Igbo Kwenu! I write to you today as an admirer of your wonderful race because, quite frankly, you guys are truly special. And when you say you are descendants of the Hebrew who are known as Jews today, I didn't have any doubts. There are certain historical similarities, both good and bad.
I see that even one of your states, Abia, is mentioned in the bible. And like the biblical Israelites, you are found everywhere. And wherever you are, you don't ever forget "Mother Israel". Funny enough my romance with you great people started in faraway Wukari in present day Taraba state. My love for ofe unugbo, nsala, ofe owerri, abatcha, ugo soup, and all the other cuisine didn't start from the East where I hardly visited (I think I have only been to Enugu, Onitsha and Owerri). But growing up in lowly Wukari in the 70s and 80s, I developed a love for the music of Morocco Maduka, Sir Warrior and Oliver de coque. Not forgetting the legend Osadebe and Kabaka.
It was in Wukari too that I noticed your industriousness: you were our bakers, restaurateurs, chemists, transporters, traders, fancy shops owners, photographers, mechanics, barbers and just about everything else. You were my teachers and doctors as a child in both St Mary Primary School and Marmara Government Secondary School- all in Wukari. As a catholic, you were my catechists and priests. And I grew up with you people as neighbours: the late Baba Ikwaegwu, father of Chinasa and Okechukwu, my classmate and friend Charles (who has now relocated to the East). Charles had to relocate after his clothing shop was razed down in one of the episodes of the constant ethno-religious clashes of that town. A broken hearted man, Charles left the town he had come to know as home and where he has grown up as a brother to people like Mandy and Ternenge Justin. Charles speaks unimpeachable Hausa, Jukun and Tiv. I pray that Charles would someday return to Wukari.
And the North is replete with folks like Charles. Now, my dear Ndigbo, if you guys chose to go away, what happens to the old ties many of us have forged with Igbos as friends and family? What about all the properties you own up here in this our lovely Arewa? I don't know of any another ethnic group that owns more property across Nigeria. I'm sure you people arguably make up over 80 per cent of the nation's land lords. So, if you all move to the East, would the markets there accomodate all the Igbo traders across the nation's markets? Because I don't think there is a market in the country where Igbo traders are not favourably competing with everyone else. May be this is why you have no space in your own markets for other groups in the country.
I learnt the famed Onitsha market is exclusively designed for Igbos. And that you dominate other sectors in the East while excluding other groups to the point of total non-inclusion. I have heard people saying you have elective and appointive positions around the country but that it has never been heard that a non-Igbo got an appointment in the East. Let alone get voted for. On the market issue, I have not been there to verify the allegation. But I think, I have never seen any tribe actually getting an appointment over there. Is it because there are no qualified non-Igbos? Or is it because they have not been given the opportunity? And even as I write this, I'm aware that as an active people, running for offices in the North or getting appointments comes with the terrain. You can hardly be blamed for coming out to run for office, especially when you have the number-power to pull that off.
But beyond all these, I'm yet to make sense of your current agitation of not wanting to be part of Nigeria. Haba! This dear fatherland that has been generous to you? This same Nigeria that allows you to forage around wherever you want? The same Nigeria that loves you even after a bitter war? What is it you want that has not or cannot be given to you? And when you say you have not been given key positions in government, I ask this: so what if an Igbo is made the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) again? What exactly did you gain from the last Igbo that was there? Did he pick your calls? Did he visit you when you were ill? Did you even see him throughout his tenure? My "brother" from Taraba was the recent Head of Service of the Federation. I don't think I was able to see him throughout his tenure. What is the fixation with having "our own" in government when we may never feel their impact? May be there is a psychological satisfaction in knowing that the man in office comes from your village even when you may never get anything from him. I would rather have an "alien" in an office who would remember me than "my brother" who won't even know I exist. When a man is hungry, would he ask of the tribe or religion of the hand that wants to feed him?
But why bother about "key positions"? What about your governors? Was it not one of your governors who travelled abroad and returned with a picture of his handshake with the president of a country; claiming it is a land mark achievement. The garrulous clown has continued to blow up, filled with your money, while you guys agitate for a separate country. Pray, is it not the likes of this governor that would be the new leaders of that new country? May be you have other reasons why you want a brand new country (Heaven knows I need one too!), but I want you to candidly do some soul searching. Warts and all, Nigeria has been good to you and to all of us. Okay, it has not been perfect, I admit; it has shed blood; it has punished us; it has beaten us to pulp; it has given us bad leaders; it has not allowed us to produce a president yet; it has denied us certain inalienable rights; it has done some unprintable things to us; yet, like with our aged parents, we should know that certain things were done in love; even if it is a case of tough love. Ndigbo, Kwezenu.
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