I read the contribution of a northerner by the name of Farouk Kperogi's to this debate on Facebook and I marvelled at his attempt to befuddle the issues and misprepresent my assertions. Surely even intellectual dishonesty and historical revisionism has its limits.
To the sons and daughters of Oduduwa and all other southerners, who are my primary concern, I say do not be fooled: the Fulani and their northern slaves have been using the words "Yariba" and "Nyamiri" for over 200 years.
Quite apart from that I would appreciate it if someone would please tell this Kperogi that it would be better for him to read what I wrote than to go out of his way to purposely and maliciously misrepresent me.
He claims that "it was reported" that I said "Yariba" and "Nyamiri" were FULANI words.
Needless to say I NEVER said or wrote that and if indeed it was reported in such a way in any medium then it is nothing but a case of pernicious falsehood, perfidious misrepresentation and pre-meditated and specious mendacity.
What I wrote was that the Fulani "GAVE" and "USED" those words to describe the people of the South West and South East respectively. Contrary to his assertion I did not say they were Fulani or Hausa words. Giving or using a name or a word does not necessarily mean that that name or word is native to the language of the user and giver. This appears to me to be obvious and basic logic.
The name could derive from another race or language entirely and you can still use it in yours as a term to describe others. This is especially so when you seek to demean and malign them.
As regards the meaning of the words I would suggest that Kperogi reads a little more widely and he will discover what those that coined them actually meant. It is simply a question of historical and literary research.
If you disagree with me on an issue or we have divergent opinions it is no big deal but at least qoute me accurately and do not misrepresent or misconstrue what I wrote.
More importantly if you insist on criticising me or disagreeing with me on an important matter like this you would do well to actually read what I wrote yourself and not rely on what "was reported" or what others told you that I wrote or said.
This surely is a given when it comes to even the most basic, elementry and rudimentry form of intellectual discourse.
The truth is that in his post Kperogi has confirmed virtually everything else that I wrote about this matter other than the mischevous and erroneous assertion that I claimed that the two words in question were from the Fulani or Hausa language. I repeat, I never made that assertion.
He also dropped the ball when he said that Nyamiri was a word that was created during the Nigerian civil war. This is not true. The word has its origins in the Igbo language but its subsequent corruption, bastardisation, condecending connotation and insulting usage by the Fulani commenced as far back as the 18th century.
Needless to say I stand by every word that I wrote in my article titled "We Are Sons And Daughters of Oduduwa And Not Yorubas".
I urge Kperogi and those that share his complex and inexplicable disposition to read it with a clear mind and actually learn something. I wish him well.
(Femi Fani-Kayode)
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