Welcome to>>> LORD and MS. RICH: THE GREATEST PROBLEM OF AN AVERAGE IGBO PERSON- Natha-Alade

Richarmond O. Natha-Alad

Igbo people are blessed. They are not just blessed but blessed as other tribes of this nation and Africa in general.

As hardworking and determined an average Igbo man is, the inability to manage this blessing had made it a curse on many of our men from the Igbo extraction of Nigeria; just as the nation's crude oil that should ordinarily be a blessing to Nigerians had turned a curse; same oil had caused us divisions along ethnic, political, economic and religious lines and sentiments.

I have taken my time to observe an average Igbo man. An average Igbo man believes he is more intelligent, more superior, more brave, better-brained and with a better future and grace than any person from other tribe of Africa, especially in Nigeria. That is exactly the point. It's a state of mind called 'self-exaggeration' and 'self delusion'

Without mincing words, even amidst Igbo people with same background and origin, each person believes he is wiser, smarter and better than others, the majour reason for the paranoid, aggressive and overreaction tendencies always exhibited on simple issues by an average Igbo man.

Historically, From time immemorial, the above common traits in every average Igbo man reflect reasons why the governance and local leadership trends of Igbo lands and communities are un-united, acephalous and fragmented; of which in a town you can have 30 kings even if your domain would not be more than 110 square meters or 3 to 5 houses, you are just the king.

The average Igbo persons have this huge exaggerated opinion about themselves that 'he' is better than others and I kept on asking, why? This same negative psychological instinct and fantasy had led to agitations and obvious hatred for other tribes and states who had been their benefactors for so long. And these other tribes offered them peaceful and accommodating platforms for their trades and businesses since the pre-independence era of this country till date. Check out the facts.

The fantasies about the so-called bravery, wisdom and knowledge above every other tribes made several unnecessary agitation rooted in ignorance. Many of the Igbo leaders sell lies, and the majority of helpless and gullible followers gulps same up without deep reflection or iota of second thought.

Many will recall that Nnamdi Kanu and the rest of some fooling and ruling categories at one time strategically and forcefully associated the Igbos' lineage and ancestry with that of the Jews even when there was no slight or iota of proof on same; this is because the Jews having been severally acknowledged world-wide as one of the best brains in the world. The strange claim of these core Africans as Jews forced the Israeli government to take a DNA test on the Igbos and the Jews. The result as expected shot the doors against the sudden compulsory identification fantasies of the Igbos as migrant Jews from Israel. Then this only question arise: but for how long would many other fantasies yet unverified be crested as reality?

If many Igbos actually sees other tribes as dummies who have no business ideas and as people who does not have penchant for acquiring wealth, I hope they will always remember that the teeming numbers of the richest people in Nigeria, Africa and the world today are Hausas and Yorubas, the bravest of soldiers and statesmen who had fought for the unity and sustainable growth of this great country are mostly Yorubas and Hausas, the best brain in professional world and businesses around the world are Yorubas and Hausas. and I do hope these average Igbos would be sincere enough to note that the most developed states in Nigeria today are the Yorubas and Hausa states.

Most Igbo men and women actually need to cure themselves of this medulla Simpsons disease by making humanity a priority than money and inordinate hatred for their tribe renegades.

If the average Igbo persons adjudged themselves as the only talents who produces and gives everything to other tribes whom they considered and labeled as pests, then I am forced to ask; What do an average Igbo man do? And I am forced to answer that an average Igbo man does nothing else than open shop, and mostly in the shops are spare-parts of whatsoever. On the other side, which of the Nigerian tribe has the greatest number and chronic actors in the act of kidnapping, armed-robbery, prostitution, drug peddling, fraud, ritual killing and any dishonest means of getting money? You can answer that yourself. While I may not totally agree, some people sees an average Igbo man as slave to money because he can do anything to get money.

It is a notorious fact and it is an everly-verifiable fact that the opportunities the rest of the country offered Igbo people in their various states outside Igbo land which allows them to open their shops and do their businesses, such opportunity is never given in Igbo land to any other tribes except you are Igbo, and if such is given at all, it will be highly 'defined' by actions, reactions, situations and circumstances. Despite this, all other non-Igbo states gives Igbos the platform to conduct their businesses, raise their kids, attain prosperity, build their homes and have peace. Yet, instead of being grateful to these people for abiding by the dictates of Nigerian laws and authorities, an average Igbo man return all these good deeds with hatred and name calling as 'cowards', 'monkeys' 'betrayals', 'lazy', 'senseless', this list goes on and on. This name calling and several hate speeches are mostly seen recently on some Igbo leaders outbursts, Nnamdi Kanu's and his followers chagrin on the nation, particularly on the members of other tribes outside Igbo. The friendliness and accommodation other states offers Igbo people in their respective lands is never reciprocated by the Igbos. As a matter of fact, any person in Nigeria can answer, which set of people is the most greedy and hostile, both inter and intra?

Pathetic situation needs pathetic solutions. It is a notorious fact that most Igbo youths are jobless, homeless and under chronic poverty alliance, yet, the solution is not in agitation and restlessness but in their constructive engagements. Some of this youths who should know better and form alliances to commit their leaders to live up to expectations by making them accountable goes about in raising the banner of ethnic and tribal frivolities. Even now when Nigerians, Africans and other people from several other spheres of life are been voted into the UK and US parliaments and given key national positions? The world had gone past this average Igbo men's mentality of 'me' or nobody

It is not helping but saddening that this teeming jobless majourity youths and illiterates are having their brain fingered by Nnamdi Kanu and the rest of some Igbo elites for political gains on the imaginary ground of been sidelined. President Mohammoudu Buhari once asked on a national television, Who is sidelining who? How? That is the story for another day. I believe we should always remember how the issue of boko haram started.

If someone like Nnamdi Kanu who was never born as at the time of the civil war and who lives all his entire life in the UK and presently having his wife and children in UK suddenly woke up one morning only to travel back to the land of his father to cause trouble and make people lose their heads, peace and lives, where does the gain lie? If your intoxicant, inspiration and propelling force to defile the law of the land and make you speak against the unity, strength and prosperity the Igbos have enjoyed overtime in other non-indigenous lands then I believe, something is absolutely wrong with you.

I chose to charge the educated good Igbo youths and leaders to rise up and educate that average Igbo man which this piece is targeted at, and who are generally always presumed as cocky, self-opinionated, chauvinistic, with high sense of superiority complex against other tribes and/or with the chronic exaggerated opinion of themselves that they are better than all others to soft-pedal and wake up from the land of fantasies. Kindly advise them to be grateful in love to other tribes who under the umbrella of one Nigeria housed their families, contributed to their prosperities, gave them peace and nourished their businesses outside their land. Tell them a no Nigeria may make them lose all and would make them to be foisted with the status of foreigners.

No one's ambition is worth the blood of men. In unity and diversities lies our strength. Peace is better than war. Kindly purge and cure yourself of greed and hatred to fellow men, then you might just have fulfilled the law of God.

God bless my good Igbo friends who are passionate, honest, hardworking, cool-headed, optimistic, sincere and intelligible enough to to know that one Nigeria in diversities-joined-together makes all great.