THE FATE OF THE IGBO MAN AND THE 2023 QUESTION

I wrote recently, about what truly caused the Biafran Genocide between 1966 and 1970, and why Igbos are almost always the target of any violent uprising in Nigeria whether they are involved or not.

What I intentionally refused to add in that piece was the out for the Igbo man.

The reason is simple, if the Igbo man attracts resentment everywhere he goes, simply for his nature of succeeding everywhere he finds himself, most times, more than their hosts, then there is nothing really, the Igbo man can do to prevent the resentment against him by his neighbours and hosts.

However, there is something the Igbo man can do to prevent being a victim and to prevent the resentment which he unintentionally evokes from affecting him negatively as has always been the case.

The first thing the Igbo man has to do is to accept this nature of his, and to accept that it is only human for one to become unhappy with you if you come into his land, starts his type of business, and in few years, start doing 10 times better than him and even go ahead to bring your brothers who then come over and start doing better than him. Upon that, you buy a land in his town before him, build a house before him and live in affluence, laced with the natural inborn pride of an Igbo man.

We should understand, that it's only human for one to be angry with you if his parents siezed all your parents money in the bank and houses as abandoned property, replacing them with 20 pounds while you almost died due to kwashiokor, yet 50 years later you own houses and businesses far larger than his own, in his own land, throwing dollars and pounds around like they have no value, while telling him that "doings get levels". No one will be happy with that.

When we accept this nature of the Igbo man and accept that it cannot and will not make either our neighbours or hosts happy with us, we will then have to own it, be conscious about it and then start applying diplomacy.

DIPLOMACY is key to the survival and the greatness of the Igbo man.
Borrowing a leaf from Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, whom it seems, understood this nature of the Igbo man long before I did, by constantly being very diplomatic with non-Igbos around us, understanding that unnecessary pride and braggadocio will not earn the Igbo man anything, as everyone around is naturally pitched against him.

The Igbo man must develop a culture of relating with their neighbours and hosts in a manner that won't make his neighbour feel overwhelmed or dominated all the time. It must be a kind of relationship that our elders described as "egwuriegwu nkita bu idaara m, m adaara gi". It should be accompanied by loyalty that gives your neighbours a sense of belonging in the fast moving world of Ndi Igbo. Pride should be toned down a bit.

2023 presents an opportunity for us to begin this new journey. It must start with building bridges with fellow Nigerians, understanding that they have the same stake that we have.
Presenting a candidate that also suits them and not just us alone.

We must avoid the mistake of trying to show everyone else that we are better than them and that only Igbos have the highest qualified leaders in the world and trying to prove unnecessary points to them.

Come 2023, we must acknowledge that no one can win a presidential election without the votes of other ethnic groups. We must avoid self serving rhetorics and understand that whoever will be the President will be the President of all Nigerians and not the President of only Igbos, and that we cannot force them to accept whom they do not want.

Come 2023, we, Ndi Igbo must reinvent ourselves and choose the most diplomatic amongst us who has what it takes to relate with other tribes in the way that won't make us lose ourselves and won't build resentment amongst our neighbours.

In 2023, we must greatly consider the Choice of Rt. Hon. Dr. Ifeanyi Lawrence Ugwuanyi, whose diplomatic ways of handling issues in his 2 decades in active politics has made him stand out as the only politician of Eastern extraction that has never been caught in conflict with any individual or group, and is loved across ethnic and party lines, home and abroad.

Come 2023, Nigerians want peace and Ndi Igbo must give Nigeria a man who has become synonymous with peace.

A stitch in time...

Ugwuagbo Emmanuel Chizoba (Zoba De Great) writes from Enugu.