By Farooq A. Kperogi

Twitter: @farooqkperogi

Danladi Umar, the notoriously vain and sickeningly skin-bleached chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, was caught on camera on March 29 physically assaulting a security guard identified as 22-year-old Clement Sargwak.

Umar flew into a tempestuous rage because Sargwak besought him to not park his car at a spot that obstructed traffic in Abuja’s Banex Plaza in Wuse 2.


In the aftermath of the swift, across-the-board social media denunciations that his cowardly physical violence against a lowly security guard roused, Umar caused the head of the Press and Public Relations unit of the Code of Conduct Tribunal by the name of Ibraheem Al-Hassan to issue an agonizingly dreadful and error-ridden press release that, among other things, singled out nameless “BIAFRAN Boys” for blame in a show of shame in which he is the main villain.

“As the few policemen in the complex were apparently overwhelmed by the mobs, consisting of BIAFRAN boys throwing matches [sic] and shape object [sic] to his car, which led to deep cut [sic] and dislocation in one of his finger [sic], causing damage to his car, smashing his windscreen,” the statement said. “At a point he attempted to leave the scene, these same miscreants, BIAFRAN boy [sic] ordered for [sic] the closure of the gate thereby [sic] assaulting him before the arrival of police team [sic] from Maitama police station.”

Notice that the press statement, which Al-Hassan later told ICIR he wrote “on instruction” from Umar, spelled “BIAFRAN” in all caps and called the unnamed protesters against his barbarity “boys.” Calling men “boys” is often a linguistic marker of notions of their inferiority and subservience. So the expression “BIAFRAN boys” was designed to simultaneously provoke revulsion and disdain in certain demographic categories in the country.

Sargwak, whom Umar physically assaulted, is a northern Christian from Plateau State. But the people who heckled and caught Umar’s violence against Sargwak were spontaneous, amorphous, anonymous, and multi-ethnic bystanders. Why did Umar invent the trope of “BIAFRAN boys” when it was practically impossible to determine the ethnic identities of the people who recorded and heckled him?

Well, it was because Umar wanted sympathy even when he was the top dog who tormented an underdog. Although he is obviously cognitively stunted, he is smart enough to know that anti-Igbo hysteria unites a surprisingly large number of Nigerians.

Chinua Achebe captured this well in his famous 1984 booklet titled The Trouble with Nigeria. “Nigerians of all other ethnic groups will probably achieve consensus on no other matter than their common resentment of the Igbo,” he wrote.

When I read this years ago, I was enraged with Achebe. I thought he was overly sensitive and paranoid because he didn’t describe me or many people that I know, but upon deeper reflection and more sober observation, I realized that there’s some truth to his claim.

Many individual Nigerians don’t resent the Igbo, of course, but to deny that there is a reflexive, Civil War-inspired antipathy toward the Igbo as a collective group is to wallow in denial, which psychologists say is an instinctive ego defense mechanism. It is the collective unconscious national antipathy toward the Igbo that Umar was exploiting when he gratuitously invoked mysterious “BIAFRAN boys” to mitigate and explain away his shameful conduct.

Fortunately, the tactic backfired precisely because the absurdity of its ethnic scapegoatism was too nakedly self-evident to be effective. But Umar is not alone. More than any other administration since the Civil War, the Buhari regime takes Igbophobia as an unofficial state policy. Watch the rhetorical maneuvers of the regime’s aides and paid propagandists, and you will find that it often revolves around stoking anti-Igbo frenzy.

Perhaps because he was serially rebuffed by the Igbo after many attempts to court them (even after choosing Igbo running mates two times in a row, he never won the Igbo vote), Muhammadu Buhari himself makes no pretenses about his deep-seated loathing of the Igbo.

For instance, during a Q and A session at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, DC in 2015 shortly after he was sworn in as president, Buhari said there should be no expectation that he would dispense favors to people who gave him only “5 percent” of their votes.

The “five percenters” were, of course, the Igbo—and Southern minorities. So, instead of magnanimity in victory, Buhari chose to declare hostility against the Igbo from the get-go.

During his first and only presidential media chat on December 30, 2015, Buhari infamously asked, “What do the Igbos want?” As I wrote in a previous column, it wasn’t the question in and of itself that was the problem; it was the raw, unvarnished animus he exhibited in asking the question. “No president should speak so contemptuously of any constituent part of the country he governs,” I wrote.

In his interview with Aljazeera’s Martinee Dennis in Qatar in March 2016, Buhari also became manifestly agitated when the interview questions shifted to Biafra. He curtly declined to view a video of military officers shooting defenseless Biafra agitators and even countenanced the Nigerian military’s extra-judicial murders by saying Biafran demonstrators were “joking with Nigerian security and Nigeria will not tolerate it.”

Again, on September 13, 2016 when youth corps members who served in Katsina State paid him a courtesy visit, Buhari singled out the Igbos among them for censure over Biafra. “Tell your colleagues who want Biafra to forget about it,” he said. That was unpresidential and invidious, particularly because, at that time, Biafra didn’t even enjoy as much sympathy in the southeast as it does now.

What Buhari did was akin to requesting a group of Muslim well-wishers to tell their terrorist co-religionists to stop terrorism. Or telling innocent Fulani well-wishers to tell their “colleagues” to stop kidnapping. That’s unfair stereotypical generalization.

American eugenicist Arthur Jensen invented a concept he calls the “stereotype threat” by which he means that people who feel stereotyped tend to act according to that stereotype, or inadvertently authorize it, often in spite of themselves. This has happened with the renewed agitation for Biafra. Up until mid-2016, Biafra was on the fringe even in Igboland. Buhari has ensured that it has now moved to the forefront.

There is a chicken-or-the-egg type causality dilemma about the collective resentment of the Igbo in Nigeria. Is the collective antipathy toward them as a group a visceral response to the 1966 coup and the subsequent attempt by the Igbo to secede from Nigeria or were these events triggered by the incipient antipathy toward the Igbo?

In my opinion, that’s a pointless debate because it resolves nothing. The reality is that there is now undoubtedly a mutually reinforcing cycle of recriminations, which needs to stop if we are as interested in national unity as our leaders perpetually proclaim to be.

A good first step to demonstrate sincerity in the quest for national unity is to fire Danladi Umar for unwarrantedly stereotyping an entire ethnic group without evidence. If not, preachments about “national unity” will sound even more hollow than they’ve always been.

Most people know that “national unity” is only invoked as a rhetorical cudgel to squelch dissent. But Umar has presented an opportunity to show that it means more than that.

op may your days be long.

what nonesense....
you are not allowed to park their....

what has that got to do with biafra....??

idiiotic guy....

see how this idiiotic politicians play us against each other....

biafra my foot....

bastaard....!!

Farooq again!. He just nailed it quite well. What concerned Biafra with Umar's assault? Buhari has really torn the fabric of unity in this country. He really elevated this Igbophobia. Since he can work anywhere even in his sick bed, he should as matter of urgency fire Umar or start the process of Umar's removal.

I like how Kperogi writes. I will start reading his columns more.

About resentment of Ndigbo by other Nigerians, I have no energy and ink to waste on that.

Igbo resentment is what gives Tinubu urine drinkers orgasm so I won't be the one to argue against their sexual satisfaction.

One thing I wanna let them know is that they are like a dog while the Igbos are like a Caravan: the dog keeps barking while the Caravan keeps moving.

The Igbo is unstoppable!

And someday, and soon, the jinx would be broken.

Penguin2:
I like how Kperogi writes. I will start reading his columns more.

About resentment of Ndigbo by other Nigerians, I have no energy and ink to waste on that.

Igbo resentment is what gives Tinubu urine drinkers orgasm so I won't be the one to argue against their sexual satisfaction.

One thing I wanna let them know is that they are like a dog while the Igbos are like a Caravan: the dog keeps barking while the Caravan keeps moving.

The Igbo is unstoppable!

And someday, and soon, the jinx would be broken.

It shall be broken. It may take a long time or it might be sooner.

I love to read Farooq editorials, he analyses facts and events the way they are. As for Umar, his hatred towards Igbos will kill him. The victim is not even igbo.

There is nothing to add to this masterpiece of an article!
The erudite and ebullient writer has masterfully captured the whole scenerio effectively!
This is what we all say here but they call us tribalists! They hate is real! It's everywhere! Up and down! Top to bottom!
Nothing, I repeat NOTHING done against the Igbo in this country, no matter how Evil can attract the genuine condemnation of the generality of Nigerians..
Maybe Gani Fahwemi when he was around, Wole Soyinka, when he was alert, Fani Kayode, when he was married to the igbo gal.., who else?
Others will find a way to remind you that the Igbos richly deserves it!
It's crazy and must be stopped by this generation of Igbos!
If Nigeria and Nigerians can't take the Igbos the way they are, they should let them go!
Pure and simple! Stop tryi to remake and remodel us..,we like the way we are..
Nonsense and London medical tourist..

Well, it was because Umar wanted sympathy even when he was the top dog who tormented an underdog. Although he is obviously cognitively stunted, he is smart enough to know that anti-Igbo hysteria unites a surprisingly large number of Nigerians.

Chinua Achebe captured this well in his famous 1984 booklet titled The Trouble with Nigeria. “Nigerians of all other ethnic groups will probably achieve consensus on no other matter than their common resentment of the Igbo,” he wrote.

knightsTempler:
By Farooq A. Kperogi

Twitter: @farooqkperogi

Add source to this stew ahbegii..
Very hate filled wreck of a country..

One Nigeria, a mistake that needs to be corrected.

Igbo hate is the only thing that unites Nigeria ,

Imagine if it was Igbos going from village to village killing people all in the name of we want to feed our cows ........let me not talk sha

The only offence Igbos have committed is being prude of our achievements and growing very fast

Truth is Nigerians don't trust Igbos enough to allow them rule Nigeria and are too scared of what Igbos might do if given sovereignty ......so they try to cage them in Nigeria

Penguin2:
I like how Kperogi writes. I will start reading his columns more.

About resentment of Ndigbo by other Nigerians, I have no energy and ink to waste on that.

Igbo resentment is what gives Tinubu urine drinkers orgasm so I won't be the one to argue against their sexual satisfaction.

One thing I wanna let them know is that they are like a dog while the Igbos are like a Caravan: the dog keeps barking while the Caravan keeps moving.

The Igbo is unstoppable!

And someday, and soon, the jinx would be broken.

The igbo nightmare

Without mentioning Tinubu , Ibos can't make a complete sentence

And here you are condemning someone for accusing ibos wrongly

Ostrich, bury your small head in sand while your huge body is in the open

Igbochief001:
Igbo hate is the only thing that unites Nigeria ,

Imagine if it was Igbos going from village to village killing people all in the name of we want to feed our cows ........let me not talk sha

The only offence Igbos have committed is being prude of our achievements and growing very fast

Truth is Nigerians don't trust Igbos enough to allow them rule Nigeria and are too scared of what Igbos might do if given sovereignty ......so they try to cage them in Nigeria

Hatred for Yoruba and HAUSA/FULANI is the only thing that united ibos


Like the fool above who couldn't make his contributions without showing his hatred for
Tinubu / YORUBAS

One thing I don't hate about the late Buhari and the umar of bannex incidence is their unwillingness to hide how they feel about Igbos.

Is a normal thing to hate igbos

Fulani Ahmadu Bello was so scared of whAt he and his people couldn’t conquer..
they’ve already blended middle belt and southwest with Islam except the old eastern Nigeria.

After the war.. Awolowo felt that having work with the north to starve igbos.. proudly declare igbos shouldn’t come close to power for another 100years..
Yes! Awolowo was the fool that made the statement to his Fulani masters .. was disappointed the North still chose Shagari and Ekwueme over him .. even as his kinsman was the human in government.

Awolowo introduced media propaganda against igbos.. writing propaganda and always painting igbos in bad light .. Ojukwu’s amnesty broke the stupid fool.. and he made sure more propaganda was unleashed

Many Nigerians youth may not know this fact...

Propaganda against igbos started with Yoruba media and their lies . Which today igbos have debunked 80% of it
Funny truth is that Yoruba people have come to believe all propaganda dishes by their people against igbos... and today you will see them still proudly and ignorantly displaying sophistication based on the brainwashed done by their own people.

You keep hearing them resound igbo are hated by everyone in Nigeria..
How do they arrive at that... igbo are majority’s next to indigenous people and yet no fighting.. no killing and no resentment among igbos and this indigenous people

But Yoruba wey no Dey anywhere have fought with every tribe in Nigeria in their own soul.

Between igbos and Islamic North is all about religion

Between igbos and Yoruba people ... is outright jealousy and envy.. pure hatred for a strong willed people .. that are directly opposite of southwest.

This is fact.

louqas:


Hatred for Yoruba and HAUSA/FULANI is the only thing that united ibos


Like the fool above who couldn't make his contributions without showing his hatred for
Tinubu / YORUBAS

Lmao Igbos hate no tribe ...we don't transfer individual hatred to tribe

Obasanjo had more igbo supporters than Yorubas
Yaradua even till this day is loved in the east

Can point one igbo man fulanis and Yorubas have ever supported since 1914 till date

I still don't understand why other tribes should feel intimidated by the Igbos, the fear is absolutely misplaced.

Igbochief001:

Lmao Igbos hate no tribe ...we don't transfer individual hatred to tribe

Obasanjo had more igbo supporters than Yorubas
Yaradua even till this day is loved in the east

Can point one igbo man fulanis and Yorubas have ever supported since 1914 till date

Watch him go quiet..
They can't support any!
Even those igbos who fought for Nigeria against Biafra!
Even those igbos who fought for Buhari against the majority views in the east during the elections....
Even those igbos who fought the white man to a standstill for independence!
None is trustworthy..
When primitive hate turns to generational fear.
Ahbegii,..

Establishment politicians of north America and western Europe dey learn for where Nigerian establishment politicians dey.

The political establishment of naij are the most heartless, vile, pharaohnical and bigoted you'll ever see in the modern world. The lenghts at which which they are willing to go to divide and set the populace against each other in order to maintain power is god-tier.

Idiot is talking about BIAFRAN BOYS. So Danladi Umar wants to tell us he doesn't wine and dine with igbo colleagues and politicians? Or is he masking hatred for them too cus they're part of the BIAFRAN sect of the nation?

His outburst is a plus for us.. @least some Igbos who still believes and works for one Nigeria will have a rethink..

If yoruba says they want to leave one Nigeria, lgbos will congratulate them and wish them goodluck

If hausa/fulani says they want to leave one Nigeria,lgbos will congratulate them and wish them goodluck

If niger delta or middle belt says they want to leave one Nigeria, lgbos will congratulate them and wish them goodluck


But if lgbos says they want to leave one Nigeria, yoruba, hausa, fulani, niger delta, middle belt will start shouting why, they start having seizures, enter into hysteria, shouting war, war.

I agree