When Arrogance Replaces Wisdom, Exile Is Not Far
By Colonel Emeritus IA Okereke, Fellow of Defence College
Let us, as a people, stop pretending.
We have overstayed our welcome in places where we once thrived as guests. The events of recent years—and particularly the misguided Igbo conduct in Lagos—have laid bare the ugly face of our arrogance, our lack of tact, and our dangerous detachment from reality.
When Yoruba people voted massively for Peter Obi, a candidate many Igbos promoted, we didn’t return their open-handedness with gratitude. No—we mocked them. We danced in their streets and declared that we had “defeated them in their Lagos.”
What kind of people mock their hosts for showing them political kindness?
It was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
I have said it before, and I repeat: the way many Igbos treat the Yoruba in Lagos is akin to raping a wailing woman and asking her how sweet the audacious assault was.
It is not just rude—it is evil.
Let it be known: The Yoruba are not cowards. They are not lazy. They are not slow. They are deliberate, calculating, and accommodating to a fault. But a time comes when even the most tolerant man locks his gate, burns his guest mat, and reclaims his home.
We saw Theodore Orji in Abia expel non-indigenes from civil service. We saw Dave Umahi marginalize fellow Igbos in Ebonyi. We saw Fashola begin a deportation response—not out of tribalism, but reaction. And we ignored the signs.
We have bitten more than we can chew, and the sad truth is: we have no home to run to.
The South East is “upside down.”
Governance has failed.
Security is in shambles.
Youth are jobless or dying in the bushes of foreign lands.
The towns are empty.
And while our region bleeds, we boast of conquering another man’s land.
What folly.
The Yoruba now hold the presidency, the military, the police, and the National Assembly. And one of my old classmates, in the streets of Lagos, looked me in the eye and said:
“We’re preparing to send you people out.”
What more warning do we need?
This is not a time for bravado.
This is not a time for denial.
This is not a time for Igbo Twitter grammar.
This is a time for DAMAGE CONTROL.
The odds are not in our favour. And those of us who understand the terrain must now take the painful step of reading the Riot Act to the Igbo Nation. This is a war without bullets—a new form of displacement. And if we do not correct our attitude, we will suffer a fate worse than civil war: irrelevance.
We must:
Call our traders, leaders, and youth to order.
Stop this reckless entitlement in the Southwest.
Rebuild the Southeast with the same energy we use to chase shop allocations in Alaba or plazas in Ikeja.
Demand accountability from our governors, senators, and elders.
End this fantasy of domination in another man’s land.
Let us stop this self-deception.
The hour is late. The signs are ominous. The hosts are no longer amused.
This is not a call to retreat.
It is a call to rethink, regroup, and respect ourselves before others will.
Good day, Igbo Nation.
May wisdom return to us before the gates are shut.
An Open Memorandum To The Igbo Nation
Published:
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