Femi Fani-Kayode And The Igbo Supremacy Saga By Fanimokun Mukadas

I am a relatively young man, I know little about history and I won't even pretend to lie or conjure up irrelevant and funny stories about the past just to deceive people as some others have tried to do for the last few weeks. Besides which Chief Femi Fani-kayode has fed us enough history for a lifetime for which we should all be eternally grateful.

I just think that all this dust about Lagos and the igbos, especially their reactions to the various criticisms that have been levelled against them, is more of a reflex and it shows very conspicously the content of their character and their real thoughts towards the yoruba people. It is also obvious that they have harboured those thoughts for many years though they have kept them well hidden.

The igbos should realise that in the whole of Nigeria the yorubas have the most well defined history that has been cherished for ages so it can't be an easy task to try and brain-wash or play mind games with them. This is not a rejoinder to any of the articles for or against this argument, this is just a call to critical reasoning. There are so many questions to ask but let me just put the following seven to our igbo brothers and sisters.

1. Does Chief Femi Fani-kayode like Professor Chinua Achebe, Chief Orji Uzor kalu, Mrs. Obi Ezekwesile and Gov. Peter Obi not have the right to come out in defense of his people?

2. Do the Yorubas not have the right to be vexed whenever any other tribe claim glory for developing their regions?

3. Should the yorubas fold their hands and allow some visitors re-write their history to favor them and discredit the hardwork of yoruba in their own land?

4. Can't some people just understand that it takes some level of humility to allow this Nigeria project work perfectly?

5. Can't the igbo elders if there are any come out and make their people realise that it is total madness to come to another man's land and claim you developed it when you can't do the same magic in your region?

6. Can't this people just understand that every tribe, including the Yoruba's have feelings just as much as they do?

7. Is it not provocative and insulting for a visiting tribe to try and install a TRADITIONAL ruler in another mans land after been allowed to hold various top political positions in Lagos?

If these questions can be answered with all sincerity, maybe some bitter history will not have to repeat itself.

I for one knows what it feels like for your land to be called a no mans land-this is the most derogatory of all tribal insults. Its like calling a grown up man a bastard and not expecting a reaction.

I am a yoruba man from Isale-Eko Lagos but no one seems to believe me because some people, who have forgotten their homes and have no sense of history, have seized my land in their small minds. And you expect me to be quiet when I finally realise that I do infact have rights to my land and a rich history that dates over 400 years to support it.

All this igbo supremacy saga just shows how desperate this guys have always wanted to claim development of the whole country to themselves. Today it is Lagos soon it would be Abuja then Kano. What is even more shocking is how these guys descended on Femi Fani-kayode just because he took the pains to show them glaring realities.

I, like most yorubas have never had anything against the igbos or any tribe at that but all these talk on social media and newspapers by even respected igbo scholars is called pushing the line. In the last four weeks most of our social websites, blogs, newspaper columns and newspapers in Nigeria that are igbo-controlled have accomodated the most slanderous, hateful, violent, malicious and obsessive articles written about Chief Fani-Kayode and his family all in an attempt to discredit and demonise him. Some even threatened his life and that of his family.Yet they have failed to achieve their objectives because the man keeps coming back.

Besides which the more they do these desperate things the more he wins strong support and sympathy from the majority of his own yoruba people. The harder they try to shame him the more they are turning him into our long-awaited, new found leader who has cultivated the courage to stand up for his people and call a spade a spade.

We may not be talking or ranting on the pages of newspapers and the social media much like the other side but we are watching in studied silence and preparing ourselves for the next chapter of the book and the next level of the struggle. That is what our refined and sophisticated background compels us to do. Not all wars are fought by making unenecessary noise.

We are Yorubas. We have every right to lay claim to what belongs to us and since we are very intelligent and educated people, we would retain these rights with our pens and our mouth respectfully for as long as it takes and we expect every other tribe to do the same. Call me a tribalist if you like and print the most unprintable things about me. Whatever you do I, and all those who think like me, will not bow and neither will we be intimidated.

There is a new awareness that is silently rising amongst the yoruba people and that awareness has been kindled by the likes of Chief Fani-Kayode and others who have courageously thrown down the gauntlet to those that would steal our collective heritage. That awareness leads and guides us to finally accept the fact that there is nothing wrong or shameful about loving yourself, your family, your clan, your tribe, your nationality and then your nation all at the same time and all in that order. As Fani-Kayode wrote. ''we will not sacrifice our yorubaness on the alter of Nigeria''.

Finally the igbo must know that no matter how vicious or virulent their attacks may be on those amongst us that are ready, willing and able to tell them the bitter truth, nothing will stop the wind of change that is blowing across yorubaland today. We know who we are and we are fed up with being kicked around and being fed the usual lies, the most prominent being that we are cowards.

Yoruba nationalism is now a reality and there is something of a cultural rennaissance amongst our people which has been sparked off by the excesses of the Chinua Achebe's, the Orji Kalu's, the Obi Ezekwesile's and the Ben Obi's of this world.

It would be most unwise for anyone or any group of people to continue to take our gentle and accomodating disposition as weakness or stupidity. We wish no-one ill and neither do we mean them harm but only a fool will not defend his heritage and his fathers house and land and only a bastard will allow outsiders to crucify their father before their very eyes.

The yoruba are not verbose, loud or unduly aggressive. We are wise, strategic and very calculating and we know exactly when to make our move. Unlike others we take our time before we rise up and say ''no more''. Yet when we do we are irresistible and unbeatable. The refined amongst the igbo will get this subtle message but the less refined will not. Whichever way, a word is enough for the wise.