I've learned that tribalism in Nigeria is born by 1 single thing: ignorance.


We only make ridiculous notions about other tribes and other people when we have nothing to do with them or haven't seen where and how the live. We refuse to understand because it's hard work and take the lazy man's escape of pointing fingers and propagating in-deliberately SELF degrading stereotypes. I've noticed Yoruba people say that igbos live in 'villages' because they've never been to an igbo village. An igbo village is equal to a small township. There are factories, schools, universities, etc because yes Igbos do live in villages but prefer to put their money in the specific village instead of the closest 'town'. I've heard igbos say that yoruba cities are dirty and slumlike, not knowing these cities have been proudly standing for 500+ years and often wield more economic power than most or all of the SE. The worst is the stereotypes we try to throw at the north because it seems someone must always be fired at...BUT you seldom hear igbos and yorubas that have lived in the North saying such things. Here's are a few things we must be honest about in the North.



Insecurity: Insecurity in the north is sensational and loud. The diversity is high so if one man attacks another there's a higher chance of them being from different tribes. The Nigerian media can be very vicious and will turn a land dispute, a street fight, or a youth riot as an 'ethnic' or 'religious' war then they're not. This means the SAME rioting, agberboism, hooliganism, and civil discord that rules ALL of the south (And i've seen entire streets in Lagos robbed at once so don't deny it), is in the north as well, only the media will call it 'ethnic violence' instead of calling it what it is: traditional nigerian violence.

The truth is, though we hear a Fulani has attack a Berom village, or a church has been bombed, the north is MANY times safer than the south. My mother and father worked in Kano and have attested to the fact that it's the only region in Nigeria where you can sleep easy at all times. In the West and East you can be robbed at any minute by seemingly anyone. Robbers will even be bold enough to rob you in public, in broad daylight, with their face showing because the south has something the north doesn't: Chaos. Northern societies are orderly and safe. People listen to their elders and elders advocate they live simple peaceful lives. Yes there are hotspots where violence flairs up, but I'll tell you right now that kidnapping has taken more victims than Boko Haram. Armed robbery has taken more victims than Boko Haram and if the South isn't careful they can befall under the same plague the north has. The problem is we won't learn because of arrogance. We think we're immune to youth hooliganism when all of our rich men have to make their fences higher every year because they fear for their life in their own village.

The north is also very tolerant believe it or not. They have been living in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society for centuries. Many of their families are both Muslim and christian.



Population: The worst is when people try to pretend that the north doesn't have the population of the south. This is only born by ignorance. We need to understand there's more land in the north, and that's going to have an impact on everything. If you were judging population by the amount of people you can see at once the South East would be the most populace part of Nigeria and I can tell you now that it's not. In the South East, Lagos and cities people have to live close to each other because land is scarce. There are parts of America which is double Nigeria's population, that you wont see a person for 1 day if you drive. In fact that's way that country is because land is abundant. The North has hundreds of tribes that have been living in cities for centuries, it has historically been the cross roads of west africa and the arab world, and northern families are enormous. Cities like Makurdi if placed in the south would change the balance of power because the amount of people the city holds.



Poverty: The North is poorer than the south, that's a fact and might always be that way. This doesn't mean that the South in inherently better. Nigeria is a strange place where the most commerce and trade that's happening in a place, the poorer, more dangerous and more chaotic the place becomes. Onitcha is richer than Enugu, but you would swear Enugu was the seat of wealth in that region if you didn't know better. PH is richer than Calabar, but the orderliness and livability of Calabar surpasses PH. The NOrth is poor but just as livable as the south, at times more liveable.

This is why i feel that Nigerians NEED each other. A purely Igbo nation would have a lot of commerce and activity but little order because of culture, purely yoruba would have a little order and a little commerce but not enough to move forward from it's present state (and that's why i feel places like Ibadan were surpassed by Lagos), and a purely northern nation would have order but no activity. But whenever Nigerians COMBINE (Lagos, Abuja), the results point to a very promising future. Lets stop being ignorant towards each other, we were put together dubiously, but God had a plan and works in mysterious ways.

You can challenge anything i've said because i'm not an expert, my conclusions are drawn from common unbiased sense.

looks like Orji is trying very hard to save his legacy. I don't know what dawned on him recently that wasn't there before but he's paying for advertisements on news stations and now this lol. abians will judge, they're not stupid.

LOL yea, we had a peace convention between Igbos and Yorubas on New Years Day
It has so far worked. Even when someone makes a tribalistic thread, people simply ignore him
plus a new moderator! The forum looks so much cleaner now, just in time too because I want to buy ad space soon for my website

some people fear change, even if the change is development

^I agree as well! Congratulations but even as we speak the tribal bigots are on the prowl! the job has started, there's no grace period, people are waiting to see what your moderator-ship means

Nigerian politicians don't like to admit when they're sick for some reason. I think they're worried about instability at home, but Sullivan has a history of bad health , it's the best guess i have.

LOL so a man is sick and you're mocking him in his illness just to win an internet fight? That's very wicked and i know yoruba culture makes no provisions for insulting a man on his sick and possibly death bed. Forget the internet, this is your fellow human being.

Hopefully Chime will recover promptly

The guy who wrote this article is a typical out of touch diasporan.
Igbo states were the first to ban okadas in major cities, from Delta to Imo, etc, they've been illegal in the east and south south far before anywhere else

also Fashola didn't ban anything, they just can be on particular roads, he should aim for a total ban, Lagos will transform over night

afam4eva: This new year will present the much desired change as i will be that moderator that will rid the politics section of any sort of tribalism and hate. never again will Nairaland be seen with ethnic myopia.

Afam bu Afam

Congratulations on your new position! You're in a good place to make a difference. Don't be a typical nigerian leader, believe it or not moderating for this site is nationally important because the internet it the most powerful thing around now, and when you google Nigeria 9 or of 10 times a nairaland topic will come up!

We're tired of looking like fools and being disgraced but those among us that are hateful and repetitive! I'm glad to see you're focused on making a difference. Please show that the Nigerian man can be a leader and not just a position holder.

Good Morning everyone! It looks like we have a new moderator! Though idk what inspired it i hope that he'll be the one that cleans things up!
Congrats to Afam (i think that's his name), We're all calling for a change, don't be a typical nigerian leader, thank you!

My brother, I am very handsome

Happy new years!

I've also notice all the tribalists in my peace threads don't know how to properly quote a statement lol.

Igbos are doing exceptionally well everywhere. Im in america and im telling you this is a fact. The richest black man in my town is an igbo man. If igbos weren't fitting in with society they wouldn't be world bank heads, NY stock exchange chairmen, governors and presidential advisers in foreign countries.
Igbos have an impeccable reputation in America as academically inclined athletic and hardworking.

Any bad thing you associate with igbos are associated with Nigerians in general. Drug dealing, fraud.
People don't know the difference or care and all nigerians are involved in these things.
At the same time all the good things i listed are associated with Nigerian in general too. Only Nigerians know who is igbo and yoruba. How can even a Cameroonian tell?




Anyways, I hear the yoruba side telling me a lot about igbos, i want to hear more about yorubas. I'm yet to get input from that side about themselves. Igbos brag, we know we brag and i explained that. I even explained Awolowos stance of the war and why he's falsely accused on genocide, so please this isn't the igbo discussion thread, tell me about Yoruba people, we're here to learn so that we won't deal with each other in ignorance.

And by 'companies' i mean serious ones. You get the random new comers and short term thinkers but they won't keep their ad on for too long because they're short term thinkers and aren't as serious as others. who are these others? companies with brand management, HR, and public relations departments, serious enterprises that make long term decisions and care about reputation. the modern company.

Iroko TV, which gets less visitors then Nairaland, has Oprah advertising on their site. Pepsi, real companies that aren't going to try to negotiate ad price with you, because Iroko isn't associated with anything other than entertainment. The companies that buy ad space here stay for a month tops because they're learning the hard way that you can't attach your company to a car wreck and expect returns. This site has the potential to be Africa's FB.

First and foremost one thing has to be understood: Nairaland is a company
Every company has a brand and a reputation.


If you ask anyone, it's unanimous that Nairaland's reputation is one of tribalism. The only reason other Nigerian forums are growing is because Nairaland has turned off many Nigerians as this is our first depot. Most importantly, when companies want to buy ad space they consider the type of brand each site they buy ad space from has. They seldom want their product associated with tribalism because there's a risk of turning off people from one tribe or another.


Nairaland is like Nigeria. Everyone wants to invest because the activity is high and the numbers are high, but nobody wants to be entrenched or associated with corruption, hate, bombings, and disorder. The companies that buy adspace here don't keep it for over a month, not because of price because the price is fair, but because they're not getting clicked on if everyone comes here just to be an ethnic bigot or has to quickly check the news and leave because someone makes them angry.

Companies that invest in nigeria are assumed to be corrupt as well because that's the brand Nigeria has, corruption.
This site's brand is tribalism

If you tell someone you own an oil company in Nigeria people in the west will assume you're a manipulator of the poor and corrupt because that's the brand Nigeria has. People that want their reputation intact won't invest in something that isn't reputable and in modern business your brand and reputation is EVERYTHING.


Companies also pay attention to the feel of a site. If people feel angry with your site, studies have shown they will associate the ads and the companies they represent in anger. This is modern business, it's deeply fused with the study of psychology.



To put it simply. If i want to advertise make up, i go to Nairaland after hearing about the number of users, and i see on the front page "Igbo cannibals at it again" "Yoruba pastor MOLESTS children", i'm not going to associate my makeup with such hideous things because i know people can only come to such a site to be hateful, not to be happy enough to consider buying makeup.

This is why Nairaland's numbers and clout aren't translating into direct figures in the way they could. This is 8th most popular website for nigerians in the world, and the #1 most popular indigenous website. But you took a 17% drop in ratings where sites like g.istmania took increased 25% in the same time for traffic ratings. go to Alexa.com if you don't believe me.



Tribalism is bad for business. It will attract people, but not money. It's like a car accident. Everyone will gather, but they're not coming there to buy anything. It's in fact the last place they will consider buying something because of how the area makes them feel.

I know this because I am a business man that was interested in buying ad space from Nairaland, and I still am. The problem is I don't want my site officially linked with something this tribalistic. I advertise informally all the time but it's in select non-tribalist areas, i dont want to see my logo hanging over anything concerning child molesters and cannibals.

Call to action

You guys should have 0 tolerance on tribalism. This site has turned into a joke. and not 0 tolerance as in picking a side, but any and everyone degrading the value of your site should be ban and their posts deleted. I'm going to form a committee to report abusive people actively and would like the help of the political section moderators. We should have a section of ethnic hatred because Facebook doesn't have a section for racism.



ban offenders, delete tribalistic posts. Set limits on what can be discussed. We all know what happened in Biafra and we all know where the conversation will go. If you don't want your site associated with the biafran war it shouldn't be allowed to have 10 threads about it in your political section. Forums in other countries block particular discussions so that the site doesn't turn into a car accident. We need more action from moderators for 2013 on. The sensible posters are tired of having erratic hatemongers dominate our image.

To kick start with you, show me the nigerian tribe that competes to fail! Show me the person/tribe that writes an exam to fail! Show me the tribe that is not proud of it's heritage!

THIS THREAD SMELLS OF IGBO EGO

My point exactly! Igbos shouldn't be singled out for 'liking money' or 'being arrogant' when they're doing the same thing everyone else is doing and thinking the same way everyone else is thinking. Are the yorubas in Lagos coming to sleep? No, they work hard, very hard, to feed their family and achieve their destiny. This is exactly what igbos are doing as well. So if an igbo speaks highly of his capabilities it shouldn't be alien or strange to a yoruba person. Even saying this thread smells of "igbo ego" shows me that some people are uncomfortable seeing other people be comfortable. There's no ego here that is no deserved. If i asked a yoruba person to tell me about yoruba attitudes towards competition and success they would type something identical to what i just wrote. What yoruba man feels that there is a tribe of people 'better' than yoruba people?

I also want this to be understood

IGBOS DONT VALUE MONEY igbos value the person.

People act as if Igbos have a love for money that others don't. Every human being alive wants money because money equals survival. It's just that an igbo man is taught if he wants something he has to put his heart and mind into getting it where as others will still want money just as much as the igbo man but stand idle and watch it pass by.

"The ram enters the fight head first" Is the igbo proverb explaining it.

The igbo man, since the time of Adam believes in productivity, not money. Because in the modern era money is the result of productivity, the igbo man strives everyday to earn his daily bread. His wife must be well fed, his children must never go hungry and his peer must respect his productivity. Before money, igbo men would farm yams. They were extremely productive farms and whites documented this in detail, not because they 'valued farms', but because they believe in going after that you want. If an igbo man was a failed farmer or not productive, he could even hang himself so that his spirit won't be reincarnated to disgrace himself again as a lazy or unproductive man. There's no other way to live life. Yorubas believe in this too, i don't doubt it.





Also, the Igbos others come in contact with are the hustlers because these are the men that leave igbo land because there is limited land in the South East. If an igbo leaves igbo land he leaves specifically to make money because there's no space for him back home.


The reason i say Igbos don't 'value money' because Igboland is the only place in Nigeria where you can tell a rich man to shut up if he's a fool.
Like any african society there's too much respect for the rich, but it's only in igbo land that if a rich man is out of line someone will slap him. There was a man in my village that promised to build a borehole but instead took the community money and refurbished his house. The youth attacked him on the street. I've never heard of an elite anywhere in africa being beaten for behaving foolishly. Achebe, whom isn't known for his wealth, will always speak before Peter Odili, who is insanely rich. Ojukwu will always speak before Andy Uba.

The are many rich men in Igbo land because those are the ones least likely to leave (and the elderly), the word of a wise elder is stronger than that of a rich man. Even a wise poor man will speak before a foolish rich man. This is why the east doesn't have Obasanjos and Tinubus. If the people don't respect you, they don't respect you rich or not.




Igbos like money just as much as anyone else, the difference is they're not taught to stand by and allow something they want to be out of their reach in their life time. Money doesn't make the man in Igbo land, the man makes the money.

geeez: [b]I read every word of the opening post, hoping I will get to understand you guys better but alas you've only reinforced my conviction which some Igbos I have interacted with have so beautifully upturned by their impressive attitude and warm demeanor

The ways you have so passionately eulogized do not fit the modern society. You can't keep thinking you're better than others, as it negates learning and breeds enmity, but believing that you can be better than you've always been with a passion to solve problems and not create them. That's the way to go. BTW people always know when you're genuinely interested in their problems rather than using them as a means to achieving your selfish aims. That's true success and for me it's worked several times over in my businesses and relationships.

The Igbos believe in the power of money, making it a must have by any means. In a society built on strong values, success will bring money and not the other way round. I keep saying Bill Gates is not successful because he is rich but rich because he is successful. He succeeded at bringing change and people paid a premium for it[/b]

I haven't upturned anything and hope you read with an open and clear mind.
Igbos believe they're 'better' than another person in that they're confident about they're capabilities

example. If there is a race, the igbo man is taught to believe he can win, even if he is a slow person. He is taught to compete and win. If his opponent asks him who will win, he will say "Me!" even if his opponent is a trained runner.

If an igbo man is in a classroom, he believes that he will take first place. He didn't enter the room to lose or be mediocre. This is what i mean by 'better'. You can't put anything to an igbo persons face and he says 'i can't do that, or you will do that better than i will'. He is taught to believe that anyone with 10 fingers can do anything and that he must believe in himself. It's not a sense of superiority, it's permanent confidence.


And igbo man will never say 'im going to lose' or 'i can't do that' if someone else with 10 fingers is doing it. As children we were beat or asserting that someone else was better than us. Its a sad way to live and we don't condone it. We also don't expect anyone else to think we're better than them. If someone starts kissing igbo ass and talking down his own people, most igbo people are uncomfortable with this and don't like it. They'll think that person is a fool. I've seen people do this, start talking up Igbos and demeaning their own people thinking that we want that, we don't. If we say we're good at something we expect you to be able to say you're good at something as well not to 'submit'. Igbos have no cultural concept of 'dominance', just competition with your peers.

Like i said with the race. IF someone is running a race, they don't believe there is someone on that track that is better than him because he wouldn't have competed to begin with. Two boxers enter a ring. Neither one of them thinks the other one is superior to him or else he wouldn't compete. This is the mindset of the competitor which igbos are taught to have.


any and every igbo will take you in warmly and accept you as a brother, but if you build a two story house you will only inspire him to build a three story because you have shown him that it is possible and he believes that he must outdo what has been done. Not to prove anything to you or insult you, but to keep the progression of humanity going alive. Every igbo man believe he must outdo his own father, not because they don't respect their fathers but BECAUSE they respect their father.

At the same time, no competitor competes with an inferior. Usain bolt doesn't race children. Micheal Jordan doesn't play in the special olympics. If a competitor is competing against you he can ONLY compete against you if he feels you're worthy, if he respects you.


If an igbo man brags to you about his car, it's because you too have a nice car. If you're immobile, he wouldn't mention it.
I feel you probably entered this thread to be adverse to the peace we're building. There's no need. You have no enemy in the Igbos and shouldn't interpret their competitiveness as a fight or an insult as many often do.

I can try to speak for yoruba as fairly as possible but would prefer someone from that tribe do it.
All i can say is

Yorubas are taught to respect their ancestors and elders, attacking that is an abomination to them
Yorubas don't like when people trying to claim dominance of them
There are a lot of Igbos in Yoruba land and if such an influx of Yorubas was in Igbo land Igbos would be annoyed as well.


But i understand that the common man on the street cooperates with people of all tribes whenever they need too. Culturally we're really not as different as we pretend to be. Yoruba's have a very intricate and effective diplomatic system in their culture and leadership that allows them to be open to everyone and except diversity. Igbos are not as diplomatic as they are taught to be concerned about themselves first. At the same time both cultures are extremely acccomdating. A yoruba man in Igbo land will be treated as well as anyone else, you will never encounter any form of hatred or tribalism because Igbos, even if they think they're better at you in Jamb, or business, don't dislike you and don't feel inherently superior to anyone. Everyone is given the space they need to reach the maximum potential and when you do well we celebrate it. Dbanj has an chieftancy title in Igbo land, as does Soyinka, we're all about giving credit where it's due.
99% of igbos and yorubas have no problem with each other, and we should allow the hateful and vocal 1% to dominate our discussion on this board because if you hate another you must first hate yourself.

I think one essential core to the tribalism on this thread is a misunderstanding of each other's cultures and way of thinking. I know this because I have noticed that Igbo society is structured in a way that's a bit different than many cultures in Africa aren't and it makes it very hard to Igbos to get along with others, even themselves, because of it. To the best of my understanding I want to highlight to origins of the misunderstandings so that we can move on from trying to disgrace each other on the internet.




[img]http://mccoy.lib.siu.edu/jmccall/jones/igbo/ekpafia11.JPG[/img]
Misunderstandings about Igbos

Igbo culture is centered around the concept of the Amadi (Son of the soil, man of the land, Free man). This means that every single igbo make is in essence his own nation. The goal of igbo culture is to strive to build your own compound where you will rule over it as a total and complete sovereign. No one person can ever, by edict of birth, rank above another person or rule over another person and if things must be done there has to be absolute consensus between everyone because everyone is a separate sovereign entity. We don't inherit titles like the Yoruba and other Africans, as great as our fathers may be when they die their achievements die with them and we have to start from scratch. Even Eze's are elected and thrown out if they offend the people.

Elders are respected, but if they're not making sense we're not obligated to listen to them. A foolish man, regardless of his age, doesn't gain automatic respect and if they're problematic you can freely challenge them.

The situation this creates is a highly competitive culture where everyone is striving to matter because it's not automatic. This is why it's hard for igbos to respect someone like Awolowo, and other yoruba 'elders'. In our culture you can freely reject anyone you don't agree with if you're willing to deal with the consequence. People are so independent that in the ancient times if they had constant misfortune you can reject your God and choose another one. At the same time everyone has a personal God (Chi). Every compound had it's own head, it's own God, its own rule etc.

So when Igbos insult the leaders of other tribes, it should be regarded as an 'igbo' thing. It's very hard for us to do something as a group and we seldom intent to, everyone represents themselves. For every igbo that doesn't respect awolowo, another man does and we have been taught be culture to learn to 'agree to disagree'. Yorubas often don't like having their leaders insulted, especially by outsiders, where as igbos will insult their own leaders if they feel the person is a fool. If the igbos feel a person 'earns' leadership, and he's insulted, they will fight, and this should be clearly understood Powerful people in igboland aren't always leaders.


Because it's hard to get group consensus, the person who can do this is regarded as a leader. Our politicians aren't considered leaders after their tenure is over. They are insulted freely if they didn't perform and praising if they did but within the same family people cause has passionate arguments about each person. Those that are considered leaders are people who move a community in a direction. Ojukwu for instance would be an exemplary Igbo leader because he was able to fight for a cause, but even as a leader there are igbos that disagree with him openly and even he respects that.

Speaking ill of 'respected men' is a igbo cultural 'right' that comes with the concept of the amadi, or free man.

My request
Igbos, we must understand that not everyone is Igbo. Awolowo is considered the father of the modern Yoruba nation. Insulting him to a yoruba is akin to literally insulting someone's father and they will retaliate.
Yoruba, If an Igbo person disrespects a Yoruba leader, oh well. It's a free nation, if you feel it's a deplorable or foolish act as many of you do, you shouldn't stoop to that level because then you too are deplorable and foolish. You shouldn't compromise your values just to win internet fights.



[img]http://mccoy.lib.siu.edu/jmccall/jones/igbo/ekpafia13.JPG[/img]
Bragging


Any and everybody will tell you the most obnoxious thing about Igbos in unnecessary bragging. Igbos will brag about any and everything. Their family is the best in the world. Their compound is the best in the world. Their village is the best in the world. Their state is the best in the world. Their country is the best in the world. Their continent is the best in the world. Their world is the best in the world. All boiling down to each person thinking they're more special than they really are. It's a very faulty character trait that comes from our culture.

It should be understood that again Igbos are taught to be competitors, not cooperators. As soon as they sense a difference they're feel the need to let you know whatever is special about them is the most special. I feel that it's up to the igbos to monitor the way they talk.

It's very unsettling to having a lot of igbos in your land then years later they start declaring they bought all of it and now own it. If yoruba people started declaring they bought all of Onitcha Igbos would riot, so we have to be able to see ourselves from another person's perspective.

At the same time if an Igbo brags about something, they simply expect you to brag back. It's not an insult. We're taught to be vocal about the things we are proud of. If igbos are doing well in Lagos, they don't deserve to have their achievements kept in the closet because someone might get sensitive. If igbos say they have the highest Jamb scores it's because they work extremely hard at what they do. It's not an insult to anyone, and it's not an assertion of 'superiority'. As strange as that sounds.



Igbos believe that someone can be 'better' than someone else at any given time, but they don't believe one person can 'dominate' or inherently be 'superior' to another. Saying Igbos have the highest Jamb scores doesn't mean yoruba people are dumb, we think you guys are very intelligent level headed and well educated. It doesn't mean that igbos will forever have the highest scores etc etc. We're simply proud of an achievement are are taught to speak on it. We're also taught to be ok with someone else bragging about their achievements, which many igbos on here are not fairly practicing.

I'm going to be honest Igbos do think they're they best at most things, but in a strange way that only an Igbo can understand, believing they're 'the best' doesn't mean they believe they're 'better'. It's like a race, if someone is ahead or feels they are in the lead that's fine, but nobody has crossed the finish line and they can be passed at anytime. The runner runs as hard as possible when they're in the leader because they respect their competitors and feel that if they weren't at their best or slip in the least way, the competitor will overtake them.

This is how igbos can feel that they're the best but not better at something. If we're bragging to you, odds are we respect you and feel that you should know we're worthy opponents as well. When igbos encounter completely useless or stupid people they don't brag because it's not worth the competition, there is none.
Also, why wouldn't you feel your people are the best? I don't think it's an Igbo trait, it's a universal one, and if an Igbo person vocalizes that igbos are doing something well it's not a call to fight. They wouldn't be saying it if they didn't feel you were doing well enough to be competition. You don't hear of Igbos bragging to people from Nassarawa the way they brag to Yoruba people. It's how we show respect. If this was a lie this fact wouldn't remain; Igbos brag to other igbos 100X more that they will brag to non-igbos. Many mistake it as a lack of unity, but it's just how we talk.

If should be understood that Igbos don't respect people outside the boarders of Nigeria as much as they respect the tribes inside of them. The minute a Ghanian South African, or Kenyan mentions one ill word about Yorubas, we will tear them apart. We will brag about Yoruba achievements more than any Yoruba person ever could. We Igbos don't feel the Yoruba would do the same, and often notice that they don't. If a nigerian does something bad and a white person brings it up to an igbo man, if the person is yoruba, the igbo man will even tell the white man that the yoruba have more sense than him. If an igbo man does something bad yorubas often say "He's igbo (blah blah blah)" and exclude themselves from the situation, which igbos don't like or respect.


I think this is why Igbos and yorubas argue so much on here. They both feel the other is the most worth adversary and rightfully so.



[img]http://mccoy.lib.siu.edu/jmccall/jones/igbo/ekpe11.JPG[/img]
Biafra

This war isn't taught in Nigerian schools, and yoruba parents have little to no reason to teach it to their children since they weren't as effected. Where as the typical igbo family have taught it up and down to their children, all of our parents childhood stories use it as a reference point, and it was truly the birth of the igbo as a nation. Though many Yoruba feel that they are being 'attacked' when discussing the war, the solid and absolute truth is that from the Igbo perspective you guys chose the side of genocide. They're very resentful about this and If you study the war you will see actions taken by Yoruba leaders that you personally won't agree with, trust me. The problem is most yoruba people don't know. What Achebe and the Igbos on here are saying is the truth, Awolowo's role in the war was very hypocritical and Igbos feel betrayed. You can respect Awolowo and acknowledge what he 'did'. BUT Igbos must understand why Awolowo acted the way he did.




Lagos was the capital of Nigeria. In order to rule Nigeria you needed to rule Lagos and in turn Yoruba land as a whole. Igbos saw the war turn around once Port Harcourt was taken because it cuts off Igboland from the rest of the world. So too should Igbos acknowledge that once Lagos is taken, Yoruba land is rendered trapped. When there was a coup in Nigeria, with Lagos as the capital, whomever runs the country, runs Yorubaland. This means that the Yoruba had no choice in their role during the war. The organs of Northern power were deeply entrenched in yoruba land. There were soliders everywhere and they weren't going to stand idle as yorubas built an armory. Yorubas also didn't have the same sense of urgency Igbos had. When Igbos here of Berom being killed by Fulani they don't attempt to succeed, and we shouldn't expect Yorubas to do the same when they hear of igbos being killed, which many yoruba didn't know the extent of killing that was going on. The north has already conquered yoruba land by default of controlling the government in Lagos, East nigeria was the last place to fall but we were free until the war ended. The north was essentially trying to do what they had already done in the West in the East, and it's not the yoruba's fault that their fight was already over.

Biafra was originally simply a line igbos can cross and know they are safe from persecution and genocide. Ojukwu wanted for Nigeria to stay intact but under these provisions
each region be sovereign to control it's own affairs
each region have the right to withdrawal from the union if they feel they are being maltreated or abused
each region polices it's self
each region governs and organizes it's self
each region controls it's own resources.


It's very ironic that this is what Yoruba leaders today are advocating for not knowing this was the origin of Biafra. It was only when the killings wouldn't stop and Gowon didn't take the Aburi accord seriously or act to stop the killings that Ojukwu declared independence. Today any Yoruba man with sense would call GEJ a fool for his inability to stop Boko Haram. You shouldn't then think inaction during a genocide that killed 60,000 people in comparison to Boko Haram's 2000 is something Igbos will stand idle and watch.

Many Yoruba say the igbos shouldn't have fought because they were logistically outnumbered. This shows a lack of awareness about the war which isn't your fault. The Igbos didn't fighting because they wanted to, they fought because they had to. They were pushed into a corner and the killings weren't going to end until there were simply no more igbos in Nigeria even in Igbo land. The Northerners had reached the middle belt by the time Igbos fought back, meaning they were chasing igbos to their homes. The Biafran war was an act of self defense, and not just for Igbos, but for all members of the eastern region.

The most respect Yorubas today were all against the war. Yorubas found passionately as advocates for and against it and I think you need to study it more before holistically deciding that Ojukwu was your 'enemy'. Also, Yorubas didn't entire the war because Igbos took Ore, They were in it the whole time, the tide was turned by the west and russia intervening. Ojukwu isn't your enemy. Igbos also have to understand that Awolowo isn't their enemy either, he had no choice.

oyb: let our igbo brothers stop all these threads where they insinuate or imply or state outright that they are the best thing since sliced bread

enough of this tribal superiority chest beating

please no more of this black jew, igbos own 90% of lagos, igbos are highest jamb scorers threads.

no more of these biafra threads that alternate between genocide today and igbo military prowess tomorrow

that there is the genesis of nl ewars

I'm coming to see the origin of these fights are misunderstandings!
I'm going to make and understanding/misunderstanding thread to help to process! I've heard people complain about igbos doing the same thing, bragging and stating dominance over others and i understand it can be annoying but understanding our culture will help us get along.

someone that can't properly quote a post is calling me foolish lol
I love you the same as my bible tells me to! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I'm not a tribalist o!
I don't like Awolowo but it ends there. I'm more yoruba than most yoruba people lol

Happy new years! I have called this round table for the igbos and the yoruba of Nairaland to finally be at peace!

[img]http://oshlookman.files./2011/05/discussants-and-participants-at-luaaag-roundtable5.jpg?w=300&h=225[/img]

all honorable delegates are allowed to speak on how we can shut tribalists up and move forward discussing real development and real issues instead of Awolowo and Biafra!

the mic is on, speak up.



Let's also start with sharing what we love about the opposite tribe!
Yoruba people, i think your women are beautiful and your culture and history is very rich! Nigeria has the best tribes in africa! hands down

It's a girl!

Follow us on twitter for more www.twitter.com/majesexi we follow back!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFCA2mcCIYA


Follow us on twitter @Majesexi www.twitter.com/majesexi for an instant follow back!

Rural

Ask them to finish an airport attachment and it's a 5 year fight. smh

Nigeria should be growing at 10-12% GDP if managed property...potentially more according to most economist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh2OWk8xNJ4