At some points in my journalism career, I had six writers I loved reading because of their literary prowess and how they arranged and twisted syntax to the delight of their readers. They are Chidi Amuta, Ray Ekpu, Chuks Iloegbunam, Sam Omatseye, Reuben Abati and the late Pini Jason. These fine writers wrote for different newspapers and news magazines long before the advent of social media and its crazy, irascible, shallow citizen journalism.
I didn’t attribute much to the academic background of these writers; they were professionals. So what I read of them every week made me believe they were the best in the industry when it comes to conveying messages with seductively crafted words. I was to read later that one of them, who was then the Chairman of the Guardian Editorial board, Dr. Reuben Abati, had his PhD at the age of 27 years and entered the fray of journalism without passing through the newsroom but straight from the classroom where he taught literature.
Among the six, two of them were incidentally non-Igbos, and I have had to bear the pain of reading these two as they persistently used their God-given talent and skills to disparage Ndigbo at the slightest opportunity. Whenever there’s something positive about Igbo that elicited accolades in the public space brought before them, their heads tend to turn flexibly in search of something negative to counteract, whittle, malign, and enfeeble such narrative. When you discern such a trait in someone, you may be tempted to conclude that the bias is innate and not artificial or for academic balancing.
Sam Omatseye and Reuben Abati, whom I have long admired, have empirically shown me and a lot of other Igbo in my shoes that they do not expect and, indeed, suffer great discomfiture at and by anything good from, for or about Ndigbo. More often than not, they clothe their analyses or reactions with unbridled sophistry.
During the 2023 electioneering period, when Peter Obi took the political space and brought to the fore what Nigerians desired but perhaps didn’t expect should come from an Igboman, Omatseye’s mercurial adrenaline spiked, and he categorized every Igbo in his jaundiced write-up. But all that is in the past except as a reference point for similar recent cases. A case in point is Dr Reuben Abati’s seguing from true journalism to trying hard to create acerbic content against Ndigbo.
Perhaps the best and most truthful remarks made by any top government official in the country about Ndigbo lately were the remarks attributed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio during the night of tribute in honor of the late ebullient Anambra State Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Patrick Ubah last week.
Senator Akpabio had, in response to Rochas Okorocha’s plea to the Federal Government through him for the release of the IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, hinted that he worried about the subtle inherent threat of Okoroccha recalling their daughter, his wife, if he failed to cooperate with his Igbo in-laws.
According to Akpabio, no matter how facetious Okorocha’s threat might be, he takes everything about his wife seriously, and from there, he launched a huge praise on Ndigbo. The story angle of both Okorocha and Akpabio trended more than all things said at the well-attended night of tributes. Most Igbophobics didn’t like the patronizing way the story was trending and the positive impact it was having in society for a refreshing Igbo perspective.
When the Arise Television crew picked it up for their discussion as they always do, on all trending stories, the Chief anchor of the program Reuben Abati found a huge opportunity which he seized to strike down the narrative by going to his history book to dig out anything negative about Ndigbo and what according to him Chief T.O.S Benson had said many years back about Ndigbo not selling lands to non-Igbos. His recollection was seemingly front and center of his thoughts as such handy, and he threw it up to shut down the trending positive narrative on Ndigbo. Because it was done with unsophisticated bad taste, Abati explored TOS Benson’s statement from an angle that was strong enough for him to deliver the desired punch.
Maligning Ndigbo has become a lucrative content creating time to attract traffic, especially for bloggers and jobbers and no longer attracts attention but Abati’s public bullying of her co-anchor Ojy Okpe for providing him an opportunity and a soft landing to adjust his vexed remarks, provoked all the tirades he has been getting including this discourse on him. His reaction to Ojy Okpe, his colleague, was condescending and seemed as malicious aforethought. Abati publicly exhibited a patronizing attitude and superiority complex, which was far too immodest of him as the leader of that team.
Abati appears to take special delight in pushing condescending, negative narratives about the Igbo. His constant, not to say perpetual, stereotyping of the Igbo people, his display of bias against the Igbo in his writings and public statements, and his obvious lack of empathy for the Igbo, including his refusal to acknowledge the historical injustices faced by the Igbo people, are very apparent. In 2013, he wrote an article titled “The Igbo and their Enemies.” In the article, he made some controversial statements, including a metaphor that compared the Igbo people to a “fifth wife” in a polygamous household.
According to him, the Igbo people, like a fifth wife, are often marginalized, excluded and treated unfairly in Nigeria’s socio-political landscape. Just like his recent remarks, Abati’s metaphor 11 years ago sparked widespread criticism and outrage, with many accusing him of perpetuating negative stereotypes and reinforcing anti-Igbo sentiments by trying to reduce the complex experiences and struggles of the Igbo people to a simplistic and demeaning analogy. Abati is at home with stereotypes about the Igbo and every so often deliberately parrots harmful and inaccurate representations.
Whatever his reasons, Abati seems to regale in his advertised lack of empathy for the Igbo. At no opportunity is he known to have shown understanding for the historical and ongoing struggles of the Igbo people. With his obvious bias, Abati certainly could not have stumbled on a piece of history showing that in 1952, Mallam Umaru Altine from Sokoto was elected the first Mayor of Enugu, the city capital and heart of Igboland, and he served two terms till 1958.
And no one should be surprised at Abati’s polygamy metaphor: at 59, he already has three wives, possibly expecting fourth and fifth. He is very familiar with the politics and contest of wives. Even his recent accolades on his latest wife, Kiki, on the fourth anniversary of their marriage on May 15, 2024, says a lot about why he sees Igbos as the fifth wife of Nigeria.
“Kiki, you are a tough cookie, and your stubbornness is next to none. But, your positivity and kindness overshadow your naughtiness. We’ve had 3 misunderstandings in 4 years, and it was well handled.
“Your enterprising nature, hard work, and adorable spirit make you truly special though too trusting.
“I jumped on the boat to sail with you because I see more than just a future with you. You are my ride-or-die, and I’m 100% loyal to you.
“I gave your Dad my word, and I will keep it until the end of my time! Kiki, you made your choice against many odds, and I’m always ready to take a million steps against those odds.”
Apologies to Ndigbo will not do Abati any harm, but that could only happen if his outburst originally came from the head, not the heart. I’d like to conclude this discourse by referring my friend to Mark Twain’s remarks that “all generalizations are false, including this one”
But for Abati and his obviously blinkered prejudice against the Igbo, there is still another window to make amends after he failed to take Ojy Okpe’s platter.
Kelvin Faulconer further gave insight into the origin of human bias when he said, “No one is born believing in harmful stereotypes. They are learned over time. The good news is that they can be unlearned.”
May God help Abati to unlearn his noxious, warped, preconceived, and blighted ideas about the Igbo.
ABONYI is a veteran journalist and renowned columnist based in Abuja, the FCT.
