Undercurrents of Seething Igbophobia

By Terhemba Osuji | February 9, 2017

Once again the social discourse is alive discussing a post on Facebook by a certain Aliyu Hashim, a northerner, that "if Buhari dies Walahi, we Northern peoples are ready to destroy Niger Delta and Igbo land even Obasanjo will be included we are ready for war to divide Nigeria all northern leaders kill by southern peoples since the creation of nigeria, Walahi we are ready to surrender our life"

That post has generated a lot of debate on Facebook with Nigerians roundly condemning the statement. 

While many Nigerians are inclined to discard this post by this bigot as a one off statement, it should not be discounted easily, in light of many other incendiary posts, as it nevertheless exposes the thought processes and seething resentment by enough northerners about Igbo and niger Delta people all viewed as the same by northerners in targeting bloodletting. 

It must be stated that the Igbos who have made a habit of migrating to the north in search of greener pastures have always been the targeted recipients of ethnic hatred and have been massacred in their sleep by mob action for all manner of reasons.

Hashims inference about southern people killing northern leaders refers to the highly unfortunate and regrettable coup in January 1966 where Igbo officers launched a coup and killed the cream of northern political and military leadership. The counter coup in July was aimed at avenging that coup and teaching Igbo people a lesson and in its aftermath the infamous massacres of Igbo people in the north were launched against Igbo people and thousands were lynched and killed.

The common misconception the likes of Hashim fail to remember is that the targeting and killing of Igbos began way before the need to avenge the killings of northern leaders after the 1st coup of 1966 and Nigeria's history is marked with bloody riots targeting Igbo and deltans viewed as the same people from as early as 1953. 

In that same regard, while northern leaders may discount this remark and make glib references to the unity of Nigeria, it is very hard not to gauge that these attitudes are indeed shared by leaders from the north in how the continue to implement public policies that systematically neglect the east groaning under a massive infrastructural neglect and the Niger Delta devastated with oil spills from drilling crude that benefits Nigeria.

It must be noted that the north which has been in control of the machinery of government since independence has not found the political will to implement a marshal plan for the Delta with the same amount of zeal used to build roads and infrastructure in the north and raise Abuja from a barren desert to a busy capital. 

Basically the apathy about divesting in the progress of the delta and Igbo land has its grounding in these thought processes shared by Nigeria's past and current leaders and needs to be called out for what it is as being against the interest of one Nigeria.

One individual in commenting about Hashim post asked the most poignant question "If buhari dies, an igboman or Niger deltans isn't going to succeed him. What's the hate against igbos?"

Once again That question is poignant and exposes the baseless hatred for Igbo people, as currently the Igbos have been systematically marginalized from political power in Nigeria today, in fact never have the Igbos had it so bad as save for a deputy senate president, no easterner sits on the security council in Nigeria today. 

The Igbos placed their political capital behind the re-election of Jonathan, voted accordingly and are paying the price for being on the wrong side of history in the sweeping and historic election that brought Buhari to power, but besides that the Igbo political elite (please forget about IPOB agitators) have eaten humble crow and are weathering the storm from that political miscalculation, so it is very confusing why Hashim who represents an opinion set of many northerners would harbor resentment against Igbos and niger deltans if Buhari dies.

Buhari himself has a share in fanning the flames of tribal hatred when he allegedly made the famous inciting remarks on the campaign trail in Hausa: 

biri jini kare jinni" which means 'dog bloody monkey bloody'

Basically he used it in the contest and on the heel of losing three presidential elections through rigging and used the statement in the context that "If what happens in 2011 should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon will all be soaked in blood." 

He may have meant it as a rallying political cry in the heat of the moment and in frustration due to feeling victimized from rigging, but the peasant foot soldiers like Hashim' in their hearts knew who the would hold responsible for losing any election and in the aftermath of the 2011 elections, many hashim's went on a murderous rampage against all foreigners, almost always made up of Igbo, niger delta and Christian minority people all viewed as the same who had no hand in the PDP government controlled rigging that influenced Buhari's loss at the polls. 

It is time especially in tribalistic Nigeria for the institutions of state to begin a mass education campaign to imbibe the value and sanctity of human life in Nigeria and to douse the flames of tribal hatred always seeking an outlet for expression through violence by the legions of Hashim's in the north, were most massacres and mob actions incidentally take place, to prevent any blood letting in the future against innocent foreigners in the north east and north west.

#falsearewanarratives