This is a completely wrong analysis. The Igbo vote in the last election was driven by ethnic identity, not by materialism. It was very clear to any informed observer of Nigerian geoethnopolity that Buhari would win that election. But Igbos, correctly or incorrectly, saw Jonathan as one of their own. That is the simple geopolitics of Nigeria. The Igbo are geographically and culturally closer to Jonathan than they are to Buhari. Jonathan won in some non-Igbo states too (Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Plateau). But Professor Soyinka did not include those as people "suffering as it were, from incurable money-mindedness, as they would stop at nothing in their quest for financial gain". As a measure of money-mindedness and inordinate quest for financial gain, take a census of the people indicted by the EFCC in the fight against corruption since the Obasanjo administration and let's see which ethnic group leads the pack. The cliché of Igbo love of money was born out of the hard work and spirit of adventure of an itinerant people who sowed and continue to sow the seed of development in every part of the country they touch. That cliché has turned into such an enduringly negative stereotype and prejudice that even a cosmopolitan and organic intellectual such as Professor Soyinka could not extricate himself from it. Professor Soyinka should know that the world takes his utterances seriously. If the statement below is really from him, he has written a bad letter of recommendation against all Igbos everywhere. That's a pity. In fact, Igbos deserve an apology from professor Soyinka.
Cu
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2015 1:49 PM
To: USAAfrica Dialogue
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Igbos vote based on their stomach, says Soyinka
"The Igbos are probably the only group of Nigerians that you can predict with great accuracy whom they will vote for in an election, because they tend to put their votes where their stomachs take them; suffering as it were, from incurable money-mindedness, as they would stop at nothing in their quest for personal financial gain."
- Wole Soyinka
If Soyinka actually said this, then I have lost ALL respect for the man. I am sure the Yoruba do not vote for their stomachs, whatever that means. Nonsense.
- Ikhide
Stalk my blog at www.xokigbo.com
Follow me on Twitter: @ikhide
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