On Thursday, September 9, 2021, President Muhammad Buhari visited Imo State on the invitation of the state governor Hope Uzodinma to commission one or two projects executed by the Uzodinma administration since taking over leadership from Rochas Okorocha. Of course, you know that IPOB would seize that opportunity to flex its muscle and flex they did. They declared a sit-at-home for the day in Imo State and the entire states that identify with the IPOB ideology complied. Anambra, Imo, and Abia states were virtual ghost states as everyone stayed at home as directed by IPOB. Owerri, the center of Buhari’s visit was devoid of people or any commercial activities. In fact, the president did not need any escort to clear the roads since he had access to virtually all roads in Owerri due to the absence of people and vehicular movement. What a letdown and opportunity lost. No matter how you feel about the person occupying the presidency, we must have respect for the office and not the individual…another topic for another day.
Suffice to say that social media lit up in response to not only the lack of activities in Owerri, but the attire of the Nigerian president. I do not know who the handlers of this president are, but they all deserve to lose their jobs if they believed that letting the President appear in public looking the way he did was going to generate anything but ridicule from a country and tribe that places high value looks. Now if Buhari did not care what he looked like and opted to appear the way he did, then my goodness he deserves all the ridicule. And ridicule they did with all social media channels having a field day with all forms of comic rendition of our own dear Bubu looking like a scarecrow in that oversized attire. What a site to behold and Igbos are even considering retiring the Ebube Agu outfit for good!
Now, on a serious note, why are we continuing with these sit-at-home orders? Who are the most negatively impacted by these actions? Last week, while on the phone with some of my friends back home I notice that none of them could summon enough courage to criticize the sit-at-home order, but they were quick to recognize and point out some of the devastating effect this sit-at-home is having on the poorest of the citizens. A wife who sells bean balls (akara) to feed her family everyday cannot open due to the sit-at-home order. Furthermore, there was this element of fear in their voices given some of the incidents related to people violating the sit-at-home order. Just on September 13, 2021, I read that a WAEC center was shut down and the students sent home by individuals purporting to enforce the IPOB order. I am aware that IPOB has cancelled this sit-at-home, but some elements who do not wish the Igbos any good took it upon themselves to destroy property in the name of enforcing a non-existing order. You go figure and that’s some Igbos for you. There have been numerous unconfirmed reports of killings, burning of personal property and destruction of buildings due to non-compliance with this order and it makes me wonder if this is how we would govern Biafra. Also, our claim of marginalization and high-handedness by the federal government is greatly minimized if we repeat the same atrocities, we accuse others of doing. I know we can do better.
Think about it, from September 5, 2021, through the end of that week, most business centers and commercial activities in the eastern states were paralyzed for no less than four days that week. Could you imagine how many billions of naira that the region lost due to this sit-at-home nonsense? An effort that is not even guaranteed to yield any dividend regardless. Again, we can do better! There are numerous ways to trap a mouse, we collectively must make better choices regarding which method will serve us the best when confronting challenges. It is never an easy choice to make! Today and based on fear factor alone, I think the Igbo nation is becoming as scary as some other parts of the country. I do not believe that the Igbos want their neighborhood to be tagged being a dangerous place to live and/or do business.
Whether the phenomenon of “sit-at-home” as a new form of civil disobedience will yield any successes is still undetermined. However, what has worked well in the past are protests, and mind you I am talking about peaceful non-violent protests. These sit-at-home orders are bound to fail for obvious reasons, and that is simply because it is not sustainable. As complete as we may consider peoples’ compliance with the sit-at-home order, mind you, a lot was out of fear, it won’t be long before people realize that they must feed their families. Once that happens, they will see these individuals rebelling against the order. Their basic needs for clothing, food, paying bills, buying school materials, and fueling their cars will always trump whatever sit-at-home order that anyone issued. All the federal government needs to do is to ignore our orders and wait us out. The world would never see the suffering you are attempting to showcase since it was self-inflicted. It is time for all leaders of thought, anyone who thinks they love the Igbo community to call for a halt to these sit-at-home orders. It is destroying our children; it is destroying and wreaking havoc on the economy of the eastern region. Those diaspora Igbos and Nigerians especially in the US, who tells you to continue to sit-at-home should reciprocate by not going to work for as long as you sit-at-home. I bet that you will not hear from them again – they know the deal and understand the consequences if they do not go to work for one week. Enough is enough! Enough of these fruitless efforts that will bring nothing of value to our people. We should stop encouraging idleness – it is not and will never be in the Igbo DNA for an Igbo man to sit a home and do nothing.
Based on my observation and understanding, all we really want is more inclusiveness in the affairs of Nigeria. We do not want to be marginalize by anyone regardless of whether Hausa, Yoruba, Fulani, or even other persons of Igbo extraction. We want the autonomy to make our own choices, decisions without undue influence of the federal government. But I am here to tell you that we will never achieve these goals as outsiders. We must be part and parcel of the system to be able to make any changes that will get us to the promise land. So, the better way to achieve our goals will be to become a part of the decision-making apparatus – how we get there will be another article for another day. Nevertheless, If Igbos truly want change, some of the low hanging fruit will include holding our current inept leaders accountable. We need to force them through protests and/or civil disobedience to begin to project our voices for the kind of change we would like to see happen. IPOB with its enormous reach could raise their profile if they directed their outreach efforts toward making sure the masses at large stop selling their souls for a paltry cup of rice or some miserly sum of naira. I know what I am saying may seem easier said than done, but we must believe that if we get enough people to buy into this concept, politicians will adjust, and we would have made some huge strides. Rome was not built in a day and even America after so many years of civilization and progress continues to grapple with race issues, discrimination, and police brutality. African Americans understood that their best opportunity to survive would be in America which they helped build and made up their minds to protect their sweat equity and investment. We should be thinking the same way. Except for the Jews, no other group has been more marginalized than African Americans who share the same ancestry and DNA with us.
As much as it appears that the sit-at-home order are successful, it shows we may not be serious about being a part of the Nigerian change that we espouse. I have said it before and have even lost some friends due to my position on secession. The Igbos are better off in Nigeria where we not only make up the bulk of the middle class, but pound-for-pound are the richest tribe in Nigeria. Do not forget that the Igbos are the middlemen and women who control distribution of good and services throughout Nigeria including “meat” from the Fulani Herdsmen. Without the Igbos, commerce would almost nearly come to a screeching halt in Nigeria. But sacrificing our competitive advantage by conducting these sit-at-home exercises is not a good strategy for any negotiated settlement. We must be smart about our choices of which there are several pathways. These sit-at-home orders are counter productive because it portrays us as missing in action, lazy and unserious about our agitation. Everyone knows that the Igbos are the hardest working people anywhere in the world. We cannot continue to punish ourselves to punish others if that makes any sense? We must protect our competitive and comparative advantage – and not put the economy of the Igbo communities in jeopardy. I am glad that IPOB has come out publicly to denounce this sit-at-home phenomenon, now our leaders from all corners of the Igbo community should echo the same sentiment and find ways to deal individuals who take matters into their hand to manhandle others and destroy property. We the Igbos need to get back to normal life and business.
Again, I will reiterate that we are the creators of some of the challenges we face daily. There is no doubt that our federal government in their own ineptitude does contribute to some of our issues, however, charity always begins at home. If IPOB wants to continue to be relevant and raise their profile, they should never put all their eggs in one basket. Some have said to me that IPOB is a movement, an ideology, a rallying cry for help by people of Igbo extraction. True, but IPOB should also think about leveraging their enormous acceptance and reach within the Igbo community to begin to move the region forward. They should weigh in on what went on with Anambra state gubernatorial primaries where rigging was the order of the day. IPOB as a movement should become an influencer not agitators. That is how we perpetuate change. The concept of Biafra as an ideological construct should never die, however, to change a system, we must endeavor to be a part of that system. We must develop relationship within that same system, play by the system rules while cultivating alliances that will help project the change we aspire. Effecting change as an outsider is truly difficult and we all need to understand that – IPOB has been proscribed by the federal government and all our cries to the international community would only fall on deaf ears so long as that proscription stands. We need to be smart about how we expend our energy!
“To Reign is more ambitious though in Hell, better to Reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven.” Milton’s Paradise Lost.
I used this quote from Milton’s Paradise lost in which he told the story of the fall of Satan from Heaven. According to Milton, Satan was up till the war between Heaven and Hell, God’s right-hand lieutenant, trusted soldier, and Angel. However, and to motivate his troop of fallen angels, Satan gave a speech and used the above quote to show his followers that their efforts were not in vain. It is my hope that some individuals who want to use the Biafran mantra to push their selfish ambitions about a new nation state are not thinking just like Satan did when he rebelled from Heaven. It will never be better to rule in Hell! Mind you, I am just using this figuratively, so do not prosecute me for going this route. During the Nigerian civil war, there was this popular radio message that tell all Biafrans that being surrounded by enemies means we all must be vigilant always (Onye ndi iro gbara gburugburu, na eche ndu ya nche mgbe nine). That message is still applicable today. We are all surrounded by enemies and these enemies are not limited to the Fulani Herdsmen. They include other Igbo tribesmen and women, who due to their own selfish motivations have found it necessary to deny their true Igbo heritage. They include other Nigerian Christians tribes who will betray us as they did prior to the breakout of the civil war. Most importantly, they include people who would rather we sacrifice lives in pursuit of an objective that no one has taken the time to explain the benefits to all Igbos.
So, are we fighting to gain Biafran independence because we simply want the opportunity to govern ourselves or for the illusion that it will be better? Remember that “a bird in hand is worth more than two in the trees. I am not saying Nigeria is Heaven all that I am saying is what I have always espoused and that is; as we continue to push for autonomy for the Igbo nation, we must not lose sight of the low handing fruit which will include reasonable inclusion, devolution of powers, state autonomy that will enable us better to manage and control our own affairs without undue federal interference. We must think wisely.
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