By Ozodi Thomas Osuji
This morning I read at Facebook a girl from Agbor, Nkechi Bianze, saying that her tribe is Ika and not Igbo. She fumed from both sides of her mouth saying how angry she is at any Igbo who calls her an Igbo; indeed, she asked why Igbos have the audacity to call those who do not see themselves as Igbos as Igbos. On the issue of her having what seems an Igbo name, Nkechi, she presented an interesting logic that goes like this: you (I am assuming that she is referring to those not from England) have an English sounding name, you speak English so does that make you an Englishman, she asks?
This morning I read at Facebook a girl from Agbor, Nkechi Bianze, saying that her tribe is Ika and not Igbo. She fumed from both sides of her mouth saying how angry she is at any Igbo who calls her an Igbo; indeed, she asked why Igbos have the audacity to call those who do not see themselves as Igbos as Igbos. On the issue of her having what seems an Igbo name, Nkechi, she presented an interesting logic that goes like this: you (I am assuming that she is referring to those not from England) have an English sounding name, you speak English so does that make you an Englishman, she asks?
*Onitsha, South East of Nigeria |
(This particular logic is interesting; it assumes knowledge of who is an
English person; is English a function of biological heritage or language or
culture? There are black people born in England who are called English. By
the same token, what makes one an American? People from all over the world come
to the USA , which is about
the size of West Africa , and call themselves
Americans. I was born at Lagos ,
Nigeria and am
an American. What makes me an American? Since the USA was begun by the English is it
possession of English DNA that makes one an American? Is it the ability to
speak the English language? Is it enculturation to American culture? What is
American culture? Nkechi, apparently, did not take courses in logic so we shall
overlook her illogical and incoherent statements on who is English.)