TOWARDS A PHILOSOPHY OF IGBO UNITY

This essay, first conceived in 2012, is arguing that, despite what they have been through and what has been dished out to them, the Igbo shall rise again and survive.  They have always survived and would continue to survive in present-day amalgamation.

 The Igbos have many lessons to learn as they go through the so-called 40-year trek through the desert to the promised land. They shall have many transformations to make. 

We Igbos are in a class of our own, unique, steadfast, resourceful, full of energy, and self-propelling. Yet, we Igbos are disunited.

We seem to be iPhone with tiny computer chips manufactured in China, Japan, and many other different countries that perform wonders when used simultaneously, an electrical whittle that is in-built, ingrained, integral, and intrinsic.

When one comes in contact with a group of Igbo men and women, one can’t help walking away with a bit of nostalgia, a feeling that these people are something else: their electrical impulse is magnetic and  springs forth as energy, power, force, and oomph (defined as vigor, livelihood, get-up-and-go).

This is not to say we Igbos are not without fault. What is true of Igbo men is just as true of the women. The Igbo woman is a glowing force in motion.

Someone once described the Igbos as the “essagasimotion”, meaning the air that is a gas in motion. Even the tiny Igbo child you saw dancing unashamedly behind the masquerade On U Tube programming at Afikpo last week  strikes you as surreal, weird. It is amazing.

A few years ago, this writer once cried and complained about the difficulties encountered in sailing through a doctoral degree until someone believed to be Igbo pulled him aside and asked a rhetorical question: ”Aren’t you Igbo?” The rest is history.

With all our smartness and stick-with-it-ness, why aren’t we Igbos where we ought to be? The answer can be encapsulated, compressed in just one word-unity.

A few years ago, a Kenyan woman flew into Atlanta from Lagos to deliver her fourth child which arrived earlier than expected because she fell down while buying goods she was loading  into someone’s container for shipment to Lagos.

”Who are you?” This writer asked when he finally tracked her down in Texas with a phone number her Igbo friend had provided . She said nothing; and stood there just thinking.

“Who are you?” I demanded again and again, amazed at how a Kenyan could work so hard. Her response was “I am a Kenyan married to a Nigerian.”

I then, I asked rather sarcastically: “And what type of Nigerian husband you’re talking about?”

This writer said in his mind Everyone who works hard is said to be a Nigerian.  He was surprised when this Kenyan said she was married to an Igbo husband surnamed Ugochukwu (real Igbo name) from somewhere in Anambra,  in Nnewi LGA.

We say all this to say this: anything the Igbo touches is bound to turn to gold, to be accomplished big time. That proves the point. A hardworking Igbo is dangerous  wherever he or she goes, whether dead or alive.

Is that why there is so much fuss about the Igbos in Nigeria, and why they are being killed, marginalized , and sent to the periphery of society?  

Even the woman the Igbo marries is equally as dangerous as a firecracker that is lit and tossed away during the America’s Independence Day celebration on July 4^th.

We ask readers: “Don’t you think the Igbo’s dangerousness is a result of hard work habit? Is that the reason Igbos appear to be hated, vilified, and chased from pillar to post?”

We want to ask Yorubas and their governors: “Why do you think you own Lagos and can you develop Lagos alone without the contributions of the Igbos? And if you answer in the affirmative, aren’t you then the biggest liar?”

The Igbos are victims of lies peddled across Nigerian and the world by envious mouths of the Yoruba and non-Igbos. The most pathetic fear of the Yoruba is Igboclasstrophobia (made-up word), meaning fear that Igbos may outclass the Yoruba in education and Onitsha dethrone Lagos as the center of commerce in West Africa.

This writer asks fellow Igbos: “Don’t you think we can perform  great wonders if we Igbos  learn to work amicably with Igbos and non-Igbos alike, and why can’t we  do greater wonders  if we can turn our  Biafra area into the wonderland it ought to be and call our new home the USI (United States of  Igboland) or the AIU (Ala Igbo United)?”  

The Igbos have met opposition in Northern Nigeria for decades; the Igbos are meeting opposition in Western Nigeria, especially in the no-man’s land called Lagos; and the Nigerian Igbos are experiencing opposition in South Africa. It seems the Igbos are experiencing difficulties everywhere they go.

The purpose of this essay is to grapple with the thorny question as to why a hardworking people often meet opposition. What is it that has been keeping the Igbos back, and how can the Igbos  move forward through, beneath, around, or beyond the opposition?

 Is it money that is keeping the Igbos back? Is it intelligence? Is it a curse? What is it? Perhaps it can only be unity or lack of political power.

 I can love you without being in unity with you, but I cannot be in unity with you without loving you. Political power ties whatever it takes to move things forward together.

By the same token, love alone cannot hold a marriage or a tribe permanently intact; you need commitment which is a stronger bond, more unbreakable and more unifying than mere love in action.

But it takes something greater than love and commitment to build something as simple as a beehive or anthill, or a viable Igbo Nation. The Igbos need the magic of unity.

Magic is enchantment, fairy-tale. Unity is agreement, harmony, accord, unison, unanimity, or Igwebuike (Igbo for unity is strength). Consider the tiny ants. Look at bees in a beehive. Look at hyenas hunting in a group.

The honey bees and ants are teachers of UNITY. What follows is a developing (not fully developed) philosophy of IGBO UNITY. It consists of purging poison out of our corporate body. To purge is to get rid of harmful substances.  We must get rid of certain Igbo habits, idiosyncrasies.

Pride: We must get rid of astounding titles: Just as Owambe is killing the Yorubas dead, and jihadhist violence is the Achilles heel  leading to the downfall  of the Hausas, jaw-breaking titles are rendering the Igbos disunited and obsolete.

 Titles I have a homeboy I once knew as Joachim. Then  one day, his name changed to Nze (Chief) Joachim. Next thing I knew was Sir Nze Joachim. Finally, I met Joachim at a party. He was introduced as Dr. Joachim,  PhD, EdD, MA, MSc, Med.

Ah ah, we got scared, not able to shake the Joachim’s hand any more for fear he might reject our handshake or thrust your right hand aside. And you want me to dance with the Joachim’s wife at a party?

I say I am afraid of the man, and you are asking me to risk my life, boogieing  owambeing in a dance with this man's wife who goes by the strange title Lolo Ogbuefi.  Am I crazy?

 What of the friend I used to know as Simon. Didn’t I develop migraine when I read the email from Dr. Simon. The email’s sender was Gburugburu.

I didn’t take Igbo language in the GCE or WASC examination, but I take gburugburu to mean something that  goes around or surrounds one completely,

Hasn’t General Emeka Ojukwu been described as Gburugburu? Does every Igbo want to be an Ojukwu? Pride and title are effective killers of Igbos.

Now, I am scared to pick up calls from Simon. He might be asking me to pay a fee for talking with him on the wireless. Some of the weird titles I have on my cellphone include Engineer Chief Ukwumango (mango tree) and Egozurumba  (Money Is Everywhere).

Consider  Architect Cardinal Nwachinemelum (God Does Things  For me),  and Accountant  O. Charlie whose title is Ome Mgbe Oji (Spender of money When He has It).

Each title holder acts superior to the others. How can their children come to play together or marry each other when bombastic titles are separating them?

Westernism: We must get rid of Westernism: We need to stop pretending that Igbo Nation would be a reality when we copy everything from the West and fail to recognize things from our culture that define who we are, or fail to get rid of the virus that causes our preference of individualism (separateness) from Njikoka ( umunna-ism or togetherness). Westernism  is the direct opposite of Umunna-ism.

We must throw away Westernism (European and American culture with emphasis on urban life, nuclear family and what’s -mine-is-mine-and-what’s-yours-is-yours mentality).

Collectivism: We should embrace Umunna-ism (which emphasizes the communal, extended family , village-ness, and inclusiveness). Am I not the keeper of every Igbo and doesn’t it take the whole village to raise a child?

Competitiveness: We must get rid of proneness to overpopulation and unhealthy competitiveness: Why push your village wife to have 13 children or your daughter to marry Awusa senator just to beat out your siblings and become the family champion? Then you spray Naira at parties called to confer on you the ubiquitous title of Igwe (paramount chief of your village).

Have you been to a traditional wedding where akata husband marries an Igbo girl and the girl's father introduced his son-in-law as Igwe? Akata is pejorative/derogatory for the Black American.

 Igbo elders invited to the occasion became offended that Igwe title reserved for an elderly, seasoned Igboman was being conferred upon a young non-Igbo .

Isn't  President Buhari been conferred chieftain titles in Igbo communities he has been to to gather votes?

In many families, there are two warring camps: Ndinwere-ego  (money people) and Ndiguru-akwukwo (educated people). The first group consists of cousins and uncles who have accumulated billions of Naira from importations and who have mansions and homes scattered everywhere and at Abuja, Port Harcourt, Enugu, in London, Aba, South Africa, and Asaba.

The other group has little money but several lawyers, teachers, and small-time traders. All through the year and at Christmas, life is like a soccer or ping pong match between Ndinwere-Ego v. Ndiguru-Akwukwo. There is no communication between groups, just benign neglect and excessive pride.

Love of money: We must get rid of inordinate love of money. To be inordinate, the love would be excessive, undue, unwarranted, immoderate, extravagant, unreasonable, disproportional , or too much.

This Igbo friend was alright until he opened a second used car dealership in downtown Macon. But when he announced the openings of a 3^rd and 4^th outside the city limit, his love of money began to change his personality. He’s no longer accessible for me. or his friends.

Relatives tell me of a wealthy Lagos family friend who was good until “money pass water”, prompting him to run over his wife with a vehicle in the heat of passion. He tells neighbors: “Even if I killed with motor, nothing can happen to me because I have money, and I can bribe the Judge.”

He dared anyone to challenge him. He even hired some policemen to run off in-laws who wanted to give the wife a befitting burial.

We lament the death of a favorite real doctor (Dr. Amobi of Ogidi trained in Britain) whom wicked men assassinated in front of Oyibo (white)  wife because the doctor sought  the village chieftaincy title that was due him but an over competitive opponent assassinated the good doctor .

Polygamy: We must get rid of polygamy: When a man marries several wives, children grow up hating each other. The competition to outclass, outshine, and out-monetize siblings is rampant even though they all come from the same polygamist’s genital.

 Mothers join in to out-dress, out-glamorize, out boyfriendize other wives, while the husband enjoys sampling the goodies of multiple wives. 

Animosity: We must get rid of animosity and learn to nurture each other and provide benevolence. To nurture is to cultivate, cherish, encourage, foster, develop, raise, rear. Benevolence is the state of providing kindness, generosity, munificence, goodwill, altruism, magnanimity, or obi oma (Igbo for kindheartedness).

We must get rid of separatism in the family. Your brother’s children in Mbano or California are totally estranged from your own children in Atlanta simply because you and your brother are busy giving your children don’t –mind-that –fool lessons; antagonizing your brother and creating dissension amongst spouses and cousins.

We must get rid of reprobate values and morals. Current Ndiigbo values and morals militate against fostering successful unity.

We praise wrong people when we throw parties for the thief that successfully stole government contract money or who sacrificed his mother at alusi (idol) for money.

We insult wrong people when  we ridiculed the truck-pusher who lost his wheel barrow which he sold in the attempt to pay off the debt he owes on rents to house his children.

Greed We enter wrong deals. Why have you and I gone into a joint venture, and you are bent on taking the whole profits and seeking to drop some poison in my cup of beer?

Why can’t you give me my fair share of profit we made and let us repeat the process until you get more than you would working alone after killing me?

We must not rid ourselves of the desire to get rid of these troublesome habits, including the habits of greed, pride, excessive individualism, and parroting. mimicking, or impersonation  of Western values.

Dr. James C. Agazie,  jamesagazie@gmail.com, jamesagazies.blogspot.com