₦airaland Forum

Lest We Forget: A Historical Reflection on Yoruba-Igbo Tensions

Many people today speak of betrayal and mistrust between the Yoruba and Igbo, but few understand the deeper context or the actual conversations that took place among the leaders of both ethnic groups. I had the rare privilege though just a young observer who had learned “how to wash his hands” of sitting in on some of these meetings between Yoruba and Igbo elders.

One such memorable gathering took place in Owerri around 1989. There, I listened in awe as Uncle Bola Ige and other Yoruba leaders addressed claims made by some prominent Igbo figures, including Chief Mbakwe and R.B. Okafor. The accusation? That Chief Obafemi Awolowo had promised to support the Igbo in seceding from Nigeria, and then betrayed them by not following through.

Bola Ige responded with clarity and fire. Turning to Mbakwe, he asked directly:
"You were present at the meeting between Awolowo and Ojukwu, as I was. Did Awo ever make that promise?"
He then turned to two other Yoruba and two Igbo leaders who were also present at that historical meeting.
"I have the transcripts," he warned. None of the Igbo elders refuted him.

Awolowo, according to Ige, had never promised to follow the East into secession. What he did say was:
“If the Igbo are ever driven out of Nigeria, the Yoruba will take it seriously and reassess their own position.”
The room fell quiet. The accusation crumbled in the face of truth. The Igbo leaders did not deny this version of events.

Then came Bola Ige’s thunderous retort:
“Who are you to accuse the Yoruba of betrayal?”
He laid out a powerful chronology:

1. At Independence, Awolowo offered a joint NCNC-AG government Zik as Prime Minister, Awo as Finance Minister. Negotiations were ongoing when suddenly Zik announced a coalition with the NPC instead. The East aligned with the North to crush the West, jailing Awo and his allies.

2. In 1965, the West and East agreed to boycott the election. They reached consensus in the early hours, but by morning, the Igbo broke ranks and voted while the Yoruba held the line.

3. In 1979, post-election negotiations for a Yoruba-Igbo coalition (UPN-NPP) were underway when the NPP suddenly entered a coalition with the North’s NPN without notice.

4. In 1983, the same betrayal occurred. Yet Awolowo still sought unity. He met Zik again in Benin, pleading that only a Yoruba-Igbo alliance could rescue Nigeria. The meeting ended inconclusively, and again the East returned to align with the North.

With visible emotion, Uncle Bola continued:
“We can go on and on. But let me ask you: how many Igbo have been killed in Yoruba towns like Lagos, Ibadan, Akure, or Oshogbo? You thrive in our cities, build your businesses here, and attend our schools yet you call us enemies. Meanwhile, your people are regularly killed in Kaduna, Kano, Bauchi, Zaria, and your shops looted. Yet you count the North as allies. If you choose to be perpetual slaves, we cannot help you.”

The silence that followed was deafening. No one interrupted him. No one challenged the facts. The Yoruba delegation stood and ended the meeting. I can only hope Chief C.O. Adebayo’s memoirs will someday detail that historic exchange further.

Key Takeaways:

A. The Yoruba have long extended a hand across the Niger. The Igbo, for decades, declined to take it until recently.

B. Many Igbo leaders of the 1970s to 1990s actively propagated the myth that Awolowo betrayed them, using it to solidify internal unity and distract from internal failures. The one common rallying point was hatred for the Yoruba.

C. Time is a great healer. Many Igbo reading this today may be learning, for the first time, that their leaders knew Awolowo never betrayed Ojukwu or the East during the Civil War.

A Call to Our Generation:

Even if our parents quarreled, should we, their children, inherit their grudges? Must we perpetuate old divisions in a Nigeria struggling for unity and growth?

It is time.
Time for a genuine handshake across the Niger.
Time to heal, to build, and to move forward together.

Originally shared on the “Friends Ikoyi Club 1938” Forum by Dr. Adenike Marinho
(Medical Doctor and Social Commentator)

It's time for IBO to think home, go home, and stay home.

SHIKENA.

You people and your lies. Iro ti ba ti yin je. I dont know what the igbo has done for you except to peddle lies around them.

In all the lies you wrote up there,if I dont know of any,At least I know of the 1965. The yorubas didnt boycot the 1965 election that was heavily rigged by the Akintola and the North Gang. Houses of supporters of Awolowo were burnt and they were killed.

It was Mama HID and the East that came together to report the true state of the election. The Eastern Nigerian broadcasting service erected a radio mast at Awolowo's Oké Bola's house and broadcasted the true result of the Western Nigeria election out of there. The heavily rigged election of Akintola hence Soyinka alleged to have invaded the government radio station to annouce the true situatuon of things

The SW didnt boycot the 1965 elections,it was only heavily Rigged.

Yoruba's and Igbos, eternal political enemies that should not share the same geopolitical space

Warrior99:
It's time for IBO to think home, go home, and stay home.

SHIKENA.

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But your people are in Abuja enjoying the sweetness there and always working in oil/gas industries in the southern part of Nigeria.
Why can't they go back to their villages?
In addition, a lot of your people are getting elected in various countries abroad, why can't they go back to their villages?

The Igbos don't have any regard whatsoever for Yorubas.. this is the fact.
When likes of Fumilayo Kuti, Awolowo and other prominent Yorubas demanded for end to British colonialism, the Igbos saw it as opportunity for them to take over from the British and continue neo-colonialism of the other ethnic groups in Nigeria.

This is why they never faced their home region to develop as others did.. they had this false confidence that they'd dominate in Nigeria and Africa.. reason for the attacks on the Igbos in SA, Ghana etc. They don't know they are foreigners without rights in those countries, because their thinking has been twisted by their forefathers.

Bola Ige and co era is as good as gone.. in this era, Yorubas will not be cheated or shortchanged by another ethnoc group in Nigeria.

I take the issues one by one.

1. Azikiwe and Awolowo won't have been able to form the government as they did not meet the constitutional requirement. Their unity would have led to constitutional crisis. Azikiwe was still trying to figure out how to tackle the constitutional crisis when reports got to him that Awolowo was also negotiating with Sardiana to form government. Apparently he was selling shit to Zik while plotting how to form govt with Sarduana.

2. Yoruba always twisting history. Before 1965 there was 1964 boycott. Who did that boycott? The Igbo. Who was it meant to benefit? The Yoruba. Did the Yoruba boycott as agreed? No. What made them think Igbo would trust them and go for a second boycott on their behalf when they chickened out of the first boycott? Foolishness.

3. I have no details of 1979 and 1983. But only a fool given Yoruba betrayal tendencies who want to go with them again. And Zik was no fool

Osnuf34:
Lest We Forget: A Historical Reflection on Yoruba-Igbo Tensions

Many people today speak of betrayal and mistrust between the Yoruba and Igbo, but few understand the deeper context or the actual conversations that took place among the leaders of both ethnic groups. I had the rare privilege though just a young observer who had learned “how to wash his hands” of sitting in on some of these meetings between Yoruba and Igbo elders.

One such memorable gathering took place in Owerri around 1989. There, I listened in awe as Uncle Bola Ige and other Yoruba leaders addressed claims made by some prominent Igbo figures, including Chief Mbakwe and R.B. Okafor. The accusation? That Chief Obafemi Awolowo had promised to support the Igbo in seceding from Nigeria, and then betrayed them by not following through.

Bola Ige responded with clarity and fire. Turning to Mbakwe, he asked directly:
"You were present at the meeting between Awolowo and Ojukwu, as I was. Did Awo ever make that promise?"
He then turned to two other Yoruba and two Igbo leaders who were also present at that historical meeting.
"I have the transcripts," he warned. None of the Igbo elders refuted him.

Awolowo, according to Ige, had never promised to follow the East into secession. What he did say was:
“If the Igbo are ever driven out of Nigeria, the Yoruba will take it seriously and reassess their own position.”
The room fell quiet. The accusation crumbled in the face of truth. The Igbo leaders did not deny this version of events.

Then came Bola Ige’s thunderous retort:
“Who are you to accuse the Yoruba of betrayal?”
He laid out a powerful chronology:

1. At Independence, Awolowo offered a joint NCNC-AG government Zik as Prime Minister, Awo as Finance Minister. Negotiations were ongoing when suddenly Zik announced a coalition with the NPC instead. The East aligned with the North to crush the West, jailing Awo and his allies.

2. In 1965, the West and East agreed to boycott the election. They reached consensus in the early hours, but by morning, the Igbo broke ranks and voted while the Yoruba held the line.

3. In 1979, post-election negotiations for a Yoruba-Igbo coalition (UPN-NPP) were underway when the NPP suddenly entered a coalition with the North’s NPN without notice.

4. In 1983, the same betrayal occurred. Yet Awolowo still sought unity. He met Zik again in Benin, pleading that only a Yoruba-Igbo alliance could rescue Nigeria. The meeting ended inconclusively, and again the East returned to align with the North.

With visible emotion, Uncle Bola continued:
“We can go on and on. But let me ask you: how many Igbo have been killed in Yoruba towns like Lagos, Ibadan, Akure, or Oshogbo? You thrive in our cities, build your businesses here, and attend our schools yet you call us enemies. Meanwhile, your people are regularly killed in Kaduna, Kano, Bauchi, Zaria, and your shops looted. Yet you count the North as allies. If you choose to be perpetual slaves, we cannot help you.”

The silence that followed was deafening. No one interrupted him. No one challenged the facts. The Yoruba delegation stood and ended the meeting. I can only hope Chief C.O. Adebayo’s memoirs will someday detail that historic exchange further.

Key Takeaways:

A. The Yoruba have long extended a hand across the Niger. The Igbo, for decades, declined to take it until recently.

B. Many Igbo leaders of the 1970s to 1990s actively propagated the myth that Awolowo betrayed them, using it to solidify internal unity and distract from internal failures. The one common rallying point was hatred for the Yoruba.

C. Time is a great healer. Many Igbo reading this today may be learning, for the first time, that their leaders knew Awolowo never betrayed Ojukwu or the East during the Civil War.

A Call to Our Generation:

Even if our parents quarreled, should we, their children, inherit their grudges? Must we perpetuate old divisions in a Nigeria struggling for unity and growth?

It is time.
Time for a genuine handshake across the Niger.
Time to heal, to build, and to move forward together.

Originally shared on the “Friends Ikoyi Club 1938” Forum by Dr. Adenike Marinho
(Medical Doctor and Social Commentator)

Apparently Zik miscalculated. How can you reject PM position to be ceremonial President? Yet our brothers from the east would claim their leaders are smart and brilliant. Make una make it make sense.