*IBOS DO NOT LOVE THEMSELVES.* When I hear people say: “Ibos do not love themselves,” I marvel. First of all, it is called IGBO not Ibo, so don't bring your overbearing phonetics to bleach the elegance of my mother tongue; maka na a bụ m onye Igbo, a na m asụ Igbo. Ị maara asụ Igbo? If Igbos do not love themselves, then ịma ndo anwụ as burial rite for kinsmen, iri ji ọhụrụ in unison, nzukọ ụmụnna, ịgba mmọnwụ na otu ọgbọ becomes a ludicrous traditional dry joke. When I ask how they arrived at this rather stereotypical assertion, a disturbing prejudice, they say: “Igbo man can do anything for money.” YES! Igbo man can do anything for money; an Igbo man wants to be free, free from poverty. He understands that poverty is limitation, he cannot afford to live on his knees because enweghị ego na-ebute mkparị. So, it's safe to say na obodo onye Igbo anọghị, kpọrọ nkụ. They say “Igbo man too like money” like you should be ashamed of not embracing poverty. What effrontery!! “We do not love ourselves” they say but in light to help each other grow, we developed the apprenticeship system that calved our economy.We do not love ourselves when we perform libation to honour our forefathers; when we break kolanut and say egbe belụ ugo belụ, nke si ibe ya ebena, nku kwaa ya- our symbol of love, peace and progress? We don't love ourselves and we fought shoulder to shoulder for three years to protect the land where our sleeping fathers abide? When I hear Ibos do not love themselves, I wonder. Have you not seen the beautiful harmony of our men adorned in the Isiagụ regalia? Have you not seen the symmetry when we bend our backs and move our hips to the rhythm of ogene na ọja? Have you not heard our song, egwu ofu obi? Our mothers bathed us with oneness na mmiri Ụlasị, they taught us na nwanne enwe bụ edi. Our Father fed us with love under the moonlight and told us the stories of our ancestors, how they turned love into liquid and called it ngwọ. So why pick up vices that are found anywhere, everywhere to describe me and make me feel guilty for wanting affluence or mistake my love for money for hate for my brother? When next you hear them say Igbos do not love themselves, nwaafọ, you should tell them “excuse me, I beg to differ.” © Ifunanya Georgia Ezeano