There is a sustained and sinister trend of discrimination against the Ogoni people of Rivers State by fellow Rivers people, and it is one of the saddest things to experience in 2023.
In Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, when people meet each other, it is quite easy to not use names in conversations. The greetings could range from ‘Ogoni man, good morning oh’. You can also hear expressions like ‘Kalabari woman, how you dey na?’ ‘Ikwerre man, see as you fine with your big belle!’ ‘This Etche man no wan park him motor well’. ‘Ah, this Igbo man no want remove small money for me for him shop’.
These quoted expressions are not necessarily tribal in a negative sense. They are the common ways that people who have lived in Rivers State identify and greet themselves. But beneath that exchange, there is the job of profiling according to leanings of tribes. And tribe is a big deal in Rivers State. It is bigger during elections.
There are 23 local government areas in Rivers State. It is almost certain that the 23 local governments speak at least one language each or at least a dialect of a common language. Where there are similarities in language, some smaller groups still try to maintain autonomy. And if each tribe shares at least 3 LGAs each, there are about 8 tribes. The majority tribes are the Ikwerre, Kalabari Ijaw, the Ogoni, Okrika, the Ekpeyes, the people of Bonny, the Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, the Opobos, the Ndokis, and of course, Etche and Eleme.
I have been out of Port Harcourt since 2012, only visiting once in a while, staying for months, sometimes. Recently, I sent my adult younger brother to find me an apartment in the city and most of the feedbacks he received were that the landlord would not rent to an Ogoni person, etc. And it is troubling to know that such could still be legal in a multi ethnic state like Rivers in 2023. When he found a place, the landlord insisted on collecting rent for more than a year – exploitation.
I had thought that maybe these things were only prevalent among less educated landlords who are bent on making so much money and maybe the Ogoni man is the least of the people who would pay an outrageous sum for a space, but I attended a literary event in Port Harcourt and the same thing happened. In that event, I was in the company of another friend who was from Ogoni. We had shared poetry at the event. While taking pictures, a younger man, an Ogoni, with a camera was being directed by the event organiser, but he did not seem to get it right. The organiser, a young man, a poet and reader, I would presume, boldly stated that if he had not known my friend and I, who were Ogonis, and who were active in the art space, he would have presumed that the Ogoni people were naturally dumb.
Without bothering heavy statistic that may not be accurate, the Ogoni people are among the most educated in Rivers State and we physically and mentally work hard. I have had people turn down dating requests from me because they are from tribes that wanted to have little to do with Ogoniland. These things may stem from pre-colonial differences or even recent communal clashes, but it is a terrible experience to soak in. The Ogoni people rank top of people who have earned higher degrees after a first degree yet even in politics, the Ogoni man hasn’t been considered good enough for to be governor or deputy governor, speaker of the state house of assembly etc.
The Ogoni people are honest people and among the residents of the city of Port Harcourt, Ogoniland, over the years, has been targeted as the best place to source maid and house-helps in the state – basically subservient roles. But these people, these young Ogoni people who are often taken to live with their bosses are barely paid reasonably for their jobs or given education or such support to become independent. The Ogoni human is almost treated like its natural resources which became public knowledge in the early 90s when protest from locals about the state of the land after oil had been explored without adequate development rocked the world.
No one would give anyone freedom or respect because they have enough of it and would not mind doling out a couple, but the man who demands it. There is a need for the larger world and the landlords of Port Harcourt who are yet to get it that profiling people according to ethnic groups and tribes is a sign of a complex problem that must be addressed. This piece of writing is a demand that we act right and treat ourselves with respect and tolerance.
By Vincent Bura-Bari Nwilo is the author of The Colour of a Thing Believed. He lives in Nsukka and Port Harcourt.
