Before El Rufai’s confession, there was a tape that leaked years ago in which two politicians discussed how to isolate Igbos in Lagos and practically decapitate them economically and crush their entrepreneurial spirit & machinery, so they become beggars, essentially. When caught, they denied it wasn’t them. Musician, Shaggy came to mind immediately.
Fast forward to a few years later, the accused is become more powerful and the echoes of potential Igbo humiliation and isolation are reverberating again. Now, forget that I’m an Igbo man and please call me out if I tell a lie. Have you ever seen an Igbo man or woman doing business in a location they didn’t pay for, or own a land or home they didn’t pay in full for, anywhere in Nigeria? Have you seen an Igbo man in any part of Nigeria saying, “give me this or that location for business because I’m entitled to it?”
Have you any idea that after the war, Igbos were only allowed to go home with £20, and nothing more, regardless of how much they had in the bank? £20! And Igbos came out of that and became this today, and somehow, someone thinks it’s gonna be a walk in the park suppressing and isolating Igbos.
See, this thing is really very simple. If Igbos are not wanted in Nigeria, let them go! They’ve been crying to be left alone. No one wants to heed their cry. Basically, you hate on and smack someone down at the drop of a hat because the sight of them irritate you, but you won’t let them out of your sight. Just let them go and you won’t be irritated any longer. But you say no!
Well, in the long run, one of two things will eventually happen - you either kill that person or that person kills you. The worst mistake anyone can ever make is to think that the Igbos will forever turn the other cheek. No they won’t. Every bully in life gets his day. And that’s just how nature has made it. I only have fear for the day the Igbos finally say, “enough is enough!”
Igbos are a very peaceful people. We may have some elements of crudity and point-blankness in us, but we’re extremely peaceful. We’re not at war with any tribe in Nigeria. That’s why we’re everywhere. We make up the 2nd largest population after the indigenous population in every state across the Federation. And we’ve lived peacefully with our hosts ever since. If we were troublesome and hateful of others, we won’t have that much spread. Igbos just wanna be left alone to do their business in peace. But somehow, someone feels it’s okay to target Igbos for extermination for absolutely no reason. Well, Good luck with that.
I just hope that someday, those who beat these drums of war and suppression will wake up and realize they’re being used by the Divide & Conquer forces of darkness beyond the shores of our homeland who have held us all down all these years and would rather we’re divided rather than United to defeat them - they are the true enemies of Igbos and not necessarily the local tribes. Maybe…just maybe we’ll sit down and count the cost before the venture.