I once heard a joke.
Question: How do you wake up a dead Igbo man?
Answer: Shake a bag of coins near his ear.
Laughter erupted. I also laughed because I like a good joke. But if you start believing jokes and become serious about what is only good for comic relief then you have become a problem that needs solving.
Many people like to hate Igbos because they are:
The ‘Japanese’ of Africa.
The Home Base Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The Men who know how to look after their wives.
The ones who will sell ice to the Eskimos.
The ones who fear not, fear none, dare all.
The ones who fear God, but will not hesitate to make an honest profit. They will pay the tithe.
The ones who will rent one shop and in 7 years will own the street.
The ones people hate because they didn’t think of the profitable idea first.
So back to that joke about the bag of coins.
Igbo people don’t play with their business and if they appear money minded, be reminded, the sole purpose of doing business is to make profit. No apologies. If you don’t understand this, then register as a charity if you are considering registering as a business.
The purpose of this post is not about Igbo entrepreneurship or business acumen and ethics. No. It is to enlighten us to another side of the cerebral Igbo race. The Igbo academic at home and abroad. And the Firsts.
I have read that the first Black Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan was an Igbo man named Professor Kenneth Dike.
The first Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos was an Igbo man named Professor Eni Njoku.
The first Nigerian Rector of the then Yaba College of Technology was also an Igbo man
The first Nigerian Professor of Mathematics was an Igbo man named Professor Chike Obi. The man who solved Fermat’s Last Theorem. He was followed by another Igbo man named Professor James Ezeilo, Professor of Differential Calculus and the founder of the Ezeilo Constant.
The first Nigerian professor of history was an Igbo man Professor Kenneth Dike who also became the first black vice chancellor of the University of Ibadan.
The first Nigerian Professor of Botany was an Igbo man named Professor Eni Njoku. He went on to become the very first vice chancellor of the university of LAGOS.
The first Nigerian Professor of Anatomy and Physiology is Professor Chike Edozien an Igbo man.
The first Nigerian Professor of Physics was Professor Okoye an Igbo man who became a Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA in 1960. He was followed by the likes of Professor Alexander Anumalu who has been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Physics three times for his research in Intermediate Quantum Physics.
In Nuclear Physics and Chemistry. Professor Frank Ndili, an Igbo man, who gained a Ph.D in his early ’20s at Cambridge Univesity in Nuclear Physics and Chemistry in the early ’60s. This young Asaba man had made a First Class in Physics and Mathematics at the then University College Ibadan in the early ’50s.
Professor Adichie who’s research on Non-Parametric Statistics led to new areas in statistical research. You guessed it, an Igbo man. The first Nigerian Professor of Medicine is Professor Kodilinye who was also appointed a Professor of Medicine at the University of London in 1952. He later became the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria Nsukka after the war.
The first Nigerian Professor of Astronomy, Professor Ntukoju, was the first to earn a double Ph.D in Astronomy and Mathematics. Need I tell you his ethnicity?
Take a deep breath and let’s continue in this journey of respect and eye opening.
In the field of Demography and statistical research into population studies an Igbo man, Professor Okonjo, set up the first Centre for Population Research in Ibadan in the early ’60s. He had a double Ph.D in Mathematics and Economics.
Professor G.D Okafor, became a Professor of Philosophy at the Amherst College USA in 1953. The first Nigerian Professor.
In Economics, Dr. Pius Okigbo, the first Nigerian Ph.D in Economics was a visiting scholar and Professor of Economics at the University of London in 1954.
Professor Njoku is the first Nigerian to earn a Ph.D in Theology from Queens University Belfast in Ireland. He was appointed a Professor of Theology at the University College Zambia in 1952.
The Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) has a record of the State with the highest number of professors in Nigeria and as at 2014 that state is Imo State. Just like Lagos belongs to the Yorubas, Imo State belongs to the Igbos.
Another Igbo State, Anambra State, was the first in WAEC, UNITY SCHOOLS ENTERANCE EXAMS, NECO AND PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
I am a proud Edo man from Edo State and I am not Igbo, neither do I wish I was, or wish to be, an Igbo. Too many things make the Edo man centre of the world.
But since that one drunken night we are told Lord Luggard’s lover used a stroke of a pen to convert the Nigger Areas (yes, thats how it was) of the Lagos, Southern and Northern Protectorates to Nigeria, all the ethnic groups that form this one Body must learn to respect each other. We must look for what draws us closer rather than look for what seperates us.
We witnessed recently in Nigeria, after the 18th March 2023 Abia State Governorship elections how the Returning Officer (RO) for the election, Professor Nnenna Oti, who is also the Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), stood firm and refused to be compromise and work against the will of the people by despite financial inducement and intimidation by desperate politicians in Abia State for her to accept cooked up figures from Obingwa Local Government Area in order to give one of the political parties unearned advantage.
Another first for the Igbos, a woman this time, in a situation where Professor ROs have become notorious for crookedness and declaration of false election results. A turning point for Nigeria.
The Yoruba people have many, too many things, that make them justifiably proud. They themselves know this. I also know it. So too the Hausas and Fulanis who despite their minority have conquered the majority of Nigeria and Nigerians. So too the various and numerous ethic groups numbering over 300 that exist within Nigeria.
Let us halt on the xenophobic outbursts. We must learn to live together in peace. Those in power must embrace power sharing. Those with power must begin to encourage and prosper those groups that have special talents and skills to bring Nigeria back on the international map, so we can once again be competitive on the international stage and dine comfortably on the table of performing nations.
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) is the gateway to the new World. The ‘Japanese’ of Africa need to be unleashed, empowered and commissioned for the rescue mission.
To keep us distracted from asking why we are still struggling with 4000megawatts of electricity for 200 millions people, banditry, no roads, poor education, runaway inflation and high unemployment, high infant mortality, fake drugs, improperly administered cashless policy etc etc, some people are cleverly recycling ethnic discord, so we don’t notice that they are not running ‘shit’ right with the country. Everytime Nigerians want to address big issues, these same group of people will come up with parboiled nonsense to make us lose focus.
So, take note, the Igbo man is not, and has never been, a national problem. If there is one group of people who do not even need help from Government its the Igbo race. They just need to be left alone to achieve the lofty heights they know they are capable of achieving.
Not everybody will like this post. The truth must be told. Justice must reign. Always. Otherwise there will be no peace.