My friend Chukwuemeka Ekenaka has permitted me to feature his post today on this blog. He is a graduate of Soil and Water Engineering. He had this to say about the happenstances in Nigeria. Read on:
"I have not written bad stuff about the Tiv people of Benue state neither have I posted hate articles about ethnic groups I have come in contact with, despite the horrible experiences I had with them. I grew up in Makurdi, Benue; I was 7 years old when I saw my late brother washing the blood oozing out from a deep cut in his hand. He was attacked by a mob and a 70-year-old Tiv woman struck him with a bamboo stick. His crime? He fought with his age mate, Terkaa. Few days before his death, he was punished for what he and his Tiv friends did. He was the only one punished. That night, his Tiv friends came and tricked him out of the house. My Mum was called to witness the inhumane punishment of her son. My Mum came back home that night with tears in her eyes and said this, 'They are flogging your brother and he's crying.' He got very sick afterwards and died. In my house, we don't say it but in our hearts we knew the punishment led to his death. They were just being kids. I would have loved to give an insight about the Tiv community of 20 years ago, but I'm happy things have changed - the 'mob mentality' has disappeared entirely. I have never shown hate to the Tiv people, rather I always represent them wherever I go. I wear their traditional attire with pride and during my university days, my nickname was MakTown Boy - meaning a boy from Makurdi. Long before I became an adult, I knew the actions of a few can not be used to generalize the behaviour and attitude of a group of people. I realized you can't defeat hate with hate. You can only defeat hate with love, understanding and patience.
Every tribe has her bad and good people. Like I said, the actions of a few shouldn't make you paint them with the same brush. It is wrong to come online and say the Igedes are bad and evil because you were so unfortunate to be betrayed by three Igede persons. I don't care about the language(s) you speak, the tribe you come from, the church you attend...I care about your inner beauty. The beauty on the inside and what comes out from your mouth. If you hurt me, I won't come online to bash your tribe. They did nothing to me - I won't hate them because of your foolishness.
I read horrible things said online about the Ebonyi state people and I get shocked. Most of these comments are made by people who have never had a personal contact/experience with an Ebonyi indigene. I can't for the life of me understand why you hate and despise a group of people because you think they are 'local.' You ignore their kindness, you ignore their good hearts. But you just hate them...because you believe they act 'local?' We are a people filled with hatred for one another and it is slowing our progress as a nation."
Yes, he said it all. The Nigerian society has degenerated into something else. It's our hope that things get better. As I always want to say, Nigeria belongs to all of us, and not just to a few persons, and it is in our interest to make it work.
Have something to say? Drop it in the comments, please?
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