By ALEX ENEBELI

Some members of Yoruba and Hausa communities in Enugu State have said that the people of the South East are very accommodating and hospitable.

A cross section of the Hausa and Yoruba communities living in Enugu, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), described people of the zone as “very friendly”.

“The Igbos are easy to cohabit with and are detribalized in terms of employment, business and other forms of benefits,” they said.

Speaking to NAN in separate interviews on the need to promote co-habitation and national unity, they said they had lived all their lives in Enugu, without any form of harassments.

The Oba of Yoruba in Enugu State, Alhaji Adebayo Olatunji, told NAN that he came to Enugu in I979 and had since been living peacefully with the residents of the state.

“I have never been discriminated against,” he said.

Olatunji, who hailed from Ede in Osun State, described his relationship with Enugu people as ‘very cordial and conducive’.

“I would not have lived in the state for 46 years if they were bad people.

“I’m married to an Igbo woman from Nsukka and I had my first child in Enugu in 1988 whom I named Uzodimma, meaning that my coming to Enugu has favoured me,” he said.

According to him, all the members of his family speak Igbo language fluently.

Olatunji, who said he participated actively in politics in Enugu, recalled how he was elected into Local Government as an Ex-Officio during the time of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.

“So I am encouraging other tribes that want to come to Enugu not to fear as the state is secured, loving and calm.

“It is a nice place where one can relax,” he said.

Similarly, the Sarkin Hausawa of Enugu, HRH Alhaji Abubakar Sambo, said he had become part of Enugu State, describing its people as his brothers and friends.

Sambo stated that he and other Northerners had never been discriminated against as the people of the state saw them as their brothers.

“I was born and brought up in Enugu and as I speak to you, I am a Senior Special Adviser to Gov. Peter Mbah on Special Duties.

“So, you can see how related we are with the Igbo people here,” he said.

The Sarki said that most of his friends are Igbos, adding that they lived like brothers and sisters.

“We move together, play together and eat together.

“Enugu is beautiful and has wonderful people that are very accommodating,” Sambo said.

He revealed that a number of Northerners coming into Enugu State in the last two years increased due to the cordial relationship existing between the Hausa community and Enugu people.

On his part, Chief Tayo Adenaike, a native of Ogun, also said that Enugu State had become his adopted state after spending 51 years in Enugu and marrying from the state.

He acknowledged the initial hiccups when he planned to come to Enugu as most Yorubas in those days thought Igbos were human eaters.

“I came to Enugu in 1974 for my university education at the UNN and since then, I have been living here.

“I have never been discriminated against in employment until I started doing my personal business,” he said.

Adenaike disclosed that due to his relationship with the Enugu people, he bagged the traditional title of “Nwanne di na Mba” meaning a brother in the diaspora at Udi.

“The people are so loving, calm and hospitable; the insecurity is not the way people say it,” he said.

According to him, an Igbo man gave me my first job and accommodation before I started my own business in the state. I am also married to an Igbo woman.

Dr. Emmanuel Akpan from Akwa Ibom said he had been living peacefully with Enugu people since 1978 when he came into the state.

“They are my brothers because I work and interact with them daily,” he said. (NAN)