What Is Wrong With Us Igbos?

Exactly what is wrong with us Igbos? These are the words screaming in my head ever since news of  the intra-deportation of some Igbos from Lagos to Anambra State broke some weeks back.

My loud mental screams are not so much about the deportation act itself, as it is about the reaction of some Igbos to the issue. As we all know, there have been criticisms and reactions following  Fashola’s infamous deportation act.  While some are  patting Fashola on the back for a job well done:  others like  my Igbo brothers and sisters scream. ‘crucify him!’

Reading through comments on various social media sites, I saw comments such as, 'Lagos is a no man's land', 'Without Igbos, Lagos is finished', 'The Igbos developed Lagos', 'Fashola hates Igbos' ...etc. while every one is entitled to his/her own opinion on issues, I am very worried that the Igbos have refused to see  Fashola's action for what it really is- a wake up call. 

 We Igbos are so good at occupying other people's place that we forget our own, and that is why I  ask : What is wrong with us Igbos?  Why have we become a people without any knowledge of history? How come we never learn? How many times should we be brutally dealt with before we acquire simple, free, God-given common sense? Why do we find it so easy to claim other places  as our own? Why do we prefer other people's way of life to our own?  Why? Why? Why?

It is this penchant for preferring foreign cultures and ways of living to ours that has been the problem of the Igbo man. The Igbo man would rather be slaughtered like a salah ram  in the  far  north than come home. His reason? What will happen to his  huge investments?  But whatever happened to Ndubuisi? (Life is more important) or Ndu ka aku? (Life is better than wealth).

The Igbos have an adage that if a child grows up and refuses to ask what killed his father, the thing that killed his father will kill him. Not so long ago, a bitter civil war was fought at the end of which Igbos, no matter their worth were given a paltry 20pounds to begin their life with.  Aren't we repeating history?  We are developing Lagos and Abuja at the expense of Aba and Onisha.  We compain that it is unfair to expect Igbos to leave their wealth and businesses in  Lagos and Abuja and start over in the East. If we could start over with nothing in 1970, who says we can't move down to the East and get it thriving again? Better still, if we love investments so much, why can't we invest at home?    

Visit Aba, Onitsha, and other Eastern regions and you will weep at the folly of us Igbos. I have looked through the East and cannot find one big company owned by a westerner or northerner. Please if you know any, don’t hesitate to let me know. Yet the Igbo man makes money and instead of developing his place,  takes the money to Lagos and Abuja. He builds the biggest mansion in another man's land. He builds big corporations in Lagos, Kano, Abuja, anywhere else but his land. And then when he is reminded that he is only but a visitor,  he cries  marginalisation? If I hear...

Every young graduate wants to run away to Lagos and Abuja because according to them, 'there are no opportunities in the East'. They forget that the so-called opportunities in Lagos and Abuja didn't come by themselves. People, most of them Igbos, created them. If we can create them in other lands, why can't we do same in Igbo lands? And still I ask,  why can't we Igbos fix our home to look like Abuja and Lagos? Those companies in Abuja and Lagos, can't we build them in Aba, Enugu and Onitsha? The Igbos with their uncountable and numerous investments in Lagos, Abuja and other states contributed in making  the economy of these places  buoyant. How come we are so good at saving others, but we can't save ourselves? Aren't we tired of insults and abuses and being treated like second class citizens in our own country? How come nobody is thinking? What is wrong with us? 

What will it take to turn Ariaria International Market into a one-stop shopping haven, instead of crying of marginalization in Alaba International Market. Why can't we fix Ahia Ohuru (New Market, Aba) and Onitsha Main market  so that they accommodate the many enterprising Igbo traders in Lagos and other parts of the country? It is in history that the Eastern roads are some of the worst in Nigeria. Why can't they be fixed? Why can’t governors of Igbo States do all they can to ensure  the East is a safe place for business and living? 

The Igbos are some of the most enterprising people to ever walk the surface of the earth. Take the Igbo man to Sahara desert and he will make billions out of selling sand. If we are this good, why can't we bring this ingenuity home? If we bring the Igbo man's never say never die spirit to bear, we will turn the Eastern region into another Dubai.

Fashola's act is a wake up call to all the Igbos who would rather invest everywhere else but in their home state. It is time to think home. The one Nigeria mantra is a mirage. It doesn't exist. The earlier  Igbos realize this and build their own home, the better for them.

Xoxo

Nawtiprof