By Victoria Prince 

The disputed Eze Igbo – or king of the Ibo people – of Ireland has taken to social media to voice his grievances against those in his community who he believes are choosing to live off of social welfare payments. 

“I am still baffled by folks, indeed a large number of my country men and women who prefer to sit back in their various homes across Ireland, living off the taxes paid by other people who work or run businesses in the state,” wrote Matthew Emeka Ezeani on his Facebook page. 

“Social welfare money is not free money,” added the trained solicitor, who is currently not practising. “It is not Government money. It is taxpayers’ money: money taken from salaries and incomes of people who wake up every morning and do a hard day’s job.”

Ezeani expressed his anger towards those who worked hard to come to Ireland from Africa and subsequently forget those same hardworking values. As a community leader, he said he feels it’s important to act as a voice for people who have successfully entered Ireland and make sure others like him are able to give back to their communities and to their country as a whole.

Facebook friends of Ezeani have responded with their own suggestion as to how to reform the welfare system in Ireland. One man, Austin Silverudo claims that “the church hold [sic] the key to either close some people’s mind or unlock their positive potentials” – arguing that a tendency not to preach hard work but instead focus on accepting “gifts from god” reflects how some people choose to look at their welfare payments.

Other commenters, Nancy Ifeoma Nmoh and Pope Ejiofor, believe that the Government is to blame. “When you feed and house people freely,” says Nmoh, “what do you expect?” Maeyen Asuquo adds” “I hope when the jobs are eventually created these lazy bones will get their backs off the ground and go and work.”