IN last week’s column I disclosed that no Northerner was among the 47 readers who reacted to the first article in this series published a fortnight ago, thirty-nine of whom were Igbo. I report today that three Northerners were among the 25 who responded to last week’s piece, as at Saturday when I wrote this. More could still come in because I do get feedbacks to my columns until Sunday, Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, the day a new edition comes out.
Two of the three Northerners who reacted to last week’s write – up were Muslims of the Fulani stock, while the third one is a Christian from a minority ethnic group in Southern Kaduna. The latter is Mr. Daniel (081 – 3609 – 7417) while the Fulanis are Kano – born Mr. Abdulkarim Buba
(080 – 5605 – 4098) and Mr. Attahiru (080 – 3588 – 7800), who was very bellicose and insulting that there was no opportunity to ask him his state of origin or where he was phoning from. If he had not introduced himself when he first got across, I wouldn’t have known his name and tribe.
I am beginning with Buba and Daniel who were the first to get in touch with me and in the order in which I have named them and whose reactions were mature and responsible. After he mentioned his name and told me he was a Fulani, I was expecting a salvo of tirades from Buba since his ethnic group is one of the three I have as Nigeria’s problem. But to my surprise he did not even talk about that aspect of my article. What he spoke about was his delight that as a Yoruba man I could take interest in promoting the cause of Igbo people in a country where ethnicity is rife. He therefore saw me as a detribalized and patriotic Nigerian and said he would like us to work together to promote national unity and also invited me to his book launch next month.
The impression I have is that he felt that as a champion of Igbo interest, that my saying the people of the tribe, the Hausa and Fulani were Nigeria’s problem would not have come from bad faith and that one cannot always support everything someone else does. I believe he is like late Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and the national leader of the Northern Peoples’ Congress and Premier of Northern Nigeria during the colonial period and First Republic, who said the best way to promote national unity is for Nigerians to discuss their differences and find solutions to their problems.
Daniel too saw me as a nationalist and friend of the underdogs who fights the cause of justice and fair – deal for people and therefore urged me to help write about the plight of Northern minorities. With the reactions of Buba and Daniel I hope the Igbos who said my series would promote national discord can see that they are wrong in their belief and that their fear is misplaced.
To be continued next week with Attahiru’s pugnacious reaction
Rounding up on Yoruba/Benin ancestry dispute
THE first thing I am pointing out is that from the research I carried out on the history of the Yorubas and Binis in writing on their ancestry dispute, there is a need for His Royal Majesty Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, the Ooni of Ife and the spiritual head of the Yoruba race, to meet with other traditional rulers of the ethnic group in the country, to get Yoruba historians to take another look at the books on Ile – Ife and other towns in the South – West and correct the shortcomings I found in the publications I came across in books and documents on the internet.
There are various accounts and confusion in the stories of when many a Yoruba town were founded, and when they started having traditional rulers. These include the year when Oranmiyan went to Benin at the invitation of Bini chiefs that Oduduwa sends them someone to be their king after the Ogiso dynasty collapsed. It is also not clear the year that Oranmiyan created the Alaafin throne of Oyo and if he was the first ruler of the town or if it was his son Ajaka.
Also needing clarification is whether or not Okanbi was the only son Oduduwa had and that he was the father of Oranmiyan, Ekun dad of Omoremi (a.k.a. Asodeboyede), who founded Akure and the others who established a number of Yoruba towns. Another confusion is that while some authors have Oranmiyan as the second son of Oduduwa others have him as the last born.
To be continued