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L
ast week, I published a thought-provoking article that I picked up from the internet. It was written by an unknown author and titled Delusions Of Wealth: Nigeria Is Not Rich”.
Those of you who didn’t get a chance to read the above article last Friday can find it online, on the Vanguard website, in the COLUMNISTS section.
You’ll need to read it to fully appreciate the follow-up points that are made below by Hector Igbikiowubo, a journalist friend who used to work for this newspaper and sent me this educational response.
Dear Donu,
I read through your article titled “Delusions of wealth”, published last week, calling attention to the delusions of grandeur Nigerians suffer – living under the illusion that we are a rich country.
Vanguard News
The Fulani problem
By Donu Kogbara
I RECENTLY mentioned the widespread fury that is being generated by rogue Fulani herdsmen who rape, pillage, kidnap and kill; and I said that because some Fulanis have been extremely kind to me over the years, I cannot join those who have decided to hate all Fulanis…even though I am the product of Ogoni and Igbo “rebel” families that enthusiastically participated in the Biafran Civil War, in the hope of “liberating” themselves from the North once and for all.
Now, 50 years after my people lost the war, my social circle includes many Northerners. And, sure, there are Southerners who befriend Northerners purely or partly because they think that they might be useful (elite Northerners, Fulani Muslims especially, undoubtedly have clout and can often provide access to juicy business benefits).
By donu kogbara
Dr Elizabeth Pinneh is a Bayelsan post-doctoral research scientist and academic, based in the UK. She lectures at St George’s University in London and works with the Brilliant Club, teaching and mentoring pupils from under-represented backgrounds in schools.
Super-smart Elizabeth also happens to be my friend Andrew Pinneh’s daughter. Last week on this page, I published an introductory excerpt from her article titled “The Issue Of Race in Britain”. Here are more of her views on this interesting topic.
Crime
The criminal justice system which also covers policing, is a sector in which we can all agree that racism exist, but it is always best to go through the data, for those who don’t know much about it. Let’s start with the most obvious, the over-representation of Black and Minority Ethnic, BME, in UK prisons; 27 per cent of the prison population are represented by BME compared with their 13 per cent representation in the general population.