Opinion: Mr. Wale Adebayo’s rumpus – By ZIK ZULU OKAFOR
I think a guy like myself has a solemn responsibility to respond with utmost respect to an acutely jaundiced piece like yours. Because your biases are so stark and unbelievable. Let me state with humility that I am an Ibo from Delta state, a very civilised Nigerian privileged to have travelled to a few countries early in my life and lived quite a bit in my village too. So, I’ve been privileged to interact with both the posh , upscale elites and the rustic folks and the experiences have given me a balanced view of life that may never be staggered by transient pedestrian emotions.
My dad named me Nnamdi Azikiwe after the great Zik because he was in a political detention when I was born. He was a Zikist. But at 14, having read and dissected the vision, principles, convictions and ideologies that propelled Zik and the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s political choices , Awo became my idol because in his words, ” I will not call a spade by any other name. Electricity has no feeling “.
Check out my feature on Asiwaju @ 69 published by the major papers on March 31, 2021 titled, Let’s Be Blunt, Open, Direct for Once. You can google it. This alone , I’m certain, would give you an insight into my mind and perception of fellow Nigerians.
Your article, I’m sorry, stank . It celebrated abject lack of exposure. I need to apologise to you because you don’t deserve these kind of stinging adjectives by the attainments you reeled out in your article. But your acidic lines diminish you in a confounding way.
For what Datti Baba Ahmed, a Nigerian of Northern extraction, said on Channels Television, you unleashed a corrosive tongue against Nigerians from the East, Ibos. You took a morbid satisfaction in abusing fellow Nigerians. Your mindset seems to be on a serpentine cause without any guardrails. Shocking !
But, let me ask you, how many times do you watch TVC, owned by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. I ask because I watch it . Yes, because BAT is a political strategist I admire and indeed adore. I have followed his political odyssey since 1991 and I once wrote that he was 20 years ahead of most of his then fellow Senators. But I am almost certain you don’t watch TVC . If you do , you would’ve seen that what Baba Ahmed said on Channels, TVC guests spill much more everyday. Can any man say anything worse than Femi Fani Kayode says everyday ? Yet, you want Channels to go off air because everyone’s song must be in harmonious symphony with your jangling tunes. You want to place Asiwaju on a monstrous pedestal even before he assumes office.
My brother , your language, lingo and nuances bespeak the tragedy of Nigeria. You dance delightfully on our fault lines and take a tainted pride in widening the gulf in which we’ve been held captive. You sincerely need to allow some truth to penetrate the carapace of your conscience, that way you’d emerge the true leader you should be by your status today.
I am unable to find an iota of merit in your vile descent on Ibos. I do not want to delve into your angst over their politics in Lagos . Because that enunciates how low you descended….to dictate behavioural pattern in politics to a Nigerian… in Nigeria. So strange. Do you peep into the South-East to see Northerners and Yorubas living there ? They will never return to their states again. They are home in Igbo land. Do you know this ? Do you know how many Yoruba Obas in Igbo land? Over 30 , yes. I bet you have no clue. How could we celebrate our fellow Nigerians making political strides in US, Europe, globally and here at home you are counting tribes. It’s such a nauseating shame we easily fall victims to a manipulative, gaslighting political class. And even elites of the technocracies are among the myopic victims. They remember where we hail from only at political times and you want to kill yourself.
And I saw how you actually gloat over such a dramatization of shame.
Mr Adedayo, I have to apologise if my language here is a bit caustic but you left me with no option. This is the first time I’m ever writing to defend the Igbo. And it is for a simple reason. This silly onslaught , this ugly, pantomimic enactment and reenactment of absurd political drama need to cease. Give Nigeria a chance. I bet you, when Nigeria works, you won’t remember you are a Yoruba man. True.
