Why “Omo Igbo” is problematic

It is often said of Nigeria that our diversity unites us, but the recently concluded general elections suggest otherwise. 

Ethnic animosity, hate campaigns and religious dichotomy characterized the build-up to the elections. In Lagos, the gubernatorial elections that followed saw targeted violence and disenfranchisement of voters based on ethnicity. Not exactly a picture of a people united in diversity.

Ethnic baiting and weaponization of tribal sentiments during elections in Nigeria are not new. In Lagos, it is normal for Igbos to be scapegoats in every election. 

In the build-up to the 2015 gubernatorial elections, a traditional ruler in Lagos was reported to have warned a group of Igbo leaders that if the Igbos do not vote for Akinwunmi Ambode, they will perish in the river within seven days. During the 2019 Lagos gubernatorial elections, a sitting senator reportedly said, “We will invoke all the deities of Lagos to chase Igbo people out. Igbos who refuse to learn our language. Igbos who didn’t marry Yoruba, we will inherit them.” 

More recently, the 2023 Lagos gubernatorial elections highlighted how easily tribal sentiments can be incited. During the campaign, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour (GRV), the Labour Party governorship candidate, was targeted by opponents who used his Igbo middle name, Chinedu, to stoke anti-Igbo sentiments among voters. 

The All Progressives Congress (APC), the party in power, claimed that GRV was not a true Lagosian and would be more loyal to the Igbo people, referring to him as “Omo Igbo.” This use of tribal identifiers further emphasized his mother’s Igbo heritage and painted him as an outsider, leading to a flawed narrative that a vote for the Labour Party is equivalent to voting for an Igbo takeover of Lagos.

A Yoruba phrase meaning “Igbo person,” “Omo Igbo” has other meanings depending on the context and is often used as a tribal slur. “Omo Igbo” is an all encompassing-basket into which all the negative stereotypes about Igbo people are dropped. A negative experience with one Igbo person is used to develop a mental model of all Igbo people, which they generalize with the term “Omo Igbo.”

“Omo Igbo” is also used to easily identify someone of southern extraction. But while using “Omo Igbo” as an identifier might seem innocuous, it emphasizes the difference between me, an Igbo person, and the Yorubas around me. This emphasis on difference reinforces tribalism and creates divisions. 

Despite being born in Lagos and schooling in Akure, Benjamin has always felt like an outsider when people call him “Omo Igbo.” “One time in school, when I got to class late, some of my classmates started to speak in Yoruba, saying ‘Omo Igbo ti de (the Igbo boy has come).’ It got me very irritated,” he says. Benjamin’s experience is just one example of how tribal slurs can create feelings of exclusion and reinforce harmful stereotypes. 

Yorubas sometimes use “Omo Igbo” to say that you are a lesser being and that they are superior to you. Chizaram, an Igbo boy who lives in Lagos, has been called “Omo Igbo” all his life. Growing up in Lagos, he says, “I was called Omo Igbo by people in my neighbourhood as a way to describe or identify me. I’ve come to accept it, and some of my guys even call me  ‘Omo Igbo.’” He also says people in his neighborhood used to call him “Omo Igbo” whenever he did something clumsy. “I distinctly remember one day, while walking along my street, I stumbled and fell into a gutter in front of a line of shops owned by Yoruba women. Instead of offering to help, they burst into laughter and started calling me ‘Omo Igbo’ in jest. I found their comments offensive and hurtful.”

Although “Omo Igbo” can be used innocently and even affectionately amongst friends. It can easily lead to stereotyping and prejudice towards people of southern extraction. It can also perpetuate the harmful notion that people from different regions in Nigeria are fundamentally separate and cannot coexist. 

Mary, a young Igbo girl studying in Ife, Osun State, experienced a similar feeling recently. She was listening to the radio in the lead-up to the general elections in Nigeria when she heard derogatory remarks about the Igbo presidential candidate. He was called an “Omo Igbo Oloriburuku” who would take everything the Yorubas had if he became president. It was also suggested that  Igbo people return to where they came from. Mary says she was heartbroken to hear these tribalistic comments. She grew up in an environment she thought was accepting and welcoming. Now, as she grows older and learns more about Nigeria’s history, she sees how the same prejudices and exclusionary attitudes are being replayed over and over again.

Ultimately, using tribal slurs like “Omo Igbo” speaks to a deeper problem in our society – a lack of understanding and empathy for those different from us. In relating with each other, Nigerians have developed stereotypes about each other, narrow-minded conceptions that often find expression in the words we use to refer to each other.

One such word is “Aboki,” a Hausa word that translates to “friend” in English but is used derogatorily, primarily by Southerners, to refer to people of northern extraction. Another is “ndi ofe mmanu,” an Igbo term for the Yoruba people. It translates to “People of oily soup” and stems from how the Igbo find soups made by Yorubas to have been cooked with too much oil. You might also hear “Nyamiri” (the Hausa word for Igbo) and “Bayarabe” (the Hausa word for Yoruba).

Sometimes, these “mere words” trigger offline violence. For example, in a community in Lagos, suspected political thugs attacked non-indigenes for voting against the incumbent party during the concluded general elections. It was reported that over 20 people were injured, and properties worth millions of naira were destroyed. 

People who use words like “Omo Igbo” don’t get to decide whether it is offensive, instead they should look to understand how such terms are used to reinforce negative stereotypes. “Omo Igbo” is not just an innocent label; it is evident that it reinforces harmful stereotypes and promotes divisions. These negative stereotypes only serve to perpetuate the cycle of hate and violence. The tragic events during the Nigerian civil war should serve as a reminder that tribalism and bigotry can have devastating consequences.

*Name changed to protect the identity of the interviewees.

Edited and Reviewed by Caleb Okereke, Samuel Banjoko and Uzoma Ihejirika.