Gboyega Bello
Since about a week ago when the controversy about Dr Reuben Abati’s statement that lands in Igboland are subject to stricter restrictions brewed, I have had the opportunity to read a lot of commentators on the matter. A very few of them could be said to be well-meaning and informed. Most are mere emotive outbursts and ad hominem. They failed to advance the discourse but succeeded, all the same, in railing acerbic verbal attacks on the messenger.
The few commentators who attempted to give a lie to Abati’s observation cited cases of some individuals of South-West origin who have acquired landed property in the South-East and are, as they claimed, doing well. This category of commentators who sounded apologetic though, was much better than the one that traded purely on name-calling.
In all that I have read on the subject, I found Mazi Nna Emeka’s exposé most informative. He wondered why his tribesmen were castigating Dr Abati. He went further to list the different layers of circumscription that may impinge the sale of land in Igboland to an outsider or even to a fellow Igbo man in the South-East.
To safeguard against any loss in paraphrasing him, I elect to present his position verbatim et literatim:
“I don’t know why you people are doing this to @abati1990, but whatever it is, Reuben Abati hasn’t and has never said anything wrong in that video, as stated before, and I’ll say it again. In Igbo land we have what we call ‘Ala-Umụnna’ (family lands), ‘Ala-Obi,’ and the general lands you and I know across the country.
“Now that I’ve established this, let me explain what happens: Ala-ụmụnna, in Ala-Igbo, is controlled by family agreements. If a family agrees that their land must never be sold to outsiders—whether from within Igbo land or outside—then that land stays within the family. If they agree it can be sold, they share it among themselves first, and each person decides what to do with their portion. But if they all agree it cannot be sold to outsiders, even when shared, it comes with a condition: ‘If you must sell, sell it to someone within the family first’. In fact, there are families in Ala-Igbo who don’t sell their lands at all. Instead, they use it for collateral within the family, never involving outsiders. These are deeply rooted traditions that many follow to this day.
“Now, Àlà-Óbị: This is usually personal property, and it can be sold based on personal decisions. However, in most cases, Igbo people avoid selling Àlà-Óbị, especially to outsiders. Why? Because it’s seen as a disgrace to sell the only thing your father left you. It’s more than just property—it’s heritage. And trust me, your age mates will mock you for it.
“Finally, let’s talk about general lands. Here’s the thing: there are different kinds of people, even among Ndi-Igbo. Some families are open to selling lands to anyone—whether they’re from the South East or outside. But let’s not pretend like there aren’t many Igbos who refuse to sell lands to anyone outside their family or community. It happens a lot, and that’s just the truth. So, the attacks on Rueben for two days now, because he shared his friend’s experience, don’t make sense. His friend’s story could be 100% true or not, but we know that things like this happen in Ala-Igbo. Let’s stop pretending; there are so many families that don’t sell land to outsiders in Ala-Igbo, please!”
This is a more forthright observer, Mazi Nna Emeka, making clarifications on restrictions on sale of lands in the South-East. And I feel inclined to believe his narratives. And my poser is, like he noted: Why go all out to attack Abati if the existence of these layers of restriction are known? It is regrettable that Abati wasn’t explicit on the restrictions placed on sale of land in Igboland, perhaps because the television medium which runs on seconds did not permit him. But many commentors who might be aware of the layers of restriction on lands in Igboland also kept mute or went for the jugular, attacking Abati with reckless abandon. If the above restrictions are known to individuals who have risen to attack Abati, it is a shame they were economical with the truth. Was it shame or guilt or the two ills put together that had prevented them from owning up to the true situation of things as prescribed by their culture? If they had been forthright enough, they might only need to inform us that Abati overgeneralized in his assertion rather than say a kind of laissez-faire exists in the sale of land in the South-East. The only thing to battle with would have been that Abati did not calibrate his statement explicitly.
Culture is relative and no way of life, sociologists are wont to assert, is in any way superior to the other. One wonders why play the guilt card, hiding the fact of the culture of a people.
The truth is that it’s a blessing that the more sclerotic Igbo culture places this circumscription on the sale of lands in Igboland. The reason being that compared to other regions in Nigeria, it has the smallest landmass area: 29,388km2! Juxtapose this with figures of other regions and you’ll appreciate the Igbo culture that curtails indiscriminate sale of land in the enclave. Landmass areas in square kilometres in other regions speak volumes: South-West: 77,818, South-South: 84,587, North West: 214,395, North Central: 231,677, North East: 272,451. Indeed, each of Niger and Borno states has double the landmass of the whole of the South-East, 70,898km2, 76,363 km2, respectively. It appears culture has emplaced some carapace to ensure sustainable land utilisation in the South-East, yet many are wont to deny this blessing in disguise.
In recent times, a pattern is beginning to emerge in certain quarters wherein some individuals attack those whose perspectives do not align with theirs’. They do this in a manner that portrays them as given to “shooting first before they aim”. In most cases they put aside the issue and attack the messenger. When the renowned journalist, Mr. Sam Omatseye, wrote a piece on Peter Obi shortly before the 2023 General Elections, many commentors put aside the pun he was trying to amuse himself with and read meanings to his writing to the extent that some threatened to physically harm him. Lively discourse should not lead to abuse, how much more to threats to individuals. In many of these instances, what matters wasn’t what was said but who said it and from what part of the country the person comes from. This certainly is not the way to marshal one’s point. We need to exhibit more restraints and allow ourselves to understand other person’s points of view even if, ultimately, our perception differs from the person’s.
Despite the openness that might be claimed by other regions regarding access to land to willing buyers, many of them place one restriction or another on this God’s gift of nature. And no one should in anyway be apologetic for such restrictions on sale of land, because it is a wasting resource to start with. Sale of land without any form of societal restriction is akin to mortgaging the future of a people and its generations yet unborn. I would be glad to know of any part of Nigeria where there is no restriction, at all, on sale of land. The difference between the South-East and other parts of the country on the issue might just be a matter of degree. In most communities, even among the most accommodating one that one might think of, there would always be one restriction or the other placed on the sale of land. These days, most communities are now open to leases rather than outright sale of their heritage. None should be ashamed to own up on this.
One may even ask: What brought about the issue of procuring land in the South-East at this period of our history? Or rather, what could be the motivation to acquire a piece of land in the South-East of today by someone from say, South-West or other regions of the country for that matter? For economic reasons? What kind of economic reasons in a region, with all due respect, which degree of security challenge dwarfs others, South of the Niger, if not in nearly the entire Nigeria. A region where someone somewhere could claim to be a content creator and curtail business activities for days on end? Where a workday is abolished perpetually for years. A region that, months back, could not play host to a celebrity marriage of a music maestro and his bride of South-East origin as prescribed by the tradition purely based on security challenge. An enclave where most people’s houses are nothing but trophy homes lived in only about twice a year, during Easter period and in December. It is doubtful if many are even able to stay in these homes once in a year now! A region where it is preferable by some to have their shops in Onitsha but keep a home in Asaba and cross the Niger bridge on daily basis for no other reason than insecurity. What is the allure to buy a piece of land there now to warrant this controversy? Except of course as a strategy, because given the insecurity in that region, pieces of land are not expected to have prime value now. For a land speculator, it might be the perfect time to buy a plot or two in the South-East for keep.
Ethnic biases are assuming torrid, terrifying and frightening dimensions in our land. Three days ago, Elon Musk’s X was literally on fire, set ablaze by those who commented on a “raging fire” at Ladipo Market in Lagos. The market was recently tellingly renamed Paramo Market, a move against its erstwhile name: Aguiyi Ironsi Market. As a casual observer would note, the challenge with the “burning market” was not the issue but the deep animosity expressed by many commentors who, even without any investigation stated that it was the Yoruba people who set the shops there on fire out of the usual accusation: envy of the success of the Igbo traders! You would shake your head reading what people wrote. Days later, I called a brother who worked at Ladipo in Lagos, and he affirmed that there wasn’t any fire outbreak at the market. The outcry of a fire incident was just a mere creation of yet a content creator! Can anyone beat that? How long can we live under such monstrous animosity without the bubble bursting one day?
Many of those who outrightly attacked Abati said his comment was a pointer to the fact that he hates Ndigbo. Some say he was merely echoing his group’s envy of Ndigbo. But the question is: Why would Abati’s people be envious of Ndigbo? Every region is blessed with a lot of strengths. None can claim any outright superiority over the other. To do so would certainly be at that group’s peril.
While deviating from the issue at hand, many dismissed Abati as hot-tempered and abrasive. Without condoning bad behaviours, who would have Abati’s kind of meteoric rise in life and would, in a way, not be carried away. Earning a higher degree at a young age and having the opportunity to work at the top level of an iconic media outfit are enough to blunt one’s restraint mechanism. And how is Abati different from any one of us? Perhaps he is different because we are not public figures and our responses to charges are shielded from the immediacy of TV klieg light.
Read “Steve Jobs”, a biography, by Walter Isaacson to note how high-flyers act and behave. An excerpt from his biography suffices:
“Job had not tempered his way of dealing with employees. He applied charm or public humiliation in a way that in most cases proved to be pretty effective… When Business Week asked him why he treated employees so harshly, Jobs said it made the company better.
‘Part of my responsibility is to be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.’”
Elon Musk in his recently published biography which equally goes by his name, again crafted by Isaacson, explains the binary of his intemperate nature in dealing with colleagues. He writes: “To anyone I’ve offended, I just want to say, I reinvented electric cars and I’m sending people to Mars in a rocket ship. Did you think I was also going to be a chill, normal dude?”
Some even said Abati should be sacked by his employer which made one to wonder if they thought Abati was a hungry social climber who would lose his bearing should any such sack occur. And references to his preferences to having two or more wives are irrelevant as those are his personal choices. In discussing issues let us learn to look at the big picture, what are of interest to the public.
It is high time we allowed ourselves to understand the other person’s views rather than rush to attack the messenger. This understanding is sine qua non to harmonious inter-ethnic relationship in the country. Furthermore, the earlier we wean ourselves, as a people, as Nigerians, of primordial complexes the better too.
Lest you accuse me of being an Igbo hater, I am not. Lest you say I am envious of the Igbo people, there is nothing, absolutely nothing to warrant my doing so. I strongly believe that given the same opportunity, the same level-playing fields, there is nothing an Igboman can achieve which other Nigerians can’t. Besides, note too: I have dozens of Igbo friends, male and female, in good measure and with whom I am well pleased and who I feel are pleased with me. I have worked in an organisation owned by someone who could claim to be of Igbo extraction. The company’s staffing was about 98 per cent Igbo-dominated at a time, yet we all mingled and developed life-long friendship without the present-day ethnic faultlines that are being accentuated. Through that company I met the largest professional colleagues till date and there, more than anywhere else, I honed by skills. So, what could make me to be Igbo-phobia? another adjective that has crept into our lexicon these days. Need I say this: My public service career would not be complete without the tutelage, the unqualified support I received from two individuals of Igbo extraction. If the two had come from any South West state, they couldn’t have done any better to advance my career progression.
The time has come that we should begin to tell ourselves some home truth. Shalom!