Nigerians are, perhaps, the most religious people in the world. But, to tell it like it is, they are very ungodly and their religious rituals are mostly shallow. They are not interested in the important things of spirituality like love, mercy and the pursuit of peace. Nigerian Christians are not really interested in keeping the message of Jesus rather they want to use His name to make money and live in perpetual comfort. They are full of jealousy, envy, pride, backbiting, malice and all sorts of evil. Those who follow the teachings of Jesus are so few and far between.
The social media is now an avenue for them to vent their anger and spread their hate speeches. They so-called internet warriors are so ignorant of what life is all about. The seriously think they can hate their neighbours, engage in thoughtless prattling and still go to heaven. This ignorant set of people are badly taught by pastors that devote more time to prosperity messages. Nigeria will be a far better place if only these pastors can devote more time to preaching the dimensions of love. The love message is what Christianity is all about and anybody who is not actively walking in love is not working for God. Lots of Yoruba and Igbo Christians are so shamelessly guilty of this issue. Their lives will be completely meaningless if they do not insult one another on a daily basis. It is like the very air they breathe.
The demolished Oshodi market by the administration of Akinwunmi Ambode has presented another opportunity for these merchants of hate to insult and abuse one another. People are so jittery, so self conscious and so quick to impute motive in everything. The angry reaction of some of my Igbo brothers over the market is wrong and must be condemned. The location of that market is dangerous and no responsible government should allow such a market to operate there. Any accident at that spot will be calamitous and will bring a harvest of deaths.
I totally agree with Robert Obioha who equally wrote on this issue. According to him, Igbo traders should be part of the effort to transform Lagos into a mega city. “They should not constitute a stumbling block. I believe the traders were given enough time and opportunity to remove their goods and relocate before the December demolition. The Lagos state governor should not be castigated or branded an enemy by any Igbo.”
The erstwhile aide to the then Governor Babatunde Fashola on Women Ethic Group Mobilization\Empowerment, Barr Nkechi Chukwueke. is also of the view that the demolition of the popular Owonifari Market was not targeted at the Igbos or any other ethnic group. “I have told a lot of people from the East that the exercise was carried out in good faith by the State Government to rid Lagos of crime, restore sanity to the area and ensure that the master plan of Lagos State was not tampered with. From the facts available, the state government gave enough notice to the traders there and even provided alternative market for them to relocate, but many of them refused to go because they believed they won’t make much sales if they go to the new place. The truth is that we must rally round the Governor to ensure that Lagos works. The Governor means well for Lagos and he stands to gain nothing by demolishing people’s shops. These are laws of the land and they must be obeyed by all for the state to progress.”
Nigeria will never develop without unity between the Igbos and the Yorubas. I sincerely recommend what Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu tagged the handshake across the Niger. These are the two most talented ethnic groups in Nigeria. If the Christians among them cannot unite and live in peace then it is a big shame on them. We should be tired of all these silly name-callings and acrimony. According to Chuks Illoegbulem, the feud between the Igbo and the Yoruba ethnic groups is contrived by the Northern oligarchy. He believes it is part of their divide and rule strategy and that every other explanation adduced in the explanation of this phenomenon can only be peripheral. But, I am of the view that this explanation is peripheral and childish. Individuals and people should be responsible for their actions.
I will end this article by quoting a piece by Femi Aribisala in the Vanguard newspaper. “The Yorubas and Ndigbo do themselves great disservice by seeing themselves as arch-enemies. Within the framework of Nigerian politics, this has limited the freedom of action of both ethnic groups. If the one is prominent in this political party, the other is more likely to align itself with another party. This means the one can always be manipulated against the other. Instead, the political space should be opened up by the possibility that the Yoruba and the Igbo can form an alliance. That eventuality is not implausible, especially because they actually have common interests.
SUN
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