The name of my close friend is Ahmad Emeka. Such a confusing name in Nigeria indeed! Well-known are the facts that Ahmad is an Islamic name predominant among the ethnic nationalities in the northern part of Nigeria and to an extent in the Southwestern states, while Emeka can be comfortably ascribed to the predominant nationality of the Southeast of Nigeria. How come these two names came to be answered by a Nigerian? This is a very silly but intriguing question.
Many Nigerians have left Nigeria to be slaves in other countries because of the harsh condition and the feeling of denial and political exclusion. They feel alienated in their own country. A lot of them are engaged in different unholy acts in the name of fleeing their country for greener pasture, for security and for human feeling and recognition. Some did not choose to do so by mere love of it.
My friend tells me that his people ask him to go and live in the north where the owners of Ahmad dwell. But what is intriguing in this matter. It is true that Ahmad is an Islamic name while Emeka is an Igbo name. By mere implication, the owner of the name may have taken Islam as his faith. The Igbo land is a place where Islam has always been looked upon as a very strange religion or simply as mockers would say “Hausa religion”. Other misnomers given to Muslims in this region are: Ndi Alakuba meaning people of Allahu Akbar; Ndi Ausa meaning Hausa people and Ndi ihu na’ala meaning people whose faces are on the ground or people who hit their faces against the ground.
Upon this wrong impression or misconception, every Muslim of the Igbo extraction is regarded by his own people as a Hausa man or a fake Muslim who has joined Islam for merely worldly gains. One of my non-Muslim colleagues once confronted me, saying: “We know things are hard and one must survive sometimes by fair or foul. Keep pursuing your heart desires and get it from them. But please come back to our religion (meaning Christianity) when you have achieved your heart desires”.
Instances are too many to recount. Once, a public officer in the Southeast had wondered why for instance why Ibrahim would be joined to Okoro to form Ibrahim Okoro and the owner would claim to be an Igboman. In an argument that ensued in a public office within the region, a Muslim graduate who was very qualified for the job he was seeking (advertized on both electronic and print media), entered a public office to procure a form for the job. This is the excerpt of the argument. Names are real.
Abdullah: Good morning, sir
John: Good morning! How can I help you?
Abdullah: Yes sir, I want to obtain a form for the advertised vacancy. I hope this is the
right office
John: Yes it is. What is your name?
Abdullah: My name is Abdullah Obinna Kalu, sir.
John: What! What did you say is your name?
Abdullah: (Confidently) I said my name is Abdullah Obinna Kalu, sir.
John: Abudula+Obinna+Kalu! Are you a Hausa man?
Abdullah: No. Abum onye Igbo (Meaning I am an Igbo)
John: Wonders shall never end! Are you sure of what you are saying. Is any of your
parents Hausa by tribe?
Abdullah: No. Both my parents are Igbo.
John: Have you lived in the north?
Abdullah: No.
John: Interesting but shocking! You are confusing me. How can Abudula and Kalu
come together as a name and you proudly claim it?
Abdullah: I am a Muslim.
John: Very strange! I don’t believe this! That you are an Igbo Moslem! Maybe you
are a Hausa man born in Igboland.
Abdullah: I am from ………state (mentioning one of the states of the Southeast of
John: You don’t mean it! I am ever surprised! I don’t believe there is any Igbo
Moslem. You are the first ever I am meeting if truly you are.
Muslim: Glory be to Allah that you have met one today. But I tell you that there are
thousands of Igbo Muslims. There are also many Igbo Muslims resident in the
west and in the far north of Nigeria. There are indigenous Muslims in all the
states of the Southeast and South South geopolitical zones.
John: Chei! You chose to bear Hausa names. You hit your head on the ground!?
Abdullah: This is not what I came here for, sir, but it’s a pity you do not know and seem
not to learn. For clarity, Abdullah is not a Hausa name. It is an Islamic name. I
am a Muslim and not a Hausa man. These are two different identities you
should know if you care. Again, the issue of faith should be a decision of the
mind and not influence which can change any time. However you describe my
way of worship, I am proud to tell you that I am a Muslim.
John: Igbo man sense! Remember us when you get the thing ooo! Cunning man!
Whether you are Mohammed or Adamu, I beg, let me rest.
Abdullah: That is your belief. So are you a Christian for the thing you are talking about? I don’t know who made you a Christian, may be your parents. Merely parental influence even at your age! That’s all. Suppression! Influence! Indecision! How many churches or denominations have you attended since you were born? Or are you a pastor for the thing? Surely!
John: Onye Ausa! (meaning Hausa man) Ha asago gi isi (meaning they have brain- wash you).
Abdullah: I pity you. Whether you like it or not, there is no religion that is equal to Islam. Islam is the truth and only divine way to reach God.
John: (Calling attention of others) Make una come see Hausa man who claims to be Igbo because he can understand few words in Igbo!
Abdullah: It is unfortunate that you do not want to understand. If you are surprised of my name or of my being a Muslim, what will you say about names Joshua Ishaku or Pastor Suleiman Isah which you claim are Hausa names?
John: Forget about that. All that I know is that you are not real. You are fake! Fake! O God! What do you want from being a Moslem? Osama bin Laden!
Abdullah: Can I have the form?
John: No! Well, I will give you one (opens a drawer and reluctantly hands out a form to Abdullah Obinna Kalu). But definitely you will be fished out during the screening processes.
This is a real story that portrays the general view and attitude of an average non-Muslim towards Igbo Muslims in Nigeria. Igbo Muslims are subjugated, regarded as second class citizens and treated as setters, visitors or travelers in their own homeland owing to their fewness, powerlessness and incapacities. These Muslims are discriminated upon. Islamic activities can hardly be openly held without mockery and sometimes open adversaries. The Muslims from such areas suffer unemployment and neglect from public and private authorities.
The condition of these Muslim folks in Nigeria is pitiable. There is no need to call for assistance for them because they have made a good choice and they must suffer for it since they are in the minority areas. It is not their will but God’s that they are in Christian dominated region of Nigeria. It is a test to fulfill their true attachment to God who created them. Whether they are dejected or rejected, the ultimate goal in their life is to die in the faith they have been blessed with. And by the will of God they shall survive all the odds and support their faith by themselves.
Muhammad Ajah is an advocate of humanity, peace and good governance in Abuja. E-mail [email protected]