In what follows, I present a sample of the views readers shared with me on the series that ended last week with the above title. Enjoy!
I am highly delighted with your “The Case Against Nigeria’s break-up. I am more enlighten and more aware of the geography and culture of Nigeria. People like you with intellectual capacity are needed not only in Nigeria but Africa at large to counter so called western globalisation on the African soil. I will like you to send me the entire series, because i have missed some of it. My regard to you and your entire family and keep the good work please.
Who are the Igbo historians? What were the sources of their information, did you check the references to see if they were merely writing fictions? You wrote: “There was not a single slave who identified himself as Yoruba”, but there were slaves who identified themselves as Igbo (it might have been spelt differently as the orthography that included ‘gb’ ‘ch’ ‘kw’ etc was only introduced in 1983, previously they were written ‘b’ ‘ts’/’c’ ‘q’ respectively). I bet you the so-called Igbo historians are professors and authorities in UK, Australia and New Zealand. Does that make them authorities in a different culture and history?
I’m not advocating the splitting of Nigeria, but you didn’t mention that the present-day Yoruba traded into present-day Benin Republic before colonialism. The Borno people related and traded with their Cameroonian friends. The people of Cross River intermingled with Cameroonians and those from Equatorial Guinea, as they still do. So it wasn’t as if pre-colonial Nigerians defined a map by trading among Yoruba and Hausa or Yoruba and Edo, or just within the boundaries of Nigeria. I guess the so-called historians didn’t mention that the boundaries set before colonialism were fluid and seamless, changing from time to time according to friendship and wars. Not that there wouldn’t have been wars within the boundaries, even twin brothers living under the same roof do have such times. The problem is if destruction/in-fighting by one party or both parties becomes the basis of their existence under that roof.
You failed to mention that colonial India is now three countries (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh). Secondly, outside India, an India man sees a fellow Indian, Pakistani or even Sri Lankan as a brother. If they happen to be managers, they don’t care whether you are Hindi or Punjabi. Would an Hausa manager give a little preferential treatment to an Igbo man outside Nigeria? Even within Nigeria, an Hausa man once told me that if an Igbo man and a Lebanese have the same qualification and experience, he’d give the job to the Lebanese.
Did you know USSR broke up into 15 countries, Yugoslavia into 6 countries, Czechoslovakia has also broken into two, with some of the countries enjoying friendships as never before?
In 2014, Scotland will be voting in a referendum to leave the United Kingdom. Though they don’t have a problem within themselves (in fact Scotland enjoys the best privilege among them: completely free university education, free prescriptions, etc.). They defined the Nigerian entity and they want to split their own entity in a referendum. It won’t be bad if Nigeria carry out such referendum.
Iyke Syna (
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)
Brilliant! I have nurtured a thought for a long time that the trio you mentioned planted the seed for our current imbroglio in Nigeria. The virus has now become genetically mutated and is passed on as a genetic disorder because it is deeply ingrained in our minds inseparably. All of us now have this deadly familial trait. Forgive my rantings. This is a sensitive topic.
Shamsudeeen Sani
I just read your article in the Weekly Trust newspaper July 7 edition on “the case against Nigeria’s Break up”. If i may add to your beautiful piece, I would like to point out the fact that out of all the nations colonized by the British, for instance India, Sudan and co, Nigeria is one of the few still standing together as one, as India broke up into Pakistan and Bangladesh, Sudan into Sudan and South Sudan. We need to look for solutions to our problems as a nation and stop looking for division because I personally believe that would create more problems of war and continual ethnic conflict amongst the divided regions. We know we are different by we can turn our different ethnicities, religions, and cultures into a gift that would unite us all. May God bless Nigeria and keep us united through these difficult times.
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I just read your Notes from Atlanta column. It is very informative. You are a brilliant writer. I found it funny and amazing that the word Yoruba emerged out of the corruption of “Yariba”, the word Hausa people refer to the present-day Oyo, Osun, and some parts of Lagos and Kwara.
I may be wrong, but I think you’ve opened a flood-gate of criticisms by mentioning that the word “Yoruba” is a corrupted word from what the Hausas called “Yariba”. Some Yorubas will vehemently disagree with you. They will not want the history and etymology of the word Yoruba to be associated with the Hausas because of some political and in a way historic rivalry.
Aminu Baba-Ahmed (
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)
I read with utmost delight your column this week. It was well-thought. So many cases were made against the amalgamation of Nigeria. I always seriously disagree. I recall having a heated debate with my cousin who said that the problem is from the race i.e. the black race. Even there, i disagreed, and cited the cases of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia etc. What do you think?
Auwal Sani (
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)
My weekend is not fulfilled if i don’t read your columns in the Weekly Trust and Sunday Trust.I appreciate your insights in this week’s column titled “The case against Nigeria’s break-up [1]”. It’senlightening. I await the concluding part[s].My regard to your family.
Chris-Sokowoncin Agaji, Kaduna (
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
)
In what follows, I present a sample of the views readers shared with me on the series that ended last week with the above title. Enjoy!
I am highly delighted with your “The Case Against Nigeria’s break-up. I am more enlighten and more aware of the geography and culture of Nigeria. People like you with intellectual capacity are needed not only in Nigeria but Africa at large to counter so called western globalisation on the African soil. I will like you to send me the entire series, because i have missed some of it. My regard to you and your entire family and keep the good work please.
Who are the Igbo historians? What were the sources of their information, did you check the references to see if they were merely writing fictions? You wrote: “There was not a single slave who identified himself as Yoruba”, but there were slaves who identified themselves as Igbo (it might have been spelt differently as the orthography that included ‘gb’ ‘ch’ ‘kw’ etc was only introduced in 1983, previously they were written ‘b’ ‘ts’/’c’ ‘q’ respectively). I bet you the so-called Igbo historians are professors and authorities in UK, Australia and New Zealand. Does that make them authorities in a different culture and history?
I’m not advocating the splitting of Nigeria, but you didn’t mention that the present-day Yoruba traded into present-day Benin Republic before colonialism. The Borno people related and traded with their Cameroonian friends. The people of Cross River intermingled with Cameroonians and those from Equatorial Guinea, as they still do. So it wasn’t as if pre-colonial Nigerians defined a map by trading among Yoruba and Hausa or Yoruba and Edo, or just within the boundaries of Nigeria. I guess the so-called historians didn’t mention that the boundaries set before colonialism were fluid and seamless, changing from time to time according to friendship and wars. Not that there wouldn’t have been wars within the boundaries, even twin brothers living under the same roof do have such times. The problem is if destruction/in-fighting by one party or both parties becomes the basis of their existence under that roof.
You failed to mention that colonial India is now three countries (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh). Secondly, outside India, an India man sees a fellow Indian, Pakistani or even Sri Lankan as a brother. If they happen to be managers, they don’t care whether you are Hindi or Punjabi. Would an Hausa manager give a little preferential treatment to an Igbo man outside Nigeria? Even within Nigeria, an Hausa man once told me that if an Igbo man and a Lebanese have the same qualification and experience, he’d give the job to the Lebanese.
Did you know USSR broke up into 15 countries, Yugoslavia into 6 countries, Czechoslovakia has also broken into two, with some of the countries enjoying friendships as never before?
In 2014, Scotland will be voting in a referendum to leave the United Kingdom. Though they don’t have a problem within themselves (in fact Scotland enjoys the best privilege among them: completely free university education, free prescriptions, etc.). They defined the Nigerian entity and they want to split their own entity in a referendum. It won’t be bad if Nigeria carry out such referendum.
Iyke Syna (
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
)
Brilliant! I have nurtured a thought for a long time that the trio you mentioned planted the seed for our current imbroglio in Nigeria. The virus has now become genetically mutated and is passed on as a genetic disorder because it is deeply ingrained in our minds inseparably. All of us now have this deadly familial trait. Forgive my rantings. This is a sensitive topic.
Shamsudeeen Sani
I just read your article in the Weekly Trust newspaper July 7 edition on “the case against Nigeria’s Break up”. If i may add to your beautiful piece, I would like to point out the fact that out of all the nations colonized by the British, for instance India, Sudan and co, Nigeria is one of the few still standing together as one, as India broke up into Pakistan and Bangladesh, Sudan into Sudan and South Sudan. We need to look for solutions to our problems as a nation and stop looking for division because I personally believe that would create more problems of war and continual ethnic conflict amongst the divided regions. We know we are different by we can turn our different ethnicities, religions, and cultures into a gift that would unite us all. May God bless Nigeria and keep us united through these difficult times.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
I just read your Notes from Atlanta column. It is very informative. You are a brilliant writer. I found it funny and amazing that the word Yoruba emerged out of the corruption of “Yariba”, the word Hausa people refer to the present-day Oyo, Osun, and some parts of Lagos and Kwara.
I may be wrong, but I think you’ve opened a flood-gate of criticisms by mentioning that the word “Yoruba” is a corrupted word from what the Hausas called “Yariba”. Some Yorubas will vehemently disagree with you. They will not want the history and etymology of the word Yoruba to be associated with the Hausas because of some political and in a way historic rivalry.
Aminu Baba-Ahmed (
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
)
I read with utmost delight your column this week. It was well-thought. So many cases were made against the amalgamation of Nigeria. I always seriously disagree. I recall having a heated debate with my cousin who said that the problem is from the race i.e. the black race. Even there, i disagreed, and cited the cases of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia etc. What do you think?
Auwal Sani (
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
)
My weekend is not fulfilled if i don’t read your columns in the Weekly Trust and Sunday Trust.I appreciate your insights in this week’s column titled “The case against Nigeria’s break-up [1]”. It’senlightening. I await the concluding part[s].My regard to your family.
Chris-Sokowoncin Agaji, Kaduna (
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
)
