Some commentators have referred to this issue merely as an initiative. I hold that it has gone way beyond that. It has come on and gone off the front burner of Igbo-Yoruba discourse several times over the past three to four decades. Profs Bolaji Akinyemi and Niyi Osundare referred to it obliquely at the 50th Anniversary Lecture marking the sacrifice of Lt Col Adekunle Fajuyi in service and defence of his Igbo boss. The major discussions recently have often hinged on the notion that there is some extra step Ndigbo need to take to "consummate" this much talked about, much desired handshake. Pray, do the Yoruba want it? That's the question.
The ball has been in the Yoruba court for as long as anyone cares to remember. Like in love and marriage Ndigbo have rendered themselves vulnerable to Ndi-Yoruba and the South-West. Almost all our investments are there. They have largely resisted any movement towards reciprocity. What more can we do? It is now being generally suggested that Ndigbo reduce the quantum of investment in Yorubaland both as a hedge but also as a necessary shot in the arm for the economy east of the Niger. The move is also expected to reduce resentment to the rampaging success of Ndigbo against all odds, real and contrived.
I repeat. In analyzing the health of current relationship, we should ignore typical altercations between Igbo and Yoruba agbero class at Ojota, Mushin or Balogun. Major decisions are not made there. Check out the boardrooms where say at NBPlc a decision was made to invest in a world-class modern brewery at 9th Mile, Enugu, or how a different decision was arrived at in Guinness to delay a similar investment. Note that it took more than a decade before Guinness, scrambling to play catch-up, snapped up the long abandoned Dubic Brewery at Aba.
When the day comes and the likes of Oba Otudeko will invest say $1b in a string of power plants and flour mills, providing power to his hosts and competitors in and around Enugu, then the second hand required to complete the handshake would have been offered. It is worthwhile recalling that probably the very first factory that I had visited as a secondary school student in prewar Eastern Nigeria, Odutola Tyres, a rethreading facility, belonged to a Yoruba. I would love that a Yoruba journalist or bloggist investigates to find out if indeed the estate of the late industrialist ever lost ownership to the "wicked" Igbos.
Dear Charles Ogbu, if the Om'Odua want to shake the hands of Ndigbo, it's already out there, fully stretched as can be perceived from our economic posture in Yorubaland. This cannot be advanced by the kind of stories out in the open between Yoruba controlled banks and our INNOSON. That nonsense must stop.
Ndigbo have been in Yorubaland for the long haul. Ndi-Yoruba can only strive to match us, but can hardly be expected to meet up. It's a matter of DNA. They hedge to a fault. The only advice that I can offer is that Ndigbo stop judging them. Change may come at a speed that will even surprise Charles Darwin. Hence, patience is my watchword.
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