The internet has been flooded with a trending video of Sunday Igboho wearing an APC cap when he attended a ceremony in Ibadan. 🎥
Some Yoruba groups have said that he has betrayed the agitation for a Yoruba nation. Others say he is only interested in peaceful coexistence with other tribes, especially the Fulanis.
Some very pedestrian people said it was an attribute of his tribal origin — that it is the nature of Yoruba people. Others opined that the government was instrumental in his release and pardon when he was arrested in the Republic of Benin on his way to Germany, where he has German citizenship, and that he was simply reciprocating.
It is wrong to use Sunday Igboho to cast aspersions on an entire tribe.
Others have compared him with Nnamdi Kanu, who has insisted on his struggle for the actualisation of Biafra, despite allegations that he has been offered money to compromise.
I am opposed to the balkanisation of Nigeria, breaking Nigeria down the way Yugoslavia broke apart.
All tribal units in Nigeria have the same tendencies — elite capture, where a few people capture public wealth.
Look at some of the budgets released in southwestern states. A lot of money is budgeted for new cars for members of the executive and legislative arms, while very paltry sums are allocated to health and education. 🚗
The same thing happens in all regions of Nigeria. Oppression, corruption, intolerance of dissent, lust for money, and electoral fraud are common everywhere. There is no segment of Nigeria where angels inhabit.
We oppress each other. When we sing the national anthem — “Help us to build a nation where no man is oppressed” — we do not take it seriously.
Hausas oppress Hausas.
Fulanis oppress Fulanis.
Benue people oppress Benue people.
Muslims oppress Muslims.
Christians oppress Christians.
That is the reality.
There is no segment of Nigeria that has just angels. Not in Biafra, not in Oduduwa State, not in Arewa, not in the Middle Belt. We all have the same tendencies.
Sunday Igboho is a free citizen of Nigeria. He is free to join any political party. He also has the right to discontinue any struggle. Before IPOB, there was Ralph Uwazuruike and the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB). Today he is much quieter and less active.
It is his life, not yours. He has the right to make his own choices.
However, those who say he only asked for peaceful coexistence should ask themselves: Are people in the Southwest better off now than when he started the struggle?
Every day we read about terrible events happening in the Southwest from radical Islamic terrorists. So if Sunday demanded peaceful coexistence, to be frank, he has not achieved that aim. In fact, it appears things have gotten worse.
When you make a post in Nigeria, people quickly descend into tribe, religion, class, and denomination. They rarely reason beyond that. 😔
Alex Ekwueme, an Igbo man, had a house in Surulere, Lagos which he abandoned during the civil war. A Yoruba man collected the rent during his absence. When Ekwueme returned, the man handed over all the money intact and well documented.
A Yoruba man and an Igbo man.
Later, when Ekwueme became Vice President, the same Yoruba man approached him after church in Marina, Lagos, seeking assistance to obtain a banking license. Ekwueme invited him to his office and facilitated the license that led to the establishment of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) — which still exists today. 🏦
Also, Olusegun Obasanjo has stood with Peter Obi since the 2023 elections, despite criticism.
During the 1966 crisis, Adekunle Fajuyi stood with Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi when Theophilus Danjuma and others came to arrest him. Fajuyi said that if they were going to kill his guest, they should kill him too. And Fajuyi died with Aguiyi-Ironsi.
We must not categorize a whole tribe by the actions of a few.
We cannot judge all Igbos by the actions of Obi Cubana or Cubana Chief Priest, or by those who abandoned Nnamdi Kanu and Peter Obi to start the “City Boys” movement. That kind of thinking is beer parlour logic. 🍺
There are many peaceful Muslims in this country and many peaceful and respectable Fulanis.
A management consultant, Chris Argyris, once stated that for every psychologically mature adult, a time comes when personal interest conflicts with organizational goals.
That time may have come for Sunday Igboho. His personal interest may now conflict with the agitation for Oduduwa State.
One lesson you must learn is to avoid the herd effect. Use your brain. 🧠
One Yoruba leader rightly said that the agitation for Oduduwa State should not revolve around an individual but around an ideology.
Do not compare Sunday Igboho with Nnamdi Kanu. Their motivations are different. Their pains are different. The discrimination and marginalisation experienced by the Igbo in Nigeria are different from the experience of the Yoruba.
Someone asked:
“If an Igbo becomes president tomorrow, will Nnamdi Kanu still agitate for Biafra?” That question is unpredictable.
The real issue is not balkanising Nigeria. The real issue is strengthening governance at the subnational level — states, local governments, and the judiciary. There must be equity, justice, fairness, social justice, and development.
Once these exist, most agitations will reduce naturally.
We need to build strong institutions: the police, the army, the judiciary. Institutions governed by justice and fairness.
Let us truly build a nation where no man is oppressed. 🇳🇬
This post is not for Igbos and Yorubas to start quarrelling here.
Analyse it intellectually. Make civilised comments.
Nobody has paid me to write this. But if we elders do not speak the truth, our children will end up fighting themselves instead of confronting their real oppressors.
Nigeria needs decentralisation, but we can still remain one country.
#fblifestyle
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