What The Igbo Race Can Learn From Mark Twain. By Reno Omokri

I urge every Igbo man, woman and child to read the essay by Mark Twain, titled ‘concerning The Jews’ and first published in the March 1898 edition of Harper’s Magazine.

Though what that renowned journalist wrote is old, (over a hundred years), it still holds a lot of wisdom to give out to Jews, and to nationalities who have Jewish tendencies, such as Nigeria’s Igbos.

First and foremost, let me say that if you are a follower of Christ, you must accept that Jews are very shrewd people, because even Christ alluded to their shrewdness in John 1:47. That verse reads:

“Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!”

As a result of their culture, every ethnic nationality has their good and bad qualities. We are all human, and that means we are far from perfection, and when I read Mark Twain’s piece, I realised that if the Jews had heeded some of his counsel, they would have fared better, politically, than they did before 1948.

I love the Jews and I love the Igbos. I have been to Israel and the heartland of Igboland. They are the two most intelligent races I have come across so far in my travels on planet Earth, and as many of you know, I am a very avid traveler. So, without ado, I will highlight the best part of Mr. Twain’s analysis of the Jews and the worst part, and conclude with his suggestion to them of how to overcome their political marginalisation.

Both Twain and I agree that the best part about Jewish culture is their self love and promotion of group interest. Nowhere is this more evident than in the cases of Nnamdi Kanu and Omoyele Sowore.

Nnamdi Kanu was granted bail on April 25, 2017, on the condition 3 sureties provided ₦100 million each. 3 days later, he had fulfilled the conditions and was released on April 28, 2017. Sowore was granted bail on October 4, 2019 on the condition 2 sureties provided ₦100 million each. A week later, the amount was reduced to ₦50 million each. 2 weeks later, Sowore remains in jail. But let us get back to Mr. Twain.

Read what Mr. Twain said:

“The Jew is not a burden on the charities of the state nor of the city; these could cease from their functions without affecting him. When he is well enough, he works; when he is incapacitated, his own people take care of him. And not in a poor and stingy way, but with a fine and large benevolence. His race is entitled to be called the most benevolent of all the races of men. A Jewish beggar is not impossible, perhaps; such a thing may exist, but there are few men that can say they have seen that spectacle. The Jew has been staged in many uncomplimentary forms, but, so far as I know, no dramatist has done him the injustice to stage him as a beggar. Whenever a Jew has real need to beg, his people save him from the necessity of doing it.“

You could remove the word Jew and replace it with Igbo and everything Mr. Twain said would still hold true. And I salute the Igbo for that.

Regular readers of my column and writings would recall that I publicly recalled that I had never seen an Igbo beggar, about two months ago. Since then, a few people (non Igbos), have taken to sending me videos of stories about Igbo minstrels who sing and after singing ‘beg’ for money. No. Those are not beggars. That is actually a trade called ‘busking’. It is very common in the West and is an important part of their culture.

I publicly say this again, that the Igbo are a proud and dignified race who have a lot to teach the Black world about how to make the best out of the worst circumstances. These are people that came out of the Civil War with just £20 pounds per family and have gone on to dominate Nigeria’s commercial space. If Nigeria were a serious country, universities would have developed curricula to study and teach how they did it.

But every coin has two sides. Let us hear what Mr. Twain said about the other side of the Jew. This time, I will not say whether or not the Igbo share this quality.

“He has a reputation for various small forms of cheating, and for practising oppressive usury, and for burning himself out to get the insurance, and for arranging cunning contracts which leave him an exit but lock the other man in, and for smart evasions which find him safe and comfortable just within the strict letter of the law, when court and jury know very well that he has violated the spirit of it.”

I will not comment further on the above, except to say that those are not my words. They are the words of the most popular and celebrated journalist that ever lived, Mr. Mark Twain.

But how can the Jew improve his situation? Mr. Twain has some ideas.

“in politics, organize your strength, band together, and deliver the casting vote where you can, and, where you can’t, compel as good terms as possible.
You huddle to yourselves already in all countries, but you huddle to no sufficient purpose, politically speaking. You do not seem to be organized, except for your charities. There you are omnipotent; there you compel your due of recognition—you do not have to beg for it. It shows what you can do when you band together for a definite purpose. And then from America and England you can encourage your race in Austria, France, and Germany, and materially help it.”

Again, you could be forgiven if you thought Mr. Twain was talking about the Igbo.

Let us take the Yoruba for instance. Very, very, very few Southwesterners like Bola Tinubu. In fact, most of the elite of the Southwest detest him. But in the absence of another Yoruba leader with sufficient clout, money and influence to mobilise their entire race behind a common cause, they are willing to bury their animosity for Tinubu and work with him.

But can an Igbo man work with someone he does not like? It is almost impossible. Because if the Igbo man does not like you, he will tell you and he will fight you. The Yoruba man will emotionally suppress himself because of his commitment to his long term goal. But to the Igbo man, that ability, which in reality is wisdom, is seen by him as sycophancy, ass licking, and cowardice. No it is not!

I remember an encounter recounted by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his book, Nzeogwu. Then a lieutenant in the Nigerian Army, Obasanjo was posted to serve in the Nigerian contingent of the United Nations Force in the Congo, during the crisis in Katanga.

While there, he was kidnapped by rebel soldiers and put in the booth of their car. But the rebels made a big mistake. They did not disarm him. He waited until they parked their car, then he escaped and ran for safety. When he recounted this incident to his best friend, then lieutenant Nzeogwu, Nzeogwu said he would not have been able to restrain himself from using his gun to shoot his captors. Thereupon, Obasanjo questioned the wisdom of one man going into a gunfight with over ten well armed rebels.

That is why Scripture says “He that has no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.”-Proverbs 25:28.

More battles are worn via strategy than by strength. Sometimes you stoop to conquer. As long as you conquer, does it matter if you stooped?

Reno Omokri

Deep Thinker. #1 Bestselling author of Facts Versus Fiction: The True Story of the Jonathan Years. Avid traveller. Table Shaker. Buhari Tormentor. Sharer of the Gospel.