Igbo would never beg for money – Yemi Farounbi

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According to the story from the Nigerian Tribune, Nigeria’s previous Ambassador to The Philippines, Dr Yemi Farounbi emphasised the wasted possibilities in exploiting the unique assets and contributions of the country’s varied ethnic groups.

Citing the well-known Nigerian nationalist Nnamdi Azikiwe, Farounbi proposed that Nigeria would have prospered if it had made good use of its diverse cultural characteristics rather than trying to standardise them.

Farounbi claims that the drive for uniformity undermined creativity, ingenuity, and uniqueness, which has finally resulted in a generalised lack of motivation among people of different ethnic backgrounds.

He lamented the fact that once-self-sufficient communities, including the Igbo, Fulani, and Yoruba, were forced to rely on handouts. The necessity of waiting in queue for basic food like rice, beans, and garri, and corn, despite Nigeria’s abundant agricultural resources.

According to Yemi Farounbi, “There is no ethnic unit that hasn’t a peculiar contribution. That is what Azikiwe was saying. If we harnessed all of that, Nigeria would have been different. But what did we do? We are equalising everybody.”

”We wanted everybody to think alike, we wanted everybody to sleep in the same direction and we were unable to tap into the creativity, the ingenuity and the innovativeness that were characteristic of the times. So we all became lazy.”

”The Igbo man would never beg for money; the Fulani would never beg for money and the Yoruba were not beggars. But today, everybody has been equalized into beggars. They now have to line up for rice, beans and garri and for agbado (corn) of all things! Cassava will grow anywhere in Nigeria and until recently, Nigeria was the largest producer of cassava but now we have to line up for garri!”

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