The current realities that bedevil the so called unity of Nigeria or the one Nigeria spirit are unique and logically connected to the foundation of Nigeria itself.

It is of course, a mere rhetoric to assert that the foundation of Nigeria is inequality and division and it is expected, nothing suggestive of unity or togetherness can ever come to be if the basis is not addressed.

To justify this fact and possibly make suggest remedies, we shall draw reason from the interview of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Saduarna of Sokoto and the god of the north with BBC jorunalsit back in 1960.

Here is the interview.

Question:

One thing I have noticed while I have been here is that northerners seem to have the worst form of obsession about the Igbos, could please explain that?

Ahmadu Bello: Well, the Igbos are mainly the type of people whose desire is to dominate everybody. If they go to the village or town, they want to monopolise everything in that area.

If you put them as a labourer, within a year they will try to emerge as the headman of that camp...and so on...well.

We are not alive to their responsibilities because you can see from our modernisation policy that in 1952 when I came here, there weas less Northerners in our service. Then I fought. Now all important posts are being held by Northerners.

Question:

Is this policy of filling all the posts in the north solely with northerners and no Nigerian a temporary or permanent one?

Ahmadu Bello:

In actual fact, what it is, is a northerner first. Then if we can't get a northerner, then we take an expatriate like yourself (looking at the interviewer), if we can't then, we can employ another Nigerian, but on contract too. It is not going to be permanent as far as I can foresee, because it will be rather vengeance to see many of our boys are now turning from all institutions without having work to do. Am sure whatever government it will be, it will be rather embarrassing; it might even lead to black-sheep.

Question:

It might damage the idea of all people in all regions of Nigeria being par citizens of one country.

Ahmadu Bello: well it might but...amm...we are known to our reasons...how many northerners are employed in the east and west? The answer is none. And if they are, they may be only ten labourers employed in the two regions.

Now Let us reason together:

The claim of dominance of the Ndigbo at that time was so baseless. The northern elites failed to establish the connect and disconnect between progress and dominance on the one hand, and dominance and envy of the massive success of Ndigbo all over Nigeria at the time, on the other hand. The Igbo people were even prior to the establishment of the Nigerian state widely known as adventurously industrious people. The Igbo person is condemned naturally to work, because his society does not appreciate and is very hostile to idleness and failure. So you find in him that strong appeal for success which is a natural instinct and sheer spirit that propels him to strive, work hard and, of course, expectedly make progress (hit success).

How endangering (or as Ahmadu Bello put it, domineering) the success of the Igbo person is to the host community, could be attributed to either the laziness and inability of the people of the host community to match-up with the pace of achievement the Igbo person sets or, the condemning natural and man-made forces of poverty the people of the community battle with. So, hatred is expected, and when the justification for such hatred seems impossible to reconcile, the foreigner (igbo person) is attacked with some frivolous and gibberish grounds of being domineering.

The north if, they had the faintest belief in one Nigeria, would accept the fact that as at then, majority of educated Nigerians were the Igbo people (south east and south south) and the Yorubas (south west) It was self indicting and contradictory that same elites who forced their people to sternly resist education from the missionaries for either fear of being enlightened and turning away from Islam and participating more actively in government or, the fear of the people illumining their minds and questioning the totalitarian systems of government in the north then. And so, dark mind and vague brains were all the Northern elites needed from their people to drive their personal interests.

Could same be said in Igboland? Have u even got the Obi to fully accept the decision of the Igwe without having one or two questions to ask, just because he was educated? Neither would the elders dish out self-gratifying judgements that don't appeal to logic and truth without thinking through the accompanying bashing from the younger ones. And that's why they say that "igbo ama eze (the Igbo doesn't know king)"; for everyman is a king in his own house.
Continue reading: http://igbobia.com/?q=reactions-from-the-1960-interview-of-sir-ahmadu-bellomore-proof-that-nigeria-unity-is-baseless.html

Hmm
Interesting. He said d truth d only reasons. Why Ibos are hated is because they dominate d economy anywhere they are found while all dat d host communities can do is to hate hate and hate again. But for d educated host communities they jealous jealous and jealous again.
D industrious nature of Ibos is so amazing. They hate idleness with passion

ipob tout no dey tire dem son com again Igbos

It is more necessary and much better we do a critique on the write-up with in-depth understanding than attack persons.

Youngadvocate:
It is more necessary and much better we do a critique on the write-up with in-depth understanding than attack persons.

The interview has audio version and it's available on the internet.
One of the major problem of Nigerian is that most of them are bad student of history

otitokoroleti:

The interview has audio version and it's available on the internet.
One of the major problem of Nigerian is that most of them are bad student of history

Honestly dear...it is surprising that I didn't see the text version of it in my search. We are too carefree with the knowledge of our history

i have the the video on my pc.

Youngadvocate:

Honestly dear...it is surprising that I didn't see the text version of it in my search. We are too carefree with the knowledge of our history

its unfortunate

Youngadvocate:

Honestly dear...it is surprising that I didn't see the text version of it in my search. We are too carefree with the knowledge of our history

I know you created this thread a long time ago.
Thank you very much for the write up. Because of increasing rate of unemployment, insecurity and killings going on in different parts of the country, my curiosity about the history of this dead Country suddenly increased. In the process of doing personal research, I eventually watched the interview of Sir Ahmadu Bello on YouTube and it got me really disturbed. To fully verify what I was hearing, I searched for a transcription of the video and a Google search lead me to your thread.

I am beginning to think that the British had an evil intention when they created Nigeria. They knew very well that the northerners were backward in terms of education and the easterners were not only industrious but highly educated. They knew this two regions can never leave together in peace, because one would be envious of the other and Ahmadu Bello's interview just confirms that. Yet, they joined us all together creating this evil region called Nigeria.The British are very wicked and evil people just like their "buddy" the United States of America.

Please if you know any website or social media page that has more information about the forgotten history of this country, let me know.

Also, feel free to give me other areas to research which you feel may be an eye opener.