If I Were The Igbos

The Insight by Lateef Adewole

Igbo kwenu! Igbo kwezuenu! Firstly, I want to acknowledge the forceful and resilient spirit of the Igbos. This is one thing no one can take away from them. How the other tribes perceive such is a different thing. And what they do with such ‘blessing’ is also another kettle of fish. It is like a double-edged sword, what it is put to use, whether good or bad, is a factor of individuals holding the sword. Same way the Igbos deploy these characteristics, for good or bad. It is a matter for individuals to decide.

If there is one thing I avoid writing about, it is tribe matter. If there is a tribe I avoid writing about, Igbo is it. There are some reasons for this. As I have written many times in the past, I love the Igbos. I lived in Igboland for many years, about a decade. That period formed a critical part of my work life and growing up. After working for few years in Lagos, post graduation and national service, in a communication firm, I got another job in a downstream oil company. After few months of orientation, acclimatisation and work training, I was posted to the heartland of Igboland, the Eyimnba City, Aba, Abia State. “Nzogbu nzogbu, Eyimba enyi!” That’s how we roll in Aba.

That was an Business Area under our Regional Office, located in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. I was in charge of the company’s businesses in that area. My territory covered about 3 states; Abia, Imo and Akwa Ibom States. That was a great period of my life. The South Eastern region was so interesting and so peaceful to live in then, unlike what we have now. Aba was a commercial hub and a city which does not sleep. My work involved travelling across these three states. However, I took it upon myself to know about all other states within the region and in South South, despite being out of my coverage.

So, almost every single weekend, when I was off work, I travelled to different cities in different states, driving myself. I was yet to be married then, hence, the freedom to make those numerous and adventurous trips. That gave me first-hand information and knowledge about many places in Igboland. I saw the region as my second home. Although, my contact with Igbos started since childhood in Yorubaland, in my hometown, where many of them came for farm works. There were some in small businesses too, not as prominent as we have now. But, living for years in Igboland changed my life in good ways.

As a person then, I was conservative. Growing up, like many Yoruba people, I just wanted to go to school, get good education and excel in it so I could get a good, well-paying job that could liberate me and my family from poverty, and lived my life. That was why I wanted to work in Oil and Gas industry. I actually wanted upstream, as an Engineering graduate but landed in downstream, which took me to Igboland, and has taken me across the country. The real life experiences I gathered through having to travel all over the country, while working, were immeasurable. They molded me to whom I am today, beyond the bookish person I was, growing up. Travelling, indeed, is an education.

It was while living there that I met many people and made numerous friends who are Igbos. Majority of them are still my bosom friends till date. I would have married an Igbo girl but for the fact that I already had a beautiful babe who has stolen my heart in Lagos before I was transferred to Igboland. To be sincere, had she not been a very beautiful girl, there was no way those adorable “mammy water-like chics” all over the Igboland wouldn’t have snatched me from her. I always claim that Igbo girls are the most beautiful, or should I say that Igboland boasts of the greatest number of beautiful girls, in Nigeria? This is my opinion and I stand to be corrected. Unfortunately, I could not marry any one of them.

However, a younger brother of mine did. He is married to one adorable Igbo girl. That union has been over ten years now and has produced beautiful kids. While I was later transferred out of the South East to the North, where I lived and worked for another decade across many states, my brother remained in the South East till two years ago when that “madness” of killings and general insecurities that engulfed the region got to a head and it was becoming more risky for him and his family to continue to live there. Unfortunately for him, his base was in Orlu, the headquarters of the “madness”! He was forced to relocate back to Lagos.

It was while in Igboland that I saw many young people who were engaged in businesses. I saw the entrepreneurial spirit of the Igbo people first hand. Many of these people didn’t even go to school at all, or just primary or secondary schools. I always asked myself what these people had that I didn’t have. If they could do business and succeed against all odds, why couldn’t I? That was when the interest to go into private business, as against paid job, which was what I have ever thought of, entered my mind. And I decided I must do it. Ever since, I began to learn the rope, got involved and started side hustles. Here I am, srill trying to build my business after I voluntarily resigned from my job some years ago. I cut my teeth in business in Igboland. The Igbo people inspired me.

It is for this so much admiration that I have for the Igbos, that I avoided writing about them, because some of my opinions can seem to be scathing. And no one loves to hear the truth about their inadequacies. Yorubas used to say that when two brothers entered a room, if they come out laughing, they never told each other the truth. Whatever thing I write about Igbos that could be seen as scathing, is not written out of malice, but with the hope that some amendments can be made. No one is perfect or an island or has monopoly of wisdom. I only want the best for the Igbos, especially as it concerns their place in the Nigerian state.

In Nigeria today, Igbo always claim they are marginalised. I have disputed this most times. One basis for such claim is that no Igbo person has been allowed to become the president of Nigeria. This is not true as well. Also, majority of Igbos have ‘victimhood’ mentality. They always claim that other tribes hate them, are oppressing them and denying them their place in Nigeria. This is not also correct. And many other similar claims which are unfounded and not supported by facts of history.

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The 2023 presidential election was a close attempt. This is an election where an Igbo man, in the person of Mr. Peter Obi, tried to become the president, on the platform of the Labour Party. He performed reasonably well, far beyond the expectations of many Nigerians, including me. But, he lost. This was because of the same approach that the Igbos have always deployed whenever they want something. Professor Charles Soludo of Anambra State called it “Nzogbu nzogbu” tactics. He even warned that with the way and manner that Obi and his Obidient movement were carrying on, they might jeopardise the chances of Igbos to attain the presidency of Nigeria in future, as he could not win this time around, because he had no path to victory. This, he said, during the campaigns.

He wrote this in a very lengthy article. Obi is a former governor of Anambra State which Soludo is the incumbent of. Sadly, Soludo was abused, attacked, bullied and called all sorts of names. This made him to call the Obidient movement a ‘headless mob’. All that is in the past now but he has been vindicated. The outcome of the presidential election where Obi came a distance third position, did not show how Obi could possibly have won with his narrow base of ethnic and religious support. With the attitude that many Igbos exhibited all through the campaigns, before and after the election, it will be more difficult for future Igbo presidential candidate to get the mileage that Obi got this year. Something has been lost. The masquerade has been derobed. Winning other tribes’ trust will be more difficult.

In January 29th, 2022, long before the primary elections began, I wrote an article titled: “An Igbo Presidency That May Never Be”. Expectedly, I received backlash from many Igbos, including some of my friends. They felt I was anti-Igbo with such opinion. Well, I wrote that article based on my observations of how the Igbos, their leadership and the region, were going about their aspiration to get the presidency. It turned out that all what I predicted would happen if their tactics were not changed (which didn’t change), eventually happened. I am back again now.

Whether Igbos desire to become president of Nigeria or to have a separate and independent country of their own, based on the agitation for Biafra, this their current approach may never yield any positive outcome. Let me now express what I think I would do if I were the Igbos. I will approach the issue of Igbos existence and relevance in the Nigerian state in three ways; economically, socially and politically, in that order.

Igbos are some of the most courageous and hardworking people I know. They can endure to achieve whatever they set their minds on. Right now, they have the economic power in their hands through widespread commercial activities they engaged in, across the country and around the world. I have constantly wondered why Igbo people could not bring their wealth, both in finance and experiences, back to the South East region and develop the it to an enviable height. Rather, most Igbos prefer to claim that they develop other regions and therefore, have rights to drag the place with the indigenes, which often result in clashes that make them think everyone hates them.

China is not loved by many countries in Europe and America, especially the United States of America, which sees them as “enemy” that is trying to upstage them as the world power. However, the whole world, including the USA, have not much choices than to deal with China. Many American products are manufactured in China. China is the one of the biggest lenders to USA. America is indebted to China to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars (about $860 billion). Just imagine. You had to depend on and borrow money from people you considered “enemies”. That’s economic power of China. Igbos need to adopt this.

Imagine the South East becomes the industrial and manufacturing hub in Nigeria and Africa where everyone has to come to get whatever they need. The rest of the country and Africans will have to come to Igboland by force, whether they like them or not, just like China. This will hugely develop the region, make it more attractive and force migration towards there. More attention will have to be paid to the region by the Federal Government as the region will become a cash cow, given the tax revenues that will be coming from there.

It is from this point that the Igbos will activate the second approach: social. You cannot teach an old dog new tricks and leopard might not be able to change its spots. Igbos have their inherent nature that is unique to them. As republicans, which they like to refer to themselves, independent-minded, it is important to learn to stoop to conquer. Their boisterous and “loud” nature portray arrogance to other tribes. This may not be completely so. Therefore, the igbos have to adopt more cooperative strategies.

In the course of booming economic power in the South East region that would have drawn other tribes from across the country to Igboland, the Igbos have to start establishing stronger social ties with them. Forming more enduring and endearing relationships, building bridges across the tribes, religions and regions, must be undertaken deliberately and genuinely. Trying to be smart by half, by pretending to want relationships with other tribes when not sincere about them will backfire, as they will be exposed eventually. The Igbos have to genuinely want, accept, respect and possibly develop love for other tribes. This is the only way they can win them over. Not “use to dump” mentality. It won’t work.

As socio-economical relationships between the Igbos and other parts of Nigeria blossom, it will be natural that the rest of the country will be willing and ready to support the Igbos whenever they call upon them. It is at this point, that politics comes in. Many years could have passed. Let’s take a look at possibilities in Nigeria today. President Tinubu will be there for four years in the first term and will likely go for another four years of second term, if God wills.

After then, it will be agitated that power has to return to the North, which will be the fair thing to do, something I, like many other Nigerians, criticised Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for. He was being selfish and unjust by wanting power to remain in the North after eight years of Buhari. That was his undoing. Another possibly eight years in the North will make it sixteen years from now, when power will be expected to come back to the South, hoping we won’t have another “desperate Atiku” then.

By that time, will the Igbos be ready? Will they be prepared? Will they have built the structures required to get to that top? Will they have formed necessary alliances needed to achieve their aspiration to lead Nigeria? These, and many more questions, are what the Igbos today, need to work towards having resounding answers to, when the time comes. It is now left for them to do the needful or not. You cannot be doing the same thing over and over but expect different results. That’s the definition of insanity, according to Albert Einstein.

“Eni t’ogbon, to l’enikan o gbon, oun ni baba omugo” (he who thinks he is the only wise person, is the biggest fool). The Igbos are perceived in the light of this saying. Others see them as thinking the rest of us are not as smart or wise as them, the Igbos, by their ways, attitudes, utterances and actions. This has been their greatest mistake. If Igbos ever want to produce a president of Nigeria, they cannot bully or blackmail others to get it. Power is not served ‘à la carte’. You have to work assiduously for it. And not in the “emergency or adhoc” manner as we saw Peter Obi did when he decamped from PDP to Labour Party, just months to the presidential election. It doesn’t work that way.

I cannot deny that all past democratic presidents were “accidental” presidents. I have written about this before. It became a jinx that whoever aspired and fought hard to become the president of Nigeria never got there, until this year when Tinubu broke that jinx. He did this with hard work of three decades, not six months. So, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a step. No time is better to start than decades ago. The next best time is now. Igbos need to seize the moment and move on from brooding about Obi’s loss. It was a presidency that was never meant to be. Fighting, abusing, trying to undermine Tinubu or Nigeria, can only make things worse and more difficult, as I have seen many Igbos claiming Tinubu is not their president. That’s a foolish thing to say if you still claim to be a Nigerian.

As I round this up, I can only imagine the amount of missile attacks I will receive from many Igbos, including from my dear friends. This is the kind of bitter truth I avoid writing about, but once in a while, it must be done. I feel bad watching how desperate many were, before the elections, and how shattered they became after Obi lost. They put all their hopes in him, without proper preparation, planning and execution, than the emergency approach. I pointed all these out in many articles during the campaigns. But, when there is life, there is hope. He who fights and run, lives to fight another day. May God give the Igbos and their leaders, the wisdom to do the right thing to attain their dreams.

May God continue to protect us and guide us aright.

God Bless Nigeria.

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November 4, 2023.