I am glad Ezeagu is here on this thread. Anyone who discusses skin tone amongst the Igbo as if it is an important topic has completely been influenced by black politics in America. Skin tone has never been anywhere near as widely discussed or as divisive in ala Igbo as in the Americas.

I do appreciate the clarification that Igbo common traits are not a result of European mixing, which is quite rare, and happens mostly outside of Nigeria.

Historical differences between Igbos and other groups lie in the traditional democratic and independent nature of the various Igbo clans and groups, making it very difficult to conquer or even negotiate with them. In more recent history, resentment of Igbos came about after millions of Igbos settled in all corners of the colony of Nigeria, employed in government and educational posts that made them intermediaries between the colonists and the colonized. After independence, Igbos stayed on in these 'foreign' regions, often wealthy and well-off in relation to indigenous peoples. Of course that all changed after the war.

Current resentment and poor treatment of Igbos is mainly based on still fresh emotional wounds on the part of other Nigerians toward the Igbo for attempting to secede from the nation. This is roughly similar to the relations between the southern region of the United States and the rest of the country. Additionally, Igbos are sometimes regarded as 'invaders', as they are more likely than others to leave their home in the southeast and travel to other regions (and other countries) to trade and study and live. This is understandable in a place where resources are not available for the masses. It brings up other topics regarding the state of the major centers in Igbo land, as well as the political, economic, cultural and especially linguistic unity of the region.

I'm happy for you,

Sorry guys, I really hate sounding negative, but I think it would be great if our schools could actually compete with at least the schools in South America and Asia, let alone Europe and America. I know we are getting there - we just have to make an effort. I just got into business school in London, and I was talking to some future classmates from India, and they were talking about how they had a difficult time actually picking between their own schools in India and the ones in Europe, since they were all comparable! The Indian School of Business, which is less than 5 years old, just ranked number 20 in the world for 2008! I was just saying to myself "wow, what if one our schools could be of international standard?" Well, I'm just going to try to do my part to make sure that happens in my lifetime. Hope you will all join me!

Nigerians are like crabs in a barrel, climbing on each other, pulling at each others' legs, in order to get ahead, not realizing that in the bigger picture, they are all in the same barrel.

Why can't we pool our resources together to improve the resources at all of our major universities? If you want to know they truth, Nigeria does NOT have ONE INDIGENOUS world class institution of higher education. This is embarassing, given the fact that at least one in every five black people in the world is a Nigerian.

I understand having a bit of collegiate pride, but let's not bicker about it. It is like a blind man and a deaf man arguing about who is better off,

Don't tout your uni, unless you have donated to it, or have done something to help better it,

I'm sorry to sound so negative, but I want our people to excel, not simply to excel at talking about excelling,