FEATURE ARTICLE

By Zamijani Tokoin  (EMAIL) Sunday, September 16, 2001

Igbos in Togo

wish to react to a press statement which appeared on the Nigeriaworld website entitled "S.O.S. - Igbos in Togo". My attention was drawn to the article because not only was I in Lome, Togo when several of the incidents described ocurred, even as I write this today, I am still in the Togolese capital. I am moved to react because after reading the account contained in the statement, I am baffled by the ability of some Nigerians to bury their heads in the sand and inability to be criticial of their own behaviour and actions. Like when Nigerian muslims insist that Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance but at the slightest opportunity, adepts of the religion visit violence on non-believers. But before I go on let me state that I am Nigerian, not Togolese and that there are several thousand Nigerians resident in this country, who are mainly Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba. The Hausas and the Yorubas, the Yorubas especially, have been resident in this part of the world for probably centuries. Hence, there are at least two Togolese ministers who are of Yoruba descent and several football players on the national team who are also of Yoruba descent. There is a town in central Togo, Sokodé that is populated almost exclusively by Togolese of Yoruba descent. The Hausas too have been cattle rearers and breeders in this part of West Africa for many many years. Though Igbo migration to Togo is fairly recent, from my points above, it should be clear that Togolese are used to living with foreigners and with Nigerians in particular. There has been a great deal of inter-marriage between Nigerians and Togolese. In fact, the wife of our Vice President, Mrs Atiku is of Togolese origin and was here recently to bury a relation. It is a fallacy and a refusal to recognise one's own shortcomings for the author of the statement to claim that the indigenes of this country are jealous of the material wealth of the Igbos here and hence attack them for no reason. The richest Nigerian immigrants in Togo are not the Igbos but the Yorubas. So much so that in the local language it is said "that man is as wealthy as an 'anago' (a Yoruba)", to describe a rich man. However, I do not want to be seen as holding brief for Yorubas, in fact, sometime last year, a Nigerian Yoruba pastor was deported from this country for taking it upon himself to inform his Togolese hosts that they are all idol worshippers, pimps and prostitutes, this accounts for the country's poverty and other such remarks in the same vein. Hence, the inability to be respectful of the customs and traditions of one's host is certainly not an Igbo prerogative. Nevertheless, instead of claiming that jealousy and so on, trigger these clashes, the author(s) of the statement would do well to ask themselves a simple, honest but hard question: "Why is it that after centuries of peaceful co-habitation with Nigerians, the indigenes now deeply resent the Igbo community, to the extent that they lauch attacks on them?" Honest answers to this question will explain the reason for the resentment against Igbos. Whenever Nigerians are caught here on drug offences, fraudulent attempts to obtain Togolese passports, cases of fraud or 419 etc, most of the offenders bear Igbo names. Due to their long co-habitation with Nigerians, most Togolese know that a Nigerian called 'Bashir' is probably Hausa, 'Tunde' Yoruba and 'Ikechukwu' Igbo. Just as the few Nigerians who are 419ers and drug pushers in the western world have given ALL Nigerians a bad name, the criminal elements in the Igbo community are giving the ethnic group a VERY bad name in this country; The pentecostal churches (one of Nigeria's main exports to Togo) have adopted the deplorable Nigerian attitude of keeping the entire neigbourhood awake until the early hours of the morning with their prayer services, 'speaking in tongues', singing and drumming at the top of their voices. Their claim is that nothing, even respect and consideration for one's neighbours shall separate them from the love of God. It is by accident and not design that the bulk of these churches are dominated by Igbos who are predominately; most Yorubas are either muslim or baptist and most Hausas are muslim. During the recent 'Igbo Day' celebrated by the Igbo community here in Lome, one of the nuggets of advice dropped by the Ambassador to the community was the need for its members to find a way to check the activities of the criminal elements amongst them, so as to change the extremely poor reputation of Igbos in Togo. The Ambassador intervened to bring the riots to a halt by calling on the Togolese law enforcement agencies. Unfortunately, the churches are all located in the 'Be' neighbourhood of Lome, an opposition stronghold, which the police fear to enter. Hence, the police did not do as much as they should have but thanks to the intervention of the Ambassador, the congregation being held hostage in one of the churches was allowed to leave. The following week or so, the Ambassador went on air to urge local journalists to refrain from xenophobic statments in newspapers and radio broadcasts. To a large extent, his call fell on deaf ears. I personally know a Togolese journalists who whenver reading news on an incident involving an Igbo person makes the incident sound worse than it is really is. He claims that he is helping to defend his people from the criminal attack launched upon them by Igbos. What the Igbos and indeed all Nigerians can do is to : - make active efforts to check the criminal and anti-social persons in their midst, collaborating with the police to bring criminals to book; - always remember that they are guests in a foreign land and committ to respect the people, traditions and customs of the host country. - seek to be interviewed by the very radio stations that have broadcast these unsavoury reports, clearly denounce the behaviour of certain Togolese and speak openly about the problems encountered by the community in Togo and proffer solutions. There could even be a phone-in show. Pretending that is it entirely the fault of the other party will make the situation worse, not better.