Amid the genocidal threats against the Igbo tribe, which called for their relocation with the hashtag #IgboMustGo, the former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Kingsley Moghalu, has said that Nigeria has become like crabs that can’t move forward but sideways or backwards.
Moghalu who spoke on Friday via his verified X handle said the ethnic-identity supremacy has hobbled Nigeria’s potential as Africa’s most populous country, stymying both governance and the economy.
Saturday Telegraph had earlier reported that there are calls on social media, trending under the hashtag #IgboMustGo demanding the forced relocation of Igbo people from Lagos and other Southwest states.
Reacting to the calls, Moghalu said the online #IgboMustLeaveLagos campaign is hate, criminal speech, calling on leaders to take strong action against the ethnic-cleansing propaganda.
He said: “The online #IgboMustLeaveLagos campaign is hate, criminal speech. Our leaders need to take strong action against this kind of ethnic-cleansing propaganda similar to the Radio/TV Milles Collines demonisation of the Tutsi in Rwanda 30 years ago.
“As a Political Affairs Officer @UN Secretariat Headquarters in New York at the time, I helped in efforts to counter and stop the genocide, which sadly proved unsuccessful as a result of Great Power politics in the UN Security Council, and the genocide was ended only by the military victory achieved by the Rwanda Patriotic Army led by @PaulKagame.
Thankfully we later successfully prosecuted the architects of the genocide at the UN International Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania, while the Rwandan authorities also successfully ran the local gacaca community trials, and went on to rebuild their country to an enviable level.
“Not too long ago ago Nigerian state governors went to Rwanda to be taught the art of #GoodGovernance. Nigerian leaders taking strong action would demonstrate that such hate has no place in our country.
“Ethnic-identity supremacy has hobbled Nigeria’s potential as Africa’s most populous country, stymying both governance and the economy. We have become like crabs who can’t move forward, only sideways or backwards.
I commend Lagos State Governor @jidesanwoolu for stepping out and calling for an end to this dangerous nonsense.”.
