…the furore over the remarks by Dr Abati raises a fundamental question of what should be a drawing line between respect for the spirit of critical inquiry, which sometimes requires interrogating issues dominant in an ethnic group other than one’s own, and being an ethnic chauvinist. To love your ethnic or religious in-group, or to make critical commentaries on issues predominant in another ethnic group does not make one an ethnic bigot. The crucial line is whether such a statement deliberately tries to accentuate or weaponise the conflictual elements in inter-ethnic relations.
There have been daggers out for Dr Reuben Abati, co-host of the Arise TV’s “Morning Show,” following his recent comments on Senator Godswill Akpabio’s witty remark at the night of tributes for the late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah. Senator Akpabio had declared that the Igbos are a “mercantile” people, who build houses and settle wherever they go. He contrasted the Igbos with members of…
