Mr. Peter Obi Whether you are an Igbo-born Nigerian living within or outside the country, or a non-Igbo born who has mingled well with Igbo people and has perfected emulation of their norms, the presidential aspiration of the former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, in the 2023 election has unveiled some of the doctrines on which Igbo people survive through the ages.
In this article, we will look at some of the doctrines and how they may affect the tribe shortly if nothing tangible is done by the leadership of the tribe to reconfigure the blood that flows through the veins of the people answering to the Igbo socio-cultural tribe.
Religious Bigotry
Like it or not, Igbo people have through the ages proven to be one of the ethnic groups in Nigeria promoting religious intolerance, and this has resulted in an age-long crisis between the South-East and the Northern part of Nigeria, which is predominantly a Muslim region.
Based on the record of crises that have happened between Igbo and other ethnic groups in Nigeria, Igbo against Hausa/Fulani has been the only crisis that Igbo fight either in Onitsha, Aba, or any of the Eastern cities.
Sincerely, the major reason behind the crisis between the East and North has been established by the Presidential ambition of Mr. Peter Obi during the 2023 general election.
Recall that political enthusiasts and intellectuals from the North later accepted the Presidential ambition of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu after they were convinced that Mr. Peter Obi was only waging a “religious war” against Nigerian Muslims in the name of politics.
This was ascertained when Mr. Peter Obi moved from Pastor to Pastors, Churches to Churches, telling the Christian congregation that the 2023 presidential election was a “religious war” and the Christians should fight to take back their “country”.
This is not only about Mr. Peter Obi, it is all about the Igbo, an ethnic group that has ever recorded giving their 99% votes to a presidential candidate based on his religious-bigot election campaign, and nothing much at an instance he was publicly identified as a chronic liar.
This will have consequences, and it may take the Igbo generation decades before they can get rid of the religious damage that the presidential election of Mr. Peter Obi has caused the race.
Hatred and Destructive Mentality
This may be a bitter truth, but the presidential ambition of Mr. Peter Obi in 2023 and how the presidential campaign was run could be a vindication that Igbo people are more embittered in Nigeria, and the region has no affection for the people of other tribes in the country.
In many instances, Igbo people were alleged to have planned to incite worrisome violence in some parts of the Southwestern States, where the most-favored presidential candidate then, Bola Ahmed Tinubu hails from.
Besides, the hateful approaches, manners and characters developed by an average Igbo man towards the presidential administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, before and after his swearing-in ceremony is nothing different from the characters and manners of a forbidden enemy, who looks for the downfall of his opposition with no passion.
Recall that this was the same region that said everything to badly paint the presidential administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim Northerner, between 2015 and 2023. They propagated many fake news about Buhari. They claimed he was cloned. He was doing ethnic cleansing against them and even tagged him as an Islamic terrorist at some points.
If Bola Tinubu from the West is their enemy, Muhammadu Buhari from the North is their enemy, and Nyesom Wike from the South is their enemy when they live with a mentality of crucifying even their sons who seem to reason otherwise, aside from their ethnic norms for religious intolerance, severe hatred, destructive mentality once it comes to ethnic classification?
The 2023 Presidential election could be an eye-opener for many Nigerians who might have not experienced, in real life, the religious intolerance and mind-boggling ethnic bigotry that run through the veins of an average Igbo person, regardless of their place of living and how far they are away from home.
This may sound unpalatable to you, I know it will, but kindly take a back seat, switch off your mind from the defaulted configuration, launch a flashback at the history surrounding the 2023 General Elections, and come to the realization that personal arrogance of an average Igbo people may not be easily separated from the religious intolerance and ethnic bigotry that Mr. Peter Obi brought to the national table on the ground of presidential contest.
Category: World-News
Tag: Peter Obi
Written by Omooba Alekuwodo (omoobaalekuwodo)
Published 11/7/2023 11:08:59 AM