By Fredrick Nwabufo
And the Supreme Being
commissioned Oduduwa, a “sky-god”, to carry out a terrestrial task; he
descended from heaven with a cockerel which had six fingers. And the earth was
made by him through the ingenious deployment of his avian subject. But that was after ‘Atewonro’ had sprinkled
some dirt on the ocean to found Ile-Ife.
And he had wives, and sons who founded other kingdoms. So the mythic origin of the Yoruba says.
In Igbo mythic origin, the
Supreme Being sent Eri down to earth to establish balance and social
order. The “sky-god” founded Nri, and he
had wives, and sons who founded other Igbo towns and communities.
The Yoruba and the Igbo share a
lot more than similar mythic origins. They are the oldest inhabitants of the
areas they live in. In other words, the Yoruba and the Igbo are indigenous to
the geographical area called “Nigeria”. And it has also been argued that both
groups are of a singular ancestry.
The two groups have had
established trade-links dating to the period before contact with the first
Europeans. And they are known to share passion for industry; are convivial,
accommodating and peace loving.
Also, there is no documented
history of war between the Igbo and the Yoruba despite occupying the same
“southern hemisphere”. In the precolonial times, wars among kingdoms and
natives were common, but there appears to be no recorded incident of battle
between the clans and kingdoms of the two groups.
In language, they are both of the
Kwa-group Niger-Congo origin. The
similarities between the Yoruba and the Igbo language are remarkable, if not
uncanny, which point to an identical fount.
Despite having so much in common,
politics has been a pesky point of dissonance for both groups. Though the Igbo
and the Yoruba do not have a romantic political history; they have kept the
dagger away from their rivalry.
The outcome of the Western Region
elections of 1951, in which Nnamdi Azikiwe claimed he was sabotaged by Obafemi
Awolowo, perhaps laid the molten magma of political rivalry between the two
groups.
Some associates of Azikiwe
alleged that Awolowo, leader of the Action Group, bought over members of the
NCNC, after they had won elections on the platform of the party in the western
region, to scuttle Zik’s plan of being the leader of the regional assembly.
They also claimed that Awolowo
scuttled Zik’s “one-Nigeria” agenda, and introduced tribal politics.
However, there is no proof to
substantiate these claims. In fact, the allegation regarding Awolowo’s sabotage
of Zik was disproved by the colonial government at the time.
So, over the years, stories have
been revised and passed down to generations who do not probe the information
but hold it as a grudge against the other.
Most young people trading hate on
social media cannot actually say their grievance against those they are tugging
with, except to echo the refrain of revised stories handed down to them and to
act on stereotypes they have been socialised by.
But can the Igbo and the Yoruba
ever unite? Yes, they can. And they will. There will come a time when there is
no option, but for them to hold each other in a warm embrace as “descendants of
sky-gods.”
There will come that time.
Fredrick is a media personality.
Twitter: @FredrickNwabufo
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com