The person who cries loudest when a stone is thrown into the market is the one who has been hit. To them, everything is about tribal affiliation. For a person to grow, they must at some point learn whether their interactions with the people around them are positive or negative.
A recalibration is not a weakness. I am an Isoko man from Delta State. This is what people like you would call a minority. Unlike you, I don’t wear my tribe on my forehead. I only use it as a reference point here. It does not connote power to me, and it is not my entire identity.
When you use yours, it is everything to you because you have been raised to believe that without it, you have no power and no identity.
When you are not invited to the high table, you feel totally subjugated, your entire tribe is marginalized, and your whole existence becomes meaningless.
It is a sad life when the definition of ourselves becomes the group. This illusion obscures our humanity and our real identity as individuals. This limitation disrupts the natural order of growth that increases our understanding of our environment. We become glued to the mirror, and Narcissus becomes our best friend. Any counterview is considered an existential threat that must be eliminated with acidic fervor. Language becomes crude and vulgar, meaning is lost, and progress is stunted.
I don’t have those kinds of attachments and hang-ups because my existence transcends anything that confines me. You have been raised to think otherwise. You are your tribe, and your tribe is you. This ossification makes your cage very uncomfortable. No matter where you go, you can never belong.
I am a citizen of the world. I am at home anywhere because I have never been raised to lord it over others. I am not disappointed when I don’t meet your expectations, which are clannish and subterranean. You take it as a personal affront when an independent observer talks about the need to rethink. From my vantage point, I can see how the interplay of the Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba affects the other people that you and others hardly think about. From the way I listed the tribes, you can see they are in alphabetical order because someone like you would complain, “Why did I put Igbo last?”
I have written extensively on the Hausa-Fulani relationship and its effect on Nigeria. No one from there has accused me of myopia or stupidity. I am an equal opportunity offender. Why would you want me to include the West in an essay about Igbo and Fulani? You can write about the marginalization of Igbos if that is your concern. You can also write about the relationship between Igbo and Yoruba. That should keep you busy because you hold so much resentment. It is time the South-East people learn to deal with issues dispassionately.
How can a member of a dominant tribe preach marginalization to those of us you call minorities? Everything in our land is harvested, devastated, and divided among Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba in Nigeria. Do people from the dominant groups ever spend time talking about justice? Your attitude is poor because it is self-serving. People like you only talk about justice when your tribesman is affected.
The Igbo candidate lost in the last election. If he had won, he would have surrounded himself with Igbos. I see nothing wrong with that. My issue is that we are not restructured, and the federation is lopsided. If we were well-structured and every region controlled its resources, I would not care if you became president and all your family members became your cabinet. This is because most of their decisions would not affect me, and there would be a workable system to check that kind of abuse. It is normal for people in high places to appoint those they trust and who share their vision. Buhari appointed his people, and it was terrible because most of them were incompetent. In a well-structured country, it would not be necessary to be a kinsman to be appointed. We just want those who can do the job. The system we have now is winner-takes-all. When Goodluck Jonathan was president, the majority of his cabinet were Igbos. The West and the North complained, and they wrestled power from him. It was due to the insularity of the Igbos that Jonathan lost.
You are wrong to complain about marginalization when you could not work hard to re-elect the person who gave most of his cabinet positions to Igbos. Your marginalization is self-imposed.
Learn how to work with others, and they will work with you. It is pathetic when people like you whine about marginalization when, in reality, you lack the discipline, dedication, and humility needed to form workable alliances.
For your homework, go and study how Bola Tinubu gained power. He stooped to conquer. I don’t think stooping is in the lexicon of the Igbos. This is why power will always elude you. You think we should beg you to lead because you are very smart. You will wait a very long time if you don’t change your attitude. Remember, I am an equal opportunity offender. I will revisit this subject.
Dr. Austin Orette writes from Houston, Texas.
