By Azuka Onwuka
Before August 9, 1965, the Singaporeans were seen as an
irritation in Malaysia.
Then Singapore was one of
the 14 states of Malaysia.
Singaporeans were viewed as arrogant, stubborn, and domineering. While the
United Malays National Organisation wanted affirmative action or “quota system”
for the Malays, the People's Action Party of the Singaporeans insisted that the
best thing for the country was a merit-based policy on all issues, so as to
bring out the best in the nation and create a spirit of excellence.
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*Odumegwu-Ojukwu |
This constant disagreements and tensions resulted in
racial riots. It got to a point, the Malays could take it no more. So on August
9, 1965 they convened the parliament, with no Singaporean parliamentarian
present. At that sitting, the legislators voted unanimously (126 - 0) to expel Singapore from Malaysia.
When the Singaporeans heard that they had been expelled
from the nation, at first they were devastated. But they took their fate in the
hands and started building a new nation. And indeed, by applying merit and the
pursuit of excellence, Singaporeans built a country that moved from Third World
to First World in record time, overtaking Malaysia in all ramifications.
Interestingly, despite this sad way of parting, Malaysia and Singapore have remained good
neighbours. In spite of the success Singapore
has recorded, it has not made Malaysia
not to record its own success.
There are many similarities between the story of Singapore and Malaysia
and Igbo and Nigeria.
The Igbo are not happy with the quota system policy used in the admission into
federal schools and federal positions. They want competitiveness in every
sector, which will lead to the best being selected, for the sake of excellence.
The Igbo are seen as arrogant, noisy, domineering,
greedy, over-ambitious, to mention but a few. Many Nigerians see them as
irritants. They get killed frequently, especially in the North, at the least
misunderstanding. Sometimes the cause of the provocation is someone from Denmark, Cameroon
or another part of Nigeria.
There are many Nigerians who will easily tell you: “We
will never allow an Igbo person to rule Nigeria.” There are many who
believe that the problem of Nigeria
is from the Igbo, and that once the Igbo are done away with, Nigeria’s
problems will disappear.