THE FOUNDATION OF XENOPHOBIA Part 2

 THE FOUNDATION OF XENOPHOBIA Part 2

By Percy Omenazu

Igbo man has a popular saying:

"Ebe onye ọsọ gbaruru, onye ije ga-eru ya."

This can be interpreted in the Pinkman's language thus:

"Wherever the man that runs reaches, the man that walks will surely reach."

I am a small boy, I don't have power to challenge into to the wise old saying. However, from my observations, I have noted that if we must go by that saying, we must be ready to apply the Economist's citeris paribus to make the saying always correct. This is because, if we go by true life experiences, three conditions must be satisfied before it is justified. These three conditions are:

1) The time allotted for the race must either be very long or unlimited. May be the runner must have rested for a long time before the walker meets him.

2) The distance to be covered must have been determined to ensure the runner does not continue.

3) Even if the walker must meet the runner, both will never get that point of meeting at same time.

For these reasons, my piece of advice to anyone close to me is to RUN when others are running. Don't console yourself that you will reach there when you are walking while running is required.

The Holy Bible paints it well. There is time for everything. As a parent, be mindful of how your children run and walk. When you notice sluggish movements when their mates are running, begin immediately to seek for the solution. It is like a taboo to watch other youths from other regions and countries arriving with nothing and eventually having things for themselves while your own children are busy claiming to be the owners of the land. When this is not curbed early, it leads to xenophobic attacks.

Youths should choose between partaking in the  blessings of their countries/regions and watching strangers capitalizing on same blessings. The later brings about inequalities which bring about envy. This envy is the cause of xenophobia?

When your mates are running, run....

Make a right attempt.

Don't be left behind.

Wait for Part 3

THE FOUNDATION OF XENOPHOBIA part 1

 

THE FOUNDATION OF XENOPHOBIA part 1

Xenophobia starts immediately history is either distorted or abandoned.

When leaders or rulers criminally try to hide the truth in the history of the people, xenophobia starts. The bitter truth about our South African brothers is that the criminals the government indirectly uses to execute the attacks on Nigerians don't know how much Nigeria contributed in the building of South Africa.

Let us return home. One of the reasons Nigerians flee the country is insecurity. When we condemn xenophobic attacks in the foreign land, do we really forget that it also happens here? Can we count how many times businesses owned by Igbos and Southern Nigerians have been destroyed in the North by fellow Nigerians? Can we count how many times people were massacred as a result of simple provocations? I remember the period a cartoon displayed in Europe claimed the lives of innocent Igbos in the Northern Nigeria. So what we read and watch about South Africa is not new to us. Worse still, are you in haste to forget the tension experienced in Lagos when PDP had upper hand in an election?

In Nigeria, history is continually distorted and silenced. In South Africa, that's also the case. This is the foundation of xenophobia.

Wait for part 2

Nigeria 🇳🇬 vs Liberia 🇱🇷 in Lagos