Igbo Vs Yoruba – All You Need To Know

Igbo Vs Yoruba – All You Need To Know – To begin, we must abandon the assumption that politics is “for the greater good.” Politics is fundamentally about self-interest. One of the mistakes we’ve made in Nigeria is pretending differently.

I just learned about an unscientific poll in which more than 80% of Igbo and Yoruba respondents named ‘the North’ as Nigeria’s issue. When asked if they would be willing to collaborate to ‘overcome the North,’ respondents declined.

Since 1951, the Igbo have sided with ‘the North’ against the Yoruba, while the Yoruba have sided with ‘the North’ against the Igbo. Why have both parties opted to distrust each other since then is the question.

Given that Nigeria isn’t quite working, doesn’t it make sense for the Igbo and Yoruba to form a political alliance against ‘the North’ only once to see whether Nigeria has a different political outcome?

Consider this: what is known as “the core North” has around 30 Senate seats. Any other votes they obtain to further their agenda must be obtained by striking deals with one another. The Igbo have 16 guaranteed seats (15 from the South-East and 1 from Anioma in Delta), whereas the Yoruba have 20. (18 from the South-West, 2 guaranteed from Kwara). It is worth noting that I did not include the Ndoni area of Rivers for the Igbo, nor Kogi West for the Yoruba.

The basic fact is that if the Igbo and Yoruba come together, they would have a minimum of 36 members in the Senate and will be able to advocate for their common interests. With the opportunity to strike further deals, they may easily obtain 73 votes to forward their agenda. But, because of a squabble 67 years ago between two long-dead individuals, both parties continue in an environment of mutual hostility, eventually forsaking their own self-interest.

In any case, both groups appear to love playing second fiddle.

By Cheta Nwanze