In all areas and in all ramifications, the Yoruba are more successful, blessed and more productive than Igbo. If you doubt it I will give you the statistics: Land Area: All the five Igbo states of Anambra, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi and Enugu (Total area =29,095km2) roughly equate the size of Oyo State (Area = 28,454km2), only one of the present 6 Yoruba states, apart from Kwara, Kogi and part of Edo state? Geography: Yoruba are located close to an international border with the Republic of Benin, where we have our kith and kin, the Ajase, Popo and Ketu Yoruba. We control the largest coastline relative to any other ethnic group in Nigeria. Our land is fertile all year through, and assorted minerals abound. We occupy from the fringes of the savannah to the sea. Igboland is landlocked, choked, with no access to an international border or to the sea, it is infertile and terribly blighted by erosion. Economy: The size of the economy of the South-West (US$ 119,807) = (GDP + PPP, 2010) is larger than that of the 3 Northern region added together (US $ 95,872=). It is equally bigger than that of both the South-East (US$ 36,791) and South-South (US$ 74,518) combined. For those of you who are shouting about Lagos being the shining star of the South-West, if you remove the volume of the Lagos State economy (US$74,674) from that of the economy of the entire South-West, the size of the economy of the remaining 5 states (US$ 45,133) is still bigger than each of the South-East (US$ 36,791), North-West (US$ 43,968=), North-Central (US$ 29,525=) (of which a substantial part is Yoruba) and North-East (US$ 22,379=). The total economy of the South doubles that of the North in size. So tell me, nna, when war breaks out, whose side would you (and your landlocked, landless people) rather be? With what are you going to prosecute this war? Is it with the money saved selling spare parts at Idumota, Lagos, or any other part of the South-West? That will sadly dry up in 3 months after you must have scurried back home! With the way things are going, you are most likely going to be isolated in the South as the Yoruba will support the 100% Resource Control demand of the South-South, while they support our Regional Autonomy demand. The Middle Belt (North Central) is already up in arms (Boko Haram and Fulani Herdsmen) with the Far North (North-West and North-East). Their desire for support, protection and financing plus access to the sea from the South-South and South-West will earn them regional autonomy from their eternal oppressors (The Hausa-Fulani) and control over their solid minerals and hydroelectric generating capacity. With this scenario, how do you see the Igbo faring? Are they going to partner the Hausa Fulani and the Kanuri? Or go it alone, knowing they are completely surrounded by hostile ethnic groups with no access to the sea? These are only questions that require only answers, please. Not abuses or further gutter talk. I just hope I have opened your mind to deeper things to ponder upon than verbal rampage. Population: The 2006 census records the total population of the Yoruba states of Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Osun,Oyo and Ekiti as 27,581,989 and that of the Igbo states of Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Abi and Ebonyi as 16,381,735. Till today, the Yoruba are still contesting that figure as a calculated attempt to reduce its actual population since that figure does not correlate with any demographic or social parameters on the ground. And this figure does not include the Yoruba in Kwara, Kogi or Edo states. The Igbo, on the other hand, has accepted this figure willingly since there is no concerted effort to refute it like the Yoruba. So where is the vaunted population of the Igbo? In diaspora? But then the Yoruba have the largest diaspora linkages. Apart from the Yoruba-Nigerians scattered in Europe and the Americas, the ancestors of Yoruba citizens of the following countries formed the largest numbers of African slaves carried away during the slave trade. Fantastic enough, they still maintain their ancestral links through the language, culture, visits and Ifa worship. These countries are Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica, Guyana, The Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic and the USA. Ifa Olokun is being worshipped in large numbers in Brazil and Cuba with Yoruba as the language of worship. The popular Voodoo in Haiti is derived from Ifa-Odu, Ifadu, Voodoo. Adding these to the population of Yoruba Worldwide has been estimated to a total of 135 million. So where are the Igbo? Maybe in Kano state! Industry: The Industrial estates of Iganmu, Ikeja, Isolo and Apapa, built by the legendary Awolowo was the precursor of todays dominance of the Nigerian Economy of the West. The region grew in leaps and bounds such that today, there is virtually nothing that is not being manufactured in the South-West. While Igbo shout their technological prowess to high heavens, Yoruba silent achievers are there in their thousands. In fact, it is the Yoruba culture which nurtured the apprentice system of trade learning that fired industrial growth in the region. Education: A report by the National Bureau of Statistics in Wikipedia puts Osun children in primary school enrollment between 70 to 80 percent. The report by Wikipedia which was posted on July 8, 2013 states that no other state in the country falls within Osun’s category, while Ekiti, Delta, Cross River, Enugu states rank between 60 to 70 per cent. Ondo, Lagos, Rivers, Bayelsa, Abia rank between 50 and 60 per cent, while Kebbi and Yobe states were on the lower rung of the ladder, with 10 per cent enrolment. Note the prevalence of the South-Western states far ahead of their South -Eastern states counterparts. Of the list of 49 Universities in Nigeria, 19 are located in the South-West. A paltry 7 are located in the South-East. This is the breakdown: South West: 19 Universities South East: 7 Universities South South: 8 Universities North East: 3 Universities North West: 5 Universities North Central: 7 Universities I think you people should just shut up! I challenge any one of you to bring out your own figures and statistics while quoting your sources the way I have done. So it is clear we desire nothing from Igbo people or from Igboland. We need nothing from you, neither do we need you. I have gone to this length to properly educate Igbo Social Media (and other) gladiators who may have a bloated idea about their strength, quality and achievement, relative to the Yoruba, and to enlighten Yoruba who may not be so sure about the quality, characteristics and endowments of a proud nation to which they belong. Let the Igbo know that they come to our cities to improve their lot, and they should please let it stay that way. Your continuation of this line of behaviour is only at your peril. I can promise you that when the Yoruba patience, maturity and civilised ethos, which you keep misinterpreting as cowardice (Haaa!) become exhausted and the situation explodes, you will have only yourself to blame. -George Akinola
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 17:17:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015