Opinion
By Val Obienyem
THIS morning, as usual, in his bid to renew his unsolicited adulation of the Yorubas, Uncle Joe Igbokwe posted this:
“Please join me to celebrate the Yoruba Nation, the most peaceful ethnic group, the safest zone, the most accommodating zone, the most educated zone, the richest, the most endowed, the huge economic zone in Nigeria.”
His friends must have called him out, saying, “Here you go again,” prompting him to follow up with his assessment of the Igbos. Here’s what he wrote:
“Let me talk about my zone, SE, also. They are very energetic, very enterprising, very bold. They can travel anywhere in the world to achieve their goals. They are developers, they are mobile, they are fearless, they make too much noise too.”
My comments:
Let me begin by noting that he said he was celebrating the Yoruba people, whereas he merely, as he himself admitted, talked about his own zone.
Joe’s comments, though seemingly balanced on the surface, carry a subtle bias that warrants scrutiny. While he appears to celebrate the strengths of both the Yoruba and Igbo ethnic groups, his tone and choice of words reveal a skewed perspective.
Firstly, Joe’s glowing praise of the Yoruba portrays them as nearly flawless: “the most peaceful,” “the safest zone,” “the most educated,” and “the richest.” These superlative terms suggest an idealised perception, glossing over any potential shortcomings that may exist within the Yoruba community.
In contrast, when discussing the Igbo, Joe acknowledges their admirable qualities, such as their enterprise, boldness, and developmental spirit. However, he undermines this by adding they “make too much noise.” Is there any group without flaws?
While it is commendable to celebrate the strengths of Nigeria’s diverse ethnic groups, such discussions should avoid reinforcing stereotypes or appearing one-sided. A truly balanced perspective acknowledges both virtues and challenges across the board. But Joe ought to know better.
But on the issue of the West being the most educated, I am ready to contest it. It is not true; the Igbos are the most educated in Nigeria. If anyone disagrees, let them provide empirical evidence.
As an undergraduate at LASU, I also compared Igbos and Yorubas. You may wish to read how I presented my viewpoints.
IGBOS AND YORUBAS. (Culled from my Undergraduate Archives, unedited)
If you will allow a slight digression, something happened to me last Friday. Just about twenty minutes before our lecture on Constitutional Law, four women-giants accosted me. They appeared so intimidating that fear was the first emotion that engulfed me. They wanted to know why I had written “so indignantly about women, thereby bringing their names into disrepute.” Thus, they asked whether I loved or despised women. I wanted to answer their question cryptically, but they insisted on a “Yes” or “No” answer.
On the contrary, some women told me they were pleased with the factual contents of the said article. Furthermore, they revealed to me that “The worst sayings about women are visibly and audibly true and are mild compared with what women themselves know to be their faults.” May I use this medium to assure our womenfolk of my usual regard, high esteem, and continual friendship. This is, by the way.
Let us focus our attention on the topic of the week: Igbos and Yorubas in LASU. LASU, doubtless, is a fully-fledged university. It is full of the frolic of students and the odour of learning. Evidently, the students come from different backgrounds, communities, local governments, states, climes, and orientations. Thus, we can say LASU is a microscopic representation of the larger Nigerian society.
In this society, the two dominant tribes are the Igbos and the Yorubas. Outside LASU, in the context of Nigerian politics, there is no love lost between these tribes. As far as we can pierce the mist of history, there has been mutual distrust, even to the point of antagonism. These are the making of our forebears. We are not guilty.
Ask an Igbo man why the civil war failed, and he would probably link it to what some call the “antics of the Yorubas,” as typified by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Ask a Yoruba man why June 12 was stultified, and he would likely link it to what some call the “outbursts” of the Igbos, as typified by Chief Emeka Ojukwu.
But here in LASU, thank God, students are not even thinking in such terms. Though there is a little “us” and “them” dichotomy here and there, by and large, there seems to be a tacit agreement that we should relate to one another on the basis of a sound philosophical anthropology. This is a philosophy that speaks of man as man, irrespective of background, community, state, tribe, religion, or orientation. This philosophy makes no distinction between the Masai and the Wandolobos.
On the basis of this philosophy, I had a long meeting with some Yoruba and Igbo friends. On this same foundation, my Yoruba friends bared their minds on what they thought were their attributes. My Igbo friends did just the same.
My Igbo friends, determined that Igbo legends should not be outdone by any rival lore, told me how the founding father of the Igbos, Eri, was sent down from heaven. They told me that the Igbos are among the most distinctive and important of all African tribes. They are probably the healthiest and strongest people in Nigeria. They show great physical stamina, magnificent courage in bearing hardship and pain, and a climatic adaptability that enables them to prosper in almost every zone.
Sometimes they are called “The Jews of Africa” because of their commercial acumen. The Igbos are so polite and obliging that one feels drawn to them at once. The Igbos are individualistic but know how to organize. They are, by nature, peace-loving and hospitable. They take up arms when freedom and justice are threatened; then the wildest passion is let loose. This was demonstrated during the civil war. The war is probably the most famous and typical event in the modern history of the Igbos and one of the most significant for understanding the Igbo spirit.
In Igboland, salutation is cordial but simple; there is no bowing, genuflection, or prostration, for that seems, to the proud citizens, a vestige of monarchy. In Igboland, every able-bodied male is a warrior. They are competitive beings and stimulate one another through healthy rivalry. They have no other government but that of each family by its head. In the event of a strike (as in the civil war), they chose their bravest warrior to lead them and obeyed him strictly. But once the conflict ends, they send him about his business.
The ability of the Igbos to recover from misfortune is one of the impressive wonders of history, part of that heroic resilience which mankind, in general, has shown after the catastrophes of life. Besides, Igbos are superbly intelligent.
Then came the turn of my Yoruba friends. They told me that Ile-Ife is the ancestral home of the Yorubas and that Oduduwa, sent by God, was the father of the Yorubas. I personally believe that the question of origins is one of the mysteries of history, about which we may believe and guess but cannot know. It is possible that they descended from Oduduwa. It is also possible that Oduduwa never lived.
Further to the above, my Yoruba friends, with cheeks bursting with pride, described themselves as the profoundest and most exuberant of all Nigerians and one of the master tribes on the continent of Africa, with a very active culture. They are the most polished and civilized in Africa. They are a proud folk, full of sophisticated people. Many are intellectuals with a heroic capacity for practical achievement in the field of thought. They are well endowed with imagination and aesthetic sense. Yorubas are a matter-of-fact people who are arch-progressives in the history of Nigerian politics. Their men are shrewd diplomats and journalists; domestic assiduity and mastery mark the women; calm temper and bluff good humour are found in both sexes.
The Yorubas, my Yoruba friends continued, are industrious, studious, loyal, and patient. They are hospitable beyond description and are their brothers’ keepers. They abhor injustice, tyranny, and oppression. You can easily identify them because they scarify their faces in patterns varying with their ranks. The women smear their bodies with pink and scarlet paint; some tattoo their bodies with indigo juice. The Yorubas are…
You, dear reader, seeking controversy, I can see you wondering why I chose not to write the negative attributes of the two tribes. Please do not blame me for not writing what I did not undertake to write. If you think the tribes are distrustful, salacious, money-conscious, tribalistic, deceitful, gluttonous, selfish, party-loving, showy, wicked, bestial, domineering, irredeemably dirty, etc., it is left for you to ascribe any of the aforementioned vices to any tribe you feel like. Not my business, I tell you.
What I have done in this article is to represent each tribe from their own perspective, knowing full well that nobody judges themselves badly. It is easy to appreciate one’s tribe; that is why it is pertinent to remember the remark of the Moroccan traveller who, on returning from a visit to Europe, exclaimed, “What a comfort to be getting back to civilization.” An Igbo man will express similar relief on returning to Enugu after a sojourn in Lagos. Tell a Yoruba man to go to Enugu, and he will most probably, though not certainly, shudder in revulsion.
In a manner of speaking, it is in the nature of man to be ethnocentric and to hold his own kind as superior to others; so was it, so is it, so will it ever be.
Val.
200 Level Law
23rd November, 2024.
C.E.
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