Re: Fari: Why and why not?
Atruly amazing negative writeup credited to one Engr. Abubakar Fari and entitled “Nigeria breaks: Why and Why not?” was published in the Daily Trust of Thursday, June 22, 2017. Considered from every angle, the views and opinions contained in that writeup were a huge disservice to Nigeria at a time when patriots and other great minds are striving to build bridges of understanding and unity among ethnic nationalities and geo-political zones. It is also a sad reflection of the quality of education some individuals may have been exposed to.
While the writer launched a noholds-barred collective diatribe against the Igbo ethnic group, he also swung his sledge-hammer against numerous respected individuals and groups from other parts of the country in what sometimes came close to libel and even incitement. Words and expressions such as ‘negative mentality’, ‘short-sighted’, ‘generally unwanted’, ‘self-centred’, and ‘arrogant’ were liberally employed in a sustained effort to demonize an entire group of fellow Nigerians. He also deliberately misrepresented the comments of the late literary icon, Chinua Achebe, about his fellow Igbo. He probably forgot to include the ancient stereotype of the Igbo as cannibals, I guess.
The writer even went further to try and re-invent a long-discredited stereotype of South-Easterners as preferring to “get” money rather than “make” it. This bit was, to me, the most laughable of all his claims, as will soon be demonstrated. In this respect, Fari claimed that members of his targeted group were colonizing other people’s lands in various parts of the country. It is difficult to understand the purpose of the writeup because, although not less than two-thirds of the space was devoted to pouring venom on the Igbo, the writer still managed to find some space to unfairly and unjustifiably insult a Northern Emir as “illinformed”, described some Northern governors as looters, and did not spare the Yoruba and the, according to him, “so-called Middle Belt”.
The insulting vituperations were also extended to the “murderous and aggressive southern Kaduna with elements in Plateau, Taraba and Bauchi minorities”. The venerable Balarabe Musa, who has paid his dues in Nigerian politics, as well as IBB were also “awarded” their own share of the insults.
Now, the question again is: What kind of write-up was that? What purpose was it designed to achieve? Limited space will not permit me to fully address all the issues which Fari raised; that would require a treatise delving extensively into history and philosophy. However, for obvious reasons and so that the uninformed will not be further misled, I will simply comment briefly on the writer’s misguided allegations against the Igbo.
Clearly, considering his extremely jaundiced views which have led to his unwarranted anti-Igbo epithets, he has demonstrated absolute ignorance of their sterling qualities. Before committing his poison pen to paper, he should have consulted with the numerous third- and fourth-generation Northerners (especially the Hausa) who were born in Umuahia, Onitsha, Enugu, Awka, etc. and who know no other home and speak better Igbo than some indigenes. The truth is that blanket stereotypes are usually an indication of limited education; the good, the bad and the ugly can be found anywhere in the world, including Jamaica, Papua-New Guinea or the Falkland Islands.
The Igbo have demonstrated their patriotism to Nigeria since the end of the civil war in every facet of national life, including sports, commerce, humanitarian activities, education, etc. I am sure that Fari has heard about a certain Sam Okwaraji, Rochas Okorocha (regarding his remarkable corporate social responsibility activities in the North even before he delved into politics) and numerous others. The demands of a youthful minority who, admittedly, probably overstepped their bounds in trying to demand for a redress regarding the issue of marginalization, cannot be used to judge the commitment of the overwhelming majority of SouthEasterners to the Nigeria project. And if the author of that offensive write-up were to look much more closely, he would probably notice that a certain “selfish” and “selfcentred” woman from the SouthEast is the driving force behind the Bring-Back-Our-Girls campaign on behalf of the abducted Chibok school girls.
Perhaps, he would also notice that the Igbo work hard for their money and that he is not likely to find an Igbo among the ten greatest looters of the Nigerian economy in the past 20 years. Again, the lands which they have acquired outside their region were not seized at gun-point from their former owners but purchased with hard-earned money.
Another thing Fari is likely to notice is that numerous hardworking Northerners have attained great heights and made their families and the nation proud. For example, a certain automobile engineer from Kebbi state is presently the toast of the car industry in the United States of America, for designing a particular popular car model. And, of course, an excellent and erudite woman from Northern Nigeria is an Assistant SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations. I could go on and name some of the hundreds of professors and other great professionals from the North. Fari could join the A-team if he is prepared to make the necessary sacrifices rather than casting around for a scape-goat.
Finally, apart from desisting from using highly inflammable and inflammatory language in sensitive public discourse, and blaming the Igbo (and other fellow Nigerians) for his obvious inability to achieve, Fari should seek some help with his English language if he still insists on writing for public consumption. Being an engineer is not an excuse; we know about a former editor of a now-defunct national newspaper who was a mechanical engineer. And he was quite good.
Afam Belolisa belolisaafam@ yahoo.com