Why The Igbos May Be Nigeria's Greatest Hope

By Dr. Peregrino Brimah
A recent report that succeeded in debunking the false narrative of Whites being more intelligent
or academically proficient than Blacks, further identified the Igbo Nigerian race as outliers, demonstrably surpassing the Asian--best of the Caucasian race. The report provokes serious thought. The United States DV lottery is not a charity as we sometimes wrongly assume. The program

gives America the opportunity to select from
the extraordinary human gene pool to ultimately
catapult the advancement of the country.
It is no surprise therefore that New York,
California, L.A. and London with their wide
variety of races are primary sources of
innovation today. California's Silicon Valley and
the San Francisco Bay were the birth places of
Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter and thousands
of other world renowned companies. Tim Cook
said, "Diversity is critical to innovation and it is
essential to Apple’s future."
There are two things to note: firstly in all races
are unique skills and secondly, neglect to
harness the unique skills of peoples to your
detriment.
Apart from corruption or perhaps as an
additional detriment, African states fail to
properly exploit the number one resource on
God's earth: the diverse human potential. As
the nation's are led by intellectual 'bricklayers'
who at best only know how to mix and plaster,
that essential resource that leads to competitive
development is totally lost. I am not sure that in
the plan for Nigeria today there is an agency
tasked with instituting optimized development of
the human resource by unique features: region,
ethnicity, selective capacity and related
distinctive opportunities.
While there may not necessarily be a genetic
component to increased innovation of certain
races or sub races, with a recent study finding
99.9% genetic identicality between Yorubas and
Igbos for instance, nature and nurture have their
way of fashioning and sharpening human skills.
Can we deny that most innovation in Nigeria
comes out of the tiny land mass occupied by
the Igbo ethnic group? Can we deny the Alaba
industrial complex? Can we ignore the fact that
so many finished products and industrial semi
finished materials have managed to emanate
from the East over the years? That while Nigeria
prides itself with not being able to make
toothpicks, Alaba manufactures firearms? That
the Igbos have been the bedrock of economical
activity across the states?
And all this the region with its members does/do
without government encouragement and against
all odds.
Late Sardauna rather infamously identified the
unique Igbo ability to advance and dominate
wherever they adventure. While the Sardauna as
Provincial head correctly, I dare say, identified
this attribute as a risk to his region which he
was responsible for in the then regional Nigeria
setup (note: Nigeria was operating true
Federalism at the time with distinct self
identifying and serving regions), today as a de-
regionalised single entity, Nigeria must harvest
the skills of these peoples or let them go.
The Igbo is not only industrial but
entrepreneurial. He is like the Western Jew.
Now while other ethnic groups to also harbor
similar and variable unique skills, one can
imagine the outcome had the Western world not
only ignored their Einsteins but frustrated them
and pushed them into social rebellion and
crime. Not only would they have lost decades of
advancement but they would have suffered
enduring regression from the easy transfer of
intelligence and unusual skills to socially
destructive applications. Your geniuses are
some of your best resources or your greatest
liabilities depending on how you utilize them.
Building a cohesive society and harnessing all
the available human potential is the most
important and critical measure towards fixing
and then advancing a nation. More important
than building infrastructure and providing
amenities. Perhaps so important that Nigeria
needs new ministries tailored towards advancing
human capital... a Ministry of Human Resource
Development as multicultural India has.
In my opinion, it is time to unleash the unique
potential of the Igbo race or let them go.
Dr. Peregrino Brimah
@EveryNigerian