…Says Igbo-blaming now a ‘culture and industry’ in Nigeria
Our Reporter, Abuja
Professor Moses Ochonu has dismissed claims that the Igbo ethnic group was responsible for Nigeria’s recent redesignation by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and related bodies, describing such allegations as “inaccurate, harmful, and rooted in Igbophobia.”
Ochonu stated this on Thursday while responding to questions as co-guest speaker at the November edition of the Ikengaonline Town Hall meeting themed “Alleged Genocide, Trump’s Threat and the Propaganda Against Igbos.”
The Vanderbilt University scholar said the attempt to link Igbos to the redesignation was a continuation of an entrenched pattern of blaming the ethnic group for national problems.
“The Igbos are being accused by certain people of instigating the CPC designation,” he said.
“That is as inaccurate as it is harmful. We can all agree that it is Christians who have been systematically killed in the last decade or so that petitioned, that made their voices heard.”
He said the allegations were driven by what he called “the virus of Igbophobia” in the country.
“Unfortunately, in our country today, any fair-minded person would agree that there is this virus of Igbophobia that invariably makes Igbo-blaming the lot of people,” he said.
“Whenever something goes wrong in our Republic today, the easiest thing—the lowest hanging fruit—for a lot of bigoted people is to blame the Igbo. So there is an Igbo-blaming culture or industry out there that has to be dealt with.”
According to him, those pushing the narrative that Igbo intellectuals or groups influenced the U.S. redesignation “know the truth” but choose to promote falsehood for political ends.
“People coming from the fringes are saying maybe the Igbos or some Igbo intellectuals instigated the CPC’s redesignation by accusing the government of being complicit. Even those who amplify such narrative know the truth. That is not the case.”
Ochonu explained that the redesignation was driven by long-standing petitions from Christian communities in the Middle Belt who had suffered severe and sustained attacks.
“You have to make your voice heard when you have been systematically killed and when you are on the verge of extermination,” he said.
“Out of desperation, Christians in the Middle Belt cried out using several platforms, including NGOs. That’s how this thing got to the attention of the United States President.”
He added that the U.S. engagement had forced a reaction from Nigerian authorities.
“Now the U.S. is threatening to intervene, and suddenly we see things moving. We see these guys frantically looking for a way out, pretending that they care about the problem,” he said.
Ochonu argued that the response might have been stronger if Muslim victims elsewhere in the country had spoken up as loudly.
“If Muslims had been as vocal in proclaiming their own victimhood, their suffering, their trauma, and describing it as accurately as genocide like the Christian victims have done, imagine what would have happened. There would have been a unified groundswell of support for decisive action against the terrorists.”
While acknowledging the power of framing in shaping global responses, he cautioned that it could also divert attention from the real issue.
“Framing matters, but framing can be distracting,” he said.
“Once we start arguing back and forth over nomenclature, we get ourselves into a dead end and inadvertently give an escape path to those we should be holding accountable.”
Ochonu concluded that the important task remains holding perpetrators of violence responsible, rather than allowing ethnic scapegoating to derail the conversation.
