Noble Igwe has responded to backlash after sharing a photo spotlighting his hometown with his followers.
A few days ago, the 360nobs founder posted a picture of himself carrying a keg through a shallow stream in his hometown, Umuomaku, Anambra state.
He captioned the photo: “Son of the Soil. Went to Ubo to have my bath and fetch drinking water. Christmas in Umuomaku is incomplete without a trip to the stream. Proudly Igbo.”
The photo sparked criticism. Some accused him of misrepresenting Igbo land as lacking basic amenities, while others suggested that he likely has access to modern facilities in his village but chose to flaunt a different narrative to his followers.
Several Twitter users even questioned whether the keg on his head was actually empty and used as a prop for the picture.
“This man really put an empty keg on his head and snapped a picture for social media….2020 will be a looooong year! Sigh,” one Twitter user remarked.
In response to the criticism, Noble Igwe wrote: “I’m promoting the things I like about my community but all you care about is borehole? Insecure people always trying to show off riches. I’d leave Lagos to show you borehole in Umuomaku.”
His response failed to quell the criticisms.
One Twitter user expressed: “I don’t know if Noble Igwe snapped the picture with an empty keg or not, but I hope one day the practice of fetching water from the stream, with all the potential health risks, in rural Nigeria will be seen as what it is, an infrastructural failure, instead of a ‘cultural heritage’.”
