IGBOS AND THE LOVE OF MONEY

IGBOS AND THE LOVE OF MONEY

The word 'Igbo' usually evoke certain feelings among other tribes and races in Nigeria and the world over. These feelings range from contempt, suspicion, distrust, hatred, fear, feelings of love and compassion. However, the most remarkable is for the Igbos to be stereotypically likened to a people not only jinxed and incorrigibly fixated in pursuit of money but also easily taken to the mundane. The popular, incontrovertible and undisputed myth conceived by other tribes is that a typical Igbo man loves money and can do anything to acquire money, even killing his own mother or father. The diminishing status of Igbo in contemporary sociopolitical dispensation coupled with the dearth of leadership and consensus among them has been attributed to the fact that Igbos are now more deeply enmeshed in the money chase. Pundits are of the opinion that the view by Igbo from the mindset of a people whose aspirations are being repressed by the Nigerian state beggar substance, contrarily their major problem is that they are a people given to rapacity and consequently set adrift in the hot pursuit of money.

In fact it is hard to see any shortcoming or mishap of the Igbo that could not be construed to emanate from insatiable quest for money. Perturbed and indeed severely burdened by this uncharitable and vitriolic chants about Igbo and their love for money from colleagues, and being a full-blooded Igbo youth, my conclusion ab initio on why Igbo should be hand-picked for this litany of bashing and accusations, was that owing largely to their resourcefulness, versatility, zeal and tenacity of purpose, the tendency is for other tribes to envy and hate them. Contrarily, a number of experience and developments have invalidated my conclusions.

Ever wondered what the word “Igbo” means or its etymology? Some Igbos for want of an authentic historical record place their origin as part of the lost tribe of Israel while others see themselves as descendants of the Jews , a few allude themselves to The Chinese of the African race. Rev. Father Emmanuel Ede in his book Towards an Igbo Metaphysics notes that “ethnologically the Igbo are an ancient people with a copious supply of versatile common sense and unique capacity for improvisation”. Scholars who have attempted unraveling the contentious issue of who really the Igbos are conclude that the term Igbo has shown itself to be chameleonic, changing its meaning in time and political climate. Irrespective of this, Igbo arguably means “I go before others” or simply “I before others”.

Ever had a deal with a typical Igbo man whether business or anything? Beside being dynamic, republican and audacious, he is even more individualistic, opportunistic, monopolistic, egoistic, self-enthused, self-indulgent, self-centred, self-opinionated and above all obstinate and would not like anything to obstruct his interest especially when it concerns money and accumulation of wealth. Those familiar with the literary concept that a character is the noise of his name, meaning that the name given to a character in a work of art coupled with a number of influence e.g environment determine largely his behavior or life disposition. Therefore expect not a character like Okonkwo or Aguiyi to be a fool or coward because the name carries with it a rhythm of agility and fearlessness. Likewise the money, money characteristic of Igbo is a natural consequence of the name ‘Igbo’. Wherever money is found expect an Igbo man to be there even in the oddest places of the world say Malta, Taipei, Kyrgyzstan, Comoros, Haiti, Bangladesh, Burundi etc, wherever man can live and survive an Igbo man is always there .He is right there on the high seas doing business , either smuggling or adding one plus one to become three.

          Brother-in the-Lord or sister-in-the-Lord, or friendship matters nothing to an Igbo man when it comes to business and money. They are everywhere, there is no market you will not find them: Alaba, Oshodi, Onitsha, Kano, Abuja , the world over. They have the highest number of shops and market stalls in every state capital. They own and run 90% of super markets, tire shops, motorcycle spare parts, retail outlets, building materials both imported and locally made in Nigeria-the list is endless. But what is more alarming is the fetish and aggressive means by which they pursue this money. Recently I entreated a fellow igbo neighbor and a church brethren to help me purchase a laptop since that was his line of business and for sake of trust and safety. To my chagrin my “brother” not only bought a substandard and outdated P3 worth less than I paid for but also ripped me of N15, 000. His calculations were that I knew nothing about computer systems. Similarly a cousin of mine once fell victim of the antics of a fellow Igbo. The usual practice is for an apprentice to be remunerated or settled by his masters after the years of apprenticeship. Only three days to the end of his apprenticeship, his master leveled series of allegation of theft against this young man and subsequently didn’t settle my cousin.

To the Igbo man it is no money no friendship, no money no business. I also discovered that the problem is not only domestic but also international. A number of prominent Igbo men have brought the name Igbo to disrepute for money. Recall the money game between Victor Umeh and Chekwas Okorie both of APGA? Ever wondered why over 50 candidates in the PDP signified interet in being governor of Anambra state in the 2007 elections? Is that possible in the North or West? Surely, “I before others”.

Notice the massive graft and general looting among Igbo governors and local administrators in all Igbo states? The provocative statistics is there to show of Igbo youth who drop out of school in quest for money. In fact Prince Morocco Maduka’s hit ‘’Ego- Money Palava” captures the whole essence of the existence of a typical Igbo man. “Money is his beauty, his house is fine it is money, his wife is beautiful it is money, his car is big it is money”, Therefore he must strive hard to acquire this money by whichever means possible if he is not be labeled a weakling or coward among his peers. A colleague once submitted controversially that why Igbos dominate the catholic church more than the Pentecostal churches is because their sermons emphasize more on riches and material acquisition more than heavenly concerns which is characteristic of some Pentecostal assemblies where Igbos are “obviously unpopular”. 

However are all Igbos money mongers? Though it may be faulty logic to hold all responsible for the sins of one but is there really a difference between the left ear of a rabbit and the right ear of the same rabbit? Undoubtedly an agama lizard in the village will always remain an agama lizard in town?

To be continued………..