An Igbo scholar, Dr. Samuel Okafor, has made one-time Aviation
Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, look so small and uneducated by using
facts and figures to demolish the claims he made in the controversial
August 8 article, “The Bitter Truth About The Igbo”, which set off a
storm that almost threatened Igbo-Yoruba relations.
In the first part of an article entitled “The Lies of Femi
Fani-Kayode”, Okafor, who has a First Class in History from the
University of Nigeria Nsukka and then did a Ph.D in Nsukka on
scholarship, dismissed Fani-Kayode as a “half-baked intellectual.” He
then proceeded, point by point, to address what he termed “the most
reckless amongst the tangle of reckless comments spewed by Femi, a
character who with each punch of his keypad stresses his severely unwell
conditions of logorrhoea, delusions of enlightenment, history and
sociology – amongst others.”
Below are Okafor’s words:
FEMI AND HIS SEVERELY IGNORANT LIES:
•Femi Lies About the Yorubas Being Nigeria’s Earliest Graduates:
From his myopic bubble Femi FaniKayode claims the Yoruba were the
first to acquire Western education; the first ever known record of a
literate Nigerian in the English Language is the narrative of an Ibo
slave who regained his freedom and documented his life history as a
slave from the time he was 11 years old in present day Ibo land till the
time when he gained his freedom in the middle of the 18 th century. He
later married an English woman and had 3 children. He died in 1795.
Femi, a basic Google-research will do you good here; check out the
name, Equanoh OLAODAH. Further Femi claims that the Yoruba were the
first lawyers and doctors in Nigeria. This is again a big falsehood. The
first Nigeria doctor was an Effik man Silas G. Dove who obtained a
medical degree from France and returned to practise medicine in 1840 in
Calabar. This fact can also be verified from historical medical records
in Paris.
I would also ask that you google the name BLYDEN – Edward Wilmot
BLYDEN – an educated son of free Ibo slaves who by the mid-19th century
had acquired sound theological education. He was born in Saint Thomas in
1832. He is one of the founding missionaries that established the
Archbishop Vining church in Ikeja. Before the next time you succumb to
your long-running battle with logorrhoea, Femi please do some research.
What about the third president of a free Liberia – President J JRoyle
– again, a man of Ibo descent. Please take some time to do some
research so that we can discuss constructively. It is wrong to peddle
lies to your people. It is academic fraud to knowingly misrepresent
facts just to score cheap points with people who do not have the
discipline to do research and accept anything you pour out simply
because they say you are well educated. To again quote the great Nobel
Prize Winner in Economics Joseph Stiglitz; Femi fits into the category
of third rate students from first rate universities with an inflated
sense of self-importance. Let’s go on!
Who was the first Nigerian Professor of Mathematics – an Ibo man –
Professor Chike Obi – the man who solved Fermat’s Last Theorem. He was
followed by another Ibo man, Professor James Ezeilo, Professor of
Differentail Calculus and the founder of the Ezeilo Constant. Please do
some research on this great Ibo man. He later became the Vice Chancellor
of the University of Nigeria Nsukka and one of the founders of the
Nigerian Mathematical Centre. Who was Nigeria’s first Professor of
Histroy – Professor Kenneth Dike who published the first account of
trade in Nigeria in pre-colonial times. He was also the first African
Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan. Who was the first Professor
of Microbiology – Professor Eni Njoku; he was also the first African
Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos. Anatomy and Physiology –
Professor Chike Edozien is an Asaba man and current Obi of Asaba. Who
was the first Professor of Anatomy at the University College Ibadan? Who
was the first Professor of Physics? Professor Okoye, who became a
Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in
1960. He was followed by the likes of Professor Alexander Anumalu who
has been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Physics three times for his
research in Intermediate Quantum Physics. He was also a founding member
of the Nigerian Mathematical Centre. Nuclear Physics and Chemistry –
again another Ibo man – Professor Frank Ndili who gained a Ph.D in his
early ’20s at Cambridge Univesity in Nuclear Physics and Chemistry in
the early ’60s. This young Asaba man had made a First Class in Physics
and Mathematics at the then University College Ibadan in the early ’50s.
First Professor of Statistics – Professor Adichie who’s research on
Non-Parametric Statistics led to new areas in statistical research. What
about the first Nigerian Professor of Medicine – Professor Kodilinye –
he was appointed a Professor of Medicine at the University of London in
1952. He later became the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria
Nsukka after the war. What about Astronomy – again another Ibo man was
the first Professor of Astronomy – please, look up Professor Ntukoju –
he was the first to earn a double Ph.D in Astronomy and Mathematics.
Let’s go to the Social Sciences – Demography and statistical research
into population studies – again another Ibo man – Professor Okonjo who
set up the first Centre for Population Research in Ibadan in the early
’60s. A double Ph.D in Mathematics and Economics. Philosophy – Professor
G D Okafor, who became a Professor of Philosophy at the Amherst College
USA in 1953. Economics – Dr. Pius Okigbo who became a visiting scholar
and Professor of Economics at the University of London in 1954. He is
also the first Nigerian Ph.D in Economics. Theology and theological
research – Professor Njoku who became the first Nigerian to earn a Ph.D
in Theology from Queens University Belfast in Ireland. He was appointed a
Professor of Theology at the University College Zambia in 1952.
I am still conducting research in areas such as Geography where it
seems a Yoruba man, Professor Mabogunje, was the first Professor. I also
am conducting research into who was the first Nigerian Professor of
English, Theatre Arts, Languages, Business and Education, Law and
Engineering, Computer Technology, etc. Nigerians need to be told the
truth and not let the lies that Femi Fani-Kayode has been selling to
some ignorant Yoruba who feel that to be the first to see the white man
and interact with him means that you are way ahead of other groups. The
Ibo as The great Achebe said had within a span of 40 years bridged the
gap and even surpassed the Yoruba in education by the ’60s. Many a
Yoruba people perpetually indulge in self-deceit: that they were the
first to go to school; to be exposed to Western education; that they are
academically ahead of other Nigerian cultures of peoples. Another
ignorant lie.
As far back as 1495 the Benin Empire maintained a diplomatic presence
in Portugal. This strategic relationship did not just stop at a mere
mission but extended to areas such as education. Scores of young Benin
men were sent out to Portugal to study and lots of them came back with
advanced degrees in Medicine, Law and Portuguese Language, to name a
few.
Indeed, some went with their Yoruba and Ibo slaves who served the
sons of the Benin nobility while they studied in Portugal. These are
facts that can be verified by the logs kept by ship owners in Portugal
from 1494 to 1830. It is kept at the Portuguese Museum of Geographic
History in Lisbon.
Why then would several Yoruba people peddle all these falsehoods to
show that they are ahead educationally in Nigeria? The true facts from
the Federal Office of Statistics on education tell otherwise, showing
that 3 Ibo states for the past 12 years have constantly had the largest
number of graduates in the country, producing more graduates than Ondo,
Osun, Ekiti and Oyo states. These eastern states are Imo, Anambra and
Abia. Yet he calls Ibos traders. Indeed, the Igbos dominate because
excellence dominates mediocrity – truth.
Let me enlighten this falsehood’s mouthpiece even further: before the
civil war Ibos controlled and dominated all institutions in the formal
sector in Nigeria from the universities to the police to the military to
politics:
•The first Black Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan was an Ibo man
•The first Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos was an Ibo man
•The first Nigerian Rector of the then Yaba College of Technology was also an Ibo man
•The police was run by an Ibo IG
•The military as a professional institution was also run by elite-ilk Ibos.
Facts can never be hidden. To be first does not mean you would win
the race; let us open up all our institutions and may the best man win.
Let us not depend on handouts or privileges but on heard work. Let us
compete and give the best positions to our brightest – be it Ibo, Yourba
or Fulani, and then we shall see who is the most successful Nigerian.
I find it difficult not to respond to some of these long-held lies
that are constantly being peddled by Yorubas. One is that the Yoruba
have the largest number of professors in the country. I would again ask
that we stick to facts and statistical records. The Nigerian
Universities Commission has a record of the state with the largest
number of professors on their records and as at 2010 that state is Imo
State followed by Ondo State and then Anambra State; the next state is
Ekiti and then Delta before Kwara State. I am sure you Yorubas are
surprised. When you sit in the South-West do not think others are
sleeping but I wish to address another historical fact and that is who
were the first Nigerians to receive Western education. It is important
that these issues be examined in their historical context and evidence
through research be presented for all to examine.
I have continued my research for as the great sociologist and father
of modern sociology – Emile Durkheim – put it, the definition of a
situation is real in its consequence . What this simply means is that
one must never allow a perceived falsehood to become one’s reality and
by extension individuals who accept a defined position act as though the
situation is real and apply themselves in that narrowly defined
perspective.
Why is this important to state it is because for long the Yoruba have
peddled lies that have almost become accepted as the truth by other
Nigerians but it is important that we lay down the facts for others to
examine and come to their own conclusion for facts are facts. Let’s go
back to education. Historically, Western education resulted as a product
of indigenous ethnic groups interacting with the whites through trade.
The dominant groups sold slaves, ivory gold and a host of other products
to their European counterparts in exchange for finished goods – wine,
tobacco, mirrors, etc.
The Bini who were the dominant military force from the 15th to the
19th century raided and sold other ethnicities to the Europeans. Top on
the list of those they sold were the Yoruba, Ibo and Igala. Various
other ethnicities suffered as a result of the Bini military expansion.
And the Benin Kingdom stretched from present-day Benin up to what is now
geographically referred to as Republic of Togo. Indeed, the influence
of the Benin Empire extended to the banks of the river Niger to
present-day Onistha. There are huge Yoruba settlements in the Anioma
part of Delta State who fled Yoruba land as a result of these attacks
and constant raids. Yes, there are Yoruba people who are currently
living with Ibos in the Ibo-speaking part of Delta and they are full
citizens of the place no one refers to them as strangers and there is no
talk about the Ibos being the host community like we hear from the
Governor of Lagos State. But let me return to research. Slaves were
moved from the hinterland to the coast and many were sold through Eko to
the New World. These slaves were the first to encounter the Europeans
and by extension their way of life – this included education in a
Western sense. The Bini King had taken pains to establish a diplomatic
presence in Portugal and the relationship developed into areas that
extended beyond trade in the late 15th century and lasted well into the
early 19th century. Scores of young Bpni youth were sent to Portugal and
studied there, coming back with advanced degrees in various
disciplines. The next set of people to receive Western education were
the slaves themselves. Some of them managed to buy their freedom and
develop themselves further.
For the Ibo it does not matter who your father is; the question is:
Who are you? Who was Obasanjo’s father? Was he the most educated
Nigerian? I am sure the answer is no. Yet this Great Nigeria led this
nation two times as a military Head of State and as a civilian
President. What about GEJ? Who was his own father? Was he the first
Nigerian to go to London? The answer is no. In fact, he had no shoes,
yet he is fully in charge. So it does not matter if your father was the
first Lawyer or first Doctor in Nigeria but rather what matters is what
an individual does with the talents the Almighty has given to him. Let
us open up Nigeria for competition. That is the solution to our
problems. Those who want privileges keep reminding us that their fathers
were the first to go to school in London. Every generation produces its
own leaders and champions. Like Dangote who is the biggest employer of
labour in Nigeria today and the richest man in Africa. Was his father
the first to go to study in London? Yet he is the master of people whose
parents gave them the best. My brothers, the answer to the Nigerian
problem is that we should establish a merit-driven society. “I get am before” no be property.
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