Ndigbo have contributed immensely to the economic development of Kano. And they have worked hard for their money. Just as it is the case in Lagos, no one has accused them of being land grabbers. And no one can accuse them of not adding value to wherever they live. To accuse them, therefore, of taking over enterprises as well as landed properties which would have otherwise been under the control of indigenes, is preposterous. It does not make sense.
By IKECHUKWU AMAECHI
What caught my attention in the 50th inaugural lecture flyer of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto was the theme: “The Igbo factor in the history of intergroup relations and commerce in Kano: Opportunities and challenges revisited.” It triggered a sense of foreboding instantly because I had a hunch it would be a dog whistling voyage, the pastime of ethnic bigots across the country when dealing with their bête noire – Ndigbo.
At a time of feverish ethnic tensions stoked by the bigotry of those in power, why would anyone choose such a topic for his inaugural lecture? And what exactly is the Igbo factor in the history of intergroup relations and commerce in Kano? Why would that be an issue at a time when tens, if not hundreds of Kano youths, are languishing in various detention camps in Abuja charged with the high crime of treason for participating in the #EndBadgovernance protests in August; at a time when Kano effectively has two emirs and bandits are running riots?
What has made the Igbo factor a priority, even if the lecturer, Ahmed Bako, is a professor of history? Is it not the same history that the powers-that-be expunged from school curriculum because the country’s genocidal escapades haunts them?
An inaugural lecture not only serves as an invaluable platform for professors to present their groundbreaking research, innovation, engagement and teaching, but also to demonstrate the societal impact of their work. Intellectual onanism is, therefore, an antithesis.
And that was exactly what Bako, a 1980 history graduate, who has been a lecturer since 1981, and served as head of department four times, supervised over 100 Bachelor of Arts projects, 45 Master of Arts dissertations and 22 PhDs embarrassingly indulged in – intellectual masturbation.
Only a witless mind such as Prof Bako’s could label the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization – Ohanaeze Ndigbo – a separatist group. If Ohanaeze is an Igbo separatist group, what about the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF)? He was on a mission, so he couldn’t care less. In this game, because there are no consequences, reckless assertions and innuendoes trump scholarship. And having dispensed with Ohanaeze, other lies followed.
Bako said he was pushed into extensive study of Igbo community because apart from being the most predominant migrant group in Kano, “Many of them, even though speak Hausa very well, did not adapt to the predominant Kano value system.” But he didn’t bother to tell his audience what those values are. Perhaps giving out 13-year-old girls in marriage is one such value.
The ugliest fib of his voodoo intellectualism is the assertion that “the Igbo in actual fact from the 1950s started sending their sons and daughters to Europe and America for higher education; all with the hope of eventual domination of the country; not necessarily for developing it for the benefit of the nation.” How can a so-called professor be so flippant in his assertion with absolutely no authority or evidence to back it up? What manner of professor will be so cavalier as to reduce his inaugural lecture to a litany of prejudice?
Then, another jaw-dropping claim: “What needs emphasis during this time was the fact that searching for economic power and dominance make the Igbo to be desperate and aggressive. Desperation is what makes them to not only be disliked by host communities in several of the areas of their dominance in Northern Nigeria but to push some young Igbo into criminal activities.”
Coming from a man who hails from a region where bandits and sundry urchins are the lords of the manor shows how intellectually vacuous Bako is even in his professorial garb.
But he is not done yet. Another preposterous claim: “My view is that because of ethnic solidarity, Igbo traders gradually marginalized or even displaced large number of Hausa traders.”
On this, he provided ‘evidence.’ A typical example of a Hausa man displaced by the Igbo was Alhaji Abubakar Makwarari. He became a textile retailer in 1974 in a stall he rented from Alhaji Salisu Barau Zage at the cost of £6,000 per annum. In 1986 he was ejected due to his failure to pay the new rent of £30,000. Chief David Obi Okonkwo paid the stated amount and occupied the stall. Many other Hausa traders were displaced by the Igbo who were ready to pay high rents.”
How laughable! Ethnic solidarity in this sense would have meant that the owner of the shop was Igbo. That was not the case. So, how can Alhaji Zage’s decision to eject Alhaji Makwarari from his property be recorded as a crime by the Igbo? And to imagine that our erudite professor of history deemed it necessary to include this inane narrative in an inaugural lecture beggars belief. Suffice it to say that the Pound ceased to be a legal tender in Nigeria in 1973.
Prof Ahmed Bako concluded his jejune lecture by asserting that “there is no doubt in the fact that the broadening base of the Igbo in Kano and their success has given rise to criticisms against them by the indigenes who consistently blame them for taking over enterprises as well as landed properties which would have otherwise been under their control. The Igbo have also been accused of constituting a drain on Kano economy in terms of repatriating funds to develop their homeland.”
Then his text ended on a cryptic note. “Like quite a number of academic presentations, this lecture intentionally leaves many questions unanswered and several others untreated. It is my hope that the lecture generates greater interest in the history of Igbo Diaspora in different parts of the country, especially the northern elites to know what actually happened so that necessary arrangements are made.”
So, what are these necessary arrangements that the northern elites are beckoned to make given that he has also concluded that the Igbo will never leave Kano “because the factors that pushed them to leave their area to Kano and other cities in Northern Nigeria are still there or even more.” Is he psyching his compatriots for another round of genocide against Ndigbo?
Everything is wrong with this so-called inaugural lecture. The lies are insufferable. And that is tragic considering that it is about the lived experiences of a people, many of whom are still around.
Prof Okey Anueyiagu, author and newspaper columnist, is one of them. Son of the renowned journalist and nationalist, Chief Chukwuma Anueyiagu, he was born and raised in Kano and knows what the issues are.
“I have a personal objection to many of the statements made by this lecturer. I am confident that I qualify to question his positions, because I was a part and parcel of the Kano history pre and post-independence. I was born and bred in that city, and my family was fully entrenched in the politics, culture and business of Kano,” he wrote.
“When this professor lied that the Ibo Union built schools and made them exclusive to the Igbo, I was repulsed. My father was the founding chairman of the Ibo Union, and was one of the key pillars of the schools initiatives. I attended those schools, and can attest to the fact that many non-Igbo attended those schools and benefited from the largesse and philanthropy of those forward-thinking Igbo men and women. I still remember the names of many of these students and some have become important figures in our country.”
Chidi Odinkalu, a Professor of Practice in International Human Rights Law at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, said Ahmed Bako should be pitied. “If a man – or anyone at that – has spent over 40 years of his life spouting this kind of stuff even with the best of intentions as seems evident on the face of this paper, I will take pity on him and pity even more the students who endured it.”
I agree.
But even as we pity him for the very poor quality of work that is manifest in the lecture, the intent must be interrogated because there is, no doubt, a method to this escalating madness of Igbo baiting. It is dangerous to allow these idiocies to slide.
Ndigbo have contributed immensely to the economic development of Kano. And they have worked hard for their money. Just as it is the case in Lagos, no one has accused them of being land grabbers. And no one can accuse them of not adding value to wherever they live. To accuse them, therefore, of taking over enterprises as well as landed properties which would have otherwise been under the control of indigenes, is preposterous. It does not make sense.
But the fact that it doesn’t make sense will not stop the likes of Prof Ahmed Bako from spewing baloney. But he needs to be told, pointedly I must add, that as long as the unity of Nigeria remains “non-negotiable” even when it has become apparent to all that the country is not working, Ndigbo are going nowhere. Not even intellectual masturbations like his will stampede them out of their own country.
