by Femi Fani-Kayode
It is the igbo people more than any other that have complained about marginalisation in Nigeria, forgetting that there is no other country in the world in which there was a major civil war and yet only 10 years after that war ended the losing side produced the Vice President…
Permit me to make my second and final contribution to the raging debate about Lagos, who owns it and the seemingly endless tensions that exist between the Igbo and the Yoruba.
It is amazing how one or two of the numerous nationalities that make up Nigeria secretly wish that they were Yoruba and consistently lay claim to Lagos as being partly theirs. Have they forgotten where they came from? I have never heard of a Yoruba wanting to give the impression to the world that he is an Igbo, an Ijaw, an Efik or a Hausa-Fulani or claiming that he is a co-owner of Port Harcourt, Enugu, Calabar, Kano or Kaduna. Yet more often than not some of those that are not of yoruba extraction but that have lived in Lagos for some part of their lives have tried to claim that they are bona fide Lagosians and honorary members of the Yoruba race. Clearly it is time for us to answer the nationality question. These matters have to be settled once and for all.
Lagos and the south west are the land and the patrimony of the yoruba and we will not allow anyone, no matter how fond of them we may be, to take it away from us or share it with us in the name of ”being nice”, ”patriotism”, ”one Nigeria” or anything else. The day that the yoruba are allowed to lay claim to exactly the same rights and privilages that the indegenous people in non-yoruba states and zones enjoy and the day they can operate freely and become commissioners and governors in the Niger Delta states, the north, the Middle Belt and the south-east we may reconsider our position. But up until then we shall not do so. Lagos is not a ”no-man’s land” but the land and heritage of the yoruba people. Others should not try to claim what is not theirs.
I am not involved in this debate for fun or for political gain and I am not participating in it to play politics but rather to speak the truth, to present the relevant historical facts to those that wish to learn and to educate the uninformed. That is why I write without fear or favour and that is why I intend to be thoroughly candid and brutally frank in this essay. And I am not too concerned or worried about what anyone may think or how they may feel about what I am about to say because I am a servant of truth and the truth must be told no matter how bitter it is and no matter whose ox is gored. That truth is as follows.
The yoruba, more than any other nationality in this country in the last 100 years, have been far too accomodating and tolerant when it comes to their relationship with other nationalities in this country and this is often done to their own detriment. That is why some of our igbo brothers and sisters can make some of the sort of asinine remarks and contributions that a few of them have been making in this debate both in the print media and in numerous social media portals and networks ever since Governor Fashola ”deported” 19 igbo destitutes back to Anambra state. In the last 80 years the igbo have been shown more generosity, accomodation, warmth and kindness and given more opportunities and leverage by the yoruba than they have been offered by ANY other ethnic group in Nigeria. This is a historical fact. The yoruba do not have any resentment for the igbo and we have allowed them to do in our land and our territory what they have never allowed us to do in theirs. This has been so for 80 long years and it is something that we are very proud of.
As I said elsewhere recently, to be accomodating and generous is a mark of civilisation and it comes easily to people that once had empires. The reason why many of our people take strong exception to the apparant outrage of the igbo over this ”deportation” issue and the provocative comments of my friend and brother Chief Orji Uzor Kalu when he described Lagos as being a ”no man’s land” is because the igbo have not only taken us for granted but they have also taken liberty for licence.
We cannot be expected to tolerate or accept that sort of irreverant and unintelligent rubbish simply because we still happen to believe in ”one Nigeria” and we will not sacrifice our rights or prostitute our principles on the alter of that ”one Nigeria”. Whether Nigeria is one or not, what is ours is ours and no-one should test our resolve or make any mistake about that. ”One Nigeria” yes but no-one should spit in our faces or covet our land, our treasure, our success, our history, our virtues, our being and our heritage and attempt to claim those for themselves simply because we took them in on a rainy day. It is that same attitude of ”we own everything”, ”we must have everything” and ”we must control everything” that the igbo settlers manifested in the northern region in the late 50’s and early and mid-60’s that got them into so much trouble up there with the hausa fulani and that eventually led to the terrible pogroms where almost one hundred thousand of them were killed in just a few days.
Again it is that same attitude that they manifested in Lagos and the Western Region in the late ’30’s and the early and mid-40’s that alienated the yoruba from them, that led to the establishment of the Action Group in April, 1951 and that resulted in the narrow defeat of Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe in the Western Regional elections of December, 1951. As a matter of fact they were the ones that FIRST introduced tribalism into southern politics in 1945 with the unsavoury comments of Mr. Charles Dadi Onyeama who was a member of the Central Legislative Council representing Enugu and who said at the Igbo State Union address that ”the domination of Nigeria and Africa by the igbo is only a matter of time”. This single comment made in that explosive and historic speech did more damage to southern Nigerian unity than any other in the entire history of our country and everything changed from that moment on.
To make matters worse, in July 1948 Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe made his own openly tribal and incendiary speech, again at the Igbo State Union, in which he spoke about the ”god of the igbo” eventually giving them the leadership of Nigeria and Africa. These careless and provocative words cost him dearly and put a nail in the coffin of the NCNC in the Western Region from that moment on. This was despite the fact that that same NCNC, which was easily the largest and most powerful political party in Nigeria at the time, had been founded and established by a great and illustrious son of the yoruba by the name of Mr. Herbert Macauly. Macauly, like most of the yoruba in his day, saw no tribe and he happily handed the leadership of the party over to Azikiwe, an igbo man, in 1945 when he was on his dying bed. How much more can the yoruba do than that when it comes to being blind to tribe? Can there be any greater evidence of our total lack of racial prejudice and tribal sentiments than that? If the NCNC had been founded and established by an igbo man would he have handed the whole thing over to a yoruba on his death bed? I doubt it very much.
Again when northern military officers mutineed, effected their ”revenge coup” and went to kill the igbo military Head of State, General Aguiyi-Ironsi on July 29th 1966 in the old Western Region, his host, the yoruba Col. Fajuyi (who was military Governor of the Western Region at the time), insisted that they would have to kill him first before taking Aguiyi-Ironsi’s life and the northern officers (led by Major T.Y. Danjuma as he then was) promptly obliged him by slaughtering him before killing Aguiyi-Ironsi. How many igbos know about that and how many times in our history have they made such sacrifices for the yoruba? Would Aguiyi-Ironsi, or any other igbo officer, have stood for Fajuyi, or any other yoruba officer, and sacrificed his life for him in the same way that Fajuyi did had the roles been reversed? I doubt it very much.
Yet instead of being grateful the igbo continuously run us down, blame us for all their woes, envy our educational advantages and resent us deeply for our ability to excel in the professions and commerce. Unlike them we were never traders but we were (and still are) industrialists and when it comes to the professions we were producing lawyers, doctors, accountants and university graduates at least three generations before they ever did. That is the bitter truth and they have been trying to catch up with us ever since. For example the first yoruba lawyer Christopher Alexander Sapara Williams was called to the English Bar in 1879 whilst the first igbo lawyer, Sir Louis Mbanefo, was called to the English bar in 1937. Again the first yoruba medical practitioner, Dr. Nathaniel King, graduated in 1875 from the University of Edinburgh whilst the first igbo medical practitioner, Dr. Akannu Ibiam, graduated from another Scottish University in 1935.
Yet despite all this and all that they have been through over the years and despite their terrible experiences in the civil war we are witnessing that same attitude of ”we must control all”, ”we must own all” and ”we must have all” rearing its ugly head again today when it comes to their attitude to the issue of the deportations from Lagos state and when you consider the comments of the Orji Kalu’s of this world about the igbo supposedly ”owning Lagos” with the yoruba and supposedly ”generating 55 per cent of the state’s revenue”. It is most insulting. And I must say that it is wrong and unfair for anyone to lay the blame for the perenniel suspicion and underlying tensions that lie between the two nationalities on the yoruba because that is far from the truth.
We are not the problem, they are. Pray tell me, in the whole of Nigeria who treated the igbo better than the yoruba after the civil war and who gave them somewhere to run to where they could regain all their ”abandoned property” and feel at home again? Who encouraged them to return to Lagos and the west and who saved the jobs that they held before the civil war for them to come back to when the war ended? No other tribe or nationality did all that for them in the country- only the yoruba did so. And the people of the old Mid-West and the Eastern minorities (who make up the zone that is collectively known as the ”south-south’ today) have always viewed them with suspicion, have always feared them and have always resented them deeply.
From the foregoing any objective observer can tell that we the yoruba have always played our part when it comes to accommodating others. This is particularly so when it comes to the igbo who we have always had a soft spot for and who we have always regarded as brothers and sisters. It is time that those ”others” also play their part by acquiring a little more humility, by knowing and accepting their place in the scheme of things and by desisting from giving the impression that they own our territory or that they made us what we are.
Now let us look at a few historical facts and one or two more igbo ”firsts’ that many may not be familiar with to butress the point. The igbo people were the FIRST to carry out a failed coup on the night of Jan 15th, 1966 under the leadership of Major Emmanuel Ifejuna, Major Chukuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, Major Christian Anuforo, Capt. Ben Gbulie, Major Timothy Onwatuegwu, Major Donatus Okafor, Capt. Ude, Capt. Emmanuel Nwobosi, Captain Udeaja, Lt. Okafor, Lt. Okocha, Lt. Anyafulu, Lt. Okaka, Lt. Ezedigbo, Lt. Amunchenwa, Lt. Nwokedi, 2nd Lt. J.C. Ojukwu, 2nd Lt. Ngwuluka, 2nd Lt. Ejiofor, 2nd Lt. Egbikor, 2nd Lt. Igweze, 2nd Lt. Onyefuru, 2nd Lt. Nwokocha, 2nd Lt. Azubuogu and 2nd Lt. Nweke in which they drew FIRST blood and openly slaughtered and butchered leadiing politicians and army officers from EVERY single zone in the country except their own. I should also mention that even though this was clearly an igbo coup there was one yoruba officer who was amongst the ringleaders by the name of Major Adewale Ademoyega.
It was a very bloody night indeed. Amongst those killed were the Prime Minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa, the Premier of the Western Region, Chief S.L. Akintola, the Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Federal Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, Brigadier Zakari Maimalari, Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun, Colonel Ralph Shodeinde, Lt . Colonel James Yakubu Pam, Lt. Colonel Abogo Largema and numerous others. They did not just kill these reverred and respected leaders but in some cases they mocked, tortured and maimed them before doing so, took pictures of their dead and mutilated bodies and killed their wives and children as well. For weeks after these horrific acts were carried out the igbo people rejoiced and celebrated them in the streets and markets of the north, openly displaying pictures and posters of the Saurdana’s mutilated body with Nzeogwu’s boot on his neck, loudly playing a famous and deeply offensive anti-northern song in which northerners were compared to goats and listening to it on their radios, jubilating that they had brought an end to what they described as ”northern rule and islamic domination” and openly boasting that they themselves would now ”rule Nigeria forever”. Though the first coup failed the matter did not end there.
The very next day after the Jan.15th mutiny and butchery had failed and did not result in Ifejuna taking power in Lagos, the igbo people set their ”plan B” in motion and they were the FIRST to carry out a successful coup in Nigeria just one day later on Jan. 17th 1966. This was when the igbo Major-General J.T,U. Aguiyi-Ironsi (who was Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Army and who had inexplicably and suspiciously not been murdered by the young igbo officers in their violent mutiny and killing spree the night before) in collusion with the igbo Acting President Nwafor Orizu and the entire igbo political leadership of that day, invited the remnants of Sir Tafawa Balewa’s cabinet to a closed door meeting, threatened their lives and took power from them at the point of a gun.
Aguiyi-Ironsi did not just ask them to give him power but he took it from them by force by telling them that he could not guarantee their safety if they refused to do so. Meanwhile Orizu point blank refused to do his duty as Acting President and swear in Zana Bukar Dipcharimma as the Acting Prime Minster when the members of the cabinet and the British Ambassador (who was also at the meeting) implored him to do so since by that time there was a power vacuum because the Prime Minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa, had gone missing and had probably been murdered. It was in these very suspicious circumstances and as a consequence of this murky and deep-seated igbo conspiaracy that General Aguiyi-Ironsi came to power. Amongst those that were present at that famous ”meeting” that are still alive today are Alhaji Maitama Sule, Chief Richard Akinjide and President Shehu Shagari who were all Ministers in Balewa’s cabinet . Those that doubt the veracity of my account of this meeting would do well to ask any of them exactly what transpired during that encounter.
Yet the seeming success of the conspiracy was short-lived. Only six months later, on July 29th 1966, General Aguiyi-Ironsi and no less than 300 igbo army officers reaped the consequences of their actions and plot when they were all slaughtered in just one night during the northern officers revenge coup which was led by Lt. Colonel Murtala Mohammed, Major Abba Kyari, Captain Martins Adamu, Major T.Y. Danjuma, Major Musa Usman, Captain Joseph Garba, Captain Shittu Alao, Captain Baba Usman, Captain Gibson S.Jalo and Captain Shehu Musa Yar’adua as they then were. Lt. Colonel Yakubu Gowon was put in power by this group after that and a few weeks later between September 29th 1966 and the middle of October of that same year approximately 50,000 igbo civilians were attacked and slaughtered in a series of horrendous pogroms in the north by violent northern mobs as a reprisal for the killing of the northern leaders, including Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Saurdana of Sokoto, by Major Nzeogwu, Major Ifejuna and other junior igbo officers on the night of Jan. 15th 1966. Please note that despite the fact that a number of yoruba leaders were killed on that night as well no igbo civilians were massacred anywhere in the west by mobs in reprisal killings throughout that period.
The Igbos understandably left the north in droves after those terrible pogroms and fled back to the east from whence they came. And perhaps that would have been the end of the story but for the fact that they also declared secession and sought to dismember Nigeria. They then made their biggest mistake of all by provoking a full scale military conflict with Nigeria when they launched a vicious and unprovoked attack against the rest of the south attacking and conscripting the eastern minorities , storming the Mid-West and attempting to enter yorubaland through Ore to capture it. Thankfully they were stopped in their tracks by the gallant efforts and courageous fighting skills of the Third Marine Commando (which was primarily a yoruba force and which was under the command of the great Colonel Benjamin Adekunle, ‘the Black Scorpion’), prevented from entering the west, driven out of the Mid-West, pushed back into the East, defeated in battle after battle and were eventually brought down to their knees and forced to surrender to the Federal forces in Enugu.
The igbo and their Biafra fought Nigeria and killed Nigerians for 3 hard years in that brutal civil war in which over one million courageous, loyal and faithful sons and daughters of the Federal Republic lost their lives at the war front trying to stop Biafra from seceeding from the federaration, from taking our land and from taking the minority groups of the Mid-Western Region and Eastern Region and our newly-discovered oil with them. Yet despite our massive casualties and the monuemental loss of life that the Federal side suffered (a total of 2 million died on both sides) the igbo people were welcomed back into Nigeria after the war with open arms.
Yet it was only in yorubaland and especially in Lagos that they were given all their ”abandoned property” back and welcomed back as brothers and sisters without any reservations or suspicions whatsoever.
Everywhere else in the country for many years they were denied, deprived, shunned, attacked, killed, discriminated against and humiliated but never in the southwest or Lagos. It is the igbo people more than any other that have complained about marginalisation in Nigeria, forgetting that there is no other country in the world in which there was a major civil war and yet only 10 years after that war ended the losing side produced the Vice President for the whole country in a democratic election in 1979 in the distinguished person of Vice President Alex Ekwueme.
Some have described my submissions in this debate as being ”inflammatory” and have claimed that I am ”not a true progressive” for making them. I reject these labels and I wonder whether those people that conjured them up described the comments of my dear friend and brother Chief Orji Kalu as “inflammatory” and whether they labelled him as ”not being a true progressive” when he erroneously claimed that the igbo generated 55 per cent of the revenue and owned 55 per cent of businesses in Lagos and that they are effectively the owners of the state. Unlike most of those that are attempting to label me and brand me as a tribalist I know the history of Lagos and the yoruba very well.
We will not let anyone poison the minds of our yoruba youth or dispossess them of their heritage by keeping silent when we witness the irresponsible and dishonest propagation of the most desperate and despicable form of historical revisionism that some igbo leaders are suddenly churning out. If anyone thinks that they can intimidate us into keeping quite when their leaders say such things then they will have the biggest shocker of their lives. We shall not be silenced and they shall not pass. Lagos and the yoruba generally have much stronger historical, cultural and trading ties with the bini, the itsekiri, the uruhobo, the isoko, the hausa-fulani, the tapas, the nupes and the ijaws than they do with the igbo. The input of those other major ethnic groups to the development of Lagos and their stake in her is far greater than that of the igbo. Whether anyone wishes to accept it or not that is the bitter truth.
We will not let anyone distort history and we will not keep silent when we hear the irresponsible and disrespectful effusions of those that seek to substitute truth with falsehood. When it comes to Lagos it is time that everyone respected themselves and knew their place. The igbo particularly should display a much higher degree of respect and gratitude to those who were gracious enough to accept them in their land as equals when things were very difficult for them and who treated them with love, respect and kindness after the civil war when hardly anyone else was prepared to do so.
Guests, no matter how welcome, esteemed, cherished and valued they are, cannot become the owners of the house no matter how comfortable they are made to feel within it. Those guests will always be guests. Lagos belongs to the Yoruba and to the Yoruba alone. ALL others that reside there are guests, though some guests are far closer to us than others. The Igbos are the least close, the most distant and the least familiar with our customs and our ways. They ought to be the last to be claiming our heritage and coveting our land and neither can they claim to have made any real input to our glaring success. For them to think otherwise is nothing but delusion.
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Femi Fani-Kayode was a former Aviation Minister in Nigeria
Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.
In search of truth, I had to research Femi Fani – kayode’s article that led to the published rebuttal of Dr. Okafor (the bitter truth about the Igbo). I was old enough to witness the historical developments then (1966 – 1969). I was also a student of Government and Literature at my High School! It was in 1969, when Biafra military forces invaded the Midwest, and schools were abrutly interrupted! Permit me to render my unbiased opinon, and contribution. Chief Femi Fani – Kayode’s account of events as they occured, and the generous extension of friendship by the Yorubas is undisputable! I have interacted with the Yorubas on different levels. They are members of my immediate, and extended family. This not withstanding, I was a witness of history, and these are facts. Regarding, the embezzlement of $19 billion dollars meant for Air Port Development by Chief Fani Kayode, I have no direct knowledge of this, and as a result, I will not comment! What truly caught my attention in Dr. Okafor’s article is the historical relationship the Benin Kingdom, Eko, and Lagos. If Eko (Lagos) was under the direct rule of the Benin Empire, this is good history, and we need to know it. Although this was about 400 years ago, it is still relevant. Knowledge is a terrible thing to waste! The Edos and the Yorubas are both children of the Oduduwas! We are all brothers and sisters! We love our family heritage! The deportation of the (19) Igbos could not have occurred in a vacuum! Something led to this. We should trive very hard to be a community and a country of Laws, and not of Men! With this in mind, I will write to recommend that we should learn from our mistakes, and not to let history repeat itself! Let us live together as one family! Happy 2015, and let the sleeping dogs lie!
Kudos to u my guy!!!
U are a true son of Oduduwa
It is a pity that FFK has forgotten that Lagos was the FCT before,during and after the war…so it was most open and secured for any form of business activity as at that time;it wasn’t the hospitality of the yoruba man that kept the igbo man there…it was simply the security and concentration of the federal attention. As for the Igbo man,”If a snake bites you twice and you fail to find the antidote for it’s venom,the third bite will definitely lead to your death” The English man would say,”Once beaten,twice shy”…The same fate will befall you in Abuja sooner or later…Now the Igbo man is investing massively in Abuja because it is the FCT(so, relatively peaceful due to strong security) irrespective of the volatile security situation in the north. Soon and very soon,Abuja will become congested and the FG may decide to lift the FCT from Abuja to elsewhere…then,the Hausa man will come out and start preaching how hospitable and accommodating he was to the Igbo man against all odds,thus allowing them to stay in Abuja…A word is enough for the wise.
Ibos are bastard and nonentity in nigeria
Or better still, just ignore it and admire his essays as interlectual pieces intended to inform and enlighten, especially if you are compelled to comment on impulse of emotional surge, positive or negative as the case may be. Use discretion, my people.
Femi’s essays will achieve their true intent, whatever they are as long as everyone on this blog and wherever credit or curse his essays, and believe me when it does, goodness I say, history will repeat itself and there will be losers at all ends. So I advice, with no intent to reply anyone who agrees or disagrees with me, you my dear people to choose how you react. A slap may result in a fight or a brief nuisance depending on how the victim responds to it. Choose your words, reactions, responses, insults(if any), curses or praise carefully. I plead. Goodmorning and have a blessed day.
wetin be this????…lmao
even lagos does not belong to the yourbas …it oruiginally an edo area…that's where it gets the name eko meaning camp
Mr Fani Kayode Of course you ll have more access to the media house to be able to write whatever you deemed fit, your write up has no basis , I believe as a learned man. You ought to understand that been first is not been the best. The British colonizers came second to Lagos after Calabar and as such. The people that are nearer are the ones that suppose to benefit from whatever good or bad they came with and that was the reasons behind having either as you quoted the first lawyer, now let me as you a question , Britain have been existing before Columbus got to the America’s , and even colonized The same USA , now who among this two is calling the shots. The Germans have been there thousands of years before the same Americans but who is the boss now.? I believe as a the former aviation minister. You have been traveling all over the world for one thing or the other. Have you been issued visa to say Uk or USA and were told the particular area to visit , if not then. It means it’s the same country whether. The people your going to meet there are from new mexico or Alaska , so far it’s in the sovernity of USA. Are you aware that Adolf Hitler is actually and Austrian , but became a ruler of the German republic and caused the political harm the Germans are reaping till today as they became non veto power in the world of super power nations. It sounded funny to me when I read you piece cause I was baffled , a man who is formerly a public servant , in as such you are no more the aviation minister but it’s clear indication of the kind of leaders that filled up our nation . In America. Or Uk where most of the Yorubas live have anybody ever ask them to relocate to a particular town or the other , as British naturalized citizens I wonder why they are scattered all over Britain , without just concentrating in London metropolis , reason. Been that they are free to stay or live in any part of England , hence they are citizens . Nigerians Born in USA , when asked by a person inside the same country. Their place of birth of Course they do respond by saying the state of origin either from Connecticut , delaware or Utah. They wont say oooh , am from Nigeria and was born here or there , already they are Americans . Mr Fani Kayode Last two weeks there was demonstration violent one in morocco and I believe you know the reason , been that a Spanish man who was pardoned by the president of Morrocco committed an act that he ought not to be pardoned . And is that man a Spanish man , absolutely not he only acquired the citizenship as he is from Palestine ,What am trying to say is that if Nigeria is ours. Whether you are a Nupe man , Gwari Man ,Ibo man. Any where that please one then let him live there and if it’s not conducive the person has right to change to wherever he deemed fit . if its the case of begging to be accepted in one Nigeria because you came from another tribe , it means we are not one Nigetia. So let each side be allowed to stay on thieir own. In fact based on your saying it means. A Yoruba man who built a house to live in ilorin will one day be told to go back to his state of origin too because he is not a Kwara citizen , in. One Nigeria . This ibos that are been hosted to Lagos state that is Yoruba state , were they part of the census that gave Lagos state it’s most populous state and a mega city status . or did they apportion the Igbo population to their various state during the census counting . Their numbers were used for census boost. Only to be remembered now as those been hosted , who is hosting who . Is Lagos state a republic inside Nigeria . Or one of the 36 states of Nigeria .
During the pogrom in the north , you were not aware that some Yorubas alike lost their lives too . Governor Fajuyi did what few people in life will do , and anytime we the ibos remain gratitude to him for showing that gallantry attitude towards our brother. When obasanjo came to Power the igbos supported him en masse more than his own kinsmen , again Fashola was voted en masse again by the igbos against the wish of some Yorubas who felt he wasn’t loyal to his God father in fact a lot of ibos swore that no matter the intimidation that they will vote to see that fashola stays back in the state house.
By the way this Lagos that is been dragged by the Yorubas as per fatherland , is it a country on its own , if its course the ibos, calabarians, ijaw, Hausa. Will definitely seek for visa. Before coming over , of which the same thing will be applicable to the Yorubas going to other places , but unfortunately this is the same Lagos that is part of parcel of Nigeria and then non indigenes are expected to pay homage because they are been hosted , then what are the Yorubas living in other state s going to be doing , same thing if I may ask?
As an intellectual. We’re you aware that the British mornach aren’t from Britain? Yet I have never heard where the overall British subjects ask them to return to their home of origin , or tell them that they are strangers in Britain. They would have ask them to return back to Norman France.
The Americans supposeley would have ask Obama to return back to Kenya and join his uncles to farm in their native Lou land. Or probably the European migrators to the America’s would have then ask the black Americans who came by means of slavery that they are hosting them in the land annexed by force with the spilled blood of the native Americans. And on the same note never have I heard the aborigins telling the British prisoners that was sent to Australia who became the now Australians to return back to their origin . Yet their ancestors came and developed there.
In all the quarrel between Mugabe and the Brits I never heard him telling the white folks that they are been hosted , yet he was having issues with the same Government that brought those white Zimbabweans that took away 55 percent of their ancestral lands , same in south Africa where the whites own virtually every factory and hotels . But is not even heard of that a black is telling a white south Africa , ooooooh do you know that this is my land , my fathers land . And if you don’t respect me or pay me homage I will either ask you to go back to Holland or Britain your ancestral home.
And Kenyan blacks too will remind the Indians that they are hosting them , I once met a lady of Indian descent in a flight originating from Germany to st Petersburg and she Said to me Hi brother and I looked surprisingly , until she now told me she is an afrikan , and I asked African? Then she said Kenyan . I then remembered that thousands of Indians are Kenyans, yet no day have I heard in Kenya of anybody telling the Indians that they are been hosted
Nigeria is a country for Nigerians from any part of Nigeria , but if by any means it stops to exist then the ibos will acknowledge their hosters as well as other s living in other parts of ibo land too will acknowledge ibos as their hosters. But so far it’s ONE NIGERIA nobody is hosting the other .
By then of course the street names will also start to change , eg awolowo road in Enugu . Will now be renamed to reflect its new status in the new country as. Well as nnamdi azikiwe street IDUMOTA , but whereas we are existing in one Nigeria , then let’s accept that third mainland bridge was built with The resources from eastern states . ,,,, of course that is what we use to call the overall area of the eastern land , before divisional propaganda to divide the easterners came up in the name of south south, I wonder why we don’t have North Norh. Or west west. So funny indeed, back to my point . In deed if some of the significant development that was done by the federal government was not paid alone by the Yorubas as per hosters of other tribes in a former capital , it means it’s a collectively a capital for every Nigerian.
Mr Fani Kayode I suggest you remind the Lagos state government to please publish the last census data which gave Lagos the most popular state in Nigeria and should in case by mistake there are non natives of Lagos that were counted to make up such figure of about 18 million or so, then let it be re assigned to their state of origin and recounted to avoid counting them together with the state that is hosting them . As it won’t be valid
Thumb up Femi.
we all should pray for peace and unity,the worst thing that will ever happen to Nigeria is hatred and tribal war between the Ibos and Yorubas,This two tribe are two near and interwoven geographically,socially and ecomonomically and to a greater part we can say religiously,We never know how we need each other until we are threatened by event.God bless Nigeria.
Why cnt u guys ‘igbos’ b realistic n reasonable just 4 once, it is so obvious dat u r actually fighting for what isnt urs bt bcoz u igbos have been immersed in lies conjured by ur 4fathers n bathed with water corrupted with greed, u ve found it difficult 2 accept d truth…Nevertheless, nemesis will catch up with u IGBOS! Thumbs up FFK!!
BRO FFK, wht of JUNE 12, ABIOLA N KUDIRAT any igbo involve in d conspiracy. pls b Man enough 2 shed lit on it. dt will drive home ur points abt igbos at least ds one is of recent. dnt b a coward just b bold.
Am not disappointed in FFK am yet to read an article that makes sense from him. Am more disappointed in every other person here arguing and fighting over tribal supremacy…the question is…is that the next step in our era of slow development,corruption and poor leadership? We must learn to ignore people like FFK,let him answer his case at efcc first ! If I see an South-African brother today,I will address him as a south African and not a Zulu,I would rather be called a Nigerian than a Yoruba man,in as much as Yoruba you can take that away from me but I won’t carry a yoruba passport! We have embraced federalism in as much as it is not working,we must play our part to make it work.God bless Nigeria which includes the Hausa,Fulani,Ibos,Yoruba,Effik,Ijaw,Itsekiri and every other tribe that make our country Nigeria
Wonderful how Igbos forgot that they lost the war because of lack of internal cohesion. The minority of the east led the federal troops through the creeks into Calabar and Port Harcourt.
This cork and bull story of Femi or what u call urself is what I simply call beautiful nonsense, u call urself politician yet u are using your own mouth to divide the country. Well u r just seeking for a notice from de great Igbos.
Its unfortunate dat people like Fani kayode still exist in D̶̲̥̅̊i̶̲̥̅̊s country. A country dat is already torn with sectarian violence, tribal wars. ℓ̊ thought he was educated,ℓ̊’m really dissapointed astonished at his comments. He is a pure Tribalist and racist. He needs a cross examination from a psychiatrist before he is destroys d peacefull co-existence of †ђξ Ibos n Yoruba. Ģ♡̷̬̩̃̊Ď bless Nigeria
Imagin dat! No b their fault. Frustrated Imbeciles!
First of all let us all be one as Nigerians.SECOND,I will agree with him on some points in the sense that the yorubas have been accomodative to the Igbo people ,I have never heard of a case wereby the yorubas attacked the igbo people for any reason what so ever.They have given them the room to grow business wise.Let me ask this ?They are a lot of igbo traders in the north as well Kano to be precise,can the Igbo man say that kano is a no mans land?They also do business there and also have an economic might there.So the man is right and the truth is bitter.Lagos belongs to the yorubas if there is any tribe that will claim lagos it is the binis
ffk is it bcos u r opportund 2 go 2 skul, many of ur people r still naive and uneducated. i served in one of d yoruba states n i discoverd sometin dt shocked me ‘secondary leavers dont understnd english’ this is unlike wht u experience in d east. students in villages in enugu did their primary secondary n university there and we hv a number of 1st class n 2.1s. many of them hv nt seen ore, let alone lagos
The yorubas are very ugly, dirty, and cowardly people anyway…
There’s not a single yoruba person I have ever known who was not a sexual pervert. All that matters to them is sex, sex, and sex, and with anyone, including their house-helps, in-laws, and even their blood relatives. Weirdos.
This is the best article from Fani…very much agree with his conclusion. Certainly learnt a lot.
I think is time Igbo's make their exit, enough is enough!
It’s the bitter truth indeed. Good historical perspective as well.
Well said FFK, but u forgot to mention that the major reason why the igbo’s went to war was becos 2nd Lt JC Ojukwu insisted dat power be given to the highest ranked army officer instead of Gowon. And dat officer happens to be a yoruba man. This z one of the biggest flaws of ur write up which shows hw myopic and sentimental it is. People lyk u are nt needed in this country @ all
I hv lived in the barracks all my life in lagos mixed with all tribes frm all ova niaja but wen I traveled to east to spend some tym,I discovered the true features of an easterner…God knw I can’t deal wit u pple.
Yes,an average easterner is industrious nd I dnt see u pple as a threat to lagos..You made an impact in lagos,dats a fact and also dnt forget dat we yorubas hv taste nd we believe in quality..forget abt FKK, he went too far to discribe an igbo mans traits which I believe every conscious igbo man will agree..An igbo man contested for a political position in lagos and won..dey also came out for governorship..where in an igbo man land will dat happen..You pple are nt accomodating..dis I knw xcept for few good hrt wich I belive must hv had sometyn to do wit lagos.. and lastly let the igbo man nt forget dat they own only small businesses compared to the great industrial base lagos is knwn to hv…we can do witout u but we are only goin to miss ur hustle if u choose to leave and I believe u shld think of dat if are truely a business champion as u hv always claim..And les not forget dat either yoruba,igbo or hausa, IN LAGOS ALL MAN FOR HIMSELF..forget were u come frm
Ademola any one can contest for any position in any part of the nation,if you meet the requirement,nothing stop you from aspiring for governorship in Anambra,Imo,Edo,Delta.Kogi etc Nigeria constitution allows that
Femi Fani Kayode respect Nigeria and Nigerians and stop this tribal nonsense, one Nigeria in unity we stand!
This Femi Fani-Kayode guy is a fool,how did he become a minister in Nigeria?,i am from Ghana and know that Nigeria operate Federalism unlike our Unitary system here.I believe he should be checked for madness,if that runs in his family….GOSH!!! and some people are supporting him on this?,i am disappointed.
Why is that igbos are like this; ikwerre people of river state are afraid of ibos, idomas and tivs of benue state close the eyes seeing ibos, the calabars of cross rivers never want them, if u call benin people ibos, they will change stands, hausas call them yinmirin bansa. Every bad and evil vices come from ibos; kidnapping from Aba, one chance from onitsha, Ashawo from owerri, eating human beings (carnivals) fom isialla nguwa and ohafia of Abia state, armed robbery from Onitsha, just mention few. I have worked in many part of ibo lands. Most arms that Boko haram are using to kill ibos are traded by the ibos from east to north. To verify this, check through obulafor in enugu, through Orokam – okrupo road to Makurdi. From Makurdi, you can reach any part of the north. Go and see the contrabands the ibos move to the north starting from 10pm. To cut it short, I don’t expect any ibo to agree with FKK, at thesame time I don’t expect Yorubas to sell our birth right. If ibos say Lagos is nothing without them then why blaming. Gov. Fashola for the expulsion exercise. Our Lagos will never spoil with or without ibo. What God has given Lagos is unique. it is this that is forcing everybody all over the world to visit and stay in Lagos. That is why it will always be CENTER OF ECXELLENCE. Tell Gov. Obi to watch his tongue before he talks to a yoruba man. We have facts and figures. This is just the beginning. FKK welldone, we are proud of you.
Adewale or whatever you call yourself you must be a capital fool,the known armed robbers like Shana-Rambo and the man just caught Godogodo in Lagos state i believe the are Igbos?,think before you speak,when it comes to tribalism in Nigeria the Yourubas are worst,i have lived in Nigeria for years and in Lagos,as a foreigner i will say the Yorubas are worst.
You must have smoked somethn very serious before coming up with this..I am so disappointed, the Nation is working towards unity for God’s sake!.Dear people we all need each other,we do so many things together,You can’t deny the fact tht you have best friends,in-laws,well wishers etc in other tribes ! so let’s ignore outdated human beings like this dan banza FFK,dan uba nka! And remain united . I love you all
You must have smoked somethn very serious before coming up with this..I am so disappointed, the Nation is working towards unity for God’s sake!.Dear people we all need each other,we do so many things together,You can’t deny the fact tht you have best friends,in-laws,well wishers etc in other tribes ! so let’s ignore outdated human beings like this dan banza FFK,dan uba nka! And remain united .
Its amazing that majority of those replying this article are those that are not leaving or working in Lagos or Nigeria. Please let’s not get emotional on topic which you may not understand fully.
Fact: Lagos State, due to the high level of crime in the country and state, have started the removal from the street, housing, training and transporting homeless people that have cluttered Lagos state over the years. Lagos State only transport them to their State of Origin if they wanted to and its not by force!
These people come to Lagos State and Surrounding State due to the peacefullness and opportunity that they MAY not have or see in their own State. These paople not only come from the East but also from other Yoruba State and the North of Nigeria.
Fact: Lagos State on monthly basis gets around 10,000 new intake per month. These new in-take jump on buses and make their way to Lagos without any planning for accommodations. They started wondering the street and after a while, they turn to crime to feed themselves.
A few months ago, I myself found 2 boys, age 13 and 15 wondering the street, I asked them where they were from and they said from East and they have come to Lagos to try their luck. I paid for their food for the day and gave them some money. After a few days I rang Lagos State Homeless but by the time they came, the boys had ran away.
Questions, who brought them to Lagos and why would an adult give them transport from the East to Lagos??
Question is: Why are they leaving their state for Lagos or South West or morelikely Lagos?
What have their Governor being doing since he had been elect?
Fact: Lagos States started to remove beggars and homeless people from the street about 3 years ago. Some have been deported to Chad, Mali as well as other part of the country without any incidents or issues from their government or State officials.
Fact: Lagos State before removing or transporting their homeless people to their State of Origin, looks after them, trains them in most cases and then ask them if they want to return home. If they wish to, Lagos State then contact their State Government for them to come and collect them.
Fact: Lagos State have in the past been contacted by other State to come and collect their Origins, this Lagos State did without any fuse or Media attention!
Fact: Lagos State wrote to Gov. Obi about the people of his state and for him to come and collect themn 3 times. But at no time did he reply to Lagos State request or question it! Even after he heard about it after it was done, he could contact directly Lagos State Governor for an explaination, again he did not! Why?
Fact: Gov.Obi is playing politics because its election year in his state this yr. Lagos State is ACN/APC while his state is PDP. So to make PDP look good in his state, they can claim to the vote in their State that ACN/APC don’t like Igbos!!!
On the topic by Orji Kalu that majority of Lagos was develope by Igbos, I ask a question HOW? Igbos are known as tradersn trading do not employe many people as manufacaturing does. Furthermore, Igbo trdaers tend to bring their “brothers” from the villages to work for them in Lagos! So how do they help develope Lagos when what they do is just add to it! And by trading they are depriving the country of jobs and capital flight due to the taxes lost from companies and individualsm
Fact: Lagos Start is own by Wema Board. Wema Board is a company owned by Yoruba State. Their main objective is to make money for them. These states are Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti, Osun and etc.
And as mention before many Yoruba and Nigerians in the past and present have contribute to the development of Lagos. Such families like Folayiwo, Akindele, Smith, Abiola, Sanusi and etc. Their developments still stands today!!
While today we have the great Industrilist such as Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Wale Tinubu, Tonye Cole who have invested heavily in Lagos and Nigeria as a whole!
What Fani-Kayode have said may not be agreed to by most but he has stated some of our History. The problem we have in Nigeria is we don’t know our history so that we don’t repeat our past mistake. If we know our history, I’m sure most will not be elected or reach the seat of power. Perhaps the reason why History is not teached in our school is probably due to the fact that some of the people who cause the major problem in Nigeria are still alive and still in Politics??
Orji Kalu may think he speaks for the Igbos but what was his history before he came to the public domain? It shows his character if he can not contact his Govenor to speak to Lagos State Govenor about this issue. But then again he’s out of politics and he’s trying to be relevent just like Fani-Kayode!!
The only sure way to know a fool is by what he says or writes.mr femi fani kayode,is a shame dat an ex minister like u,with his right sense said all dis.let me quickly remind u,the Nigerian BifrAn war ended ‘No Victor no Vanquished’check ur history,and also we didn’t claim to own anything,we just asked nigeria to allow us to go and stay on our own but hausas and yourobas refused because u people cannot do with us. I agreed that yurobas are educated,but Who challenged the white man to get independence for nigeria? It was an igbo man Great Zik of Africa.it was in d past that yoroubas will say that they are more educated than other tribes not now again,if u want let’s take statistics.FFK Igbos are not cawards or Lazy like the yourabs dat why just one man Great Ojukwu of blessed memory waged war against Nigeria which was den supported by britain,and the couldn’t defeat us.we are speacial tribe,and the early u realize it the better for u mr.Fashola of lagos state is sick to call an Igbo man a begger or a destitude.we abhor begging.An igbo man does not believe in begging,abd why must it be only igbos??.if u want to know more about the civil war history,plz plz go and read There was A Country By Prof.Chinua Achebe
Prof Achebe’s book was written from the perspective of an Ibo man, and I doubt if he would find any fault with the Ibos. Try to grow up, and be objective about issues, being sentimental is childish.
Love is what will bring Nigeria together and not ethnic or religious difference. Kayode,thank God for reveling to Nigerian's how big your thought on national unity is.
So ashamed that a former minister will be blabbing like a fanatical jerk.
Truth they say is bitter, pls can somebody of IGBO EXTRACTION provide alternate to the truth line by line with all sincerity of purpose
Arulogun,
You can travel back in time, decades ago and get the truth. We are a generation looking forward. Good luck on your trip. Mmtshew
Hehehe, Madam, Iwe na ewe kwa gi o! i feel U shaa.
FFK has said it all. All tribes should respect themselves. For someone saying If Igbo should leave Lagos, the land will be empty is irresponsible. They better leave and let’s see see who Suffers it most. Why can’t they ask their political leaders questions why they refuse to develop their region. They still their commonwealth and run to invest it in Lagos. My advise for them is to allow the sleeping dog lies, anything short of that will be detrimental. Fashola has done nothing wrong, Ibo’s destitutes are not the only people repartrated from Lagos, why the public outcry? Rivers did same recently. In as much as I will not support any action that will jeopardise the unity if this country, I will not support the idea of a tribe thinking they are and can be more important than the wrightful owners of the land.
They should leave Lagos so lazy people like you will grab their properties?,go and work,the Ibos i know are very hard-working.
There is more than enough challenges Nigeria is facing as a nation presently. A write-up like this will only cause more trouble,all what Nigeria needs presently not to crumble right under our nose is unity. Whether hausa,ibo or yoruba,we are one nation & let‘s strife to maintain such unity. I‘m not in support of a write-up like this because it does not bring solution but rather can cause more problem. Let‘s strife to be united as a nation,that‘s where our strenght lies!
Thank you Mr Adeyemi,is all about this wright up from no other person than someone who has been priviledge to hold a ministerial position in nigeria,what has the deportation of three nigerians to their respective state and the objection of governor kalu got to do with wright up like this,if this ex minister has done this in the western world here he would have been invited by the security agency.i wonder what government they operate in nigeria that the federal agecies sees nothing,and do nothing until it becomes BOKO HARAM.US intelligence will have reached this Man all this while.My sympaty with the ibos because they did nothing wrong,u dont just wakeup and someone fanning hatred upon you by generalising his hatred in public media.
If we must live as one government must be alert to its duties and inciting write-up like this must be discourage with all seriousness,there is an Edo adage that if u want to stop a fight try to first stop the querrel.Mr Adeyemi God bless you-
FFK is a little man trying to wear oversized clothes.
When he says "we", is he being illusory for speaking the minds of the "Yoruba?
Was a meeting held and communique reached.
The size of this pathetic essay shows the desperation of its author to appear coherent.
No other word but "Shame"
Pls help me tell those fools who knows nothing. Only to back stab. They are. All always afraid of ibo's bcos they know what we are capable of doing.
Who’s afraid of Ibos, if indeed u’re that great, all tribes wld be coming to your land, and vice versa. Think about the reason why Nigerians go to the western countries, and reflect b4 you respond.
It is dawn on me with comments pouring in from Igbos that they are truly tribalised. You are confirming the write up of FFK with your comments. When an issue comes up alleging Gov Obi sensitisiing you against your host community where you live without any molestation. We need you to criticise issues here constructively. Bring up argument to prove FFK wrong rather than claiming what you don’t have fact and figure of. Lagos State government proved re-integration with facts and figures. Proove them wrong and see the way we would support you. We are all stakeholders in Lagos. Weak people revenge, Strong people forgive and Intelligent people ignore and put records straight where necessary.
Please come up with any of the ‘deported’ person that was wrongfully re-integrated and be rest assured after critically review the position, an appology will be tendered. But note that Lagos state government has law on street beggars and urchins which I believe is for the security interest of all.
All negative comments are creating bad atmosphere that would hunt each and every one of us. We need to display love in anything we do to move country forward. God is LOVE.
You my brother speaks my mind. All the comments from my igbo brothers and Sisters here prove nothing but that they are tribalistic, arrongance and bitter as the writer of the article and the article itself. I have a question for my igbos. What will become of lagos if you all leave lagos?.The truth is Lagos belongs to yoruba, onitsha belongs to Igbos, Kano belongs to Hausas not only by people but also by there geographical locations. I’m not here to support the behaviour of lagos state govermment but this tells a lot about how backward other states are in terms development. As we delibrate on this issue, we can imagin how many number of people are moving in into Lagos on the basis of having a better lives as suppose the one they have in their state. This is not perculiar to igbos alone. If Fashola is trying to sanitise lagos and make it habitable for people the with good and legal means of living. I don’t see anything wrong in that and that is not being tribalistic in my dictionary. I think it is a way of sensitising other govenors and make them aware of their responsiblities. So instead of Igbos making it a tribal issue,they should be asking their leaders and themselves question as to why they think, they can only make it in Lagos.
Olamilekan,
You are one I can sit and chat with on this issue. You have spoken well! I’ve actually been trying to read up on the laws governing this deportation. If it is an agreement between States, and is the way the Nigerian political arena has chosen to make each state accountable for it’s own, then it is definitely understandable. I suppose Nigeria can’t be teh US were you are a resident of the State you live and work and pay taxes in. Then again, we are also assuming those deported are not tax payers. You and Gbolahan made some good points and I’ll try to read up some more, but that said, i don’t see anything tribal about the Igbo’s commenting on here to address FFK’s article which in its own breeds the grounds for tribalism. He is a mature man and should know how to hold his tongue or fingers. Certain things you don’t say. Reliving the past war isn’t necessary. Saying Igbo’s caused their wahala in the North isn’t necessary. All the pointing of fingers because one Igbo man made a statement that says Lagos is a no man’s land. Yes he has every rights to be angry and defend his home state. But address who made the statement and not write an article that will breed tribal war against all. I do hope we can overcome. I do hope all tribal centiments can be put to the past and we can move ahead and live in a better Nigeria. I may be dreaming, but hey! What do we have if we ain’t got dreams?! Peace&Blessings!
Femi you are definitly dumb or bereaved of ideas, did d igbo men steal your lands or your business, or did they buy the lands and invested in your town cos of the closeness to the ports, if lagos is an island how come u share d same oil that flows from d south south, being stupid aint part of d virtures. I have read most of your write ups and believe me they are virtually naïve. So what’s your plans? Cause a hatred in d west against the igbos where u derive most of your tax from. Don’t bite the finger that feeds you. U don’t sell your lands legally and expect to acquire them back on the grounds that they belong to you. Why don’t the yoruba buy land outside their territory, is it cos they aint social or they aint business inclined? If you wanna ignite a social unrest declare it directly and don’t sow seeds of hate. You just wanna hear the bells of war don’t u… Pls don’t provoke people cos if u do, u wud b indicted in it.
Fanikayode is uninformed ,he claim he's educated but he's nothing but a bigot ,self centered ,manaculic fool that think he can divide Nifgeria
This is issue is simple, let us sit down at a round table and talk Nigeria. Femi-Remi Kayode and others will finally settle in their land. Any person living there will have a resident permit or ECOWAS permit. Why is Lagos only developed and not other part of Yoruba Land? Let Fani-Kayode tell us more about Eni-Njoku must go and Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities. Why are Yorubas afraid to come and talk with Igbo man at National conference
The only thing more shocking than the truth are the lies people tell to cover it up. I see revolution coming. Good sense makes a man restrain his anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression or an offense.( Proverbs 19:11 )
@mike shud i begin 2 name d number of igbos dt r primemovers of SME’s n manufacturing. dnt allow tribalism 2 make u foolish. Igbos r nt only traders, they r business developers . One is running a vehicle manufacturing plant without seeing d gate of a university but u with all ur degrees(Bsc, Msc, Phd, MBA, MNIM etc) cannot manage a recharge card business. u r dee blaming govt 4 ur woes
To all d yoruba idots.(Ndi ofe manu)we are not even intrested in ur stupid lagos.ds is nigeria and everyone is expected 2 migrate 2 whereever and wen eva de like.if u people are so bitter wit d ibos y not encourage ur elders 2 simply split so we can all go back 2 our places.y are u all(yoruba and hausa)always afraid of an ibo man ruling?and as 4 wars u don't need 2 talk abt it cos uve never fought one and u don't knw wat it seems 2 fight one.ordinary d bomb blast of 200e got u all almost killed out of fear.don't pray 4 a war cos u can't fight one.lazy baboons
abegi joor…this is the same man that said Obama is an anti-christ and was pulling logic from thin air to support it.
U said it all nwannem !
misery they say ”loves company’. femi fani is just a frustrated nigerian seeking relevance.he’S OF NO USE TO D NATION that’s why he never lasted in the nigerian politics
Its unfortunate that after so many years our Igbo brothers still don’t know the deference between treading and industrialisation. Its a very stupid and inept for anyone to assume that some bunch of traders and in most cases tax invaders are contributing 55% of economic value into the biggest and the most commercialise state in Nigeria the second largest economy in Africa.
Why using abusive languge?.That does not portray you as coming from a culture that have respect.
I actually tot u r a politiccan.u r dividing nigeria with ur mouth.ibo r enterpreneurs and u can't take it away from them.wot lagos state did is wrong
You all need to understand the truth about Nigeria. Nigeria is free for all but the moment your colour, language, dialect, qualification, size height or zone comes into play as a means or source of division, be bold to confront it without reservation. The Ibo man is bold, independent and amazingly fruitful. When you think he is finished, sorry that's when he inject creative ability into the storm. You can't stop a real born son of Ibo land. You can stop some that are saboteurs,fraudsters and hypocrites. The real Ibo man cannot be stopped.
Comprehensive!! In depth, analytical.. Yet I, still believe some words are harsh.. But I respect Fani Intelligent now always..
Oh wow, so irritating and disgusting , those are the only words that accurately describe the comments that followed FFK’s opinion here — they almost all attacked the messenger instead of rejecting the message by providing contrary or conflicting accounts.
I am not Yoruba nor Ibo and i stands to gain nothing from this debate for making any contribution (on the side of ibos or yorubas), but only thought I should stick in my nose here and to let the Ibos know that to be everywhere doesn’t mean owning everywhere.
Also, it is thought provoking to read some comments here about the ibos trying to secede, but being forcibly held back by other nationalities on the account that Nigeria could be worst off without them and that Nigeria is the way it is because the Ibos haven’t been allowed to rule it in the past 40 years — these are incorrect. The Ibos need Nigeria more than Nigeria needs them regardless of their brouhahas!
While i will submit wholeheartedly to the fact the problem of Nigeria is not just Yorubas or Ibos alone, i strong feel that our problems as a nation was started by the ibos and mostly powered by them.They always want everything and not with everything to give back.
Lagos belongs to yorubas not Dangotes or the Ibos because of their investments in it — you don’t become a woman’s father by marrying her; you are only a husband!
Msalihu, may God continue to bless you with wisdom, and the abilty to face facts and say the truth without sentiments as you have just done.
The subject matter here are the Igbos, and like an earlier comentator said, they should take the right-up as a food for thought and reflect on it rather than attack the personality of the author with brianless derogatory adjectives. Yes, I agree, he may have been so blunt in spitting it out, but we (including the igbos) cannot deny that there are lots of truths in his write-up. Afterall, talking about bluntness, we all know that the Ibo man can be the most insensitive when it comes to making (even unsolisited) comments about others no matter how bad it humiliates or hurts the other man’s pride. Hence, they may consider this as a dose of there own bitter pill.
Also, I will clearly state here that their is no tribe in Nigeria, especially amongst the major 3, that as not contibuted to the national development of this country, so that mentality of the igbo man doing it mostly all should be dumped aside, Hausas are agrarian, industrial, and decent merchants, same as Yorubas in these speres even with the edge of education, so are also the igbos, who have done exeedingly well most especially in the middle maning section, (I.e trading).
But, not to miss the point here, I think the major question is how welcoming as the ibos been to other trides in terms of hospitality, business and politics in their own land as they have faired elsewhere? Answer: very Badly I must say.
Nice piece chief FFK,glad to knw all dis,I was alredy tinking dat lagos blongs to no tribe
This is empty. Full of empty talks and yet my wonderful Nigeria pple are taking sided with and against FFK. The greatest country in the world today is the most diverse country in the world. There is not one single state in the US that any set of people can take claim to as their heritage yet the US is the most prosperous country in the world.
The only reason why Lagos is the way it is today is simply because of the diversity and yet unity of its dwellers. If the likes of FFK had any education they won’t be coming up here and making empty statements. Nigeria has all the diversity to make a great Nation. All that remains is to forge the unity. The Likes of FFK who still think of heritage and ancestral rights make me wonder if we can really look pass our tribes and so called heritage.
Again I say this is empty and I shouldn’t have wasted time on it, but then if I succeed in educating the likes of FFK then its not been a total waste.
Nwogu Uloma Chinonyerem dream on
Igbo Kwenu!! Really sorry if you feel angry about FFK write-up. Even if the facts are right or distorted, it is meant for history and not the present. All we need at this point in our national life is brotherhood devoid of ethnic sentiments. What good will it be if the Igbos leave Lagos? There presence has added inestimable value to the economy of Lagos. They have even thread where sons of the soil dread. In togetherness can we achieve the Nigeria of our dream. Let’s work together and take our rightful place in the comity of nations rather than this unproductive ethnic fight. Have you all, including FFK, forgotten the story of the Hutus & Tutsis? Pls, let’s sheath the sword and embrace peace.
Bro u α̲̅я̩̥̊ε̲̣̣̣̥ one in a million. ℓ̊’m glad to see someone say d truth d way it is. In togetherness we stand. Ģ♡̷̬̩̃̊Ď bless Naija
My take? Nigeria has not recovered from the divisions caused by the civil war!
The diatribe from FFK is silly.And I shake my head when I remember he was once a minister in our country;such shallowness of mind with grandiose delusions.
Fashola was called out over this “deportation” saga because we expected better from him, considering his exposure and stellar governance records. Captured on camera saying it’s all politics(because Anambra is up for election in November) left me even deflated at how low we have sunk. I had thought BRF cld have called for a review of how an exercise that shld have “re-united the destitutes with their families” was so badly bungled.
That internal deportation of Nigerian citizens has become a policy of the Lagos state govt shld worry everyone. That the Igbo shouted most while SouthWestern and Northern states kept mum about theirs is not the issue. The matter is that NIGERIANS have been forcefully ejected against their will within Nigeria. That shld worry us, and not this unwinnable debate about who is better between Yorubas and Igbos.
Reading FFK pour out his heart on paper made me realise we still have a long way to go in our leadership recruitment process.How did this guy end up as minister? He cld think we was responding to Orju Uzor Kalu’s unguarded comments on the issue,but he betrayed his childishness in the quality of his response.
He probably desires to be seen as the new AARE ONA KAKANFO of the Yorubas. He is not.
You just hit the nail on the head with you comment.
Ok, apart from his shitty holier than thou attitude, is the history correct?
FFK is simply an oppourtunist, Nobody should mind him he is just looking for Lagos Goverment appointmet he has done before when OBJ was in power by coming out to criticise his rule then $ OBJ has to gave him an apointment in aviation $ what did he do? He messed up $ embesseled aviation money,dont forget that his case is still in court is money he using to pursue case so if you ask me i will say his pocket is going down $ he need money to sustain himself $ family $ also immunity protection because he could go to jail if found guilty who knows with this Oga Fashola can help him by giving him an apointment in Lagos state goverment,but i pity the Lagos if it happens!
Wonderful piece. Very educative. A guest will always be a guest.
Mr FFK, ur article and that of all those that support the attitude. Of Lagos state govt. is not unlike the Yoruba man I know. What ur article has just succeeded in doing is show casing the Igbo man as a strong and powerful person, who can go to a strange land and conquer all forces and become king. For ur information the Igbo. Man is not a destitute and can never be. The most expensive city to do business in the world is Lagos courtesy of ur Alaye brothers. How dare u say is the Igbo man that spoil Lagos. How many Igbo man is Alaye. If Fashiola is sincere with his mega city project, he should have started with Alaye cult, that is frustrating people's business in Lagos, because they are the real destitute. Secondly, the Igbo man is not claiming Lagos as his the Igbo man is Lagos as ur people are in London, US and so many other places. If ur people in other places are treated with contempt, may be there could have been more Alaye in Lagos and Ibadan that ur type would not have been appointed Minister in the first place. We are Lagos to do business not for begging as ur Governor claimed. If u go to our villages and cities in Igbo land there u know we are 21st century people. Look at Yoruba man calling an Igbo man Destitute and uncivilized. Hahahahaha,! All ur life u can never beat ur mate of Igbo extraction both in academics and adventure, get that into ur myopic sense. Thank God some body like u said this, because out of the abundant of the heart ur mouth speaks. Some of ur admirers confessed that the Igbo man has taking over petty trading from Yoruba man, and u are waiting for a day we will be asked to Go so that u can take all their properties, Lazy people. U that claimed Lagos has some other guests like Hausa more than the Igbo man, Lagos is Muslim state by politics take a look at Lagos during Xmas and new ur celebrations and see how the ever busy Lagos roads turn ghost of itself. U said u are a lawyer u better go and study Yoruba Law.
I useD to respect u but dis ur column has shown how myopic ur mind is. Who paid u to write ds trash. U streched n twisted truths n u sited no reference to ur claims. Its obvious u r being tribalistic with ur use of ‘We’. Pls u where obviously biased.
Fani Kayode as a young man and a one time minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, should not make statements with ethnic colouration like he has done. He should know that the Igbos are not a defeated race. The Igbos fought against injustice and ethnic cleansing. The Igbos have contributed imensely to the overal development of Lagos state. The Yorubas alone could not have developed Lagos the way it is today. The Yorunbas in UK have not been asked to go, someone owns there too but they are at home there. He should stop instigating a needless ethnic crisis
Honestly I am disappointed with the person of Kayode. In UK most Yorubas are seen as citizens, in a country that is not theirs. But here he has seen the Igbos as trying to take Lagos from them. It is quite unfortunate. He should know that what the Igbos fought for were the injustice metted out to them. What has he achieved so far as a Yoruba man?
Fani Kayode should be properly informed that the Igbos are not laying claim to Lagos state. However, it should also be noted that the Igbos have contributed imensely to the development of Lagos state and is still contributing.
Correct! Well said!
less we forget, TRIBALISM IS RUINING NIGERIA. It ruined Bosnia; Rwanda; and others. On the other hand, unity enforced the greatness of the US; UK; Germany; France; and others. Taking pride in one national identity. Honestly Nigerians are their own problem, very dull people. Sorry to say. Instead of focusing on how to get this money and prosper and enjoy life, they’re focusing on who is Igbo or Yoruba or Hausa. In the diaspora eyes, ALL Nigerians are the same, the same passport, the same reputation, but Nigerians can’t see this….
Our generation should save ourselves. Leave the old fools to be fighting about tribe, let’s face our own issues. PLEASE. We’ve been too stagnant for too long.
Lanre, Europe
Lanre,
You took the words out of my mouth! SAD indeed! I can’t even respond to some of the comments because i refuse to debate with some comments that seem to come from ill minded people who are part of our generation. Part of a generation exposed to globalization; thanks to social media and all other digital platforms. We are talking of making the world one, and here we are in a country still talking about who is Igbo, hausa, yoruba. Reviving history as not to educate, but as a weapon of destruction. There was also civil war in America. But you don’t see people in the North talking about Texas or whatever in that manner. It’s sad to see such a write up. Talking about what Nnamdi Azikiwe said ages ago. Uhhhmmmm, if you look closely, Nnamdi saying Igbo’s will get to rule was only proclaiming an opportunity to give them a fair chance to also have some important stance in the government as the Hausa’s had at that time. It’s like saying the Niger Deltans want to take over the world because they are claiming it’s their time to rule. And here he is trying to create a platform for feud. Just sad. From your name, you are Yoruba, and it’s good to hear your platonic stance on this. God help Nigeria! When these old fools, whether they are igbo, yoruba or hausa leave the coutnry be, then will we see progress. Then again, this generation also scares me. Anyways, let’s all keep taking it one step at a time, and saying NO to tribal write-ups as such.
Nikky I swear. We’re too young, too vibrant, too exposed to be quarrelling over the bullshit of our ancestors. Tribe? Who fucking cares? JUST BE RICH. Damn like the current President of the most powerful country in the world isn’t black. Unfortunate.
Truth must be told and abusive words should be set aside;issues must be tackled objectively not with illusion.The Fact is that igbos are having tribalism in their blood,moreso the reason why they consistently run into trouble waters with virtually all nationalities in this country.Shaddy deals,illicit businesses using commerce as a cover
Up,having the highest numbers of criminals locked up in different prisons across the globe yet,you shameless people still have mouth to talk,I pity you o.The crux of the matter is that you are contagious co-existing with people of humane mindset and heart of God hence,you should go for spiritual rebirth because this your attitude I see it as generational thing in all igbos dead or alive.Stop reigning abusive and denegrading words and face the reality.Go back and develop your land and leave other people`s land.Can you go and tell the Hausa-Fulani like that in their domain or in Abuja that it is yours?Shameless and stupid people.You don’t even have one mouth to fight a common course because,love of money has been your albatross from ages so shall it be till Jesus comes.Continue playing the second fiddle because that is your position.
All of you should bury you heads in shame.
Kayode is jet bt a sycophant meddling aroud de corridors of power lookn 4 any loose position 2 grab. Let's nt giv undeserved attention 2 a drowning fool.
Its gud 2 b popular bt not when it amounts 2 cheap popularity.
Nde be anyi e kelee m unu !!!
Hitler in one of his historic and brainwashin sermons once refered to the Jews as “Pple hu re everywia bt nowia”…he was makin d germans blive then dat the Jews re takin over the world n if they dnt do anytin abt it,their so called superior race will be exterminated…we all knw wat hppnd aftrwrd…millions of Jews were killed. Today Hitler is dead n is in d bad books of history n d jews evn hv a nation today n re waxin stronger n stronger…wethr we believe it or not THE WORLD CANNOT EXSIST WITOUT D JEWS!
Mr FFK if u like write all the sweet,bitter n sour truth abt wat u will neva knw..the fact remains dat NIGERIA CANNOT EXSIST WITHOUT D IBOS…we re everywia bt nowia..notin will deter us frm being industrious n focused,d fact is dat Yorubas hu re claming dat Lagos wld hv been heaven on earth wtout d ibos…come Dec chek out the so called busy city n c how deserted it will b…y? cos the Ibos hv gone to d east to celebrate d yuletide
FFK nobdy is claimin d ownership of Lagos soil with u pple bt as far as nigeria is concerned,we hv 100% right to exsist anywia we like,if ur owambe parents out of their reckless n lazy nature decide to sell lagos to us n we buy them,is it our fault? If u pple tink dat u cn do well in d east come on n lets see…u re talkin dat d Ibos re not accomodatin..datz a LAZY mans gist cos nowia in ds country re d Ibos welcomed too yet against all dese odds they force themselves n thrive in dose places evn wn they re killed..so Mr Yoruba man if u tink u re everytin, Onitsha, Aba,Enugu etc is there for u..come n show us d stuff ur made of. The north is killin us, the west is extraditing us..no mattr wat, our cause is a jewish cause n no envy no bitterness no rancour no killin or lies in d name of write ups lik dat of FFK cn stop us… the Hitlers will come n go bt the Ibo race will remain n grow stronger evn wtout LAGOS.
The lesson for my fellow Ibos is to look back home…d moment we start doing ds..we wont hv irrational n corrupt elements like FFK hu wia born yestrdy tryin to teach us tribalistic History
Having giving my own little opinion as an expression of disagreement with Femi Fani Kayode's stupid and incorrect account of historical rubbishness on Igbos, it is my pleasure to advice the Igbos that charity begins at home, kindly relocate all your businesses down to Eastern Nigeria as Nigeria is still one country. If Yoruba or any other tribe wishes to buy something let that person come down to east and buy whatever he or she wishes to buy. We must know that what Femi Fani Kayode just said represent to a certain degree the feelings of wider Yoruba people who are no longer comfortable with the growth of Igbo people in Lagos and Yoruba land as a whole. Why can't an Igbo man live and develop in Igbo land? Why running away from your land? Do we know that by this singular attitude that we encouraged Yorubas, Hausa-Fulanis and other tribes from not developing our areas for us rather they come, sell, buy something and then go back to their states without having to put anything on the ground whereas we come to their states for business, not only do we buy something, we also sell something and then buy land and built a house and stay behind, thereby forgetting our own origin. Let us tell ourselves the truth, we are not helping ourselves. Develop our areas and attract that business back home. After this, you then talk of having respect because Femi Fani Kayode's opinion is an insult addendum on Lagos State deportation of certain Igbos. A word is a enough for the wise.
Gbam, u have spoken well my brother.
Cyril, u deserve an award for your perspective. It’s refreshing to have you address my other igbo brothers like this. Having said that, we’re generally hard working people in this country. If majority or all of the igbos in lagos heed your advice (which I doubt), Lagos will continue to be Lagos. It’s no doubt that the igbo’s are a significant part of the state’s history but make no mistake, there’re a lot of entreprenueurs out there and they’re not all from the east. I have intentionally made this statement in hope of correcting some comments infering that the state would be nothing without the igbo’s. Seriously!!! Some of us think too highly of ourselves.
Well done!
Ndigbo left Yoruba land & Hausa land 43 years ago. Yoruba/ connived & conspired with the North using British influence & killed over 3 million BIAFRANS in their bid to force Ndigbo back into Nigeria.
Is very unfortunate that Yoruba who forced union on the Igbos turned around & claimed to be the host, hahahaha! Mister Man, any person who collected firewood infested ants, invited Lizard for a party, so stop crying because is too early. Lagos is another Kwara State, the game has started.
femi fani kayode( I wrote your name with small letters BC u don't deserve to be accorded rules of Eng. language) I'd a very big foooooool. He and his like are seeking relevance any people like him can only get appointment when a tribalist like is in power. He is disgrace. His warped thinking will never allow the luxury of another political appointment. No wonder he is facing trial. I pray he goes to jail so as to put a nail to his political coffin. Imbecile idiot.
femi fani kayode( I wrote your name with small letters BC u don't deserve to be accorded rules of Eng. language) I'd a very big foooooool. He and his like are seeking relevance any people like him can only get appointment when a tribalist like is in power. He is disgrace. His warped thinking will never allow the luxury of another political appointment. No wonder he is facing trial. I pray he goes to jail so as to put a nail to his political coffin. Imbecile idiot.
Just because this guy is a lawyer and was a government talk tool once doesn’t mean his brain cells won’t start rioting one day.
He needs a shrink urgently.
First, Barack Obama is the anti-christ, then, this?
I wonder if this is how he presents his cases in court: “My lord, my client is on the right side of this matter. Just take a look at these records on how his dad was the first Astronaut in the world, his mother is the first woman to ever speak on TV and his grand father is the first to take a picture of the queen, and …”
He slammed Chinua Achebe with these same references to his (FFK’s) family accomplishments in the academics. Now, he’s at it again.
I read about the war and the events that led to it just like he did. I didn’t talk to Ojukwu or Gowon but I know that my account will have all the “sheep” commenters above writing a different opinion.
The deportation case is a ridiculous one because there is no set out standard for eviction. There are no papers that certify I for instance to be an eligible residence.
Heck, I might get deported if I get myself drunk this holiday and doze off under the bridge.
Trust Naija “Task Force” soon, they’ll just catch anyone that refused to “settle” and deport them. Some of our brothers and sisters in developed countries go through this every waking minute of their lives. Now, I have to go through the same damned thing in a 3rd-world city with it’s filthy drainage, killer traffic, insecurity, unstable power, poor internet connectivity,.. e.t.c
I must confess, this guy’s a good orator..(he did his “mouthing” job for the country very well). See how he has people already shouting for all Igbos to be sacked from Lagos this night just from shaving off parts of the truth and presenting them in his warped arguments. Ah, well, Hitler was better at it though.
I thank God the Yorubas are not blood-thirsty and “pogrom-prone”. I would’ve started packing my bags by now.
READ THE ARTICLE BELOW AND YOU WILL UNDERSTAND FEMI FANI-KAYODE’S PROBLEM – Since he missed being born Igbo, he unleashes his revenge by vomiting this drivel:
For Ojukwu, I wished I were born Igbo By Femi Fani-Kayode
By Femi Fani-Kayode
http://premiumtimesng.com/opinion/4065-for_ojukwu_i_wished_i_were_born_igbo_by_femi_fani_kayode.html
Dim Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was not an ordinary person or one of the run of the mill leaders that we often eulogise after death in Nigeria. He was much more than that. I had read and heard so much about him throughout my youth and in various history books including the bestseller written by Fredrick Forsythe, his old English public school friend and biographer, titled ”Emeka” and another book titled ”The Dogs of War” which was later converted into a Hollywood blockbuster.
Yet it was only in the late eighties and early nineties that I got to know this man intimately. It was at that time that I approached him to do us the honour of being an Honorary member of the old September Club, which was the the leading ”newbreed” political club and association of that day. Anyone that was anything in those days was a member of that great club and the day that Ojukwu came to address us and have a long discussion with us was indeed a remarkable day. It was a day of revelation and truth and a real eye-opener. We were all thrilled at his eloquence, his passion, his memory for detail and his determination to fight his corner and maintain his cause. I fell in love with him on that day as tears silently came to my eyes when he narrated the plight of the igbo in 1966,1967 and throughout the civil war. I will never forget that day. He inspired us all as he spoke and waived his big white horn (a symbol of his position and authority amongst the Igbo) which he held with such tenacity.
Yet it was in the privacy of his Villaska Lodge family home in Lagos, which was located on the then Queens Drive, Ikoyi, where he had kindly invited me for tea, that I became utterly enthralled with him. It was almost an obsession. I remember telling him that day that my only ambition in life after leaving Harrow (the famous British public school that I had had the privilage of attending) and Cambridge University was to join the army just as he had done after he left Epsom College and Oxford but that my father simply refused to allow it. I wondered how he had managed to pull it off given the fact that we came from similar backgrounds. He told me that unlike the Yoruba the Igbo were republican in nature and very independent-minded and that an Igbo father could not easily dictate to a son what his career should or should not be. For a brief moment I was overwhelmed and I wished that I had been born an Igbo. How different things would have been.
This is the effect that Ojukwu had on me. He was a man that inspired such loyalty and courage by his very presence. He was a man that risked everything for the lives and liberty of his people. He stood firm when others ran, compromised and did back room deals with their oppressors. He was a great and a proud warrior. A true son of Africa. The strength and pride of the Igbo race.
Today I re-echo the beautiful words of King David when he heard about the death of his old adversary King Saul and in a similar way I proclaim – tell it not in the north, tell it not in the south, tell it not in the east and tell it not in the west….”for how are the mighty fallen”. Ojukwu has fallen yet he lives. He is buried, yet what he stood for, the Aburi declaration included, is not buried with him. Those ideals shall live and endure forever and shall be manifested in our lifetime no matter how hard the Nigerian state seeks to deny or resist them. The right to self-determination, the freedom to live in peace with our values and cultural identity unmolested and intact even in a multi-religious and multi-cultural state, the right to be free from genocide, ethnic cleansing, religious persecution and tribal bigotry and oppression and the right to live in a country where all people are equal regardless of their state of origin, religious persuasion or ethnic identity are ideals that Ojukwu symbolised and fought for during the civil war and indeed throughout his life. These values and principles live and are not dead and buried with him.
To Dim Emeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, whose exemplary life has given me and millions of others in my generation more purpose, strength and determination to continue the struggle than he can possibly imagine.
I have only the following to say. You stood firm and fought hard for your people when it mattered the most. Nothing else counts. A product of Epsom College, Oxford University and the illustrious and wealthy Ojukwu family from eastern Nigeria. The father of Biafra. A man of strength, vision and courage. What an extraordinary and noble heritage. We knew your father and your father’s father. They also made their mark. They were also great and powerful men. Yet you were the star that eclipsed all stars in the Nigerian firmament. Unlike many of those who have hail you only in death, you were man enough to stand up and say ”no more” and ”never again” when your people were faced with genocide and mass murder. During the civil war the Biafrans fought like great men and lions simply because they were led by a great man and a great lion. We shall continue the fight for liberation where you stopped. The battle has passed to the next generation.
The threats of continuous threats of death, destruction, assassination, incarceration, detention, jail, persecution, misrepresentation and the manipulations and activities of the powers that be and the princes and principalities in the highest places in our land cannot stop or intimidate us for ”our weapons are not carnal but are mighty through God in the pulling down of strongholds”. May God bless and protect your precious and gallant soul as you join your ancestors in the great halls of Valhalla where the brave shall live forever. May God watch over your dear wife Bianca and your beautiful children and may your name never be erased from the annals of Nigerian history. Rest in peace, great and proud warrior.
What a pathetic fellow. Just compare this drivel published by this fellow here and this other the article below also written by him not long ago, to see how his hyper-active mind works. A very cheap and dishonourable way to seek fame:
“Between Igbo, Yoruba And Other Nigerian Women”
By Femi Fani-Kayode
http://www.modernghana.com/news/3236…ian-women.html
I do not mean any offence to Nigerian women by asking the question that I am about to ask or by making the assertions that I am about to make in this note. However this is an important question that I have not been able to answer myself for a number of years even though I have tried my best to do so. And the question is as follows. What precisely is it about Igbo women that have made them excel in public office, business, politics, the arts, the sciences, religion, leadership and social activism in just the last 12 years when compared to their counterparts from other parts of our country?
There are, of course, some equally notable and brilliant non-Igbo women in our country as well who are doing, and have done, a great job in both our private and public sectors and who have also done great things in their local communities and in our nation. However when I ponder on this issue and I consider the names that are on my list of distinguished Nigerian women that have been outstanding in their various fields of endeavour over the last few years, the overwhelming majority of them are Igbos. A few names will serve as an illustration of what I am trying to say and let me assure you that I have had the distinct honour and privilege of either knowing most of them quite well or working closely with at least a few, so I am speaking from an informed position.
They are all well-educated, forceful, strong-willed, focused, creative, disciplined, passionate and decisive characters who are almost ”German-like” in their work ethics and in their pursuit of excellence and perfection. They really don’t take any prisoners when it comes to their work or calling and they all do their jobs, or whatever it is that they are doing, with an almost ”messianic” zeal. I am talking about people like Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (the former Minister of Finance and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria who is now the Managing Director of the World Bank), Obi Ezekwezile (the former Minister of Solid Minerals and former Minister of Education of Nigeria who is now the National Vice Charman of the World Bank), Dora Akinluyi (the former Director- General of NAFDAC and the former Minister of Information for Nigeria), Ndidi Okereke-Onyiuke (the former Director- General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the person that was credited with building it up literally from scratch), Roz Ben-Okagbue (a leading pro-democracy activist in Nigeria and one of the conveners and leaders of the Save Nigeria Group), Violet Yough (a successful, wealthy and well-respected industrialist and business woman of many years standing), Stella Chinyelu Okoli (the Chief Executive and founder of Emzor Pharmaceutical, the most successful and largest indigenous pharmaceutical company in Nigeria), Irene Iroche (the Chief Executive of Finbank), the late Genevieve Onyuike (one of the most versatile and brilliant lawyers in Nigeria and the former President of the Oxford and Cambridge Club of Nigeria), Joy Ogwu (the former Minister of Foreign Affairs for Nigeria and presently the Nigerian Ambassador to the United Nations), Evelyn Oputu (the Chief Executive Officer of the Industrial Bank), Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie (a well respected and notable writer of international standing and repute and the author of the international best-seller titled ”Half A Yellow Sun”), the late Flora Nwapa (the poet, writer and essayist who was the author of the Nigerian bestseller titled ”Efuru”), Akachi Ezeigbo (a highly respected Professor of African Literature of international standing and repute) , Stella Oduah Ogiemwonyi (the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sea Petroleum and Gas Group of Companies and who is one of the biggest players in the Nigerian oil and gas industry), Genevieve Nnaji (a leading Nigerian actress), Amaka Igwe (the respected film producer and director and a key figure in the Nigerian movie industry which is known as ”Nollywood’), Bishop Peace Okonkwo (the wife of Bishop Mike Okonkwo and the co-founder of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission TREM, one of the largest and most respected Pentecostal Churches in Nigeria) and so many others.
If you care to do the necessary research and see what they have achieved in their various fields you will be very impressed with each and every one of them. Of course we yorubas of the west have our very own female legends, bright shining stars and great innovators too (as does every other part of Nigeria) and we have had them for the last eighty years when none in Africa could come anywhere near Yoruba women in terms of leadership, class, style and innovation. A few names that come to mind are Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (who was the most formidable female leader and the greatest activist that we have ever had in Nigerian modern history), Kudirat Abiola (the second wife of Chief MKO Abiola, a formidable and utterly fearless pro-democracy fighter and the first woman to be martyred in the fight for democracy in Nigeria), Funmi Goka (who is both the first female and the first Nigerian Deputy Managing Director of Agip Petroleum), Folake Solanke (who is the first woman to ever be appointed as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria), Lola Shoneyin (who is one of the most forceful and insightful writers of her generation), Bola Kuforiji-Olubi (the first female Chairman and chief executive of a Nigerian bank), Eniola Fadayomi (a leading and notable banker in the early ’90’s), Aurora Kayode(the matriach and doyen of Lagos high society in the ’30’s and ’40’s), Bolanle Awe (a revered and highly respected professor of philosophy and the leader in her field), Ebun Oyagbola (the first woman to ever be appointed as a Federal Minister in the history of Nigeria), Nike Akande (the first woman to ever be appointed as a Federal Minister for Industries in Nigeria), Joke Silva (probably the greatest and certainly one of the most versatile and respected actresses in the Nigerian film industry), Biola Alabi (the executive director of MNET Africa), Olufunmilayo Falusi Olopade (who has contributed enormously to breast cancer research globally and especially amongst African and African-American women) and so many others.
However in the last 12 years the Igbos seem to have taken over in this respect and are now well-ahead of the rest of Nigeria. Just a few years and look at what they have achieved. It really is quite remarkable. Can anyone tell me their secret or why this is so? What could be responsible for their doggedness, their natural drive, their tremendous energy and their great strength of character? What is it about these strong-willed eastern women of Bantu and Igbo extraction that now and all of a sudden sets them so far apart?
Chief Femi Fani-Kayode was the spokesperson to President Olusegun Obasanjo; he subsequently became Minister of Tourism & Culture & later served as Aviation Minister for Federal Republic of Nigeria
http://www.modernghana.com/news/3236…ian-women.html
Guess he at least had to say something. Even if it was gibberish around the seeming truths.
for your information the likes of sapara williams, nathaniel King and many other distinguished personalities you mentioned have their ancestral linage in the creole. The creoles were returning slaves from America, brazil, carribian etc who were settled in the regions today known as liberia and sierra leone.many migrated to live in the western Nigeria, and were very famous and successful, having their ancestral linage as a leverage. And you fail to mention that under Chief Obafemi Awolowo's reign as minister of finance, he proposed a legislation that saw the igbo man receiving only 20pounds of all his deposit in the bank, forfieting the rest to the government, and few years later precisely in 1976, the indiginisation decree kicked in to the detriment of those who lost all their life saving, but received only 20pounds, as they could not participates in such economic projects that comes once in a lifetime, siffice to say this was calculatively done to disenfranchise the igbo man.
perhap you should have been truthful to yourself to aver that Lagos was the immediate past capital of Nigeria, and as such attracted people from all other regions of the nation for economic reasons.National capitals are deemed to be owned by the nation at large. In conclusion it is obvious why Nigeria has been stagnated and in so much choas, not when people like Fani kayode could be ministers with his tribal mentality and the truth is, we have his likes all over the corridors of power.
“You see my kind of loyalty was loyalty to one’s country, not to its institutions, or its office holders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death. To be loyal to rags, to shout for rags, to worship rags, to die for rags-this is loyalty to unreason, it is pure animal; it belongs to monarchy, was invented by monarchy; let monarchy keep it.”
“You see my kind of loyalty was loyalty to one's country, not to its institutions, or its office holders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death. To be loyal to rags, to shout for rags, to worship rags, to die for rags-this is loyalty to unreason, it is pure animal; it belongs to monarchy, was invented by monarchy; let monarchy keep it.”.
Quite a few comments on this topic are from ibo s claiming what Lagos would be without them? Lagos is a state who’s indigenous people are are versatile traders. Indigenous lagosians own a majority of the shops and property in Balogun Market and are renowned for their trade in fabrics among other things, if you can import fabric you can definitely import spare parts! It’s not rocket science Every single ibo trader who leaves Lagos can and will be replaced by a lagosian, infact the ibo traders are taking business away from the indigenous lagosians.
Ibo s are the most hostile, unaccommadating ethnic group of the big three – Hausa, Yoruba and themselves .
The liberties they take for granted in other people s communities they never give to others in theirs. Infact they don’t even tolerate themselves, take the case of the mbaise catholic reverend father that was refused by the Anambra people.
Despite the fact that it was the Hausa s that dealt ruthlessly with them preceding the civil war and a northerner was head of the Nigerian government that defeated Biafra they decided that it was the Yoruba s and Obafemi Awolowo that were to blame for their downfall. Of course it’s easy to pick on us after all the Ibo man has never respected brains, they have always been about brawn and brute force, never diplomacy, common sense and sophistication. They respect the Northeners who surprised them by being more barbarian than they ever where during the progrom where ibo s were killed in their tens of thousands leading to the civil war.
well said babe. the igbos are too greedy, and the love of money is ruining them everyday, especially their women. Wherever they go they love to show off, more of material wealth than brains or ideas or anything else. They are a big problem here in Europe. While other tribes are usually quiet and humble and try to go about their business, knowing fully the dirty reputation that Nigeria has worldwide, the igbos just want to show off and make noise any chance they. Honestly, the unity of Nigeria is not a must. We survived before them, or anyone else, we’ll survive after them. Its God that gives the power to make wealth, not man.
And less we forget, TRIBALISM IS RUINING NIGERIA. It ruined Bosnia; Rwanda; and others. On the other hand, unity enforced the greatness of the US; UK; Germany; France; and others. Taking pride in one national identity. Honestly Nigerians are their own problem, very dull people. Sorry to say. Instead of focusing on how to get money they’re focusing on who is Igbo or Yoruba or Hausa. In the diaspora eyes, ALL Nigerians are the same, the same passport, the same reputation, but Nigerians can’t see this….
Our generation should save ourselves. Leave the old fools to be fighting about tribe, let’s face our own issues. PLEASE. We’ve been too stagnant for too long.
Lanre, Europe
D Truth,
Are you serious though?! I just read your comment below thinking you actually had something to say only to see this. The igbos are loud in London. See this is why I can’t respond to stupid stuff like this. I could also claim yoruba’s are loud in London and give examples from people i know. Does that mean it is all yoruba’s that are loud? NO! So why would i come on here and proclaim such stupidity and them end it with TRIBALISM IS RUINING NIGERIA. Yet I am also upholding tribalism with my first sentence! You live in London, are exposed, please respond or post comments that reflect your exposure instead of making remarks that still add fuel to fire. Igbo’s are greedy?! ANd yoruba’s arent’s?! and how many igbo’s have been president of Nigeria? Who are the igbo’s that control the government and yet corruption and greed is killing Nigeria. My point is most Nigerians are greedy hence the pool of corruption and looting. If you want to point out a tribe that is greedy, good luck! But please be real. What started all this messi n the first place? Deportation of Igbos to Onitsha,. Why? To be honest, I have to read up on it. But that said, do you see anyone being deported from London to Wales or whatever?! NO! SO how can Nigeria accomodate such division? Deporting within a country. MAybe in a way to move the Igbos since they are overbearing and greedy as you said. Anyways, i’m done here, cause your first paragraph really contradicts your second. Let’s try and stay Nigeria till we do divide, if ever. I could care less.
Naa Nkechi. True I went personal for a bit, but I said that because I’ve seen the excesses where I am, and where I grew up. Yorubas could be loud when coming to speech-wise, and that’s when they’re having a party. But we Igbos…
Notice that I said “we igbos”. To let you see I’m not a tribalist at all. My dad’s Igbo, my mum’s Yoruba. By nigerian logic I should be igbo, but naa. I’m a NIGERIAN. I also grew up a bit in the North before I left for Austria. So I know what I’m saying.
If you want to follow up with me you could send me a mail at [email protected].
You say tribalism is ruining Nigeria but still come out to share your sentiments about igbo girls. You honestly sound confused so i’ll take that as an excuse for your sentiments about them. Do take your own advice.
p.s: If igbo girls are too much for you to handle, go after others, don’t come here and say all they are after is money and wealth over their brains. Its an insult and one that i’m pretty sure you wouldn’t want labelled against anyone you know.
Ibos don’t have to leave lagos for Yorubas to compete on spare part trading, Let yorubas compete, that is how Business is runs by competitions, If you cant do well in your lagos, how could you survive another Nigerian city. You brought Balogun fabric traders into your ill statement, Balogun trading situations never changed since independent, dirt looking with ill looking houses surrounded with Fab looking ladies chasing flies with brooms on left over plate of beans sitting in front of her shabby looking stores, how could you be proud of Balogun Bimbo? Hostility is not bad thing, just respond to that if you can.
Well said, I agree with u on that. They do not tolerate themselves not to talk about other Nigerians. When someone you know is from the same town with you is lebeled as outcast because he or she has married a family you have rusticated from the same town many years ago. Or even this towns people do not associate with the he next towns people because they battled over land issues many years back. So why is their pot calling our kettle black.
A man of dishonour who looted money meant for the development of aviation section, who also have no knowledge of history can only write from his biased and sentimental background. Mkpi
This is foolishness that keeps Nigeria from thriving. Lets get money and stop fighting over who owns Lagos . We are 1. The Jews don’t go around saying “he is a Danish Jew or a Israeli Jew – a Jew is a Jew. A Nigerian is a Nigerian, forget the tribe, love your people – the whole world hates ALL Nigerians an tars us with the same ‘corruption’ brush. We must love ourselves and improve the whole nation.
Biased man. There is no bitter truth in your writeup. The facts are not genuine,go deep into the history of nigeria. And for your information most of the investments in lagos r from other tribes not yourbas. Please my dear lady that said she served in igboland sorry you werent treated right but that doesnt mean every igbo person is like that so your case is an individual one. Ffk Get ur facts right before you publish rubbish!!!
FKK please leave this line of thought and let’s move the country forward. If Americans are still tthinking along these lines, they would have been stagnant; learn from them and progress. No one chose his parents or country of birth. We found ourselves here and we have no choice than to make it better my brother.
femi kayode has a morality problem hanging on his neck.let finish answering to corrupiont charges against him by the EFCC after which he wil be properly informed about the issue at hand if need be.he should bow his head in shame
My dear, he is looking for attention. Without ibos dere will be no Lagos…..bloody lunatic
Correct i knw if Ÿ̲̣̣̣̥ø̲̣̣̥u̶̲̥̅̊ see dis Ÿ̲̣̣̣̥ø̲̣̣̥u̶̲̥̅̊ must react.i ve bn waiting 4 Ʋя reply 2 dis aviatn shame. Ÿ̲̣̣̣̥ø̲̣̣̥u̶̲̥̅̊ лε A̶̲̥̅̊ true son of d soil.kip gv him facts.i dey Ʋя back bro….
Correct i knw if Ÿ̲̣̣̣̥ø̲̣̣̥u̶̲̥̅̊ see dis Ÿ̲̣̣̣̥ø̲̣̣̥u̶̲̥̅̊ must react.i ve bn waiting 4 Ʋя reply 2 dis aviatn shame. Ÿ̲̣̣̣̥ø̲̣̣̥u̶̲̥̅̊ лε A̶̲̥̅̊ true son of d soil.kip gv him facts.i dey Ʋя back bro….
correct bro.. he lacks fact
correct bro.. he lacks fact
While I consider this write up as an insult to Igbos and Nigerians as a whole, my words to Femi Fani Kayode is that Lagos State can never be Yoruba land alone in so far as Nigeria is concern. The only option that will make Lagos State an Yoruba land is if Nigeria is no longer in existence. Femi Fani Kayode wrote as if there is no law guiding and protecting Nigeria existence, therefore, whether Igbos lost the war or not is immaterial. The truth is that Lagos State Governor was wrong in the deportation of Igbos to Onitsha in Anambra Sate. Remember, if Nigerian oil was in Yoruba land, Igbos could have been left to secede from Nigeria as Igbos could have been considered to be useless but the oil kept Nigeria together. Why don't you give respect to those whose mineral you are enjoying Finally, your historical analysis pre and after the civil war up to now is rubbish because it lack concrete facts. Did you know what happened between Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the then Eastern Military Governor in the person of Late Lt Col Chukwuemeka Odimegwe Ojukwu before the war? Did you remember how Chief Obafemi Awolowo was released from prison before turning against the Igbos? Why was he (Chief Obafemi Awolowo) jailed for treason before the war? These and other historical facts were omitted from your story. Go back and do your research more.
While I consider this write up as an insult to Igbos and Nigerians as a whole, my words to Femi Fani Kayode is that Lagos State can never be Yoruba land alone in so far as Nigeria is concened. The only option that will make Lagos State land is if Nigeria is no longer in existence. Femi Fani Kayode wrote as if there is no law guiding and its existence, therefore, whether Igbos lost the war or not is immaterial. The truth is that Lagos State Governor was wrong in the deportation of Igbos to Onitsha. Remember, if Nigerian oil was in Yoruba land, Igbos could have been left to secede from Nigeria. Finally, your historical analysis is rubbish. Did you know what happened between Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the then Eastern Military Governor in the person of Late Lt Col Chukwuemeka Odimegwe Ojukwu before the war? Did you remember how Chief Obafemi Awolowo was released from prison before turning against the Igbos? Why was he (Chief Obafemi Awolowo) jailed for treason before the war? These and other historical facts were omitted from your story. Go back and do your research more.
I got halfway through this essay and I couldn't finish due to the constant rolling of my eyes and the bile rising in my throat. This man is an idiot. Seriously. Olodo.
Anyone Can say whatever they want about Lagos and Igbo, Igbos are not accommodating at all ,and the igbos knows this well.They should go and try that nonsense in hausa land,they ll be slaughter like fowls.Let all Igbos listen and Listen Well,if you are wise enough better start investing in your Land.Its a matter of time all the Igbos in Yoruba land will be driven out.Yoruba youths knows the truth and im glad il be part of it.How dare you come to our Land and spit in our faces ,Cowards!! and thats whom they are everywhere they go,you ve slapped Nigeria in face once with your Biafra who failed,Not again!!A word is enough for the wise..
Lol, Segun D, that will be an interesting fight. One that we all know who will lose……go figure.
My man,I suggest u go back and pick up education from where ever you stopped from,its a pity that in a country that is trying to move 4ward,sum1 like you is still believing that one day every1 will be asked to go back to their place of origin….it shows hw shallow minded you are….Av seen lagos and it cannot be the lagos we knw 2day without the igbos
Oh no, u guys are so stubborn.its easy for you to insult yoruba people, insult, FFK. What you fail to realise is that no yoruba man can come to ur land and claim your land. Either you like it or not the yoruba people are the most accommodating people in the whole of Nigeria and you are telling them to there faces that they are stupid for being accommodating. Do we all want to hear d truth? The answer is NO. but the truth is that this country can not move forward with the way we are divided because before each person thinks of Nigeria as a whole they will first thing of their individual ethnic brothers and sisters and the other ethnic group will feel abandoned and neglected and then there will be more distractions from the ultimate goal which is the nations development. This is one of our major problems in this county. Why dont we all split and go our separate ways since we all individually feel we can survive without each other.
Tosin,
I doubt any one has the time to argue if the yoruba people are more accomodating or not. They openned their land to the Igbos….Okay! Agreed! But who is trying to claim land? Please direct me to the statement which was made by oneman and now directed to all igbos. Its sad but reading all the comments reveals the underlying hatred for a tribe. In all I don’t see any igbo’s necessarily point fingers but rather trying to react to this article that is a catalyst for more tribal seperation. Please I personally will like to hear the truth. So spill it. Doubt it can be worse than what Mr FFK has said. using the truth and twisting it to fit the events at hand and its a shame loads of people are blinded by tribe. I will never agree to any igbo rubbish just because he is Igbo. A loose statement calling Lagos a no man’s land has now become the words of every Igbo man? Ha! Really though? Any was he trying to claim the land with his statement? Wasn’t he merely saying that Igbo’s also contributed to Lagos growth hence why deport them in that manner? I’m appauled by some reasoning. Like you said maybe the country should split. Seems even in this generation, there is still hate. As for me! I’m Nigerian and of Igbo tribe. Yoruba, hausa, ….. we are all Nigerians! Respect one another’s differences as you would your own blood brother who differs from you and let’s try and take this country forward. Peace&Blessings
Again, well said Nkechi. From the choice of your words and the solutions you profer I can tell it’s the same Nkechi who replied my comment on Ajulu’s post.
I just wish you’d take the time to reply some comments made by some of my igbo brothers on this matter. But again, maybe you missed them. Anyways that’s fine.
Now to all: pls be respectful in the words you use and in how you address others. We maay not see ech others faces but let me tell you here and now that a number of comments made so far on this subject matter have reflected the state of the minds behind those comments. Some of you have just been as bad as you claim FFK’s words were. For me though, while I found his write up educative, I can understand how it’d come through to the average igbo person reading. True, there’s a strong oppository tone in his words and I don’t think that’s what we need to run our minds on right now! So whether you be yoruba or igbo, learn to put yourself in the other persons position before you make anymore less thought through comments.
Am done here!
Cheers!
I pity people like you. The wind of revolution is coming. We were lumped together years ago by our colonial masters and unfortunately thats how we would stay. So Mr Segun D, grow up, forget your sentiments, and make something good for yourself because your igbo neighbour in lagos has a right to that space as you because he is Nigerian. Get it straight ok.
u are absolutely right we ur comment; The Igbos are very hostile peoples and not very accomodative at all. How many hausa or yoruba will U find in there land? None! and let them come and try all this rubbish in the North and that why we the Hausa are slaughtering+killing them all the time.Yoruba people are too lenient/are kind with ibos, let them come and do that rubbish here in kano, walai, we will kill them one by one as we usually being doing. mallam Aboki
@Aboki. Thank u for your opinion but do not forget Nigeria is in the present state because of our attitude to our fellow neighbour. No evil thought, action done will never go unpaid for by divine law. All these actions become force that are creating challenges to us today as a nation. We need to do unto others as we want them to do to us. Even when an evil is done, repay it back with goodness. It changes the mind of perceived enemy and they become our best friends.God is LOVE and no one can see Him without this kind of Love.
Its because they know yoroba people don’t have wahala. That’s why dey are spitting on our faces. They should go and tell hausa man that they own kano, kaduna or jos and see if they will not use them as nama.
Segun you too as a nigerian can live in any part of the country dont join trouble shooters like FFK,is just a political write up,probably eyeing for another position locally,because he just succeded in making another national appointment a burden.no national government will want a tribalist in his government and loose the eastern states.everything has its time.i come from Edo state and i am for the unity of nigerian.
femi fani or what ever u call yourself , you are a big CAPITAL FOOL go n enquire well the cause n root of the igbo seeking for their own free nation, don't smoke n begin to write nonsense bcos u just want to write something. big shame that someone hopeless like u was once a minister. big shame on.
While,wt d fmr minister say is some how good nd some hw bad,d good part of it is abt d fmr gvnor coment dt lagos is no man land is tpical lie all I knw rigth 4rm my tender age abt lagos is 4rm south west of nigeria nd who re d original nd inhabitant of dt region even a primary pupil knw is d yorubas, so y saying is no man’s land is a great lie. All we knw lagos is d comacial city of nigeria nd it blong 2 d yorubas,and abt education yes I blv d yorubas re far better dan d igbos nd d housa,bt I wnt d minister 2 relise smtin dey may b educated dan igbos nd in sme aspect like business d igbos re far better dan d yorubas nd housa bt politics u can take it frm d housa, so d three major langugge hv d gift dey receive each frm GOD.so d bad part of it stop laughing d igbos mr.minister cox dey hv been killing in d north dnt 4gt nt only d igbos face d killing even u mr. minister if u re in d north wil nt escape d killing so stop d mocking of igbos or do u wnt 2 tel me dt during post electoin crsis is only d igbos were kill no.including d yorubas nd others tribe so we shld stop d discreminaty nd embress peace,nd if d majority tribes re misbhvng wt lesson re u teching d minority tribe, so enogh of dis disgrss. GOD bless NIGERIA
Please name the highest academicial in Yoruba Land? Education is all about creativity & invention,please name any Yoruba made produce to prove Yoruba academic sophistication?
Onuma
August 9, 2013 at 12:04 pm
Please name the highest academician in Yoruba Land? Education is all about creativity & invention,please name any Yoruba made produce to prove Yoruba academic sophistication?
Well done brother! I like your comment! And I agree with a lot of what you’ve said
…but the truth is ALWAYS bitter though. Title: Femi Fani-Kayode: The bitter truth about the Igbo.
Femi Fani Kayode is desperate for relevance ! His arguments are usually pointless, myopic and shallow ! He is almost totally stupid ! How pathetic !
Like dey will always say D truth dey say is bitter. FFK may God bless u. You said it all what can I say. Dat is y d north will never let a igbo man rule is country because they always want to control what dey don’t ave. Full of nonsense pride. I don’t ave problem wit dem because I love dem and I ave dem as friends. May God help Nigeria.
Tayo name sake I just want to say if Yoruba don’t wake up and fight for what is there in this country others will take it away from us. example is lagos I am an oyekan and from lagos we need to stand firm for what is ours. one Nigeria or no one Nigeria. the insults from Igbo is just too much to take.
D truth dey say is bitter. FFK may God bless u. You said it all what can I say. Dat is y d north will never let a igbo man rule is country because they always want to control what dey don’t ave. Full of nonsense pride. I don’t ave problem wit dem because I love dem and I ave dem as friends. May God help Nigeria.
I don’t get how in one sentence you talk down on the igbo’s and then say you don’t have any problem with them. If you don’t have any problem with them why the negative remark? ‘Dat is y d north…’. Is it only the igbo the north has prevented from ruling?! SO what is the reason as to why the north has prevented the other tribes from ruling? Let’s all leave tribal sentiments and actually respond with some form of intellectual remark. Thanks!
Igbo are over bearing than other tribes we are not one Nigeria anyway. all the man is truth nothing but truth
—– Forwarded Message —-
From: RiversideNews Ltd
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thu, February 3, 2011 7:18:12 PM
Subject: A COLONIAL ADMINISTRATOR SPEAKS ABOUT THE BRITHISH AGENDA AGAINST NIGERIA
Legendary Harold Smith Speaks About Nigeria ‘hidden Agenda
The man Harold Smith is not new in Nigerian history. He is one of the architects of colonial foundation that midwife Nigerian independence in 1960.
I met him in a meeting three weeks ago where he opened up a bit about the lingering problem in Africa especially; Nigeria unbalanced protracted social political situations. We asked if he could make this known to the media. His response was “I am in my 80s now; I have agreed but in the past ‘they’ did not want me to say anything, but now I don’t want to go to my grave without telling the truth about the atrocities perpetrated in Africa by the colonialists.
Brothers and sisters; on Ben TV last Thursday, Harold Smith was on a program to reveal what went behind the scene before the independence. The Oxford University graduate had this to say about his role in Nigeria pre and after independence era.
‘Our agenda was to completely exploit Africa . Nigeria was my duty post. When we assessed Nigeria, this was what we found in the southern region; strength, intelligence, determination to succeed, well established history, complex but focused life style, great hope and aspirations… the East is good in business and technology, the west is good in administration and commerce, law and medicine, but it was a pity we planned our agenda to give power “at all cost” to the northerner. They seemed to be submissive and silly of a kind. Our mission was accomplished by destroying the opposition at all fronts. The west led in the fight for the independence, and was punished for asking for freedom. They will not rule Nigeria !
Harold Smith confessed that the Census results were announced before they were counted. Despite seeing vast land with no human but cattle in the north, we still gave the north 55 million instead of 32 Million. This was to be used to maintain their majority votes and future power bid. He stated that the West without Lagos was the most populous in Nigeria at that time but we ignored that. The north was seriously encouraged to go into the military. According to him, they believe that the south may attend western education, but future leaders will always come from military background. Their traditional rulers were to be made influential and super human. The northerners were given accelerated promotions both in the military and civil service to justify their superiority over the south. Everything was to work against the south. We truncated their good plan for their future. “I was very sorry for the A.G; it was a great party too much for African standard. We planned to destroy Awolowo and Azikiwe well, the west and the east and sowed a seed of discord among them”. We tricked Azikiwe into accepting to be president having known that Balewa will be the main man with power. Awolowo has to go to jail to cripple his genius plans for a greater Nigeria .
However, Harold Smith justified the British agenda of colonialism in Nigeria , which he believed was originally to help build Africa after the ruins of slave trade, but lamented that the British only looked after themselves and not after Nigerian interest. The British really let Nigeria down. When I see Nigerian been accused of fraud and from what I saw on the streets of Lagos ; the British were worst fraudsters.
Looking at the northern leaders now he said, “If they have any agenda in Nigeria at all, sadly it is only for the north, and nothing for Nigeria . He stated that the British look after the British people and this is so all over the world. He said the time has come now to see people of intelligent minds with an open and inclusive agenda for all Nigerians in power…people who will really look after Nigerians large population…but ”I still curiously and sorrowfully see now that the British has not let go of Nigeria…her wealth,. her potentials, her future. He opined that the Caucasian people now assert themselves as the keeper of the “New Age” keys. He therefore said that it is only logical for Europeans to maintain their position of power, scientific superiority, economic exploitation, they must continue to perpetuate their lies and falsehoods and this is the most unkindest cut of all in relation to Nigeria situation!
According to him, Nigeria , a great nation was crippled not because of military juntas or corrupt leaders alone but by the British and American fear of Nigeria great future. He confessed, “The fear of the place that will be our ‘dumping ground’ really occupied our minds”.
Some of the things he said were not new to Nigerians or to the whole world but hearing it from the horse’s mouth is quite revealing and established more reality zones. He finally submitted that the colonial masters have caused havoc while they were in Africa , and planted timed bombs when they finally left. What we see since independence, the administration of new internal colonial masters by fellow Nigerians holding sway in power is doing more damage to Nigeria . Instead of detonating the time bombs planted by the British, the north is planting mines.
He added that ‘It was my duty to carry out all of the above and I was loyal to my country. Nigerians should try to be loyal to their country leaders and followers alike. Love your country. You have got the potentials to be great again and the whole world knows this’.
I am sorry for the above evil done to Nigeria . I can’t say sorry enough……”
ain’t you hypocritical. Ur comments are contradictory
This article is an exercise in contradiction. When it suited the writer,the Igbo were welcome without suspicion. At other times, the Yorubas never ever trusted the Igbos! This to point out one out of a multitude of contradictory analysis.
The tragedy here is some people will turn this into another Igbo-Yoruba fight topic instead of taking it for what it is; the work of a deranged twisted mind. A man so desperate for relevance he will go to any length. Same FFk said sex was an act of worship! How ashamed Ur ppl must be of you.
U igbos I say again,are so so arogant and stupid no apologies.simple truth y on earth will you be claiming other peoples land because u so believe u are doubiously industrail with fake materials that can’t stand the test of time.you people need a reality check how many yourabas can b saying or doing how u doing here in you so called states.none sense arongant idiots,with no apologies.
Be a little civil. It is called maturity and civilization
your comment was exactly what i told this idiot on twitter, it's a shame to ever think he was a minister
I wonder when people of dis great ation will start to use their time for somefin essential. How can a grown up dude put pen accross for sopmefin of dis nature. Let d igbos evacuate Lagos and let’s see wot Lagos will turn into. This is bloody open secret that d igbos are being envied by dis parrot of an ex aviation minister my foot. Gush u make me sick, of all d History I av read about d civil war and one bequated me by my fatherTan eye witness account) ur account is an antonym u bloody liar. Mtcheeewwww. Just wasted my time reading rubbish…Tribalist like u, make sure u spent all ur life in Lagos as for us(igbos) we can’t help but to explore d country and beyond.
The day you realize that someone as stupid as Femi Fani Kayode was a former Aviation minister of Nigeria.
The day you realize that someone as stupid as Femi Fani Kayode was a former Aviation minister of Nigeria.
The day you realize that someone as stupid as Femi Fani Kayode was a former Aviation minister of Nigeria.
This essay does nt hv elements of tribal sentiments whatsoever. It’s jst quite unfortunate that we Nigerians like to hear what we wish people told us, We detest d truth in whatever form. FFK has only said the truth with facts and figures. It’s a food for thought for all my igbo brothers and sisters, so dt d mistake of the past will not repeat itself.
Til n until, we al learn 2 appreciate our divisions, respect n accept our differences, we journey bt 2 no where.
This man is just a noisemaker,when the guy that hacked down the british soldier issue happened,this same man started writing about illuminati and their connection to it,as if he know anytin about illuminati and i wonder if illuminati was taught in school as part of history.FFK,from ur write up you lack wisdom and i want to advice you to help urself by setting up an industry and run it with all ur so called knowledge.You mentioned the first lawyer/doctor,no profession in this world that you’l not find an ibo man,so wateva you think you have the ibos don’t lack any of them.Fashola decision may not go down well with a lot of people but i think he got it wrong on dis one but he stil remains an outstanding governor,if you wat it takes to help NIGERIA out of our problem,people will seeking ur opinion but the only place as ex-minister you r relevant is on pages of newspaper or social network.You so erratic,arrogant and violent,can any woman live with you cos you sound like sadist.People like FFK cannot lead yoruba people,you r not a leader,eachtime i read ur write up all i remember is Robert Mugabe,people who open their mouth b4 thinking…
A countrY where a particular people once wanted to be on their own but were refuseD by the other part of the countrY.. Can't believe that such thing done by a governor can be supporteD by a living being who is exposed and know the meaning of DEMOCRACY.
If u dont know wat to say better shut ur mouth up u tribalist.igbo’s made lagos wat it is today bcos of their had workn nature, abilty to socialise and adapt.nxt time mind wat u post to d public.bcos u dare not torch d tail of a lion wether deat or alife.
Sigh, every time I read his write-up and get to the part where they say Femi Fani Kayode was a former Aviation minister in Nigeria, I literally cringe in disgust and amazement and keep hoping for the day an article from him would make sense.
I say this with a very heavy heart, Nigeria will not grow as long as we keep identifying ourselves with the ethnic group to which we are born into. If you think i’m not making sense look at Countries that share the same sentiments as most Nigerians, they’ve not gone very far. But look at others that believe they are from one country. See how far they’ve come. Nigeria is for all and no ethnic group is for the other. Those of you that say the igbos were hostile to you, well everyone has their upbringing, being general about people would not take you too far too. I can only sit in another man’s country and pray for the day my people would be sane enough to wake up and realize that they all share one passport, hence one name. As for you Sir, i also look forward to the day when an article from you would make me believe that you were learned enough to have been the minister of Aviation for our country at some point in time, else you and a host of others are just about the things that are wrong with this country.
A very long note of utter nonsense. The reason the Igbos went to war was for a sovereign state of Biafra & when they’ve finally chosen to co-exist in peace as one, an educated illiterate like this can say such nonsense. Eat Lagos if you will but rather than allow tribalism sink the nation, let every tribe go separate ways.
igbos may b hostile or unfriendly but wht they cannot do is to deprive u of ur benefits or take ur life simply bcos u r a foreigner. take it or leave it. nw igbos hv nt ruled nigeria 4 more than 4 decade, can u nw tell me wht d country have becme. probable that was wht then igbo leaders saw n want 2 prevent. unfortunately, they went abt it in a rather wrong way. i tink, putting aside every tribal sentiments, average igbo mao is very passionate abt peace, hardwork n progress. that’s why d southeast has lowest poverty rate inspite of all that befell them . They r nt into do or die politics. All they ask 4 is d enabling environment 2 do their business. And igbos dnt envy any tribe. talk of doctors,lawyers,professors, accountants, scientist, engineers, computer gurus, we hv all
FFK, pls i’ll appreciate if u try settinp up just a factory in enugu. that will give u a beta insight into knwing hw supportive, peacefl, accomodating, gratefl and hospitable we r down here. May God decide 4 Nigeria.
I gotta say, I love that last line…..May God decide for Nigeria! Amen!
@Comrade Uche Emeka. Try not use any abusive language when driving home point. We are all one but when differences occur, it enables us to review our position and appreciate our diversity and strength. Do not prove that one tribe contributes more without fact and figure but no one can dispute the fact that Igbos contribute to the development of Lagos and southwest. We should start seeing ourselves as Nigerians than Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa for better Nigeria.
Sincerity required you to have said that to Fani-Kayode.
I am not sure were i belong in Nigeria, as I was born in Portharcourt, brought up in Aba, studied in Lagos and my parents are from Ibuzo. All I am trying to say is that we should think as one if we want our dear country to move forward. I leave in Europe and I can honestly tell you that there are divisions here. But what matters is that when it comes to national issues, all tribes (mainly language differences) put heads together and have it resolved. Therefore we should see ourselves as one Nigeria.
@ gbolohan, i can see the trait of tribalism in u. U read d insultive comment made by niyi 2 d ibos, & overlooked it. Bt u immediately noticed that of an ibo person & reprimanded him. Those who live in glass houses should nt throw stones. And as 4 femi kayode, am dissappointed dat a man of his status av such a small brain. Well, ibos away 4om home should see this as a warning! They should come back home & develop. Lets make igboland a china in Nigeria & form an indomitable region. Considering all yr investment away 4om home, its very painful. Bt its better late than late.
Too much grammar abeg go pack one side jare
I wonder why fools always keep on advertising their ignorance in this country Nigeria.when lion thinks dat he can kill d pig coming towards him not knowing dat d hunter has claimed to be d king of forest;dat is hooting d lion who brag around d forest.Young watch ur tongue,stop acting like an illitrate,illitrates says wat dey can’t do.Igbos ar d great in d country nd in d world today both in industries nd education.Emeka Emeagwara,Achebe nd great odas,so stop ur dat illitratic comment which may war again.Can u fight if war comes,plz lets use our knowledge to bring dis country in peace.
Guy u dare call someone an illiterate yet you can’t even spell the word! Your comments are not even coherent. Please bury your head in shame for the lack of education you think you have!
And I say the only reason Nigeria will die is simply because we have not shed our sectional and ethnic interests n origin, corruption n other societal endemic problems are only subsets. I predict the most horrific end for Nigeria.
I am an Igbo guy and Femi has told us about our status in Lagos and the western region,however it is not a bitter truth, it is a truth we hold and carry along with us every wr in lagos and the rest of Nigeria,no doubt it is not our own but we the youths of Nigeria have moved beyond those days of hatred and resentment as can be seen through Femi’s words,we are resolved to making our country a free and indivisible Nigeria wr a Yoruba can leave the west and decide to start a new life in Enugu or any wr in Nigeria and vice versa,we are resolved at making our country a better place for all to coexist,I concede however that in some or lots of ways we have been tribalistically unfair to ourselves in Nigeria but we have learnt from it,now we know better and we resist every attempt to incite us to be at war with each other again because clearly that is what Femi intends to achieve because when that happens him and his friends will be the chief benefactors leaving the teeming Nigeria populace to our usual state of deprivation,hunger and poverty. I thank Femi for teaching us history and presumably giving us facts we don’t already know but those facts belong to wr they should, HISTORY, and as we ponder on them it reminds us that against all odds we have managed to conquer and we can do and be better than our fathers or their fathers before them or even their fathers father before them. I urge Nigerian youths and all Nigerian in General to rise up and prove that we can be better, do things better and make Nigeria greater. I believe in Nigeria,join me and let’s prove the book makers wrong. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
*ClapsHands*
Ajuluchukwu, you have done well! I join you in the hopes that many more youths and those in this generation will see past or through this and come together to make Nigerian one. I commend you for this write up.
God bless
Well said Ajulu. You speak from a standpoint of hope and more tolerance. That’s admirable! While you may say, however, that Mr Fani-Kayode’s rhetoric seems one of hatred and resentment, pls let me draw your attention to the FACT that many of the questions he’s asked about the likelihood of the igbos to show the same kind of accomodating kindness they’ve enjoyed from the south-westerners has not got it’s place in history at all. Like you, I am a Nigerian youth. I served in Imo state, and I have got to be honest with you, the igbo’s are not in the least bit anywhere as accomodating as they have enjoyed here. Even some of you igbo youths who have stayed a greater part of your lives in the south west can attest to this. So you see, it’s very much something that applies to even this gerneration. I can understand your drive for a “one Nigeria” and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but try a little harder to accept the truth about the obvious faults and deficiencies of your people. Except you want to shut out your mind to truth and reason, ask yourself how the igboman will react to some of the comments that are being made by some of you igbos if they were targeted at him. To lay claim to someone’s native land!! To claim you have a right to another man’s land because you have businesses and have payed taxes. Let me remind you that Lagos State, nay, the south west is abound with opportunities and that, am sure you’ll agree is why a lot of non-lagosians are in the state/region. Else, why don’t you guys stay back and develop your home states? If you claim you provided half of the states revenue, I really wonder why the igbo’s have not taken all that economic muscle and put it into their own states. Those comments wreak of so much arrogance that it defeats any hope of unity. As though the state/region has not provided you what you may not have gotten, or at least gotten so much of back in your homelands. Again I served in the east and I know too well how comments of this nature has resulted into family feuds amongst your own people. How much more when it’s from an outsider.
Truth be told, my fellow countrymen from the east say and definitely do what they themselves cannot take. They want to take over in other people’s lands and even brag about it, and of course, will never allow such in their own land. Or do you think the yorubaman doesn’t place a value on his own heritage?
So dear Ajulu, before you go on preaching about “one Nigeria”, first pull out the log in your eye and speak the truth to your people!
Mr Fani-Kayode is merely speaking his own mind, and I must say that I have found it very educative. I don’t think he hopes to cause a division, but I know he wants to prick every reasonable igbo heart out there with the bitter truth.
Lastly, if there’s ever going to be a “one Nigeria”, let me say that it’s will not take rocket-science to know that every single tribe will have to embrace every other tribe. I will not be out of place to say the yoruba and a good number of tribes in this country’s history cannot but score well based on this criteria. So Ajuluchukwu, you honestly tell me if you think the igbos are ready to, on their part, have a One Nigeria!?
Kunle,
Sad to hear about your experience in Imo State. I’m curious to know how/what examples or experiences you came across that makes you say the Ibo’s are not accomodating? I’m also likely missing something, but are the Igbos (how ever few they are that made such comments, yet we will throw it at all the igbos) laying claim to Lagos? I thought they were only trying to point out how significant they have been in it’s development along with other tribes and internationals. Why in the first place were these comments made? The deportation of Igbo’s right? And someone making a comment merely to point out how much the igbo’s who live in Lagos are a part of that community as well? Does that mean they own Lagos? I doubt they can own Lagos and you know that. Saying Lagos is a no man’s land was a bit loose, but you definitely know what the commenter was trying to say. He was saying Lagos is a melting pot as New York and loads of people have made it home and contributed to it’s growth, why now push them away.
I do understand FFK and the anger some may feel by the comment, but is reliving the past necessary. Pointing fingers and claiming igbo’s are arrogant, bla bla bla. I mean come on! So many irrelevant chants! You talk about the Igbo’s not investing in their home….I can’t really talk much on that, but as early traders, they move to sell and were their products were demanded, so i would suppose that is why they have settlements in loads of places. I can’t say why the Igbo’s are known for their arrogance and over bearing nature, but I suppose it’s the hardworking nature and ability of not settling for less than what their hardwork can bring.
I’m really short of words as to how this has escalated based on the writings of a man aimed at steering up the anger of the past generation that we weren’t even alive to witness. I really want to get your examples of Igbo’s not being welcoming or open to others. Taking some truth and twisting it to meet the occassion. We should be smarter than this. One igbo man makes a comment to counter the deportation of igbos that screams division, and here we are throwing tribal chats back and forth. Gosh! We are all neighbors! Who knows how we migrated to this region from generations before and maybe were even from one clan.
I’m just tired of the back and forth. Let’s shake this off abeg! You started off commending Ajuluchukwu and then point fingers at the igbo’s and say Yorubas scale high in embarcing other tribes. From my point of view I will say the Igbo’s also scale high. My experience of other tribes in my city were they worked in schools, etc is all the proof i need. Then again, you had your own experience. But please let’s stop basing stuff on everyone! One man is not all of Igbos. One street of experience you had in Owerri is not all of Igbo. There is Abia, Anambra, etc and all have their own traditions and personalities, etc. One Nigeria in hopes, else, in God’s hands I hadn it all.
Hi Nkechi,
I hope u get to see this. First off, I appreciate your response and, like Ajulu, belief in oneness. Let me state that I have not said or infered that all igbos are unwelcoming. Read my comments again. I also would like you to refer to some things Ajulu said , and you’ll see that he at least, although not directly, acknowledged that “in some or lots of ways we have been tribalistically unfair to ourselves in Nigeria”. Now I don’t need anyone to agree and say “yes Kunle, the igbos need to work on themselves, they could be better”. No, that’s not what am lookingf for here. All am trying to get across to you or anyone who cares enuogh to listen is that if you want peaceful co-existence ( and please don’t think am not a proponent of this) you have got to play a part in achieving it. You have a sacrifice you must make too. You cannot just expect things to happen for you if you yourselves aren’t willing to make things happen for others.
I’ll be honest with you, Mr FFK’s write up seems as though it aims to cause a division, but that’s only because it states facts that are all too real to him and his generation. I bet you’d feel a lot different if you were a lot older and some of the facts he put forth weren’t unfamiliar with you.
Now, about my experiences in Imo state I think there’s no need to go into details anymore. Going by all you’ve said it seems I may be making a mountain out of my own experiences alone. Thing is there’s no point stating them. You see, I never intended too. I agree with you, it’s not necessary to base things based ones experiences. For that reason I’ll keep my examples to myself. That aside, I really appreciate the fact that you faulted the comment made by the ‘commenter’.
On your comment, “taking truth and twisting it to meet the occasion”………hmmm
Anyways you don’t want a united Nigeria more that I do Nkechi.
God bless us all, and bless Nigeria. Cheers!
Thank you Ajuluchukwu for this wonderful comment you posted. I share your views. FFK was wrong to have posted that piece cos it is capable of inciting the Igbos against their yoruba brothers and sisters. First I condemn the write up in all its entirety because as an Ambassador for Peace, my duty is to preach that all human beings are one family under God. Bearing in mind that no one begged to be born Yoruba, Igbo, Ijaw or Hausa, so why I should I be bothered about primitive ethnic sentiments in a fast growing world which has become a global village, a world where ideas rule the the world, ideas from yorubas and igbos alike. We the youth should desist from making the same myopic mistakes our fathers made. We must unite and take over leadership from the old generation where FFK belongs. We must remain focused in our resolve to change our country for the better, better to the point where tribe and religion would amount to nothing, but creativity and , productivity and result would be the basis for true fraternity amongst Nigerians. I believe in Nigeria and so join hands with well meaning Nigerians to say Change we can!!!
You have said it all.i m a British citizen by naturalization. Have all my kids here but even the kids are called British born nigerians.so whoever is faulting your writeup is just myopic.i wnt say more but I will say I had stayed in the east as a young girl, started my career in the igbo land cos I did my youth corp there . got retained but had to run back to the west cos of the hostility of the easterners.i m not tribalist but the truth needs to be told . Thanks FFK. I wish your write up can be published for all to read.
Ronke ,, unfortunately people like you and the writer still exist in Nigeria, Ibos in Lagos are investors, tax payers to build Lagos, not beggars, If other people money, majority Ibos are taken out of Lagos, all you have left is empty Land, if you cant compete so bad, you have never been in Ibo land talking about serving. Change your thought ,, Non-Yoruba’s in Lagos are not going anyway unless the country breaks, Ibo will be happy to go. Ibos gives to Lagos, not other way, many African countries welcome Ibos investment. The best yet to come, I wish you could be civil with that writer
Guy I believe your eye is so so blind to the truth,please try and vacate lagos see what will become of yours.you igbos are so arrogan and stupid no apologies.
Guy I believe your eyes is so so blind to the truth,please try and vacate lagos see what will become of yours.you igbos are so arrogan and stupid no apologies.
Crying Baby, you have no power to change a thing , Now you got attention, back to your Agege home, Clean educated Yorubas don’t think like you.
Guy I believe your eyes ar so so blind to the truth,please try and vacate lagos see what will become of yours.you igbos are so arrogan and stupid no apologies.
Ronke,i am realy sorry for people like you and your myopic fFFKor whatever you call him.it is because of people like you that Nigeria remains where it is today.shame on you tribalists and one more thing,never visit the east again because you will not be welcome
I am not surprised to see some junks like u dt would support an anti-unity write-up like ds. For ur inform minuse Igbo lagos is dust being & secondly Lagos is be developed with federal money & by d hard work of superb Igbo men & women. Let’s say it all Igbo & other tribes in Nig don’t hav any similarities at all so let’s part