Four years ago now, I wrote this piece about the thing of collective guilt, and what it leads to. I think it’s more relevant now as Nigeria falls to pieces because of the bad leadership of Buhari.
I’ll talk, first in general terms, and then about the one that worries me.
Nigeria is heading towards an implosion. I think that sometime in October last year, we passed the point where it was not inevitable. However, I think that the worst effects of it can still be mitigated, if of course, we manage to maintain our exact current position until Buhari and his menagerie shuffle out of the revolving door of power. Unfortunately, given that they are doing everything to hang on to power even in the face of the unavoidable circumstance of Buhari himself departing, there is absolutely no guarantee that things won’t get worse, thus setting up the stage for really bad outcomes.
By its behaviour, the Buhari government has enabled the worst of Nigerians. And the worst of us across all ethnicities and religious groups are coming to the fore. This is where I’ll talk about my Igbo people: the behaviour of a particular herd of Igbo people online, the consistent abuse of those who do not agree with them, the taunts, the crassness, is turning so many people of other ethnic stocks against us, and given our historical position, such a thing is unlikely to end well, for us.
Now let us build a quick scenario: Buhari and his crew leave power, and then with himself and his ethnic jingoists out of the way, the rest of Nigeria somehow finds a way to sing kumbaya and “sort of” heal. The bad blood that has built these last six years will still need an outlet. Who do you think will become the bad guys suddenly?
For my money, the logical bad guys will be those abrasive, in-your-face guys who happen to be in every corner of the country, and are thus easy to get to.
A few weeks back, Buhari said something: “they are scattered everywhere in the country, with many of them having properties among others. They are like a dot in a circle.”
The reaction online following that asinine statement was a lot of solidarity towards the Igbo from many people of non-Igbo stock. Based on the backlash that I am seeing, especially after the Obi Cubana charade, I fear that we have squandered that goodwill. I fear that we are doing ourselves no favours at all.
It was just over a generation ago that Chinua Achebe wrote, “that Nigerians will probably achieve consensus on no other matter than their common resentment of the Igbo.”
In the same 1984 work, The Trouble With Nigeria, noting that the Igbo grew economically fastest of any ethnic group in Nigeria between 1930 and 1950 (and did it again between 1970 and 1980), Achebe said of his people, “but this kind of success can carry a deadly penalty: the danger of hubris, over-weening pride and thoughtlessness, which invites envy and hatred, or even worse, which can obsess the mind with material success and dispose it to all kinds of crude showiness.”
Not my words, but the words of Prof. Achebe, probably the greatest Igbo thinker ever.
What do we see in the behaviour of those who abuse everyone that doesn’t agree with them, including people from the Niger Delta, the South-West and the minority groups in the North?
History tends to be cyclical. We are setting ourselves up. My advice: Ad?kwa na ka nwa nza li julu af?, we je chere Chi ya aka mgba.
As for the rest of Nigeria, we are all guilty of assigning the madness of an individual to either his ethnic group or his creed. The terrible government of Muhammadu Buhari has made that instinct worse. But please note that the repeated failure to do the hard work of separating the perpetrators of evil from their ethnic or religious grouping has created a country filled with blood crying out for vengeance. In 1966, a misguided action by men named Nzeogwu, Ifeajuna, Onwutuegwu, Anuforo, Okafor and Ademoyega, was hung on the entire ethnic group of most of the conspirators, even though the conspiracy was crushed by a man named Aguiyi-Ironsi. For that, millions of their fellow ethnic nationals, including the man who crushed the conspiracy, were killed over the next four years. In 1975, the town of Ugep, a Yakurr town in Cross River had a very unhappy Christmas because a soldier got drunk and went missing. In 1999, the town of Odi was wiped out because 12 policemen were killed by miscreants. And in 2015, the entire Shiite enclave at Gyelsu was wiped out because a few of them “touched the chest of General Tukur Buratai.”
This collective guilt that we partake in is what leads to such outcomes. But I have a final word: the world is becoming a more hostile place for all of us. We are seen as poor leeches who contribute nothing to the world but noise. The behaviours that you accuse ndi Igbo of, which some of us are guilty of I’ll admit, is the same way the world sees you, and worse. What you do to us, the world will do to you.
Crayfish09: You mean the same Uganda that was flawlessly beaten by Tanzania?
I understand that Israel is better than Nigeria, but you guys are taking this madness out of proportion. Any Israeli troop that lands here will be beaten. The best they can do is to employ airstrikes (which won't save their citizens). Their ground troops have been repeatedly humiliated by ragtag Hezbollah
The Ugandan army was already splintered , so there was no cohesive force available to repel the Tanzanians. Besides who told you Israel will use ground troops for an invasion ? It will be a pin point strike with overwhelming force and then a rescue.
Right now, they are listening to all the DSS communications - LMAO
Crayfish09: Arab countries who had recently gathered independence (and were even at loggerheads with one another) against a country backed by a superpower.
Let's talk about Hezbollah vs Israel in 2006.
Hezbollah won ? Lol. Israel would have wiped Lebanon from the face of the map but showed great restraint. It was a hard won battle but only because Israel exercised restraint.
'A Torah scroll, or Sefer Torah takes 6–12 months just to write, and is usually heavily embellished with things like silver crowns. Depending on size/artistry/embellishment/history, they can range from around $10k to over $100k. So at least enough for a nice late model used car, and possibly as much as a house' - Quora
The Sefer Torah is a long scroll containing the entire text of the Five Books of Moses, hand-written by a pious scribe in the original Hebrew. It is rolled up around two ornate wooden shafts, attached to either end of the scroll.
Kept in the Ark of each synagogue, the Sefer Torah is routinely read aloud in all synagogues, and in its presence we offer prayers and blessings for all those in need. We read from the Torah scroll four times a week, on Shabbos morning, Shabbos afternoon, and on Monday and Thursday mornings. In addition, the Sefer Torah is read on many Jewish festivals, the first day(s) of the new Hebrew month and fast days.
Yet the Sefer Torah is much more than that. It is the core representation of Judaism itself. It is the tangible embodiment of our connection to G-d and of His wisdom and guidance. On the most joyous day of the year, we embrace it in our arms, as we dance ecstatically and celebrate that connection. Our holiest and most precious treasure, the Torah is literally G-d’s gift to the world. The Torah is our guide to life. Actually, the Torah is our life. Without it, the Jewish People cannot live. It is the heart, mind and soul of Judaism, right there in front of you, black on white. The original hard copy.
The first Sefer Torah in history was dictated by G-d verbatim and written by Moses, just before his passing. In his parting words, he told them to listen to the words found in that scroll and to reference them in response to life’s questions. They taught their children to do the same, and that’s how we’ve kept its tradition until this day.
From that Sefer Torah, many identical copies were hand-written by a pious scribe, and likewise in all subsequent generations. Today there are many hundreds of thousands of Sifrei Torah in existence.
According to Jewish law, a Sefer Torah (plural: Sifrei Torah) is a copy of the formal Hebrew text of the Five Books of Moses hand-written on parchment by using a quill (or other permitted writing utensil) dipped in ink. Producing a Sefer Torah fulfills one of the 613 Mitzvos (Judaism’s commandments).
“The k’laf/parchment on which the Torah is written, the hair or sinew with which the panels of parchment are sewn together, and the quill pen with which the text is written all must come from ritually clean —that is, kosher— animals.”
Written entirely in Hebrew, a Sefer Torah contains 304,805 letters, all of which must be duplicated precisely by a trained sofer (“scribe”), an effort which may take as long as approximately one and a half years.
The parchment on which the sacred Hebrew text is written is mounted into a wooden housing called עץ חיים (Tree of Life) in Hebrew. The housing has two rollers, each of which has two handles used for scrolling the text, four handles in all. Between the handles and the rollers are round plates or disks which are carved with images of holy places, engraved with dedications to the donor’s parents or other loved ones, and decorated with gold or silver.
The completion of the Sefer Torah is a cause for great celebration, and honored guests of the individual who commissioned the Torah are invited to a celebration wherein each of the honored guests is given the opportunity to write one of the final letters. It is a great honor to be chosen for this.
It is a Mitzvah for every Jewish male to either write or have written for him a Sefer Torah. In the Torah’s 613 Mitzvos (commandments) the 613th is that every Jewish male should write a Sefer Torah in their lifetime.(Deut. 31:19)
Because of the work involved, these can cost tens of thousands of dollars to produce to ritually proper standards.
Tribal bigots are irredeemable, Tribal Bigotry disguised as religious fanaticism can never be saved! When you confront the unintelligent grounds of terrorist propagandist, they resort to their uncouth mannerless mode because the drivel they spit is without basis and reflect their spineless character.
vedaxcool the terrorist enabler and sympathiser has been day dreaming like Joseph of a Sharia ruled Nigeria, lol. Well, I hate to burst your bubble, you are busted - not gonna happen.
leofab: n Nigeria don’t share any boarder with Isreal.. so the Israelites can’t really execute any military operations in Nigeria easily… it can only boil down to diplomatic rows
Uganda was 4,879km from Israel , but Israeli commandos still flew all the way to Entebe to rescue their citizens. It's not going to be a war but a rescure mission if it comes to that.
P1PrinceKT: In this world of today no nation will just fight a Nation just like that, Nigeria an independent Country it has a controlled border Air space management Soldiers Police Men and other security forces.
Nigeria is not like plastinien territory that Israel can or will just launched and attack on them, REMEMBER THAT NIGERIA IS A COUNTRY WHILE ISRAEL IS A STATE.
LMAO.
Israel has taken on all the Arab countries and single handedly defeated them. Who is Nigeria ?
Oracleforce: for your mind... the last time Egypttian government tried that with isreali soldiers...they regretted it..... you cant just sit down behind your laptop or samsung phone and be typing anything that comes to your mind.... 100,000,000 of nigeria and Egypt soldiers cannot conquer isreali soliders.... war arsernal is beyond the moribound arsenal that nigeria just acquired ....
Danzakidakura: you can go Bleep yourself, I am IPOB. And IPOB saw this years ago but you guys were blind to see. Now you want southern Nigeria to be United with hate filled Yoruba Muslims that will tell you will always dance on the grave of 3 millions Biafrans killed by their slave Masters.
Food for thought, e.g vedaxcool the terrorist sympathiser and enabler.
Yoruba Christians are on our side as well as some more liberal Yoruba muslims.
Deceivers and liars by their nature always deflect rather THAN PROVIDE ACTUAL EVIDENCE TO THEIR FANTASTICALLY FALSE CLAIMS. t Terrorist by their nature indoctrinate their followers to radicalize them, they only expect their followers like the followers of cownu blindly and foolishly follow them without question.
The intelligence provided by the United States of America and the Christians in Northern Nigeria who are being slaughtered is sufficient for us. Take your Taqiya to a different play ground.
Lies after lies is what they call evidence. Their only enlightenment comes from bigotry, at the end of their supposed education awaits bigotry and hate. He counts on bigoted adults embracing his message of hate because bigotry requires no evidence just blind hatred.
We have moved beyond this point bro, your Taqiya is dead on arrival. All and sundry on this forum are only to familiar with your tactics. Terrorist enabler aka vedaxcool.
Thank God it wasn't Benjamin Netanyahu that is there now...because that man brain is full of given directives for soldiers to send missiles to all enemies of isreal ...
Buhari, Abeg, release their pikin for them oh...and let them go and try him in their own country... Or Buhari wants to play the music that isreali army understand....Abeg, make collect visa go Rwanda first before you do that oh...Nah God I take beg you... Or are dey dot in the circle?/ Israel dot no be Biafra dot or...Israel dot can destroy the entire African continent.
The current prime minister is worse than Netanyahu.
Politics › Cheta Nwanze: Nigeria is heading towards an implosion by GodHatesBigots(op): 7:53pm On Jul 18, 2021
