in Yenagoa in an unprecedented protest. Something had rattled them. Three prominent Igbo traders had been murdered in one month. They suspected something more sinister than routine armed robbery and assassination. They put their finger on xenophobia. The police dismissed the insinuation and reassured them of their safety. The murders were unrelated incidents, they said. The traders took the assurance but remained nervous.

A month later, a man checked into a hotel room in Yenogoa with his girlfriend. What transpired in that room has not been fleshed out. The girl was rushed to a hospital with stab wounds. Two days after, she died. The boyfriend had sneaked out of the hotel and has not been seen since then. There are versions of his story. But the dead lady was certainly Ijaw, an indigene. The fugitive boyfriend is an Igbo trader. The story that gained traction on the streets of Yenagoa was sharp toothed. It was that an Igbo man had used an Ijaw girl for money-making ritual. What followed was unprecedented. Violent mobs sprouted. Every Igbo man became an actual or potential criminal. The town convulsed with hate and chants of ‘Igbo must go.’ Shops belonging to Igbos in a section of the town were ransacked and burnt. Igbos squirreled into holes. They weren’t entirely shocked. They had warned about rising anti Igbo tensions.

The police and the Army were deployed to contain the rampaging youths. Naked violence was brought under control. Wounded Igbos were taken to hospitals. But the animosity and hate that had been lit couldn’t be doused by mere law enforcement. Igbos lived their lives in fear. Ghosts of reprisals lurked their homes and followed them everywhere. Their shops remained shut and locked. They were told, in that section of Yenogoa, to lie low. Leaving their shops locked was in their own interest. The nursing of the tempers of their landlords , the Ijaw indigenes, had to be their immediate priority. They stayed indoors like sheep while the state struggled to negotiate with the indigenes their citizenship rights.

Throughout their ordeal none of the prominent Azikiwes of Ijaw descent was heard or seen. None of the surrogates of that political leader who always flaunted his kinship with the Igbos during elections was heard. The political tendency that prides itself as latter-day Igbo ethnic champions was not heard. They could have at least reminded irate Ijaw youths a few political debts. The IPOB didn’t bother to issue a statement even though Yenagoa is within its description of Biafran jurisdiction. The Igbos in Yenagoa were left to genuflect, prostrate, worship Ijaw youths and their anger. I called a friend of mine who is Ijaw from Bayelsa to discuss the incident. He was not embarrassed by the actions of the youths in that town. He proclaimed that Igbos brought armed robbery to Yenagoa. I was speechless. But that explained so much of what was happening on the streets of Yenogoa. He is enlightened but he subscribes to the very jaundiced ideas that have bred this xenophobia.

They believe Igbos are settlers that can be sent away from Yenogoa. They believe Igbos are contaminants of Ijaw morality, they are responsible for much of the evil in the town. And there is one he didn’t talk about that flows from envy. They believe that Igbos are usurpers. The corollary is the ungodly idea that some kind of cleansing is required. That is why many didn’t find the action of the youths repugnant. That is a dangerous situation. The economy is passing through a turbulence. There are many jobless youths. In many places in Nigeria, Igbos dominate street commerce. Indigenes welcome them but prosperity can breed envy. When frustrations mount, some of the anger ordinarily meant for the governments will be channeled towards the prosperous settler. He will become the one who has usurped the opportunities that rightly belonged to the indigenes. That is the pattern. His crimes are magnified and labeled affront against the peace and quiet of the indigenes, by his tribe. That is the reason Nigerians are from time to time butchered in South Africa. South Africa has been mismanaged.

Joblessness and frustration have taken over the streets. Some of the anger naturally must be projected to immigrants. Nigerians commit crimes like others. But their crimes are not seen as individual transgressions of the criminal code but a corruption of the society, a dilution of morals by a contaminating and eradicable tribe. Such animosity can cake into xenophobia. Then xenophobia seethes like a volcano, splashing lava in its seasons. That is what erupted in Yenagoa Where ethnic hate flows freely ethnic profiling must exist. The sin of one man can be visited on his tribesmen. It is wrong. Sometimes, a fight between a Hausa man and a Yoruba man in Idumota could become a Yoruba versus Hausa world war, in minutes. But it will die quickly once the fire is put out, and everyone moves on. That’s a different thing. Some other times it could linger. If a market or some other privilege is in contention, the animosity can endure. But in all such cases the frictions and flares are localized. There are no widespread systemic complications. That’s the Ketu mile 12 scenario. No one tribe rises to demand the evacuation of the other.

The incident in Yenogoa was different. The implicated incident was ordinarily too isolated, too cold to spark such a wide response. That incident alone couldn’t have fed the mob with such vengeance. The anger and violence were deployed with a touch of premeditation. Mere provocation cannot explain the direction of vengeance towards all Igbo in a purely criminal matter being handled by the police. It is interesting that incident could happen in Yenagoa now. The civil war put a wedge between the south south communities and the Igbos. The civil war sowed deep suspicions. Post civil war, Igbos complained of more bitterness and resentment in the hands of the South South communities than the Hausa Fulani, their supposed enemies. Recently, that friction appeared to have abated.

Since Saro Wiwa and MOSOP, Igbos have identified with the plight of the Niger delta and supported their agitations for resource control. Igbos want equity. And equity includes resource control and true federalism. When Jonathan became president, Igbos gave him more support than his Niger Delta. So it all looked that the ghosts of the civil war had been banished. It looked like the South South has switched political alliance from the north back to the east. It looked like the shared sense of victimhood was deep and had birthed a brotherhood. Hate against Hausa Fulani has been freely spread around those regions. Once the heart learns hate it can choose other targets. Perhaps Yenagoa is a mere blip on the path of that political alliance. Perhaps, it’s a cautionary reminder of reality. The wide dispersal of Igbos and their integration into all communities in the country is good for national unity. What happened in Yenagoa is inimical to national unity.


Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/05/igbos-second-class-citizens-yenagoa/

Everybody hates Chris.

The hate is real bro....

Ijaws will definitely fall at the bottom of the groups in Nigeria that i regard highly. This is why i wrote the article about Igbos leaving these minorities with their wahala as there are bigger fishes to fry but these moronic IPOB scalawags will keep going about sitting comdy in their 2 by 2 shops at Onitsha main market bandying the idea of a SS/SE alliance. Sometimes, i wonder if it's a cause or a deliberate attempt to display a form of unique idiocy,

@afam, no one wants a south south/south east alliance in igbo land...trust me

Last year, anambra hosted "ozoemena" Wch a remembrance day for slain biafrans. The south south betrayals of biafrans was a focus point of that event.

raker300:
@afam, no one wants a south south/south east alliance in igbo land...trust me

Tell that to the thousands of monikers on Nairaland who keep disgracing themselves daily on Nairaland.

Afam4eva:

Tell that to the thousands of monikers on Nairaland who keep disgracing themselves daily on Nairaland.

the south south igbos are the people I feel pity for...as for any other tribe in the south south, it's a no no.

A delegation is moving to stop innoson from building his said factory in the south south. The abandoned property saga is still fresh off our minds

raker300:
the south south igbos are the people I feel pity for...as for any other tribe in the south south, it's a no no.

A delegation is moving to stop innoson from building his said factory in the south south. The abandoned property saga is still fresh off our minds

If they're considering it, then they're really stupid and they must be one of the SS/SE peeps on nairaland.

yes! that's nice from ijaw youth they should do that to every one of them capable of stealing sachet water before you start quoting me remember you are still rejoicing over the Hausa man killed in Enugu Very soon the hypocryte would say they 4give the SS that don't giv a f*ck of their 4giveness just because of crude oil. ole

In the word of biafra apologists; This is à propagander meant to create division between wé SE/SS

It is divide and rule tactics and will not work even If Bayelsa people kill all our people, wé must be one by fire by force.

To all bigots and bigotesses, no ethnic bashing on my thread.

Governor Dickson has called meeting of both sides. Ijaws of Biogbolo had put their feet down and refused Igbo shop owners from reopening shop. A complaint has reached the Gov and he has been pleading and begging the Ijaws to show mercy and allow Igbo reopen for business.

We hope Ijaws of Biogbolo will listen to their State Gov. and Igbo shops will be back in business tomorrow.

Ijaws learnt from the yoruba's. They saw how the igbo's are claiming that Lagos is a no man's land. They don't want their ijaw's land to be no man's land. So they keep treating igbo's as visitors who have overstayed their welcome

Some undercover jews won't like this thread!

All doors seems to be closed/closing.

Should I say @ this juncture,it's best if we stay on our own jejely either by restructuring and outright pull out.


This news weak me.

Are the igbs now ijaws to be treated as 1st class citizens in Ijaw land? No need for all diz tit for tat. Bayelsa is and belongs to d ijaws.

diablos:
Are the igbs now ijaws to be treated as 1st class citizens in Ijaw land? No need for all diz tit for tat. Bayelsa is and belongs to d ijaws.

No. They are ipob and own a fair share of territories in ijaw area...
Not land grabbing oo.
Lols

I am getting tired of all this Igbo topics on nairaland. It is getting boring, one can hardly navigate pages without seeing a topic about Igbos.

They are more important news topics that are not getting the needed attention like how was the 2016 spent and what projects were executed.

BabaRamota1980:
[s]Dr. Ugoji Egbujo

In April 2017, Igbo traders took to the streets in Yenagoa in an unprecedented protest. Something had rattled them. Three prominent Igbo traders had been murdered in one month. They suspected something more sinister than routine armed robbery and assassination. They put their finger on xenophobia. The police dismissed the insinuation and reassured them of their safety. The murders were unrelated incidents, they said. The traders took the assurance but remained nervous.

A month later, a man checked into a hotel room in Yenogoa with his girlfriend. What transpired in that room has not been fleshed out. The girl was rushed to a hospital with stab wounds. Two days after, she died. The boyfriend had sneaked out of the hotel and has not been seen since then. There are versions of his story. But the dead lady was certainly Ijaw, an indigene. The fugitive boyfriend is an Igbo trader. The story that gained traction on the streets of Yenagoa was sharp toothed. It was that an Igbo man had used an Ijaw girl for money-making ritual. What followed was unprecedented. Violent mobs sprouted. Every Igbo man became an actual or potential criminal. The town convulsed with hate and chants of ‘Igbo must go.’ Shops belonging to Igbos in a section of the town were ransacked and burnt. Igbos squirreled into holes. They weren’t entirely shocked. They had warned about rising anti Igbo tensions.

The police and the Army were deployed to contain the rampaging youths. Naked violence was brought under control. Wounded Igbos were taken to hospitals. But the animosity and hate that had been lit couldn’t be doused by mere law enforcement. Igbos lived their lives in fear. Ghosts of reprisals lurked their homes and followed them everywhere. Their shops remained shut and locked. They were told, in that section of Yenogoa, to lie low. Leaving their shops locked was in their own interest. The nursing of the tempers of their landlords , the Ijaw indigenes, had to be their immediate priority. They stayed indoors like sheep while the state struggled to negotiate with the indigenes their citizenship rights.

Throughout their ordeal none of the prominent Azikiwes of Ijaw descent was heard or seen. None of the surrogates of that political leader who always flaunted his kinship with the Igbos during elections was heard. The political tendency that prides itself as latter-day Igbo ethnic champions was not heard. They could have at least reminded irate Ijaw youths a few political debts. The IPOB didn’t bother to issue a statement even though Yenagoa is within its description of Biafran jurisdiction. The Igbos in Yenagoa were left to genuflect, prostrate, worship Ijaw youths and their anger. I called a friend of mine who is Ijaw from Bayelsa to discuss the incident. He was not embarrassed by the actions of the youths in that town. He proclaimed that Igbos brought armed robbery to Yenagoa. I was speechless. But that explained so much of what was happening on the streets of Yenogoa. He is enlightened but he subscribes to the very jaundiced ideas that have bred this xenophobia.

They believe Igbos are settlers that can be sent away from Yenogoa. They believe Igbos are contaminants of Ijaw morality, they are responsible for much of the evil in the town. And there is one he didn’t talk about that flows from envy. They believe that Igbos are usurpers. The corollary is the ungodly idea that some kind of cleansing is required. That is why many didn’t find the action of the youths repugnant. That is a dangerous situation. The economy is passing through a turbulence. There are many jobless youths. In many places in Nigeria, Igbos dominate street commerce. Indigenes welcome them but prosperity can breed envy. When frustrations mount, some of the anger ordinarily meant for the governments will be channeled towards the prosperous settler. He will become the one who has usurped the opportunities that rightly belonged to the indigenes. That is the pattern. His crimes are magnified and labeled affront against the peace and quiet of the indigenes, by his tribe. That is the reason Nigerians are from time to time butchered in South Africa. South Africa has been mismanaged.

Joblessness and frustration have taken over the streets. Some of the anger naturally must be projected to immigrants. Nigerians commit crimes like others. But their crimes are not seen as individual transgressions of the criminal code but a corruption of the society, a dilution of morals by a contaminating and eradicable tribe. Such animosity can cake into xenophobia. Then xenophobia seethes like a volcano, splashing lava in its seasons. That is what erupted in Yenagoa Where ethnic hate flows freely ethnic profiling must exist. The sin of one man can be visited on his tribesmen. It is wrong. Sometimes, a fight between a Hausa man and a Yoruba man in Idumota could become a Yoruba versus Hausa world war, in minutes. But it will die quickly once the fire is put out, and everyone moves on. That’s a different thing. Some other times it could linger. If a market or some other privilege is in contention, the animosity can endure. But in all such cases the frictions and flares are localized. There are no widespread systemic complications. That’s the Ketu mile 12 scenario. No one tribe rises to demand the evacuation of the other.

The incident in Yenogoa was different. The implicated incident was ordinarily too isolated, too cold to spark such a wide response. That incident alone couldn’t have fed the mob with such vengeance. The anger and violence were deployed with a touch of premeditation. Mere provocation cannot explain the direction of vengeance towards all Igbo in a purely criminal matter being handled by the police. It is interesting that incident could happen in Yenagoa now. The civil war put a wedge between the south south communities and the Igbos. The civil war sowed deep suspicions. Post civil war, Igbos complained of more bitterness and resentment in the hands of the South South communities than the Hausa Fulani, their supposed enemies. Recently, that friction appeared to have abated.

Since Saro Wiwa and MOSOP, Igbos have identified with the plight of the Niger delta and supported their agitations for resource control. Igbos want equity. And equity includes resource control and true federalism. When Jonathan became president, Igbos gave him more support than his Niger Delta. So it all looked that the ghosts of the civil war had been banished. It looked like the South South has switched political alliance from the north back to the east. It looked like the shared sense of victimhood was deep and had birthed a brotherhood. Hate against Hausa Fulani has been freely spread around those regions. Once the heart learns hate it can choose other targets. Perhaps Yenagoa is a mere blip on the path of that political alliance. Perhaps, it’s a cautionary reminder of reality. The wide dispersal of Igbos and their integration into all communities in the country is good for national unity. What happened in Yenagoa is inimical to national unity.


Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/05/igbos-second-class-citizens-yenagoa/[/s]

Afonja propaganda, trying hard to divide Igbos and Ijaws. Igbos and Ijaws, don't let this divisive people put a divide between us Biafrans. IPOB have challenged the Hotel in Yanogoa to produce the name of the supposd Igbo man and a security cam of the said Igbo man taking an Ijaw girl into a room since the Hotel has cameras. How difficult is this? The rumors making round is that man who checked in with the Ijaw girl is not an Igbo man. All these is well planned to put disunity between Igbos and Ijaws because the enemies know that the Biafraa restoration movement has reached critical mass and the Igbo-Ijaw unity has never been this strong since after the civil war!

My people... don't be fooled, follow us to ask the hotel to produce the gotdamn guest checkin book or online guest checkin list for us to see the name of the Igbo man. 2 weeks since the crime, they have not done this!

Afam4eva:
The hate is real bro....

Ijaws will definitely fall at the bottom of the groups in Nigeria that i regard highly. This is why i wrote the article about Igbos leaving these minorities with their wahala as there are bigger fishes to fry but these moronic IPOB scalawags will keep going about sitting comdy in their 2 by 2 shops at Onitsha main market bandying the idea of a SS/SE alliance. Sometimes, i wonder if it's a cause or a deliberate attempt to display a form of unique idiocy,

Lol. Didn't I say that Nnamdi Kanu is senseless and his followers are even worse. We should dialogue with Hausa and Yoruba and let these inconsequential little tribes to sort themselves out. Now Ijaw wan show themselves....People who only know how to consume ogogoro and impregnate women. Serves us right.

OMANBALA1:


[s]Lol. Didn't I say that Nnamdi Kanu is senseless and his followers are even worse. We should dialogue with Hausa and Yoruba and let these inconsequential little tribes to sort themselves out. Now Ijaw wan show themselves....People who only know how to consume ogogoro and impregnate women. Serves us right.[/s]

Afonja and their divisive tendency. He used one account Afameva to post something, then reply with this account to buttress his point. Shameless!

icedfire:
Ijaws learnt from the yoruba's. They saw how the igbo's are claiming that Lagos is a no man's land. They don't want their ijaw's land to be no man's land. So they keep treating igbo's as visitors who have overstayed their welcome

God forbid Ijaw people shun their native food for slimmy ewedu and amala.

Thread is a bunch of Afonja OP and his ogene dancers trying to cause division between two Eastern brothers.

To the hateful Afonjas that commented and will still comment on this thread, read my lips...

All the Naija folks calling out RS/African for attacking blacks from other countries are now quiet. Naija love sucking, and spilling human blood.

Nkem4040:


Afonja propaganda, trying hard to divide Igbos and Ijaws. Igbos and Ijaws, don't let this divisive people put a divide between us Biafrans. IPOB have challenged the Hotel in Yanogoa to produce the name of the supposd Igbo man and a security cam of the said Igbo man taking an Ijaw girl into a room since the Hotel has cameras. How difficult is this? The rumors making round is that ma who checked in with the Ijaw girl is not an Igbo man. All these is well planned to put disunity between Igbos and Ijaws because the enemies know that the Biafraa restoration movement has reached critical mass and the Igbo-Ijaw unity has never been this strong since after the civil war!

My people... don't be fooled, follow us to ask the hotel to produce the gotdamn guest checkin book or online guest checkin list for us to see the name of the Igbo man. 2 weeks since the crime, they have not done this!

I believe you've never visited Yenagoa before and neither do you have an ijaw friend, deal with it, the ijaws hate us but you can continue deceiving yourselves because radio Biafra tells you otherwise

Y leave d main issue n address tribal sentiments?

On d issue of murder of business men of igbo extraction, kindly leave bayelsans out of it, cos it might b due to competition or rift btw business partners. Ur kinsmen r known for wrecking or eliminating any competition, in Lagos or odas places, so I won't b surprised if same is playing out there. Cos wat would any oda person benefit from killing igbos?
Xenophobia story is a ruse.

To d killing of a young girl n d mob reaction dat followed, I don't n will never support taking d law into ones hands like was done in d report but if I may ask, y is it dat some igbos no mata where dey are have no regards for their host or odas. I say some cos not all of dem fall into dis category.
Cos this set of mindless n arrogant lunatics act b4 dey think n leave d innocent ones to suffer d after effect of their actions.

Can an Ijaw man or any oda tribe besides fulani do such anywhere in Igboland? Impossible, infact if it happens wat was witnessed in Yenegoa will be child's play compared to wat igbos will do.

So, b4 crying wolf ask urslf, if a non indigene did dis in my place will d mata b allowed to go jus like dat?
I suppose not.

Conclusively I plead wit d Ijaws to eschew violence n allow d police look for d young man in question, who I believe is in his village.

Igbos on d odas hand should caution their tribesmen weneva they are creating problems cos wen it erupts in most cases d architect is neva around to suffer d consequences.

If u say one person hates u, no problem but wen u say everybody hates u den there is definitely a problem n dat problem comes from, so y not address d problem n c if d so called hatred won't stop.

And your people only know how to push drugs and get killed in Malaysia, Thailand, China, Indonesia etc. Too bad.

OMANBALA1:


Lol. Didn't I say that Nnamdi Kanu is senseless and his followers are even worse. We should dialogue with Hausa and Yoruba and let these inconsequential little tribes to sort themselves out. Now Ijaw wan show themselves....People who only know how to consume ogogoro and impregnate women. Serves us right.

Yyeske:
[s]I believe you've never visited Yenagoa before and neither do you have an ijaw friend, deal with it, the ijaws hate us but you can continue deceiving yourselves because radio Biafra tells you otherwise[/s]

This people ehh. This people ehh. men...if hell fire is not the proper place for this people on the last day, I'll be very with God. I have never in my life seen a people as wicked and divisive like Afonja.

Afam4eva:
The hate is real bro....

Ijaws will definitely fall at the bottom of the groups in Nigeria that i regard highly. This is why i wrote the article about Igbos leaving these minorities with their wahala as there are bigger fishes to fry but these moronic IPOB scalawags will keep going about sitting comdy in their 2 by 2 shops at Onitsha main market bandying the idea of a SS/SE alliance. Sometimes, i wonder if it's a cause or a deliberate attempt to display a form of unique idiocy,

I guess you havent noticed, but Igbo now has the status of a relagated tribe in Nigeria. Both by action of the other two major tribes against her and the psyche of the Igbo mind.

Never heard or read the Yoruba, Fulani or Hausa courting, so vigorously, minority ethnicities. When you stoop so low to the ground, do not complain when the feet climbs upon you.

Igbos, pull your weight. Stop making yourselves a national laughing stock where almost any ethnicity can insult, debase and make wholesome mockery. If its not Ijaw insulting Igbo, its Itsekiri or Urhobo or whatever. Respect yourself and know ur mates in Nigeria. Assert yourself and Pull your weight.

When

Afam4eva:
The hate is real bro....

Ijaws will definitely fall at the bottom of the groups in Nigeria that i regard highly. This is why i wrote the article about Igbos leaving these minorities with their wahala as there are bigger fishes to fry but these moronic IPOB scalawags will keep going about sitting comdy in their 2 by 2 shops at Onitsha main market bandying the idea of a SS/SE alliance. Sometimes, i wonder if it's a cause or a deliberate attempt to display a form of unique idiocy,

Once upon a time I accused you of having an inherent Ijaw-phobia,... you denied, asked me for prove, .. You can continue to drown in your hatred. So much I want to say to you, ...but fools like you have gone beyond redemption.

Afam4eva:
The hate is real bro....

Ijaws will definitely fall at the bottom of the groups in Nigeria that i regard highly. This is why i wrote the article about Igbos leaving these minorities with their wahala as there are bigger fishes to fry but these moronic IPOB scalawags will keep going about sitting comdy in their 2 by 2 shops at Onitsha main market bandying the idea of a SS/SE alliance. Sometimes, i wonder if it's a cause or a deliberate attempt to display a form of unique idiocy,

I have never been in support of any union with non Igbo speaking groups in the SS, especially the Ijaws, Itsekiri, Edo, Urhobo and Isoko, those places reek of conc Igbophobia, I had witnessed this first hand.

My preference has always been republic of Igboland, it has been my signature since ages here.

If SS/SE alliance doesn't mean alliance between Igbo speaking groups in SS and SE, then I don't think who ever that is thinking of such is pragmatic enough.

IPOB must be flexible enough to restrategize, this is a must, this their current modus operandi, obviously is not feasible on the long term.