I greet you all. Ndewo nu! I have tried very hard to resist the
urge to jump into this Igbo-Yoruba-Hausa-Nigeria discourse; but the more I read
the posts on all sides of the argument, the stronger and more irresistible the
urge became. So here we are.
As a brief recess from all these high
and low impact intellectual aerobics, may I please ask that you patiently walk
through and analyze the following basic anecdotal scenario with me regarding
the Igbo-Nigeria quagmire? Here we go:
Nigeria is a polygamous man; hence the
many wives - Alhaja Yoruba Nigeria, Hajia Hausa Nigeria, Lolo Igbo Nigeria,
Mrs. Efik Nigeria, Mrs. Edo Nigeria, Mrs. Ijaw Nigeria, etcetera.
Picture Nigeria’s majestic mansion (main
house) strategically located in the front center of his compound and surrounded
by the individual bungalows belonging to each of the wives and her children.
While each of the other wives and her
children are busy developing/beautifying and maintaining their bungalow and its
surrounding, Lolo Igbo’s children decide to leave her own bungalow and instead
reside with her co-wives and help develop their bungalows.
Lolo Igbo’s children are fairly
patriotic, but regrettably not “matriotic” (made that up, hahaha!) because they
help their half-brothers and half-sisters develop and maintain their mothers’ bungalows
while neglecting their own home which is Lolo Igbo’s bungalow.
Now, Lolo Igbo’s bungalow is rapidly
becoming dilapidated. Meanwhile, Lolo Igbo’s co-wives and their children feel
that Lolo Igbo’s children have overstayed their welcome and want them to go
home to their mother and help her rebuild her crumbling bungalow.
Understandably, Lolo Igbo’s co-wives and
their children insist that Lolo Igbo’s children are welcome to visit their
respective bungalows to enjoy for a while, but not to move in and try to
displace them from their own homes.
But alas! Lolo Igbo’s children would not
have it. They feel instead that it is their father’s compound and they are
ENTITLED to leave their mother’s bungalow and reside in any of the other ones,
if they so desire. (IDEALLY RIGHT, WHERE THERE IS LOTS OF LOVE; BUT NOT ALWAYS
PRACTICABLE ESPECIALLY IF THERE IS NO LOVE LOST)
Of course the half-brothers and
half-sisters are enraged by Lolo Igbo’s children’s stubborn defiance; so, in
attempting to forcibly eject them from Lolo Igbo’s co-wives’ domains, lots of
the Igbo children lose their lives.
Now, Lolo Igbo and her surviving
children cry, “Bloody murder!”
As
a bona fide Eziada Igbo, I then ask:
1. Under the
circumstances, do we really have the right to blame anyone else but ourselves?
2. Do we not say
in Igbo that: ukpara okpoko gburu, nti chiri ya”?
3. Are we so
resolute in our own self-ascribed level of knowledge and wisdom that we’ve gone
to the stream to fetch water with a basket (amakam ihe, jiri ekete kuru mmiri)?
4. Do we not
understand the simple basic fact that we cannot force ourselves on someone who
does not want us even if we happen to be siblings or half siblings? After all,
we don’t get to choose our relatives (half-siblings included), only our
friends.
5. Have we
stopped to wonder why our half-brothers and half-sisters are not breaking down
our mother’s door trying to come and reside with us their?
6. And what
about our polygamous father, Nigeria? What is his stand in all of this?
7. Could it be
that he has turned deaf ears and looked the other way because our mother, Lolo
Igbo Nigeria, is his least favorite wife?
8. Could it also
be that allowing us to renounce his paternity claim on us and secede from his
polygamous dominion would hurt his ego and embarrass him, but more importantly
deny him access to the economic resources in our mother’s backyard?
9. Assuming
these reasons were totally or partially true, shouldn’t that be strong enough
motivation for us to retreat to our mother’s domain, rebuild it, and then make
our case when we come to the general family meeting table at the main house
(father’s mansion)?
10. Have we not determined that we
can actually retreat to our mother’s domain, rebuild and develop it while still
sharing our last name (Nigeria) and a peaceful co-existence with our
half-siblings within our father’s polygamous kingdom?
11. Isn’t that how it really works
in most polygamous families?
In more general terms (non-scenario
specific), may I then ask:
1. Will it be
deemed over-reaction on my part if I characterize as callous, those who cite
“One Nigeria” as the impetus for espousing the establishment of micro Igbo
dominions within other linguistic regions of Nigeria even in the face of
foreknown unflinching hostility?
2. Are these
individuals capable of empathizing with the individuals and families whose
hearts and lives have been shattered and forever changed by the consequences of
the pogroms that have punctuated our history?
3. Does it not
make more practical sense that a sustainable egalitarian “One Nigeria” would be
better negotiated and achieved with mutual respect by designees of each
linguistic group who come to the Federal table from a strong, confident and
respectable home base rather than a resentful, envious, and even spiteful
victim-minded one?
4. If I come to
your home and you decide that I have overstayed my welcome and ask me to leave,
or else lose my life; is it not foolhardy, to say the least, for me to not only
insist on staying, but also demand the right to share your home?
5. Will it not
be wiser for me to heed your request or threat and exist gracefully, and once
secured in my own home (developed or not), then express to you my
disappointment for being excused from your home?
6. For those who
propose claiming dominion in another man’s land, and then establishing and
nurturing strategic alliances for safety and security; do you honestly believe
that when the chips are down, there are enough Hausas and Yorubas that would
lay down their lives to save that of an Igbo friend?
7. Given the
proven intellectual prowess and enterprising acumen of Igbos, can any of you
even begin to imagine the paradise that Igbo land would become if Igbos were to
invest in their land, half the energy and resources we spend in developing
other lands?
8. Even though
Igbos don’t have the enormous land mass that exist in the north, for instance;
could we not build on top of buildings, so that Igbo land becomes known in the
world as, among other things, the land of sky-scrappers?
9. Would that be
such an impossible dream to accomplish?
10. Have we not yet realized that
we are the direct architects of all the ills (kidnappings, child trafficking,
corruption, armed robbery, etc) that plague Igbo land? Why? Because all those
ills are the unintended consequences of our insatiable lust for non-Igbo lands
and our willful neglect of Igbo land?
11. Will I be branded a pessimist
if I dare predict that until we choose to shift our focus from constantly
retelling the tales of woes in Igbo land (problem mindset) to churning out
possible solutions (solution/result orientation) to those ills; we will
continue to spin the wheels of status quo, while delusively expecting a new
outcome?
My brothers and sisters of Igbo
extraction, “ariri erigbuole umu Igbo”! Let us for once in our collective live
take the challenge to retreat and develop from within. Let us initiate an
“Operation Develop Igbo land” and insist that until full development is
accomplished, all roads lead to Igbo land. We can do it! The devil is always in
the detail, of course. So, think results! Think solutions! Brainstorm! No idea
is too big, too small, or too irrelevant to be considered. Keep your ideas
coming until we find one or some that will work! If you condemn someone else’s
idea, please lay out your reasons, then present your alternative(s) along with
the underpinning rationale(s).
Long live Ala Igbo (Lolo Igbo Nigeria)!
Long live Nigeria!!!
Udo diri unu!
Much love
Eziada Dr. Pat Obiefule
(Opuruiche Nwanyi)
No comments:
Post a Comment