₦airaland Forum

mya1:

Your proposed solution would spell more doom for Igbos in Lagos than all the Yorubas in the South East.
At this stage, it's better to let sleeping dogs lie than propose to start what you cannot finish.

All in all, one Nigeria is all we clamour for, while at that, every tribe should abide by the law and order of each state they habitate(especially but not restricted to non-native states).

After all , when in Rome, you are expected to act like the Romans.

There are no more sleeping dogs, just dogs pretending to be asleep.

ControlX:
A few days ago, the Oba of Lagos threatened Igbo leaders. If they did not vote for his governorship candidate in Lagos, he said, they would be thrown into the lagoon. His entire speech was a flagrant performance of disregard. His words said, in effect: I think so little of you that I don’t have to cajole you but will just threaten you and, by the way, your safety in Lagos is not assured, it is negotiable.
There have been condemnations of the Oba’s words. Sadly, many of the condemnations from non-Igbo people have come with the ugly impatience of expressions like ‘move on,’ and ‘don’t be over-emotional’ and ‘calm down.’ These take away the power, even the sincerity, of the condemnations. It is highhanded and offensive to tell an aggrieved person how to feel, or how quickly to forgive, just as an apology becomes a non-apology when it comes with ‘now get over it.’
Other condemnations of the Oba’s words have been couched in dismissive or diminishing language such as ‘The Oba can’t really do anything, he isn’t actually going to kill anyone. He was joking. He was just being a loudmouth.’
Or – the basest yet – ‘we are all prejudiced.’ It is dishonest to respond to a specific act of prejudice by ignoring that act and instead stressing the generic and the general. It is similar to responding to a specific crime by saying ‘we are all capable of crime.’ Indeed we are. But responses such as these are diversionary tactics. They dismiss the specific act, diminish its importance, and ultimately aim at silencing the legitimate fears of people.
We are indeed all prejudiced, but that is not an appropriate response to an issue this serious. The Oba is not an ordinary citizen. He is a traditional ruler in a part of a country where traditional rulers command considerable influence – the reluctance on the part of many to directly chastise the Oba speaks to his power. The Oba’s words matter. He is not a singular voice; he represents traditional authority. The Oba’s words matter because they are enough to incite violence in a political setting already fraught with uncertainty. The Oba’s words matter even more in the event that Ambode loses the governorship election, because it would then be easy to scapegoat Igbo people and hold them punishable.
Nigerians who consider themselves enlightened might dismiss the Oba’s words as illogical. But the scapegoating of groups – which has a long history all over the world – has never been about logic. The Oba’s words matter because they bring worrying echoes of the early 1960s in Nigeria, when Igbo people were scapegoated for political reasons. Chinua Achebe, when he finally accepted that Lagos, the city he called home, was unsafe for him because he was Igbo, saw crowds at the motor park taunting Igbo people as they boarded buses: ‘Go, Igbo, go so that garri will be cheaper in Lagos!’
Of course Igbo people were not responsible for the cost of garri. But they were perceived as people who were responsible for a coup and who were ‘taking over’ and who, consequently, could be held responsible for everything bad.
Any group of people would understandably be troubled by a threat such as the Oba’s, but the Igbo, because of their history in Nigeria, have been particularly troubled. And it is a recent history. There are people alive today who were publicly attacked in cosmopolitan Lagos in the 1960s because they were Igbo. Even people who were merely light-skinned were at risk of violence in Lagos markets, because to be light-skinned was to be mistaken for Igbo.
Almost every Nigerian ethnic group has a grouse of some sort with the Nigerian state. The Nigerian state has, by turns, been violent, unfair, neglectful, of different parts of the country. Almost every ethnic group has derogatory stereotypes attached to it by other ethnic groups.
But it is disingenuous to suggest that the experience of every ethnic group has been the same. Anti-Igbo violence began under the British colonial government, with complex roots and manifestations. But the end result is a certain psychic difference in the relationship of Igbo people to the Nigerian state. To be Igbo in Nigeria is constantly to be suspect; your national patriotism is never taken as the norm, you are continually expected to prove it.
All groups are conditioned by their specific histories. Perhaps another ethnic group would have reacted with less concern to the Oba’s threat, because that ethnic group would not be conditioned by a history of being targets of violence, as the Igbo have been.
Many responses to the Oba’s threat have mentioned the ‘welcoming’ nature of Lagos, and have made comparisons between Lagos and southeastern towns like Onitsha. It is valid to debate the ethnic diversity of different parts of Nigeria, to compare, for example, Ibadan and Enugu, Ado-Ekiti and Aba, and to debate who moves where, and who feels comfortable living where and why that is. But it is odd to pretend that Lagos is like any other city in Nigeria. It is not. The political history of Lagos and its development as the first national capital set it apart. Lagos is Nigeria’s metropolis. There are ethnic Igbo people whose entire lives have been spent in Lagos, who have little or no ties to the southeast, who speak Yoruba better than Igbo. Should they, too, be reminded to be ‘grateful’ each time an election draws near?
No law-abiding Nigerian should be expected to show gratitude for living peacefully in any part of Nigeria. Landlords in Lagos should not, as still happens too often, be able to refuse to rent their property to Igbo people.
The Oba’s words were disturbing, but its context is even more disturbing:
The anti-Igbo rhetoric that has been part of the political discourse since the presidential election results. Accusatory and derogatory language – using words like ‘brainwashed,’ ‘tribalistic voting’ – has been used to describe President Jonathan’s overwhelming win in the southeast. All democracies have regions that vote in large numbers for one side, and even though parts of Northern Nigeria showed voting patterns similar to the Southeast, the opprobrium has been reserved for the Southeast.
But the rhetoric is about more than mere voting. It is really about citizenship. To be so entitled as to question the legitimacy of a people’s choice in a democratic election is not only a sign of disrespect but is also a questioning of the full citizenship of those people.
What does it mean to be a Nigerian citizen?
When Igbo people are urged to be ‘grateful’ for being in Lagos, do they somehow have less of a right as citizens to live where they live? Every Nigerian should be able to live in any part of Nigeria. The only expectation for a Nigerian citizen living in any part of Nigeria is to be law-abiding. Not to be ‘grateful.’ Not to be expected to pay back some sort of unspoken favour by toeing a particular political line. Nigerian citizens can vote for whomever they choose, and should never be expected to justify or apologize for their choice.
Only by feeling a collective sense of ownership of Nigeria can we start to forge a nation. A nation is an idea. Nigeria is still in progress. To make this a nation, we must collectively agree on what citizenship means: all Nigerians must matter equally.

Source:
www.olisa.tv/2015/04/10/chimamanda-adichieoba-lagos/

I am proud of you thanks for this wonderful article. this is to show that we the igbos have people that matters. haters should go and die
.
#proudlyigbo#

Are we not on frontpage yet?

So many articles on just this man Wetin sef

Toothless bulldog!! How convenient to equate an irate and intellectually drowned Oba to the Yorubas! He isn't even in the top league of respectable Oba's! Get educated!

luvmijeje:
Any Yorubas that apologise on behalf of the Oba after today is an OMO ALE...... Let them do their worst. The Yorubas will be waiting for them at the ICC.

Babymama1:
You are even going far
Ask him how many times Igbos in Lagos or any part of Yorubaland have attacked yorubas?
Yet there are countless stories of Hausas fighting them,killing them and Fulanis raping and killing their men and women in every part of Yorubaland yet their hatred is towards Igbos
Don't these people think?
How spiteful can this group be towards people that have done them no harm whatsoever
Hausas kill you and you want an Igboman to thank you
Sorry you ain't getting none
Let them go and collect their towel where they took their bath

I even forgot that part. On a more serious note, the Fulani cattle rearers has killed as many Yoruba farmers and traders as possible. A friend of mine back then in school, his name is Tanimola, told me how Fulani people distroy their farms with their cattle and when a person sites them and makes noise about it, s/he gets a long dagger inside their system or have their heads severed from their necks. The only time the Fulanis act right is when there are a large number of the villagers at the scene because they know they can't kill them all.

Never read any of her books once I knew she is one of those we are Igbo and we are special types.... Never saw any of her beautiful writeups about the decay and underdevelopment in the east. For me, the Oba does not want PDP and their decay to befall Lagos and he has no apology for that period!

Famous Tribe in Nigeria
We are too great to be intimidated
This is new generation of Ndi Igbo
We don't take sh..t from anybody
#IgboAmaka

Whatever is written here is not seen by Chimamanda cos d last time I checked, she's not on nairaland.

While we may all be quick to judge and jump to conclusions, the truth is that we all operate from a certain level of bias. It is called worldview.

What I see and approve as right or wrong is determined by my set of beliefs and philosophy, essentially known as worlview.

The critical question I have asked since the outburst of this regrettable episode is 'Who is a Nigerian?'. As Professor Wole Soyinka said long ago, Nigeria is an idea that exists only in the head of some people.

Are we truly a nation with one people that share a common goal and a set of collective aspirations? I honestly doubt it.

We all have a God given right as different nationalities to decide the terms of our mutual existence in the geographical expression named Nigeria.

Some of us have come to increasingly appreciate the beauty in our diversity but we must insist that the terms must be openly dicussed and enshrined in the constitution for the purpose of equity and justice.

Oba Akiolu's unguarded statement will certainly (and indeed has) go beyond Lagos elections and it should serve as a rallying point for all asundry to renew the calls for a soveriegn national conference.
I want to see a Nigeria where our worldview will first be as Nigerians without any recourse to tribal sentiments be it Hausa, Ibo or Yoruba.

God bless Nigeria.

Ymodulus:
I think I will start by trying to be Anthropomorphic, as it will bet express my heading.
Its really sad when insanity realizes that he has a mental disorder then he is as good as cured. The moment a people come to terms with their complex problem which often place them at loggerheads with their host communities the better for them.

I seem not to fathom how a tribe claim to have suffered humiliations and deprivation from other ethnic nationalities. This allegation should be consider very weighty even though it was not substantiated. Nonetheless, this aggrieved ethnic nationality needs to ask herself what is about it that could be responsible for the purported hostile acts of other ethnic nationalities toward it.

One problem I have with Chimanda is all her articles tends to quote Chinua Achebe, even when its evident chinua actions are wrong. The sane mistake she made, about his book "there was a country". Now she is trying to say that the Igbo's were murdered in early 1960's for political reasons? Who started the war? Was it the Nigerian Arny or The late Ojukwu ? I see Chimabda is biased. And she is just a staunt re-echoer of Chinua Achebe's belief.


I liked the fact that she related the massacre of the Ibos in different parts of the country before the civil war. However what I do like to ask her is this,

1. chimanda was there nothing that led to the massacre?

You can't deny that the tendency to dominate in another man's land which is being exhibited now by taking the Oba to court is what led to such. Tell me when you come back from court if the people of Lagos will still have a good relationship with the Ibos.


Chimanda while trying to play a neutral ground at the surface, is been biased deep down. I am sorry to say but if Chimanda spent her time writing this, she wasted that time. As this just further lowered NY respect for her as an internationally recognised writer. Novel is her thing not politics.

Just imagine how shez is spreading lies about 1960s massacre. Posterity Judge you.

As a Nigerian you have the right to live where you please provided you are law abiding. They have the right to drag the Oba to court as law abiding citizens.

francizy:
You should also ask yourself these questions:

Has there ever been a time after the civil war that a truck load of dead Yoruba people were moved from SE to SW for burial?

Have we not accommodated the Yorubas in our lands, although they aren't that large compared to Igbos in SW?

Haven't you heard of cases were a truck load of dead bodies were brought into the SW from the north?

Have we caused you trouble as our host? Did we rise up in arms against you, like some tribe(s) did in Jos? Have we ever come out en masse to murder/maim the Yorubas in Lagos?

Has the Igbos not paid their dues? Did we disrupt any Yoruba businesses or damaged any Yoruba properties?

If you've asked and answered all these questions, then you can ask yourself this one too..

Then why the hate speech?

Thank you very much. Igbos and Yorubas have been living and marrying 2geda. All of a sudden dey just start hating. I just wonder!!!

Ymodulus:
I think I will start by trying to be Anthropomorphic, as it will bet express my heading.
Its really sad when insanity realizes that he has a mental disorder then he is as good as cured. The moment a people come to terms with their complex problem which often place them at loggerheads with their host communities the better for them.

I seem not to fathom how a tribe claim to have suffered humiliations and deprivation from other ethnic nationalities. This allegation should be consider very weighty even though it was not substantiated. Nonetheless, this aggrieved ethnic nationality needs to ask herself what is about it that could be responsible for the purported hostile acts of other ethnic nationalities toward it.

One problem I have with Chimanda is all her articles tends to quote Chinua Achebe, even when its evident chinua actions are wrong. The sane mistake she made, about his book "there was a country". Now she is trying to say that the Igbo's were murdered in early 1960's for political reasons? Who started the war? Was it the Nigerian Arny or The late Ojukwu ? I see Chimabda is biased. And she is just a staunt re-echoer of Chinua Achebe's belief.


I liked the fact that she related the massacre of the Ibos in different parts of the country before the civil war. However what I do like to ask her is this,

1. chimanda was there nothing that led to the massacre?

You can't deny that the tendency to dominate in another man's land which is being exhibited now by taking the Oba to court is what led to such. Tell me when you come back from court if the people of Lagos will still have a good relationship with the Ibos.


Chimanda while trying to play a neutral ground at the surface, is been biased deep down. I am sorry to say but if Chimanda spent her time writing this, she wasted that time. As this just further lowered NY respect for her as an internationally recognised writer. Novel is her thing not politics.

Just imagine how shez is spreading lies about 1960s massacre. Posterity Judge you.

Your blindness did not surprise me.
Because I wasn't really expecting you to understand the content of chimamanda's article.

So you ended up writing a rudderless tripe as a response.

But you should start from the basics. Get a copy of the constitution and begin to read it.

And concerning the issue of war. Pls you Yorubas should live in perpetual shame until you're at least able to liberate your people in kwara. That will give you guys a first hand experience of what war looks like.

Babymama1:
About 8 Obas have apologized
Looks like there are many omo ales already

And you guys are still not satisfy....... E ti te bo.

illiad:
You're a gift from God to Ndigbo. Just as Ndigbo are a gift from God to Nigerians.

The only irony being that while Ndigbo love you Chimamanda, nigerians hate Ndigbo.

And the result of their hate is that Ndigbo kept moving from height to height.

Who would have imagined that after what we went through during the civil war ndigbo would come to be the tribe with the highest GDP per person and the north still remains the poorest region.

Let them continue to hate but who God bless no man can curse.

. The content of your skull is saw-dust

BuddahMonk:
At the bolded, nobody is responsible for that but the Vultures here in the South who keep fighting internet wars on behalf of their masters.

You are a bigger vulture, a bigot, tinubu's robot, brainwashed and hypnotized with the propaganda of change, plotting YORUBA AGENDA

Who uses internet more?? - westerners, always thinking that they are superior to other tribes.
They will bring up tribal sentiments and later push it to the opposition.

Nigeria will not contain us if Yorubas continue think the south And east are fools, mark my words…

ideykwum:
[s]Toothless bulldog!! How convenient to equate an irate and intellectually drowned Oba to the Yorubas! He isn't even in the top league of respectable Oba's! Get educated![/s]

E ni o ni iru eni, ko le mo iyi eni.

[color=#1980BC] This babylon dawta sabi talk.....As for us, we prefer action rather than verbose english,we'd like a tit for tat ethnic reprisals as we have had with the Hausas which directly has cooled their blood lust and engendered mutual respect for the igbos...A tit-tat with the yorubas should 'reset' the current relationship since these yorubas are beginning to think they have grown wings.Let us give them a taste of what it takes to go head to head with northerners and maybe just maybe all this nonsense Chimamnda depicted will stop... [/color]

Ymodulus:
I think I will start by trying to be Anthropomorphic, as it will bet express my heading.
Its really sad when insanity realizes that he has a mental disorder then he is as good as cured. The moment a people come to terms with their complex problem which often place them at loggerheads with their host communities the better for them.

I seem not to fathom how a tribe claim to have suffered humiliations and deprivation from other ethnic nationalities. This allegation should be consider very weighty even though it was not substantiated. Nonetheless, this aggrieved ethnic nationality needs to ask herself what is about it that could be responsible for the purported hostile acts of other ethnic nationalities toward it.

One problem I have with Chimanda is all her articles tends to quote Chinua Achebe, even when its evident chinua actions are wrong. The sane mistake she made, about his book "there was a country". Now she is trying to say that the Igbo's were murdered in early 1960's for political reasons? Who started the war? Was it the Nigerian Arny or The late Ojukwu ? I see Chimabda is biased. And she is just a staunt re-echoer of Chinua Achebe's belief.


I liked the fact that she related the massacre of the Ibos in different parts of the country before the civil war. However what I do like to ask her is this,

1. chimanda was there nothing that led to the massacre?

You can't deny that the tendency to dominate in another man's land which is being exhibited now by taking the Oba to court is what led to such. Tell me when you come back from court if the people of Lagos will still have a good relationship with the Ibos.


Chimanda while trying to play a neutral ground at the surface, is been biased deep down. I am sorry to say but if Chimanda spent her time writing this, she wasted that time. As this just further lowered NY respect for her as an internationally recognised writer. Novel is her thing not politics.

Just imagine how shez is spreading lies about 1960s massacre. Posterity Judge you.

My advice to you: Go back to your history books. Accept her advice or keep your mentality to yourself. What in God's name do you mean by dominate another man's land? Has any Igbo man held any matchet to your throats in threat? Or has your paranoia turned you into the king of Egypt? Be careful with your words. Two mere bleeps wouldn't be given if you respect her or not. I still believe in Nigeria, but with people like you, a hug stumbling block exists. With all due respect.

Chimamanda, you v spoken well.
Just mention it clear that every Igbo community should also welcome other tribes as their own.
Their is still segregation in some parts of Igbo land.

illiad:
You're a gift from God to Ndigbo. Just as Ndigbo are a gift from God to Nigerians.

The only irony being that while Ndigbo love you Chimamanda, nigerians hate Ndigbo.

And the result of their hate is that Ndigbo kept moving from height to height.

Who would have imagined that after what we went through during the civil war ndigbo would come to be the tribe with the highest GDP per person and the north still remains the poorest region.

Let them continue to hate but who God bless no man can curse.

I had to save to save these words, bro. It's full of wisdom. Permit me to use them in future references

Contact fayose to help u get daily sun or the punch md number u need to advertise dis ur riteup so boring and long like benin ore road hisssssssss can't even read

What exactly does Chimamanda wants us to do? Get a cane and go and flog the Oba?

This issue is over-flogged really(pun intended). Thank the heavens the elections will be over today and we can all go back to our lives.

sethken:
[s]Internet war lord...coward...You will be the first to kiss the dust, Pal...stupid idiot.[/s]

Na your wahala.

Back to sender! Igboye gboye itibi ogbo!!!

luvmijeje:
E ni o ni iru eni, ko le mo iyi eni.

BuddahMonk:
Nigeria is not a country, here is just a battleground for ethnic and tribal supremacy.

North voted Buhari they are reasonable voters.
East voted Jonathan they are tribalist.
The vultures are always in the middle

@buddahmonk
So who are the vultures?

I need someone to summarize this epistle for me.

I believe the wh0le 0f africa is having dis ethn0centric pr0blem

Godwin10123:
Common sense should tell u dat every nigerian have the right to reside in any part of this country and Lagos is not in exception.if u don't like it do your worst!!!

You have comprehension problem. Read my post again and point out where i said no one should reside anywhere. Smh