When I saw the thought provoking Facebook post/query (shown below) by Joe Ibekwe, I instantly recalled the words of Chinua Achebe in the last book he gifted us before passing on.

However, a quick check in my travel bag soon revealed, to my dismay, that I’d left my well read Copy of Achebe’s “There Was a Country” back in Cotonou.

Out of desperation, I Googled to find reviews or commentaries on the book that may have highlighted the sentiments expressed by Achebe, that I felt held the answers Joe (and others seeking insights) would appreciate.

I was not disappointed: I found EVERYTHING I needed – and even more…bless the Google team for making and keeping this search engine so powerful!

So much so, that I have NO need to add anything else.

Instead, I simply invite any persons interested in getting accurate answers to the excellent poser by Joe, to read Chinua’s words on the pages linked below:

Why Nigerians hate Igbo, by Chinua Achebe.

Let me note here that I’m Yoruba, but my LOVE for the positive attributes of the average Igbo person has NEVER been hidden.

Articles (like this one) on this blog provide verifiable proof of the fact that I admire those qualities in them and admonish other Nigerians and indeed Africans to emulate them.

Yet, even I have noticed certain shortcomings that characterize majority of them.

My respect for Chinua Achebe’s honesty and his capacity for balanced reasoning grew exponentially, when I read his words below, in which he identified certain Igbo tendencies that often make others despise them – in spite of their many positive attributes.

Here’s how Nigeria’s The Nation newspaper captured it in “Why Nigerians Hate Igbo – by Chinua Achebe”:

Achebe, however, saved some criticisms for his kinsmen. He criticised them for what he described as “hubris, overweening pride and thoughtlessness, which invite envy and hatred or even worse that can obsess the mind with material success and dispose it to all kinds of crude showiness.”

He added that “contemporary Igbo behavior(that) cab offend by its noisy exhibitionism and disregard for humility and quietness.”

Judging from my personal experiences as a conscious thinking adult over the past 30 years in paid and self-employment, I believe Achebe’s criticisms are spot on!

I honestly believe that if the average Igbo person minimizes display of any of the negative tendencies highlighted by Chinua Achebe, s/he is likely to experience little or no friction with most people from other tribes or cultures s/he encounters.

Let it be known however, that I speak primarily for MYSELF (and maybe others who think like me) and not for the generality of Nigerians, talk less Africans.

Many thanks to Joe Ibekwe for bringing this up. My half-Igbo kids are sure to benefit from the useful insights that this exercise will expose them to (Yep: I’m printing copies for them to read)!

1. “˜There Was a Country’: a review of Chinua Achebe’s Biafran memoir – By Ike Anya

2. Chinua Achebe reflects on Biafra, but for whom?

3. Igbo, Yoruba at war over Chinua Achebe’s criticism of Awolowo in new book

4. Succeeding Through Hard Work, Determination and Persistence: 3 Lessons from Nigeria’s Igbo Traders