Tell me something the Igbos cannot do

Let me confess that I am Igbo but this is no advertisement for the Igbo but merely my own perception. My parents are Igbos and I studied at the University of Nigeria Nsukka.

Before going to Nsukka, my idea of the Igbos was somewhat weird. This is because of the fact that my people of Delta State see, Easterners of Nigeria as typical Igbos and us as the refined Igbos. 

I was shocked when a young eastern Nigerian lady described me as a bushman on account of my Igbo dialect which in my ignorance and in attempting to refine, sounded quite strange. That was when it dawned on me, what the Yorubas say, that one's father's farm always seems the largest until he visits other people's farms. My people say, each person is enamoured of what is his.

The Igbos are quite loud, sometimes over confident and very conservative. It is very easy to misunderstand them. They are quite accommodating and very friendly. Their sense of humour is nonpareil.

Blessed Iwene Tansi

The Igbos believe that whatever anybody can do, they can equally do. Their determination is legendary. Not for the Igbos, the belief that a profession is not for them. So long as there is money to be made, they are game.

There is a saying among the Igbos that whatever job, one embarks upon, the bottom line is to achieve success. Sometimes this finds expression in criminal activities. How you make it does not matter, just make it.

The Igbos do not encourage nor do they tolerate criminality, but their disdain for failure masks their intolerance of crime.

When an Igbo approaches a task, it is with a single minded determination. They love competition and will go to all lengths to make it.

Their approach to work is simple and almost deceptive, in the sense that in making money, an Igbo does not care what the average person thinks of him. What is uppermost on his mind is the prize. Subsequently, celebration can be as loud as possible.