Why Southwest is good to Igbos —Okorie

Ndubuisi Okorie is the leader of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Oyo State. In this interview, he tells KEHINDE OYETIMI of the relationship between the Igbos and the Yorubas.

How have the Igbos been of benefit to their host communities in the Southwest?

Without fear of being contradicted, I will say that Igbos have contributed a lot to the development of Oyo State. In terms of population and spread, there is no community in Yoruba land that you wouldn’t find an Igbo man. In terms of population density, major cities are highly populated by Ibos. And bringing it down to Ibadan, I can tell you that in some areas 75 per cent of the houses are owned by Igbos and they trade there. If you go to Iwo Road, you will find out that a lot of the houses are occupied by Igbos for their trade. If you go to Ojoo and Akinyele, you find them there. In technical issues and how to deal with automobile and electronics, you find Igbos there. In technocracy, you might not find a lot of Igbos there for obvious reasons. I can point to myself and others here in Oyo State who are also technocrats and are contributing positively to the growth of Oyo State and are still doing a lot.

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In places like Lagos, you find Igbos having political representations. Why is this not so here?

Lagos is unique in the sense that even the core Yoruba Lagosians are not the ones ruling Lagos. You find people from Ekiti and Osun states who are at the helm of affairs in Lagos state. It is a different structure that is more democratic in nature. If you go to Ojoo, Festac, Mile 2, Badagry areas of Lagos, you find out that the  Igbos are in high numbers and that’s why when it is time to vote and you see result, you find out the Igbos in the state house of assembly.

Now bringing it back to Oyo State, you see we haven’t been very lucky and I think it is because of the nature of the leadership. But thank God for the governor, Seyi Makinde. In his interactions with us, he has made the promise that he is going to bring in an Igbo man into his administration no matter what. And we are holding on to that promise and we are glad he succeeded.

Do you have specific expectations from the new government?

We made formal representations to him which were elaborate. We want an inclusive government for those who are not indigenes but are contributing to the state. We want to have a town hall that we can call our own. If you have followed the history of Igbos in Yoruba land, in 1959, you find out that Igbos got a town hall in Ondo and it is still in existence in Akure. It was recently in the tenure of His Excellency, Christopher Alao Akala, because of his relationship with Igbo people in Ogbomoso, that he gave them a piece of land. We are looking forward to having a good rapport and it will be on record and a good one at that, for him and for posterity that these people have a place to call their own.

As a new dispensation unfolds, what will be your call to the people you represent?

One of the things we ask from His Excellency, Seyi Makinde, is that Igbos want a regular place to have their trade, undisturbed, free from frivolous practices that we know exist and you know some level of intimidation that sometimes come into play. If we have a level playing ground to ply our trade, we assure him of maximum cooperation whenever he calls us. I can tell you he will have our full support.

There is this conception which was really unfortunate in Lagos. Something happened in the last election and it was a very strong point in the relationship between the Igbos and the Yorubas and we are trying to put that behind us. If you want to grow you look forward, not backwards. So the Igbos are very particular about being allowed to express themselves. In expressing ourselves, we don’t want to do it outside the law. Even in the course of the last elections, all the parties were coming to us for votes and in the states where we are, we told that whoever had our interest in their agenda should get our votes. People voted as they wanted. But at the national level, we were asked to vote for Atiku and Peter Obi but that did not mean everyone who voted did that. That is the position of the majority. In spite of that instruction, we found out that Buhari got more than twenty five per cent in some southeastern states and that is how we are. We are open.