Obi1kenobi:


You're irredeemable clearly. But I've resolved I would do this more often. Whenever I see cretins and touts here beating their chests here about the accomplishments of their master race, I'll be here to bring some common sense to your poor souls.

Lolz.
is that not what you Yoruba's have been doing.
following Igbo up and down as if we are mate in anyway when it comes to accomplishment.
only that you are a coward and have to claim Igbo.
get away you scumbag.
you dirty Yorubas have a long way to go before y'all can attain the level of achievement of Ndigbo
don't forget to go back to ur Agberro and Omo Nile job when you are done

pazienza:


Stop talking trash.

Achebe took out up-to 3/4 of his post to praise Ndiigbo.
He never believed we are second to any group. He wrote that we are above everyone else.

He only reserved just few part of the last part of write up for constructive criticism of Ndiigbo.

He never blamed resentment other Nigerians have on Igbos on our glory in our success, he blamed it on envy and jealousy of other Nigerians over our sudden rise to success and continuous voracious demand for more success, owning to our cultural background that emphasizes more about success than socialism and laziness.


Compare that with a scratched face like you that has no single praise for Ndiigbo, and sees Ndiigbo second to your own group, taking more time to demonize Ndiigbo rather than highlight the envy and jealousy of of other Nigerians.
With an Ijebu Igbo man like you, Igbos don't need enemies.

Ndiigbo don't need to get humble. Envious and lazy Nigerians like you need to get hardworking and outmatch Ndiigbo by dint of merit and hardwork and merit and not going green with envy and bitterness when a hard working Igbo man takes glory in his success.
Maybe then, Nigeria will stop being a failed colonial estate.

Which is exactly why I said, his claims were far from balanced and written from his perspective, but you clearly can't read. If Soyinka, an advocate of Igbos who has highlighted their marginalization and crimes against them, wrote about Igbos, he would express it differently from Achebe. Achebe's last book was criticized by Soyinka who was a good friend of his that has lived with him before.

Envious and lazy Nigerians? Igbos are the only hardworking people, shey? Everyone else from Yorubas to Binis to Ibibios to Ijaws are all lazy and only Igbos work hard.

You talk about merit. If you walk into any multinational that recruits by merit, I can bet you Yorubas comfortably outnumber Igbos. But you're the only achievers on merit in your twisted universe, shey? I feel so sorry for you and the ignorant world you live in. The funny thing is for all the talk of envy here, in my opinion, Igbos on this forum show greater hatred for Yorubas than any other group (even Hausa/Fulanis that butcher our brethren) precisely because of envy at their more evident success. That's the great irony.

pazienza:


Stop talking trash.

Achebe took out up-to 3/4 of his post to praise Ndiigbo.
He never believed we are second to any group. He wrote that we are above everyone else.

He only reserved just few part of the last part of write up for constructive criticism of Ndiigbo.

He never blamed resentment other Nigerians have on Igbos on our glory in our success, he blamed it on envy and jealousy of other Nigerians over our sudden rise to success and continuous voracious demand for more success, owning to our cultural background that emphasizes more about success than socialism and laziness.


Compare that with a scratched face like you that has no single praise for Ndiigbo, and sees Ndiigbo second to your own group, taking more time to demonize Ndiigbo rather than highlight the envy and jealousy of of other Nigerians.
With an Ijebu Igbo man like you, Igbos don't need enemies.

Ndiigbo don't need to get humble. Envious and lazy Nigerians like you need to get hardworking and outmatch Ndiigbo by dint of merit and hardwork and merit and not going green with envy and bitterness when a hard working Igbo man takes glory in his success.
Maybe then, Nigeria will stop being a failed colonial estate.

Ijebu-Igbo??
Jeez!!
nawao bros.

Eastfield1:

Lolz.
is that not what you Yoruba's have been doing.
[b]following Igbo up and down as if we are mate in anyway when it comes to accomplishment.
[/b]only that you are a coward and have to claim Igbo.
get away you scumbag.
you dirty Yorubas have a long way to go before y'all can attain the level of achievement of Ndigbo
don't forget to go back to ur Agberro and Omo Nile job when you are done

Which accomplishments? Actually name them. Stop beating your empty chest. Name them.

Eastfield1:
Ijebu-Igbo??
Jeez!!
nawao bros.

My posts have annoyed you and eaten you up to your core. Trying to pretend with your fake gif laughter is funny.

Obi1kenobi:


Which accomplishments? Actually name them. Stop beating your empty chest. Name them.

Imagine.
it is Clear that you are not an Igbo.
may one of ur leg be crushed and disabled by one of Innoson Motors & van

Obi1kenobi:


My posts have annoyed you and eaten you up to your core. Trying to pretend with your fake gif laughter is funny.

lolz.
it seems like you are Crying!!

Obi1kenobi:


Which is exactly why I said, his claims were far from balanced and written from his perspective, but you clearly can't read. If Soyinka, an advocate of Igbos who has highlighted their marginalization and crimes against them, wrote about Igbos, he would express it differently from Achebe. Achebe's last book was criticized by Soyinka who was a good friend of his that has lived with him before.

Envious and lazy Nigerians? Igbos are the only hardworking people, shey? Everyone else from Yorubas to Binis to Ibibios to Ijaws are all lazy and only Igbos work hard.

You talk about merit. If you walk into any multinational that recruits by merit, I can bet you Yorubas comfortably outnumber Igbos. But you're the only achievers on merit in your twisted universe, shey? I feel so sorry for you and the ignorant world you live in. The funny thing is for all the talk of envy here, in my opinion, Igbos on this forum show greater hatred for Yorubas than any other group (even Hausa/Fulanis that butcher our brethren) precisely because of envy at their more evident success. That's the great irony.

His account is not balanced, because it placed Igbos ahead of your Yoruba group, even when he had stats from that era supporting his claims?

How exactly is Soyinka an advocate of Ndiigbo? Who made him such and when?

Let me guess, because he sneaked into Biafra to talk Achebe and Okigbo into advising Ojukwu to jettison Biafra defense and concede defeat to Gowon -Awolowo alliance, an advise Achebe outrighly rejected, and on Soyinka way back to Nigeria, he was arrested on suspicion that he was working for Biafra?

A typical Afonja, why exactly are you roping specific groups I never mentioned into this discussion? You want them to come and back you up in your Igbophobia?
Is the room becoming too hot for you?

Which multinational company do you speak off? When at a point we had Iweala and Ezekwesili all working for world bank? You are a pathetic fellow. Why can't you just proud of your Afonja group and come out plain?
I guess you made up this stats of Yorubas outnumbering Igbos in multinational companies from your anus.

Typical Afonja turning logic on its head. Igbos are subject of hate and envy on this forum , so much that no single day passes by without a thread being opened to denigrate Ndiigbo on this board.
We had only decided to not be like our fathers and grandfathers, we would not keep quiet, we will return hate with concentrated hate, and we will be ruthless about it.
What this means is that impostors like you will always be fished out.

Eastfield1:

Imagine.
it is Clear that you are not an Igbo.
may one of ur leg be crushed and disabled by one of Innoson Motors & van

Interpretation: "I have nothing to brag about so I can't answer the question".

You're clearly out of your depth.

pazienza:


His account is not balanced, because it placed Igbos ahead of your Yoruba group, even when he had stats from that era supporting his claims?

How exactly is Soyinka an advocate of Ndiigbo? Who made him such and when?

Let me guess, because he sneaked into Biafra to talk Achebe and Okigbo into advising Ojukwu to jettison Biafra defense and concede defeat to Gowon -Awolowo alliance, an advise Achebe outrighly rejected, and on Soyinka way back to Nigeria, he was arrested on suspicion that he was working for Biafra?

A typical Afonja, why exactly are you roping specific groups I never mentioned into this discussion? You want them to come and back you up in your Igbophobia?

Is the room becoming too hot for you?

Which multinational company do you speak off? When at a point we had Iweala and Ezekwesili all working for world bank? You are a pathetic fellow. Why can't you just be proud of your Afonja group and come out plain?
I guess you made up this stats of Yorubas outnumbering Igbos in multinational companies from your anus.

Typical Afonja turning logic on its head. Igbos are subject of hate and envy on this thread, so much that no single day passes by without a thread being opened to denigrate Ndiigbo on this board.
We had only decided to not be like our fathers and grandfathers, we would not keep quiet, we will return hate with concentrated hate, and we will be ruthless about it.
What this means is that impostors like you will always be fished out.

damn!
you are so good bro

Obi1kenobi:


Interpretation: "I have nothing to brag about so I can't answer the question".

You're clearly out of your depth.

lolz.
I saw ur ignorance and noticed that there was no need for it.
hence I even indirectly mentioned innosson and yet you still asking about answer.
if you don't know about Innosson then what else do you know?.
it is Clear.
you be Egbe omo Yoruba

pazienza:


His account is not balanced, because it placed Igbos ahead of your Yoruba group, even when he had stats from that era supporting his claims?

How exactly is Soyinka an advocate of Ndiigbo? Who made him such and when?

Let me guess, because he sneaked into Biafra to talk Achebe and Okigbo into advising Ojukwu to jettison Biafra defense and concede defeat to Gowon -Awolowo alliance, an advise Achebe outrighly rejected, and on Soyinka way back to Nigeria, he was arrested on suspicion that he was working for Biafra?

A typical Afonja, why exactly are you roping specific groups I never mentioned into this discussion? You want them to come and back you up in your Igbophobia?
Is the room becoming too hot for you?

Which multinational company do you speak off? When at a point we had Iweala and Ezekwesili all working for world bank? You are a pathetic fellow. Why can't you just proud of your Afonja group and come out plain?
I guess you made up this stats of Yorubas outnumbering Igbos in multinational companies from your anus.

Typical Afonja turning logic on its head. Igbos are subject of hate and envy on this thread, so much that no single day passes by without a thread being opened to denigrate Ndiigbo on this board.
We had only decided to not be like our fathers and grandfathers, we would not keep quiet, we will return hate with concentrated hate, and we will be ruthless about it.
What this means is that impostors like you will always be fished out.

What stats? Show me the stats.

Soyinka is a long-term advocate of the cause against Igbo marginalization:
http://sunnewsonline.com/im-pro-biafra-soyinka/
I thank him for his principle and honesty. Unfortunate souls like you consumed with hate are incapable of even seeing who your allies are. A major reason why the nincompoops who dream that Niger Delta people will follow your cause are just circus clowns.

I did my SIWES a few years ago in one of the big 4 accounting firms. Most of the associates I saw were Yoruba. Only a barefaced liar, someone in self-denial or an ignorant buffoon doesn't know Yorubas are largely dominant in corporate Nigeria. Keep on deceiving yourself.

Anyone who has spent any good deal of time on Nairaland knows the hatred and bitterness in the Igbo/Yoruba battle is far stronger on the Igbo side. So bitterly consumed. A lot of Yorubas take the sniping in good humour. A lot of Igbos take it far too seriously. One of the reasons I've been as aggressive as I've been arguing with many Igbo people is when I initially started arguing about this IPOB issue and elections in my state (serious intended debate), so obsessed and consumed with Yoruba hatred were so many responders, that every single reply to me and anyone who disagreed with the IPOB touts was mindlessly chanting "Afonja" upandan.

pazienza:


His account is not balanced, because it placed Igbos ahead of your Yoruba group, even when he had stats from that era supporting his claims?

How exactly is Soyinka an advocate of Ndiigbo? Who made him such and when?

Let me guess, because he sneaked into Biafra to talk Achebe and Okigbo into advising Ojukwu to jettison Biafra defense and concede defeat to Gowon -Awolowo alliance, an advise Achebe outrighly rejected, and on Soyinka way back to Nigeria, he was arrested on suspicion that he was working for Biafra?

A typical Afonja, why exactly are you roping specific groups I never mentioned into this discussion? You want them to come and back you up in your Igbophobia?
Is the room becoming too hot for you?

Which multinational company do you speak off? When at a point we had Iweala and Ezekwesili all working for world bank? You are a pathetic fellow. Why can't you just proud of your Afonja group and come out plain?
I guess you made up this stats of Yorubas outnumbering Igbos in multinational companies from your anus.

Typical Afonja turning logic on its head. Igbos are subject of hate and envy on this forum , so much that no single day passes by without a thread being opened to denigrate Ndiigbo on this board.
We had only decided to not be like our fathers and grandfathers, we would not keep quiet, we will return hate with concentrated hate, and we will be ruthless about it.
What this means is that impostors like you will always be fished out.

You mean the same fore fathers of yours that killed every major tribes' elders apart from Ibo? The same Losers that had Lagos, Ondo and today SS in their Map? The same liars who lied about money they never had in bank until they were shamed? The same fools that had a million man march for Abacha? Lol..

I think Ibo children of today are still learning where the evil Ibo ancestors are concerned.

Bunch of pathetic losers whom Karma will soon revisit.

Eastfield1:
lolz.
I saw ur ignorance and noticed that there was no need for it.
hence I even indirectly mentioned innosson and yet you still asking about answer.
if you don't know about Innosson then what else do you know?.
it is Clear.
you be Egbe omo Yoruba

Innosson? Because of empty rhetoric like this, the Yorubas on this forum opened their thread on industries owned by Yorubas and you empty chest-beating clowns were thoroughly eviscerated. Some shamed Igbos had to open their own a few days later, but they couldn't keep pace with the Yoruba thread. They were there consoling themselves in their information bubble when any impartial arbiter of both threads could see the Yoruba guys throughly wiped the floor with the Igbo group and shame catch me for una.

50 CE and 1948, Jews were expelled from Europe over 80 times. That is, in 1,700 years, people in Europe expelled the Jews at the average rate of once every 21 years.

It happened in France, England, Spain, Portugal, Germany and dozens of other countries. These countries in their own characteristic ways rose up one day to declare that they were tired of hosting Jews and tolerating their behaviors and accepting their attitude that whatever land they lived in was no man’s land. These Europeans claimed they were more charitable, hospitable, accommodating and generous to the Jews than any other nationality, but the Jews abused it. They demanded that all Jews leave or be vanquished. They said they tried but they could not see any good Jew to make them change their minds.

Historians who have studied the phenomenon came up with the usual explanations given as the reason why Jews were expelled. Here are six typical reasons (from history books and online sources) as expressed in popular quotes used during each expulsion, massacre and persecution. 1.) "We hate Jews because they possess too much wealth and power." 2.) "We hate Jews because they arrogantly claim that they are the chosen people." 3.) "Jews are a convenient group to single out and blame for our troubles." 4.) "We hate Jews because they killed Jesus." 5.) "We hate Jews because they are different than us." 6.) "We hate Jews because they are an inferior race."

Historians have examined these reasons in order to see if they were causes of the hatred or the excuses for the hatred. Historians propound that if they are causes, once the cause is taken away, the hatred will vanish. But if the cause is taken away and the hatred remains, then, it is mere excuse.

On the economic reason which says that Jews possess too much wealth that causes envy and resentment, historians found out that the Polish and Russian Jews of the 17th -20th century were “dirty poor” yet, they were hated. When the Jews are doing well, the myth that they have a plan to rule the world by controlling governments and financial establishments took shape in the fictional work called, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Though it has been debunked as fiction, it remains a bestselling book in the world.

On the idea that the Jews were claiming to be the chosen ones, historians noted that the Jews of Germany in the 19th century denied the concept of being the chosen ones. Many of them assimilated with mainstream Germans, abandoning their language and culture and ways of life. Yet, when the holocaust started, it did not save them. And the Larry Kings of America, who changed their names to hide their identities and those who are not practicing Jews like Madam Albright, have not been spared as objects of hate. Surprisingly, in today’s world, it is the Christians and the Muslims who openly claim that they are the ones chosen by God and nobody can get to God except through their intermediaries- Jesus and Muhammad. But they don’t get the kind of hatred that the Jews get.

Kagawa10:


You mean the same fore fathers of yours that killed every major tribes' elders apart from Ibo? The same Losers that had Lagos, Ondo and today SS in their Map? The same liars who lied about money they never had in bank until they were shamed? The same fools that had a million man march for Abacha? Lol..

I think Ibo children of today are still learning where the evil Ibo ancestors are concerned.

Bunch of pathetic losers whom Karma will soon revisit.

my God.
this is so Childish

The scapegoating of the Jews, especially in difficult economic and political times, is not a cause but rather an excuse. To scapegoat, you must first of all hate. Hitler conveniently used Jews as scapegoat because the hatred was already there. It made it easy for Germans to believe that Jews were the reason they lost World War I and why the German economy was fluttering. The fifth reason, that the Jews killed Jesus, falls flat when the Christian Bible says that the Romans killed Jesus with the help of Jews but the hatred was reserved for Jews alone. The Roman Catholic Church, in its Second Vatican Council in 1963, had to officially exonerate the Jews, but the hatred continued.

The idea that the Jews were outsiders should have waned with the increase in Jewish assimilation over the years. But it didn’t. Instead, the complaint changed. In Germany, it turned into: "We hate you, not because you're different, but because you're trying to become like us! We cannot allow you to infect the Aryan race with your inferior genes."

The final reason is that “we hate the Jews because they are an inferior race.” The Jews are not a race, to begin with.

This is how Rabbi Kalman Packouz put the dilemma of the Jews. “Every other hated group is hated for a relatively defined reason,” he wrote. “We Jews, however, are hated in paradoxes: Jews are hated for being a lazy and inferior race - but also for dominating the economy and taking over the world. We are hated for stubbornly maintaining our separateness - and, when we do assimilate - for posing a threat to racial purity through intermarriages. We are seen as pacifists and as warmongers; as capitalist exploiters and as revolutionary communists; possessed of a Chosen-People mentality, as well as of an inferiority complex. It seems that we just can't win.”

Obi1kenobi:


Innosson? Because of empty rhetoric like this, the Yorubas on this forum opened their thread on industries owned by Yorubas and you empty chest-beating clowns were thoroughly eviscerated. Some shamed Igbos had to open their own a few days later, but they couldn't keep pace with the Yoruba thread. They were there consoling themselves in their information bubble when any impartial arbiter of both threads could see the Yoruba guys throughly wiped the floor with the Igbo group and shame catch me for una.

just at the mention of One person
and you are already Shifting Goal post
typical Afonja

In 2005, Okey Ndibe wrote a piece he called, "Thou Shall Not Rent to Igbo." In it he brought to the fore the discriminatory challenges Igbo tenants were facing in finding apartments to rent in Lagos. In a rejoinder titled, "Igboman can be a good Tenant,” Kola Akomolede's argued that it was not only Yoruba landlords who do not want the Igbo tenant but landlords of other ethnicities, including some Igbo landlords. He suggested that the real problem was the nature of the Igbo man and not the discrimination against Igbo tenants which he made every effort to justify. He suggested that Ohanaeze should advice Igbo men to "change their attitude and behave like gentlemen."

European intellectuals, including some Jews, made similar appeal to Diaspora Jews across Europe before Hitler came. Many Jews bought into it. They changed their names and many abandoned their religion all together. Some intermarried with Germans. But when Hitler came, it did not save them.

Instead of finding practical structures based on law and order to deal with universal issues between tenants and landlords, Akomolede made flimsy arguments like the one about the Igbo with "good background" being good tenants. Property consultants and owners, he suggested, should care about good background of tenants. He finally fell back on the popular refrain that the Yoruba are the most accommodating nation in Nigeria.

We have heard that line before. And we are hearing a lot of it today. Some have observed that beneath the issue of discrimination against Igbo tenants is the bigger and subtle issue - the battle for Lagos.

That battle for Lagos has actually come out in the open.

Eastfield1:

my God.
this is so Childish

Lol. Have you forgotten about the civil war so soon? It was a Karma and another is on its way until Ibo choose to tell the absolute truth about all the atrocities they've caused Nigeria because as you've already known, God aint sentimental nor emotional being who condone lies.

Kagawa10:


Lol. Have you forgotten about the civil war so soon? It was a Karma and another is on its way until Ibo choose to tell the absolute truth about all the atrocities they've caused Nigeria because as you've already known, God aint sentimental nor emotional being who condone lies.

lolz.
Cheap Blackmail.
see, we are scared already

Common with all things Nigeria, Akomolede's greatest failure was in subscribing to the predominant Igbo stereotype on the basis of which he demanded a change in the nature of the Igbo. "Stereotypes are not necessarily malicious," once cautioned Chinua Achebe. "They may be well meaning and even friendly. But in every case they show a carelessness or laziness or indifference of attitude that implies that the object of your categorization is not worth the trouble of individual assessment." That’s how the action of a man or a group of people in Nigeria is often ascribed to the action of an ethnic or religious group.

The old conventional wisdom was that of Samora Machel: 'For the nation to live, the tribe must die.' The new conventional wisdom is that, the tribe can live as long as it wants. But for the nation to live, impunity must die; citizens’ rights must be respected; law and order must be established and enforced, irrespective of ethnicity, religion or creed.

On the one hand, since 1914, the primary question of Nigeria has been the Igbo question. There are other important questions, but in the answer to the Igbo question comes the understanding of all the other questions. On the other hand, the primary tragedy of the Igbo is that they are living in a Nigeria that is yet to come, if it ever comes.

The innocence of the Igbo ended long time ago. It ended before 1945 when some Northern elements in Jos first rose up and massacred Igbo people. When it was repeated in 1953 in Kano, the British inquiry reported that, "No amount of provocation, short-term or long term, can in any way justify their (Northern Nigerians) behavior." The British report went further to warn that "the seeds of the trouble which broke out in Kano on May 16 (1953) have their counterparts still in the ground. It could happen again, and only a realization and acceptance of the underlying causes can remove the danger."

Of course, it happened again. It happened in all of northern Nigeria in 1966, Kano in 1980, Maiduguri in 1982, Jimeta in 1984, Gombe in 1985, Kaduna & Kafanchan in 1991, Bauchi, Kastina, & Kano in 1991, Zango-Kataf in 1992, Funtua in 1993, Kano in 1994. Since 1999, over 10,000 people have been killed in more than a dozen incidents of religious/ethnic conflicts. And since 2009, over 4000 people have died in Boko Haram attacks. The dispossession and displacement of Igbo people once desired by the leaders of the Northern House of Assembly in the 60s have now been achieved by Boko Haram in the 2010s. In places like Maiduguri only death-defying Igbo stayed put. Even those types have sent their wives and children home.

Usually, before Igbo bloods were spilled, it was customarily preceded by arguments in several quarters, official and unofficial, in the media and in secrecy, about the disdain of the very nature of the Igbo and the need for Igbo to change. In Northern Nigeria of 1964, there were calls in the Northern House of Assembly to revoke forthwith all Certificates of Occupancy from the hands of the Igbo residents in the region. Lawmakers stood up in the assembly and promised to fid ways to do away with the Igbo. Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gashash, O.B.E and Minister of Land and Survey, told the assembly in March of 1964 the following:

Eastfield1:

lolz.
Cheap Blackmail.
see, we are scared already

Lmao.. I wished I was blackmailing you losers.. You will always meet your Waterloo and I will be there to tell you I told you so.

"Having heard their demand about Ibos holding land in Northern Nigeria, my ministry will do all it can to see that the demands of members are met. How to do this, when to do it, all this should not be disclosed. In due course, you will all see what will happen. (Applause)".

The Northern People's Congress, NPC, followed Alhaji Gashash's promise by issuing a booklet called SALAMA: Facts must be faced. This booklet portrayed the Igbo in a very bad light and gave the masses in the North the sense that the Igbo were the source of all their problems. At the same time, the government of Western Nigeria also issued their own booklet called UPCAISM in which the Igbo, called "strangers," were depicted as land grabbers who must be removed from Western lands and government positions. The booklets also displayed pictures of shops and stores owned by the Igbo and indulged in undue character assassination.

The military coup of 1966 presented a pretext to carry out a plan that had been laid out years before. It was a plan that aimed at a total extermination of the Igbo or, at least, their containment. The pogrom and the brutal war that followed was the final solution to the perceived Igbo problems in Nigeria. When Anthony Enahoro traveled round the globe arguing that starvation was a weapon of war, he was following the script for the total extermination of the Igbo. When Benjamin Adekunle boasted to foreign reporters, "I want to see no Red Cross, no Caritas, no World Council of Churches, no Pope, no missionary and no UN delegation. I want to prevent even one Ibo from having even one piece to eat before their capitulation. We shoot at everything that moves and when our troops march into the centre of Ibo territory, we shoot at everything even at things that do not move...," he was following the same script.

Just like the once accommodating and charitable and hospitable and generous Germany became a graveyard of Jews when Hitler came, Nigeria became a graveyard of Igbo when Gowon came. And, equally, like Germany, Nigeria failed to accomplish the final solution plan. The only difference was that the Jews learnt from that horrible Holocaust experience and formed their own country while the Igbo failed in that struggle for Biafra and returned to embrace Nigeria as if nothing had happened. Thomas Sowell, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University and a renowned scholar on Races and World Economies wrote that, "Most of the great mindless slaughters of the 20th century -- whether of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, the kulaks in the Soviet Union, the Jews in Germany, the I[g]bo in Nigeria or the Tamils in Sri Lanka -- have been slaughters of those who dramatically eclipsed the accomplishments of others."

The kulaks were liquidated. The Armenians, the Jews and the Tamils are struggling and still fighting to keep the memories alive and stop it from ever happening again. The Igbo on their part, forgot what happened and why. But the Nigerian elements, disappointed in their unfinished job, have not forgotten. Instead, they are busy preparing for the final battle. Those in doubt should listen when they remind the Igbo openly that “history will repeat itself.” In ways subtle and covetous, they are laying the ground work for what we all know must come. They are making public and closed door speeches in which they are promising that "how to do this, when to do this, will not be disclosed." The seed of the trouble, as far as these Nigerian elements see it, is in the nature of the Igbo. As long as Igbo will not denounce their Igboness, it will happen again. And this time, it may be a total annihilation, from Port Harcourt to Lagos on to Gusau via Abuja.

Acknowledged, it has been difficult, and will always be difficult, for the rest of Nigeria to interpret the Igbo life and worldview. There is a big difference between what the Igbo think and what others think the Igbo think. This misunderstanding, in many quarters, has continued to be transformed into inert hatred. The myth of the Igbo constantly in the face of Nigerians everywhere, has proved very difficult for many to decipher.

In a 2005 Igbo Day keynote speech titled, The Primacy of Political or Economic power: The Igbo Dilemma, Professor Anya O. Anya noted that:

“There is an inherent paradox and contradiction in the lgboman's place in Nigeria. On the one hand given his industry, his intelligence and his enterprise, the Igboman is a desirable gift to Nigeria and the stuff of which great nations and great civilizations can be built. On the other hand, given his presumptive confidence in his abilities and his unabashed hunger to succeed at whatever cost, he engenders fear and unwelcome visibility amongst his compatriots. His lack of subtlety, his drive to overcome and his insatiable "greed" for material progress engenders resentment and often inexplicable, and perhaps, undeserved hostility in the host communities. His "loud" style of Life and the facility with which he can adapt to and adopt new ways can also be unsettling to foreign cultural formations that have come in contact with the lgbo including the colonial masters. There is thus an underlying sense of conflict in the lgbo presence in Nigeria.”

For those who care but do not know and those who know but do not care, the Igbo are not perfect. Like so many other groups, the Igbo have those uncommon human frailties and foibles as well as unique virtues and wisdoms. When their sense of vanity is heightened, their sense of modesty is diminished. When their sense of belonging is enhanced, their sense of variance is lessened. The Igbo know that things others did to them were many but the things they did to themselves were more. (Apologies Prof. Chieka Ifemesia). But the Igbo history warrants that the Igbo must keep eternal vigilance – chasing away the prey while scolding the chick.

In trying to find an answer many observers of negativity in Igbo life seek, I stumbled on "The Focus of Igbo Worldview," a paper presented by Prof. Donatus I. Nwoga. In it he wrote:

pazienza:
50 CE and 1948, Jews were expelled from Europe over 80 times. That is, in 1,700 years, people in Europe expelled the Jews at the average rate of once every 21 years.

It happened in France, England, Spain, Portugal, Germany and dozens of other countries. These countries in their own characteristic ways rose up one day to declare that they were tired of hosting Jews and tolerating their behaviors and accepting their attitude that whatever land they lived in was no man’s land. These Europeans claimed they were more charitable, hospitable, accommodating and generous to the Jews than any other nationality, but the Jews abused it. They demanded that all Jews leave or be vanquished. They said they tried but they could not see any good Jew to make them change their minds.

Historians who have studied the phenomenon came up with the usual explanations given as the reason why Jews were expelled. Here are six typical reasons (from history books and online sources) as expressed in popular quotes used during each expulsion, massacre and persecution. 1.) "We hate Jews because they possess too much wealth and power." 2.) "We hate Jews because they arrogantly claim that they are the chosen people." 3.) "Jews are a convenient group to single out and blame for our troubles." 4.) "We hate Jews because they killed Jesus." 5.) "We hate Jews because they are different than us." 6.) "We hate Jews because they are an inferior race."

Historians have examined these reasons in order to see if they were causes of the hatred or the excuses for the hatred. Historians propound that if they are causes, once the cause is taken away, the hatred will vanish. But if the cause is taken away and the hatred remains, then, it is mere excuse.

On the economic reason which says that Jews possess too much wealth that causes envy and resentment, historians found out that the Polish and Russian Jews of the 17th -20th century were “dirty poor” yet, they were hated. When the Jews are doing well, the myth that they have a plan to rule the world by controlling governments and financial establishments took shape in the fictional work called, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Though it has been debunked as fiction, it remains a bestselling book in the world.

On the idea that the Jews were claiming to be the chosen ones, historians noted that the Jews of Germany in the 19th century denied the concept of being the chosen ones. Many of them assimilated with mainstream Germans, abandoning their language and culture and ways of life. Yet, when the holocaust started, it did not save them. And the Larry Kings of America, who changed their names to hide their identities and those who are not practicing Jews like Madam Albright, have not been spared as objects of hate. Surprisingly, in today’s world, it is the Christians and the Muslims who openly claim that they are the ones chosen by God and nobody can get to God except through their intermediaries- Jesus and Muhammad. But they don’t get the kind of hatred that the Jews get.

pazienza:
The scapegoating of the Jews, especially in difficult economic and political times, is not a cause but rather an excuse. To scapegoat, you must first of all hate. Hitler conveniently used Jews as scapegoat because the hatred was already there. It made it easy for Germans to believe that Jews were the reason they lost World War I and why the German economy was fluttering. The fifth reason, that the Jews killed Jesus, falls flat when the Christian Bible says that the Romans killed Jesus with the help of Jews but the hatred was reserved for Jews alone. The Roman Catholic Church, in its Second Vatican Council in 1963, had to officially exonerate the Jews, but the hatred continued.

The idea that the Jews were outsiders should have waned with the increase in Jewish assimilation over the years. But it didn’t. Instead, the complaint changed. In Germany, it turned into: "We hate you, not because you're different, but because you're trying to become like us! We cannot allow you to infect the Aryan race with your inferior genes."

The final reason is that “we hate the Jews because they are an inferior race.” The Jews are not a race, to begin with.

This is how Rabbi Kalman Packouz put the dilemma of the Jews. “Every other hated group is hated for a relatively defined reason,” he wrote. “We Jews, however, are hated in paradoxes: Jews are hated for being a lazy and inferior race - but also for dominating the economy and taking over the world. We are hated for stubbornly maintaining our separateness - and, when we do assimilate - for posing a threat to racial purity through intermarriages. We are seen as pacifists and as warmongers; as capitalist exploiters and as revolutionary communists; possessed of a Chosen-People mentality, as well as of an inferiority complex. It seems that we just can't win.”

What do these long epistles have to do with chest-beating and insolence of many Igbos? I already used an example of Jews previously when pointing out that despite being perhaps the most accomplished group of people on the planet, Jews (in particular, Ashkenazi Jews) carry themselves around with modesty, quietly and effective push and promote common interests in their host communities, assimilate and lean mostly liberal and advocate for other oppressed minority and interest groups. They're also law-abiding with the lowest crime rates and committed to their civic duties.

I wouldn't say Ndigbo fit into that narrative at all.

“The opportunity which the present times have given for the predominant attributes of the Igbo to blossom into the ugliness of materialistic indiscipline, and lack of grace and finesse, must not be taken to represent the all-time behavior of the Igbo. A characteristic which could have been favorable and positive in one phase of the history of a people, which could again be positive and beneficial in another phase, could present the greatest negative consequences in a transitional phase. In practical terms, the attributes which make the Igbo appear vulgar and materialistic at this phase, could be the same attributes that made them achieving and titled people in the past. The present could merely be revealing the impact of new, uncharted times to the chaotic instinct in those who had been restrained by the limiting structures and facilities of the ordered past. And it is important to retain then the diachronic consciousness that transitional people have the handicap of having lost the grace and poetry of their past, without yet acquiring the grace and poetry, or at least the discipline and sanctions of the modern.”

The duty those who believe in Nigeria owe to this transitioning Nigeria is to give her a structure. In a structured Nigeria where there is law and order, people will be treated as individuals according to the laws of the land. Those who currently take advantage of the disorder in Nigeria would have to get in line or face the letters of the law. In a just and equitable society, those who are industrious, honest and creative will soar. Until then, those who dream of changing the nature of the Igbo or any ethnic group for that matter are confounded with many paradoxes.

The fundamental truth is that the Igbo, as part of humanity, have the right to live anywhere - with or without Nigeria. Let it be known that the original sin of the Igbo has not changed and will never change - it is the sin of being Igbo. It is from it that all other sins emerge and get magnified. The Igbo have nothing to prove and must not begin a defense of that right or a discussion of their Igboness on the terms of others. It is a matter of expediency for the Igbo to know this and for the Igbo to understand its implication in their final battle for survival.

If the Igbo had not embraced western education in the mid-1930s and overtaken the rest of Nigeria thirty years after; if the Igbo had not accepted Nigeria and emigrated from their tropical rain forest of the east to all corners of Nigeria; maybe, the pogrom would not have happened.

For many, a good Igbo is one who is only Igbo in his home; who is not Igbo everyday and everywhere; who is apologetic for being Igbo, and who wears the following expression on his forehead: "how dare you assume I am Igbo?"

Though my last name is as Igbo as they come, I’m sure that I’m not a good Igbo man. I do not conform to every man’s definition of an Igbo, including definition by the Igbo themselves. But that should not be a problem, unless you are Femi Fani-Kayode and his like.

There are serious people vigorously dedicated to the search for a good Igbo man or woman. I enthusiastically applaud them. And I must add, with all honesty, “Bros, Good luck with that!”

http://saharareporters.com/2013/08/13/futile-search-good-igbo-rudolf-ogoo-okonkwo

adetayo234:


Actually, when you ask an igbo man not to boast, then you are sniffing the breath out of him. An igbo man is always a natural chest beater.

But actually, actually why shouldnt an Igbo man boast.
After the civil war(1970) an Afonja man devised an evil strategy to keep Igbos pauperised for ever by giving each man a mere £20 irrespective of how much he has in his bank account.
Hahaha! the Igbo showed their mettle and God-given entrepreural talents and bounced back within a short time, even surpasseing all others.
Why cant an Igbo 'boast' after all the gang up in adverse economic policy formulations geared towards stiffling their businesses, they still thrive.
●No single seaport in all SE, they still survive.
●No single Int'l airport, they still survive.
●Uncountable Customs/police roadblocks in the SE, they still survive
●No Economic Federal presence in SE, they still survive
●No Federal Business enabling environment, they still stay afloat

Okey Ndibe is a great writer. My favourite writer in The Sun. But most of what you quoted is irrelevant to what led to this thread. Keyboard warriors writing utterly despicable nonsense like "Yorubas are cowards" and rubbish like that. I wouldn't lie, my comments have been extremely critical and I feel like deleting a lot of them because denigrating your own group feels like a backstabbing act or a betrayal. But too many people on this forum go too far and promote a climate of such bitterness.

I'm a long-time member of Nairaland and I didn't used to get myself involved in a lot of this nonsense ethnic bashing. The last 2 months or so have somewhat changed my outlook. To come to a forum seeking honest debate about issues affecting Ndigbo and to have people too consumed by tribal bigotry and bitterness to respond with coherence, cogent arguments and maturity and instead keep mindlessly shouting "afonja" everywhere is irritating. You need to recover your senses.

Obi1kenobi:


What stats? Show me the stats.

Soyinka is a long-term advocate of the cause against Igbo marginalization:
http://sunnewsonline.com/im-pro-biafra-soyinka/
I thank him for his principle and honesty. Unfortunate souls like you consumed with hate are incapable of even seeing who your allies are. A major reason why the nincompoops who dream that Niger Delta people will follow your cause are just circus clowns.

I did my SIWES a few years ago in one of the big 4 accounting firms. Most of the associates I saw were Yoruba. Only a barefaced liar, someone in self-denial or an ignorant buffoon doesn't know Yorubas are largely dominant in corporate Nigeria. Keep on deceiving yourself.

Anyone who has spent any good deal of time on Nairaland knows the hatred and bitterness in the Igbo/Yoruba battle is far stronger on the Igbo side. So bitterly consumed. A lot of Yorubas take the sniping in good humour. A lot of Igbos take it far too seriously. One of the reasons I've been as aggressive as I've been arguing with many Igbo people is when I initially started arguing about this IPOB issue and elections in my state (serious intended debate), so obsessed and consumed with Yoruba hatred were so many responders, that every single reply to me and anyone who disagreed with the IPOB touts was mindlessly chanting "Afonja" upandan.

Lol!
Any one can say anything. It's left for Ndiigbo to judge who is pro or anti Biafra. Soyinka is a typical Yoruba man, neither here nor there.

We know who our allies are. Fortunately, Yorubas aren't.
Why exactly are you dragging Niger delta into this discussion, the Afonja in you can't just rest, can it? Even when you are masquerading as Igbo.

Well, the biggest name in global financial world today from Nigeria is an Igbo woman , she once contested for world bank president. know her name?
If you mean Nigerian corporate world, well, Yorubas are trying, considering this :https://www.nairaland.com/2516282/before-forget

But the likes of Elumelu and co are no push overs too

As for the rest of your rambling, I don't expect anything less from an Afonja.

Obi1kenobi:




What do these long epistles have to do with chest-beating and insolence of many Igbos? I already used an example of Jews previously when pointing out that despite being perhaps the most accomplished group of people on the planet, Jews (in particular, Ashkenazi Jews) carry themselves around with modesty, quietly and effective push and promote common interests in their host communities, assimilate and lean mostly liberal and advocate for other oppressed minority and interest groups. They're also law-abiding with the lowest crime rates and committed to their civic duties.

I wouldn't say Ndigbo fit into that narrative at all.

Tell that to anti Jewish movements like those in stormfront.

Igbos are law abiding too, and SE has the lowest crime rate in Nigeria.