"spareparts trading" is comparable to "open grazing"

By

Remy Ilona

Unfortunately our people will not really think about this. But for the few who'll bother to think, we'll continue to stir the pot. Igbos are not really wanted in many places they go, and resettle. The spare-parts seller is actually seen as a nuisance, more than many see the herder who destroys farms and more. Igbo leaders, and most of the people they are leading, are more interested in "ego projects" than in making the lives of the average Igbo better. I confirmed this when when I said that if Igbo leaders had not blocked themselves from fellow Igbos, I'd have told Mr. Obiano, and [Mr. Umahi] that your airports are good, but not what Igbos need now. Obiano the 76billion naira you spent on an airport that will generate less than 1000 jobs, that less than 2000 persons will use yearly, would have been used to bring back to Igboland 50,000 Igbos who sell spare-parts in places Igbos are not seen as friends, and used to re-establish them as 'gentleman farmers and ladies' in Igboland, so that they'll not have to be 'irritating spare-parts sellers', where presence of Igbos irritate people. This 50,000 will be a fact on the ground. There will no longer be "fallow lands" in Igboland. They'll generate at least 100,000 additional jobs. They'll have to employ people to work on their farms. The price of food will plummet in Igboland-as what I recommended is in a way a subsidizing of farming in Igboland. With food security re-established, there will be more peace and security in the land. With more peace and security, there will be more prosperity, and when an average Igbo becomes prosperous enough that he earns N50,000 ($100) every month we can decide to build more airports, in addition to the ones we already have at Asaba, Enugu, Owerri, and Port Harcourt. Igboland is only 16,000 sq miles, but already it has 4 airports.

Sadly, we are more interested in ego than in understanding that life should be meaningfully lived. I was attacked and insulted by people who stood to gain from my recommendations. Can we say that Igbos who are 45+ and are eking out a living in the slums of Lagos, as estate agents, and dreaming of 'making it one day',  or doing odd jobs in Germany, Italy, Spain, Tel Aviv, etc., are living fulfilled lives? Any hope their golden years will be ok?

We need to start doing better. At present we are not. We are not thinking outside the box at all. Lastly, the arguments in the Middle East over who owns Canaan/Israel are extant today because the children of Israel left their lands 2000 years ago, as Igbos are leaving Igboland today!