₦airaland Forum

sukkot:
I have to keep telling ndigbo this, because so many of you online deal with many un-enlightened yoruba and you can say many things and get away with it because they are ignorant. but I have to come in and clear the matter - NOBODY IN ANY PART OF THIS WORLD SELLS LAND. NO PLACE ON THIS GODS GREEN EARTH IS LAND ' SOLD '. LAND IS LEASED FOR PERIODS OF 100 YEARS. AFTER THE LEASE IS UP THEY CAN RENEW IT FOR YOU OR THEY CAN TERMINATE IT. YOU OWN THE HOUSE ON THE LAND AND NOT THE LAND. THE LAND IS CONTROLLED BY YORUBA DIGNATARIES. WHEN PEOPLE BUY LAND-THEY BUY THE USE OF THE LAND FOR 100 YEARS. IN SOME COUNTRIES THEY GIVE YOU 150 YEARS. but nobody really buys land. this is why el-rufai can come and bulldoze thousands of houses belonging to people is because you can never own land.

.
Now u show how slow ur reasoning is? So evry 100 years u resell land to ur buyer? How old is Nigeria since amalgamation and tell me if it is time for yorubas to resell/re-lease their land to Igbos cos we will gladly pay again and if it isnt up to 100years why the trouble? I guess u re one of those Investment Lawyers who graduated from Ajengule Polytechnic

livinbygrace:
You have point though,but no need of any insult or name callings.But that you own a home or properties in Britain ,does it makes u a British?

datz a bad example. U funny,so if a Ghanain owns a house in Lagos does dat make him a Nigerian? ofcourse u need to have met the criteria for being a citizen for u to be one and if u own a property in any other part of dat country other than your part it is a plus for u. Igbos are Nigerians and can choose to own a property(ies) in any part of our DEAR NIGERIA unless u re saying someone owns the country more than others

livinbygrace:
Years back,some of my friends ,told me ,that due to hardship ,that it was necessary for them to relocate out of Lagos and hursle.They all moved to Port-Harcourt and by God"s grace ,their condition was improving and today most of them are doing extremely well in their various locations,does that mean,they have the right to say Port-Harcourt is no man"s land?My point is that,nobody is disturbing anybody to do his or her business,but you have to respect your host.

I am tired of people talking of how nice the Yorubas have been to Igbos and how Igbos need to respect them.Please give instances of disrespect or cases where Yorubas gave their land free or shops without rent as an act of favour? I guess by being accommodating u mean Yorubas have been accommodating in selling off their lands, houses and shops to Igbo people? Hausas used to be wise by always mapping out a place they sell and allow foreigners to stay in and they call it 'Sabo-like Sabon Gari, Kano' but Yorubas wouldnt think that way, some sell the only building their parents left them, spend the money doing Owambe and turn Omonile the next day or an E-warrior like u and start shouting IGBOS are this and that. YEYE DE SMELL. This is one Nigeria and nobody is accommodating any body. Ur idea of the world 'ACCOMMODATING AND BEING NICE TO IGBOS ' is akin to saying u are accommodating ur siblings in ur parents' house, or are we not NIGERIANS AGAIN? hohohohohho!!! Please phone Awo and tell him the Kwashiokor-infested kids of 1967-1970, are now feeding well that they are buying his land and will soon get to his compound and the free education beneficiaries have abandoned education for E-fighting, Ritualism, and Incest.

lurlah2014:
what are this IGBO guys feeling like, why dont they go back to the village and dominate or rule them there, is this their fathers land or what is this rubbish they want to start performing with yorubas. well sha its not their fault if not for the selfish and greedy yoruba leaders that have sold their birth right to this foolish people, what would have given them the guts to want to intimidate the house owners #IGBO MUST GO#

Go where? u neva see anything. Call Awo from his grave and show him how pple he starved their forefathers to death and gave them 20 pounds after the war are buying over his Yoruba land. This is Nigeria and we are ONE.Hohohoho!!!

olanrewaju029:
U can't try this in any of igbo state..

Did u really ask that? u cant compete favourably with them in ur own place with evry perceived and obvious advantage u have in ur own land and u talk of doing that in Igboland? u must be a clown. please get ur lazy ass and mango head somwhere and do something meaningful.

Yoruba pathological liar at work....Historically, the Model market was
reportedly started by some Yoruba traders about 40 years ago but due to the relocation challenges being
faced by Ikeja GSM village, some Igbo GSM traders were said to have run
to Olugbede Model market for succor and were received with open arms but
gradually, the ‘visitors’ were said to have increased in number and
dominated every sphere of the market. Look at how ridiculous your
narrative sounds.Igbos dominated every sphere because of relocation
challenges Yorubas were facing? Were it not your kit and kin who
collected money and rented/sold their shops to them? Useless, Lazy South
Waste Journalist with Lagos-Ibadan-expressway non-investigative
Journalism mentality.

ugomma2000:
still a zoologist achievement

go get somtin meaningful and do wit ur life instead of siting down all day typing dis concocted lies.
This is wat truth looks like..
Igbo scholar disgraces Femi Fani-Kayode •Demolishes claims on Igbo/Yoruba history with facts and figures

By News Express on 17/08/2013


An Igbo scholar, Dr. Samuel Okafor, has made one-time Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, look so small and uneducated by using facts and figures to demolish the claims he made in the controversial August 8 article, “The Bitter Truth About The Igbo”, which set off a storm that almost threatened Igbo-Yoruba relations.

In the first part of an article entitled “The Lies of Femi Fani-Kayode”, Okafor, who has a First Class in History from the University of Nigeria Nsukka and then did a Ph.D in Nsukka on scholarship, dismissed Fani-Kayode as a “half-baked intellectual.” He then proceeded, point by point, to address what he termed “the most reckless amongst the tangle of reckless comments spewed by Femi, a character who with each punch of his keypad stresses his severely unwell conditions of logorrhoea, delusions of enlightenment, history and sociology – amongst others.”

Below are Okafor’s words:

FEMI AND HIS SEVERELY IGNORANT LIES:

•Femi Lies About the Yorubas Being Nigeria’s Earliest Graduates:

From his myopic bubble Femi FaniKayode claims the Yoruba were the first to acquire Western education; the first ever known record of a literate Nigerian in the English Language is the narrative of an Ibo slave who regained his freedom and documented his life history as a slave from the time he was 11 years old in present day Ibo land till the time when he gained his freedom in the middle of the 18 th century. He later married an English woman and had 3 children. He died in 1795.

Femi, a basic Google-research will do you good here; check out the name, Equanoh OLAODAH. Further Femi claims that the Yoruba were the first lawyers and doctors in Nigeria. This is again a big falsehood. The first Nigeria doctor was an Effik man Silas G. Dove who obtained a medical degree from France and returned to practise medicine in 1840 in Calabar. This fact can also be verified from historical medical records in Paris.

I would also ask that you google the name BLYDEN – Edward Wilmot BLYDEN – an educated son of free Ibo slaves who by the mid-19th century had acquired sound theological education. He was born in Saint Thomas in 1832. He is one of the founding missionaries that established the Archbishop Vining church in Ikeja. Before the next time you succumb to your long-running battle with logorrhoea, Femi please do some research.

What about the third president of a free Liberia – President J JRoyle – again, a man of Ibo descent. Please take some time to do some research so that we can discuss constructively. It is wrong to peddle lies to your people. It is academic fraud to knowingly misrepresent facts just to score cheap points with people who do not have the discipline to do research and accept anything you pour out simply because they say you are well educated. To again quote the great Nobel Prize Winner in Economics Joseph Stiglitz; Femi fits into the category of third rate students from first rate universities with an inflated sense of self-importance. Let’s go on!

Who was the first Nigerian Professor of Mathematics – an Ibo man – Professor Chike Obi – the man who solved Fermat’s Last Theorem. He was followed by another Ibo man, Professor James Ezeilo, Professor of Differentail Calculus and the founder of the Ezeilo Constant. Please do some research on this great Ibo man. He later became the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria Nsukka and one of the founders of the Nigerian Mathematical Centre. Who was Nigeria’s first Professor of Histroy – Professor Kenneth Dike who published the first account of trade in Nigeria in pre-colonial times. He was also the first African Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan. Who was the first Professor of Microbiology – Professor Eni Njoku; he was also the first African Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos. Anatomy and Physiology – Professor Chike Edozien is an Asaba man and current Obi of Asaba. Who was the first Professor of Anatomy at the University College Ibadan? Who was the first Professor of Physics? Professor Okoye, who became a Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1960. He was followed by the likes of Professor Alexander Anumalu who has been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Physics three times for his research in Intermediate Quantum Physics. He was also a founding member of the Nigerian Mathematical Centre. Nuclear Physics and Chemistry – again another Ibo man – Professor Frank Ndili who gained a Ph.D in his early ’20s at Cambridge Univesity in Nuclear Physics and Chemistry in the early ’60s. This young Asaba man had made a First Class in Physics and Mathematics at the then University College Ibadan in the early ’50s. First Professor of Statistics – Professor Adichie who’s research on Non-Parametric Statistics led to new areas in statistical research. What about the first Nigerian Professor of Medicine – Professor Kodilinye – he was appointed a Professor of Medicine at the University of London in 1952. He later became the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria Nsukka after the war. What about Astronomy – again another Ibo man was the first Professor of Astronomy – please, look up Professor Ntukoju – he was the first to earn a double Ph.D in Astronomy and Mathematics.

Let’s go to the Social Sciences – Demography and statistical research into population studies – again another Ibo man – Professor Okonjo who set up the first Centre for Population Research in Ibadan in the early ’60s. A double Ph.D in Mathematics and Economics. Philosophy – Professor G D Okafor, who became a Professor of Philosophy at the Amherst College USA in 1953. Economics – Dr. Pius Okigbo who became a visiting scholar and Professor of Economics at the University of London in 1954. He is also the first Nigerian Ph.D in Economics. Theology and theological research – Professor Njoku who became the first Nigerian to earn a Ph.D in Theology from Queens University Belfast in Ireland. He was appointed a Professor of Theology at the University College Zambia in 1952.

I am still conducting research in areas such as Geography where it seems a Yoruba man, Professor Mabogunje, was the first Professor. I also am conducting research into who was the first Nigerian Professor of English, Theatre Arts, Languages, Business and Education, Law and Engineering, Computer Technology, etc. Nigerians need to be told the truth and not let the lies that Femi Fani-Kayode has been selling to some ignorant Yoruba who feel that to be the first to see the white man and interact with him means that you are way ahead of other groups. The Ibo as The great Achebe said had within a span of 40 years bridged the gap and even surpassed the Yoruba in education by the ’60s. Many a Yoruba people perpetually indulge in self-deceit: that they were the first to go to school; to be exposed to Western education; that they are academically ahead of other Nigerian cultures of peoples. Another ignorant lie.

As far back as 1495 the Benin Empire maintained a diplomatic presence in Portugal. This strategic relationship did not just stop at a mere mission but extended to areas such as education. Scores of young Benin men were sent out to Portugal to study and lots of them came back with advanced degrees in Medicine, Law and Portuguese Language, to name a few.

Indeed, some went with their Yoruba and Ibo slaves who served the sons of the Benin nobility while they studied in Portugal. These are facts that can be verified by the logs kept by ship owners in Portugal from 1494 to 1830. It is kept at the Portuguese Museum of Geographic History in Lisbon.

Why then would several Yoruba people peddle all these falsehoods to show that they are ahead educationally in Nigeria? The true facts from the Federal Office of Statistics on education tell otherwise, showing that 3 Ibo states for the past 12 years have constantly had the largest number of graduates in the country, producing more graduates than Ondo, Osun, Ekiti and Oyo states. These eastern states are Imo, Anambra and Abia. Yet he calls Ibos traders. Indeed, the Igbos dominate because excellence dominates mediocrity – truth.

Let me enlighten this falsehood’s mouthpiece even further: before the civil war Ibos controlled and dominated all institutions in the formal sector in Nigeria from the universities to the police to the military to politics:

•The first Black Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan was an Ibo man

•The first Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos was an Ibo man

•The first Nigerian Rector of the then Yaba College of Technology was also an Ibo man

•The police was run by an Ibo IG

•The military as a professional institution was also run by elite-ilk Ibos.

Facts can never be hidden. To be first does not mean you would win the race; let us open up all our institutions and may the best man win. Let us not depend on handouts or privileges but on heard work. Let us compete and give the best positions to our brightest – be it Ibo, Yourba or Fulani, and then we shall see who is the most successful Nigerian.

I find it difficult not to respond to some of these long-held lies that are constantly being peddled by Yorubas. One is that the Yoruba have the largest number of professors in the country. I would again ask that we stick to facts and statistical records. The Nigerian Universities Commission has a record of the state with the largest number of professors on their records and as at 2010 that state is Imo State followed by Ondo State and then Anambra State; the next state is Ekiti and then Delta before Kwara State. I am sure you Yorubas are surprised. When you sit in the South-West do not think others are sleeping but I wish to address another historical fact and that is who were the first Nigerians to receive Western education. It is important that these issues be examined in their historical context and evidence through research be presented for all to examine.

I have continued my research for as the great sociologist and father of modern sociology – Emile Durkheim – put it, the definition of a situation is real in its consequence . What this simply means is that one must never allow a perceived falsehood to become one’s reality and by extension individuals who accept a defined position act as though the situation is real and apply themselves in that narrowly defined perspective.

Why is this important to state it is because for long the Yoruba have peddled lies that have almost become accepted as the truth by other Nigerians but it is important that we lay down the facts for others to examine and come to their own conclusion for facts are facts. Let’s go back to education. Historically, Western education resulted as a product of indigenous ethnic groups interacting with the whites through trade. The dominant groups sold slaves, ivory gold and a host of other products to their European counterparts in exchange for finished goods – wine, tobacco, mirrors, etc.

The Bini who were the dominant military force from the 15th to the 19th century raided and sold other ethnicities to the Europeans. Top on the list of those they sold were the Yoruba, Ibo and Igala. Various other ethnicities suffered as a result of the Bini military expansion. And the Benin Kingdom stretched from present-day Benin up to what is now geographically referred to as Republic of Togo. Indeed, the influence of the Benin Empire extended to the banks of the river Niger to present-day Onistha. There are huge Yoruba settlements in the Anioma part of Delta State who fled Yoruba land as a result of these attacks and constant raids. Yes, there are Yoruba people who are currently living with Ibos in the Ibo-speaking part of Delta and they are full citizens of the place no one refers to them as strangers and there is no talk about the Ibos being the host community like we hear from the Governor of Lagos State. But let me return to research. Slaves were moved from the hinterland to the coast and many were sold through Eko to the New World. These slaves were the first to encounter the Europeans and by extension their way of life – this included education in a Western sense. The Bini King had taken pains to establish a diplomatic presence in Portugal and the relationship developed into areas that extended beyond trade in the late 15th century and lasted well into the early 19th century. Scores of young Bpni youth were sent to Portugal and studied there, coming back with advanced degrees in various disciplines. The next set of people to receive Western education were the slaves themselves. Some of them managed to buy their freedom and develop themselves further.

For the Ibo it does not matter who your father is; the question is: Who are you? Who was Obasanjo’s father? Was he the most educated Nigerian? I am sure the answer is no. Yet this Great Nigeria led this nation two times as a military Head of State and as a civilian President. What about GEJ? Who was his own father? Was he the first Nigerian to go to London? The answer is no. In fact, he had no shoes, yet he is fully in charge. So it does not matter if your father was the first Lawyer or first Doctor in Nigeria but rather what matters is what an individual does with the talents the Almighty has given to him. Let us open up Nigeria for competition. That is the solution to our problems. Those who want privileges keep reminding us that their fathers were the first to go to school in London. Every generation produces its own leaders and champions. Like Dangote who is the biggest employer of labour in Nigeria today and the richest man in Africa. Was his father the first to go to study in London? Yet he is the master of people whose parents gave them the best. My brothers, the answer to the Nigerian problem is that we should establish a merit-driven society. “I get am before” no be

emmatok:
Leave them,

Some of them don't know that Ibadan city alone(not the whole Oyo state.) is almost the size of the whole Lagos state.

And that means Ibadan city has more nice/modern buildings than Lagos? Now i can comfortably add d world sophisticated to ur level of ignorance and foolishness.

vicadex07:
Lol...you're such a dunce, so you mean Iboland is to Yorubaland what Europe is to Africa abi?

Yet your brothers flock in to Yorubaland in their millions to find their daily bread. If I call you imbeciIe now, I will be insulting imbeciles all over the world. You're worst than an imbeciIe.

Flock to Yoruba land for free cash or food? funny people!!! they flock there, buy ur land, build nice houses and u d mango head collect money from dem as Omoile and tommorow u want dem to get drownd. Lazy pple!! running to Europe/London for greener pasture or wat did you say.? London where you pple are very well known for criminality. I guess Abdul Mutallab was from Kenya!! anu mpam!!

vicadex07:
Lol....that's virtually impossible.

Oyo state land mass alone - 28,454 km2


Abia state land mass - 6,320 km2
Anambra state land mass - 4,844 km2
Enugu state land mass - 7,161 km2
Ebonyi state land mass - 5,533 km2
Imo state land mass - 5,530 km2

All the Total Land area of South Eastern States barely measure up to Oyo state alone, so tell me, were those buildings built in the air or on water.

Hence this:

Match all the modern houses in the biggest city in all geopolitical zones across the country with those in Ibadan, when the houses in those cities finish, the remaining modern houses in Ibadan WILL still be more than those in the next two biggest cities. Fact!

Now I see why foolishness isnt a big issue for pple of ur type.
so with your analysis..Africa should have more nice and modern buildings dan Europe...wahala dey ooo

Ritchiee:
COMPARING THEIR SHITHOLES WITH IBADAN...FOOLISH PEOPLE..
They have not been able to make 1 over 50 of these...https://www.nairaland.com/2486801/check-out-these-achievements-u
We have not seen people in ilk of TESLIM ELIAS..THE PRESIDENT OF IJC
PROF.BOLA AJIBOLA..WHO ONCE HEADED THE UNO
FIVE GRAMMY AWARDS WON BY YORUBAS..they have not won half..lol
etc etc etc

.
Be deceiving ur clanish left yansh...idiat. figure dis.
Igbo scholar disgraces Femi Fani-Kayode •Demolishes claims on Igbo/Yoruba history with facts and figures

By News Express on 17/08/2013


An Igbo scholar, Dr. Samuel Okafor, has made one-time Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, look so small and uneducated by using facts and figures to demolish the claims he made in the controversial August 8 article, “The Bitter Truth About The Igbo”, which set off a storm that almost threatened Igbo-Yoruba relations.

In the first part of an article entitled “The Lies of Femi Fani-Kayode”, Okafor, who has a First Class in History from the University of Nigeria Nsukka and then did a Ph.D in Nsukka on scholarship, dismissed Fani-Kayode as a “half-baked intellectual.” He then proceeded, point by point, to address what he termed “the most reckless amongst the tangle of reckless comments spewed by Femi, a character who with each punch of his keypad stresses his severely unwell conditions of logorrhoea, delusions of enlightenment, history and sociology – amongst others.”

Below are Okafor’s words:

FEMI AND HIS SEVERELY IGNORANT LIES:

•Femi Lies About the Yorubas Being Nigeria’s Earliest Graduates:

From his myopic bubble Femi FaniKayode claims the Yoruba were the first to acquire Western education; the first ever known record of a literate Nigerian in the English Language is the narrative of an Ibo slave who regained his freedom and documented his life history as a slave from the time he was 11 years old in present day Ibo land till the time when he gained his freedom in the middle of the 18 th century. He later married an English woman and had 3 children. He died in 1795.

Femi, a basic Google-research will do you good here; check out the name, Equanoh OLAODAH. Further Femi claims that the Yoruba were the first lawyers and doctors in Nigeria. This is again a big falsehood. The first Nigeria doctor was an Effik man Silas G. Dove who obtained a medical degree from France and returned to practise medicine in 1840 in Calabar. This fact can also be verified from historical medical records in Paris.

I would also ask that you google the name BLYDEN – Edward Wilmot BLYDEN – an educated son of free Ibo slaves who by the mid-19th century had acquired sound theological education. He was born in Saint Thomas in 1832. He is one of the founding missionaries that established the Archbishop Vining church in Ikeja. Before the next time you succumb to your long-running battle with logorrhoea, Femi please do some research.

What about the third president of a free Liberia – President J JRoyle – again, a man of Ibo descent. Please take some time to do some research so that we can discuss constructively. It is wrong to peddle lies to your people. It is academic fraud to knowingly misrepresent facts just to score cheap points with people who do not have the discipline to do research and accept anything you pour out simply because they say you are well educated. To again quote the great Nobel Prize Winner in Economics Joseph Stiglitz; Femi fits into the category of third rate students from first rate universities with an inflated sense of self-importance. Let’s go on!

Who was the first Nigerian Professor of Mathematics – an Ibo man – Professor Chike Obi – the man who solved Fermat’s Last Theorem. He was followed by another Ibo man, Professor James Ezeilo, Professor of Differentail Calculus and the founder of the Ezeilo Constant. Please do some research on this great Ibo man. He later became the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria Nsukka and one of the founders of the Nigerian Mathematical Centre. Who was Nigeria’s first Professor of Histroy – Professor Kenneth Dike who published the first account of trade in Nigeria in pre-colonial times. He was also the first African Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan. Who was the first Professor of Microbiology – Professor Eni Njoku; he was also the first African Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos. Anatomy and Physiology – Professor Chike Edozien is an Asaba man and current Obi of Asaba. Who was the first Professor of Anatomy at the University College Ibadan? Who was the first Professor of Physics? Professor Okoye, who became a Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1960. He was followed by the likes of Professor Alexander Anumalu who has been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Physics three times for his research in Intermediate Quantum Physics. He was also a founding member of the Nigerian Mathematical Centre. Nuclear Physics and Chemistry – again another Ibo man – Professor Frank Ndili who gained a Ph.D in his early ’20s at Cambridge Univesity in Nuclear Physics and Chemistry in the early ’60s. This young Asaba man had made a First Class in Physics and Mathematics at the then University College Ibadan in the early ’50s. First Professor of Statistics – Professor Adichie who’s research on Non-Parametric Statistics led to new areas in statistical research. What about the first Nigerian Professor of Medicine – Professor Kodilinye – he was appointed a Professor of Medicine at the University of London in 1952. He later became the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria Nsukka after the war. What about Astronomy – again another Ibo man was the first Professor of Astronomy – please, look up Professor Ntukoju – he was the first to earn a double Ph.D in Astronomy and Mathematics.

Let’s go to the Social Sciences – Demography and statistical research into population studies – again another Ibo man – Professor Okonjo who set up the first Centre for Population Research in Ibadan in the early ’60s. A double Ph.D in Mathematics and Economics. Philosophy – Professor G D Okafor, who became a Professor of Philosophy at the Amherst College USA in 1953. Economics – Dr. Pius Okigbo who became a visiting scholar and Professor of Economics at the University of London in 1954. He is also the first Nigerian Ph.D in Economics. Theology and theological research – Professor Njoku who became the first Nigerian to earn a Ph.D in Theology from Queens University Belfast in Ireland. He was appointed a Professor of Theology at the University College Zambia in 1952.

I am still conducting research in areas such as Geography where it seems a Yoruba man, Professor Mabogunje, was the first Professor. I also am conducting research into who was the first Nigerian Professor of English, Theatre Arts, Languages, Business and Education, Law and Engineering, Computer Technology, etc. Nigerians need to be told the truth and not let the lies that Femi Fani-Kayode has been selling to some ignorant Yoruba who feel that to be the first to see the white man and interact with him means that you are way ahead of other groups. The Ibo as The great Achebe said had within a span of 40 years bridged the gap and even surpassed the Yoruba in education by the ’60s. Many a Yoruba people perpetually indulge in self-deceit: that they were the first to go to school; to be exposed to Western education; that they are academically ahead of other Nigerian cultures of peoples. Another ignorant lie.

As far back as 1495 the Benin Empire maintained a diplomatic presence in Portugal. This strategic relationship did not just stop at a mere mission but extended to areas such as education. Scores of young Benin men were sent out to Portugal to study and lots of them came back with advanced degrees in Medicine, Law and Portuguese Language, to name a few.

Indeed, some went with their Yoruba and Ibo slaves who served the sons of the Benin nobility while they studied in Portugal. These are facts that can be verified by the logs kept by ship owners in Portugal from 1494 to 1830. It is kept at the Portuguese Museum of Geographic History in Lisbon.

Why then would several Yoruba people peddle all these falsehoods to show that they are ahead educationally in Nigeria? The true facts from the Federal Office of Statistics on education tell otherwise, showing that 3 Ibo states for the past 12 years have constantly had the largest number of graduates in the country, producing more graduates than Ondo, Osun, Ekiti and Oyo states. These eastern states are Imo, Anambra and Abia. Yet he calls Ibos traders. Indeed, the Igbos dominate because excellence dominates mediocrity – truth.

Let me enlighten this falsehood’s mouthpiece even further: before the civil war Ibos controlled and dominated all institutions in the formal sector in Nigeria from the universities to the police to the military to politics:

•The first Black Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan was an Ibo man

•The first Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos was an Ibo man

•The first Nigerian Rector of the then Yaba College of Technology was also an Ibo man

•The police was run by an Ibo IG

•The military as a professional institution was also run by elite-ilk Ibos.

Facts can never be hidden. To be first does not mean you would win the race; let us open up all our institutions and may the best man win. Let us not depend on handouts or privileges but on heard work. Let us compete and give the best positions to our brightest – be it Ibo, Yourba or Fulani, and then we shall see who is the most successful Nigerian.

I find it difficult not to respond to some of these long-held lies that are constantly being peddled by Yorubas. One is that the Yoruba have the largest number of professors in the country. I would again ask that we stick to facts and statistical records. The Nigerian Universities Commission has a record of the state with the largest number of professors on their records and as at 2010 that state is Imo State followed by Ondo State and then Anambra State; the next state is Ekiti and then Delta before Kwara State. I am sure you Yorubas are surprised. When you sit in the South-West do not think others are sleeping but I wish to address another historical fact and that is who were the first Nigerians to receive Western education. It is important that these issues be examined in their historical context and evidence through research be presented for all to examine.

I have continued my research for as the great sociologist and father of modern sociology – Emile Durkheim – put it, the definition of a situation is real in its consequence . What this simply means is that one must never allow a perceived falsehood to become one’s reality and by extension individuals who accept a defined position act as though the situation is real and apply themselves in that narrowly defined perspective.

Why is this important to state it is because for long the Yoruba have peddled lies that have almost become accepted as the truth by other Nigerians but it is important that we lay down the facts for others to examine and come to their own conclusion for facts are facts. Let’s go back to education. Historically, Western education resulted as a product of indigenous ethnic groups interacting with the whites through trade. The dominant groups sold slaves, ivory gold and a host of other products to their European counterparts in exchange for finished goods – wine, tobacco, mirrors, etc.

The Bini who were the dominant military force from the 15th to the 19th century raided and sold other ethnicities to the Europeans. Top on the list of those they sold were the Yoruba, Ibo and Igala. Various other ethnicities suffered as a result of the Bini military expansion. And the Benin Kingdom stretched from present-day Benin up to what is now geographically referred to as Republic of Togo. Indeed, the influence of the Benin Empire extended to the banks of the river Niger to present-day Onistha. There are huge Yoruba settlements in the Anioma part of Delta State who fled Yoruba land as a result of these attacks and constant raids. Yes, there are Yoruba people who are currently living with Ibos in the Ibo-speaking part of Delta and they are full citizens of the place no one refers to them as strangers and there is no talk about the Ibos being the host community like we hear from the Governor of Lagos State. But let me return to research. Slaves were moved from the hinterland to the coast and many were sold through Eko to the New World. These slaves were the first to encounter the Europeans and by extension their way of life – this included education in a Western sense. The Bini King had taken pains to establish a diplomatic presence in Portugal and the relationship developed into areas that extended beyond trade in the late 15th century and lasted well into the early 19th century. Scores of young Bpni youth were sent to Portugal and studied there, coming back with advanced degrees in various disciplines. The next set of people to receive Western education were the slaves themselves. Some of them managed to buy their freedom and develop themselves further.

For the Ibo it does not matter who your father is; the question is: Who are you? Who was Obasanjo’s father? Was he the most educated Nigerian? I am sure the answer is no. Yet this Great Nigeria led this nation two times as a military Head of State and as a civilian President. What about GEJ? Who was his own father? Was he the first Nigerian to go to London? The answer is no. In fact, he had no shoes, yet he is fully in charge. So it does not matter if your father was the first Lawyer or first Doctor in Nigeria but rather what matters is what an individual does with the talents the Almighty has given to him. Let us open up Nigeria for competition. That is the solution to our problems. Those who want privileges keep reminding us that their fathers were the first to go to school in London. Every generation produces its own leaders and champions. Like Dangote who is the biggest employer of labour in Nigeria today and the richest man in Africa. Was his father the first to go to study in London? Yet he is the master of people whose parents gave them the best. My brothers, the answer to the Nigerian problem is that we should establish a merit-driven society. “I get am before” no be

kingthreat:
Sorry but any Igbo shouting Radio Biafra on Nairaland.com is a retarded eediot. You say you want Biafra, why not create your own Biafran site to share your Biafran shyt. We are no longer begging you guys to stay. We Yorubas want you to get the f.ck out of our lands to your resourceless lands. To hell with Biafra.

Please do something meaningful with ur time rather than come here and show ur foolishness. I am pretty sure u are on facebook, please remind me, is facebook owned by Tunde or is it Obasanjo? It is d price of the information age, dat wen u have a forum like this all manner of people will come regardless of tribe and religion, even harebrained and tribalistic people like you even get a shot at foolishly cobbling few words together. I dont want to generalise but I find some laughable statements common among people of Yoruba descent such as.
1. Igbos should just go and leave our Lagos-this is very common among lazy folks who cant do something meaningful and want to hastily send 'Igbos' packing from their Eko mansions so dey can inherit what dey never had one drop of sweat on.They also 'sophisticatedly' forget that when Biafra comes not one inch of any Igbo man's property will be wishfully claimed by an asswipe who has been busy eating amala and ewedu and forgeting to get down n work.My message on this is simple: Biafra will come and Biafrans assets in Yoruba land will still be theirs
2. They tacitly give u foolish(though it sounds compelling to dem) reasons not to seccede by telling u how bad Sudan and other war-ravaged countries have ended badly.My message is still simple: People who refined their crude, farmed their lands, made their bombs and organised their lives in d midst of ferocious enemies' bombardment, mounted a strong resistance against people with greater fire power and arsenal in their warchest can alwz do beta in time of peace.We have done it for three years and dat we take as a pilot project.
3. In their dubious effort to vicariously project a feeling of division, they tell u how Delta and other places dont want to be included as Biafra land when they aint even from there.My simple message is: Do u know abt the calabar man that was thrown off Carter bridge? they neva said he was calabar, dey just concluded he is from the South Eastern region and therefore he is same with everybody down dia-Igbos, Efiks, Ika, IKwere e.t.c, and they were right-we re all Biafrans.
4. They come again,albeit, sounding very puerile by saying that Igbo speaking Biafrans are not united. My SIMPLE message is this:We showed unity with our vote in 2011 and 2015.We showed unity at Biafran Heroes day in Aba and other countless instances. There own sophisticated unity is when Yoruba politicians sold out Abiola cos of pot of Gbegiri or Akintola vs Awolowo, Tinubu/Gbajabiamila vs Muliyat Akande, FFK Vs Tinubu.Lest I forget, a tribe which claims to place high premium on respect for elders had their son FFK insulting his elders Tinubu and others in d most shaming manner anybody can think of
SOPHISTICATION IS WHEN
1.Your sons are known and listed as international drugs peddlers and barons not forgetting the international terrorists among dem.
2. you are very good at what you accuse others of-Tribalism as typified by Obafemi Awolowo, Oba Akiolu, A Dallas, Texas, US based cardiologist, Adeniran Abraham Ariyo.These are few examples.

badinfluence:
Don't know why igbos are letting one man manipulate them with so much success. You can decide to feel inferior or you can decide to make something good for yourself. This all biafra idea is one born out of hate and disruption. No one is made to feel inferior without their consent. This country has been together for so long, in as much as there are conflicts. Conflicts are present in any developments community, it hinders progress if it's fed will such destructive movements. Why for heavens sake would you want to start from square zero. These radio biafra guys are just deceiving you guys. It's something born out of greed. So tell me, if igbos break away, they think it's going to be a conflicts free equal society? No way. It has been man's nature to have the feeling that his tribe is superior. The ngwa man would feel superb to the ikuwano man. Do now force your ideas down another man's throat. It's obvious these biafra advocates are trying to force the ijaws and co to join their movement, another clear case of manipulation. What baffles me is that even some of the enlightened ones have bought into this idea. You guys should wise up, these biafra advocates do not care about anyone but themselves. They do not even care about the average igbo man, this whole thing is based on deception. #IamanigboandIrefusedtobedeceived

Sometimes I marvel at some of you people's reasoning.I aint sure u have listened to radio biafra for 20 mins. That guy just speaks unclad and hard wired truth. U claim to be Igbo and yet you dont know your left from your right. We are republican in nature, from time immemorial. Please spare sometime and read good history books, cos if u had done dat with d time with which u typed dis u wud ve sounded alot sensible.

Luukasz:
This Igbo's must be Crazy after they failed to vote for PMB in the last elections now they are demanding for useless things that cant benefit Nigeria.We(Yoruba's & Hausa's) wey vote massively for am sef no dey demand for anything,well Professor Wole Soyinka don talk Finish & besides they aint Nigerians they are Biafrans so they shouldn't expect anything from PMB,he's the President of Nigeria not Biafra.Tufiakwa,Onyiara!!

When I looked at ur profile and saw your location, I just gave up on u.I know u must have typed this from under a brown roof hence, the brown roof syndrome at work. I will only tell u this, even if i didnt vote for Buhari and want Biafra, I have evry right to demand what is to be done for the betterment of my people.Have u heard about the UN Charter that gives pple right of self determination? No U have not. how can u read/hear about it when you are lazying about and looking for ritual group to join

500GP:
FOOLISH TRIBE. THEY SAID THAT THEY'RE HAPPY FOR THEIR DECISION TO VOTE FOR GEJ AND THAT THEY WILL REPEAT SUCH STEP AGAIN, IF THERE'S SUCH OPPORTUNITY.....

A TRIBE WITHOUT VISION NO WONDER THEY ARE LOST SHEEP WITHOUT SHEPHERD

YORUBA - OBASANJO, TINUBU, FASHOLA

HAUSA/FULANI - BUHARI, IBB.....

IBO -?

NO PARTICULAR LEADER THEY CAN BE IDENTIFY WITH AS THEIR NATIONAL SYMBOL

You demeneted fool. I see the reason people call ur lot sophisticated cowards. Tifnubu can only be a Hero/Leader for people like u in Yoruba land where he has almost all his kith and kin fixed in all juicy offices. I am sure you have seen how he displayed his shrewd leadership skills in electing The Senate President- Sen. Saraki and House Speaker, Hon Dogara.He will die of a worst thing than drinking rat poison because of frustration. Just watch out. As for OBJ, I like the fact that you called him a leader because he can only lead incestuous fellow like you who will see nothing wrong and sleping with their own relation.

I think Yorubas have a warped definition of sophistication.
Always claiming what they are not and massaging their ego.

You claim to be disciplined and well mannered, yet you sons and daughters are in world know terrorist organisations....someone should help me list their names

You claim you respect your elders, Yet Femi Fani Kayode (I think from Congo ) was insulting his Yoruba elders, Tinubu and Lai Mohammed cos of little peanut given to him.

You Sell your land to someone, use the money for Owambe and the person develops the place and builds a nice mansion and the next thing is, you enviously accuse the person of taking away your land. For every One-foot land a non-indigene gets in Lagos he pays for it so why complain he is taking your land from you? Every Yoruba man now claims he is from Lagos, rejecting their own Brown-Roof -Coated houses without toilet and bathroom inside Ogbomosho .


Wake up and smell the coffee.
This train of modern day reality is soon leaving you guys behind