To my readers, I know it has been a while since I last posted, chuck it up to busy, busy, busy. I am here to say that I am sorry.
I come to you today with some thought-provoking items, all spurred by debates with several of my friends as we continue what seems to be an unending journey to true democracy in Nigeria.
The last the twelve months has been kind of crazy. It looked like war was inevitable in Nigeria particularly eastern Nigeria. The Herdsman/Farmer conflict was on the rise, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), the military and the police were escalating their rhetoric and conflicts. IPOB and the federal government were spewing propaganda from all corners of the globe, while Owerri, Orlu and parts of Ihiala were experiencing bouts of fighting between ESN and the military and/or police. Social media outlets were bombarded with images of maimed and mutilated bodies, with each side blaming the other for these atrocities. Images of military men on sweep formations going from street to street attempting to fish out the elusive Eastern Security Network (ESN) members and their leaders were all over the place, while emissaries of bad faith ceased upon this chaos and opportunity to trump and broadcast their views of what Nigeria is, is not and ought to be. Meanwhile, those in Diaspora were being warned by their loved ones at home not to venture home, and if they do, never to step outside of their homes for fear of being kidnapped, killed, or robbed.
Concurrently, politicians not wanting to be left out, jumped into the fray attempting to lay down their grievances against one another. Hope Uzodinma and Rochas Okorocha in one instance had to tell the world who is tougher and stronger. This interaction ended up with Okorocha being arrested on Uzodinma’s orders for trespassing. All these to establish supremacy. Responding to these challenges in Imo and parts of Anambra, the Abia state governor Ikpeazu had to declare a curfew from dusk till dawn to ensure that commerce is not disrupted in his state. I know because unlike some of our diaspora Nigerians who will rather spread propaganda from the safety of their adopted homes, I was in Nigeria and particularly in Igbo land during this period.
Fast forward to today and you wonder what happened? Why suddenly there is this semblance of peace and sanity in these areas previously torn by crises? Did the Nigerian military and police retreat? Did ESN give up their confrontation with the military? Or maybe the public and Umu Igbo in general have come to decipher truth from propaganda. Maybe with much of ESN lieutenants and front-line soldiers killed, a lot of their volunteer army have decided enough is enough. Another surprise is that during these confrontation between the federal government and ESN, the blame for all the killing, raping, and maiming of Igbos shifted from the Fulani herdsmen as the perpetrators, to the military. You go figure. Meanwhile, no one talked about how our own people of Igbo extraction were taking advantage of the situation to perpetuate their own evil deeds. Yes, that is how hypocritical we Igbos could get – very quick to blame others while hiding our own wickedness. Two wrongs will never, ever make a right. Not today, not tomorrow.
Once again, I will ask my dear Igbo people, where is the Ebube Agu Security Outfit? Every day in the papers I read about the Amotekun and their activities, Shege-Ka-Fasa and Jamila Hisba in north, but have yet to read about the so called Ebube Agu security outfit formed by the eastern governors. Does it mean that there was no security outfit formed by these governors? Are you telling me that our governors met on public funds and after many deliberations, lied to the people of the southeast about creating this security outfit that they know very well will not happen? This is the root of my frustration with the Igbo nation. Whereas we are quick to fight others, we have no intention of fighting what is killing us from within and on the inside. Whereas we are quick to label anyone outside of our region and even people within our land as traitors because they do not support our so-called causes but will look the other way when our own leaders, who in many cases are our brothers and sisters, lie to us regarding something as critical as our own security. How could such a community survive and thrive? Are you telling me that if we achieved this Biafran dream, that we will feign ignorance when our leaders embezzle our money, mistreat us and abuse our families? The answer is obvious – of course we will do absolutely nothing. Remember in my previous posts, I had postulated that Nigerians have very short attention span but long memories – such is our destiny. We will selectively ignore whatever atrocities that our own brothers commit while pointing out the sins of others. My people at the end of the day, we are the ones to suffer the consequences.
Anambra elections is another case in point. The gubernatorial primaries were held several months ago and up till now, none of the political parties have any clue who will fly their party flag come November 2021. We all know what happened. We all know there were no elections held in Anambra primaries, and I am even surprised we have not blamed the Buhari government for making sure no primary elections were held in Anambra. However, rather than sit-at-home in protest of what would have an immediate impact on all of us, but no, we would rather sit-at-home for a vision that is ill-conceived, ill-informed and bound to get us in a predicament that we may all come to regret. Again, and for the record, I am against the marginalization of Igbos by any group in Nigeria. In fact, I believe we should play a pivotal role in the Nigerian progress, however, what I will never support is secession. I know a lot of my friends have questioned my position and and "Igbo-ness" regarding why I like the kind of treatment being meted to the Igbos. My response is simple, charity begins at home. In 1970 our parents were given a measly 20 Nigerian pounds to start life. With that sum, these great men and women were able to build the empire we call the Igbo nation today. These great men and women were able to make things happen, create wealth out of nothing and able to challenge not only the status quo, but thrived in an oppressive environment given they just lost a war. They never complained, they never opted to leave Nigeria…just did what they had to do to make sure we their offspring had the best of what is available in Nigeria. And yes, we did.
But look at us today, despite having everything handed to us, we lack the same tenacity that was exhibited by our parents. There is no doubt that we all did overachieve, albeit on the backs of our parents, but all we want to do today is run from our challenges. Have you noticed that every group within the Igbos especially in diaspora ends up in splinter groups following small disagreements? Ask yourselves, and given our antecedents how long it will take before a group of Biafrans will start asking to be allowed to secede from Biafra? Again, I am not against Biafran independence and that is if it could be brokered peacefully, what I am vehemently against is shedding another 3 million lives all in the interest of actualizing vision of a few selfish people. We have been there before, and we should never go there again!
A while ago, President Buhari proclaimed the Biafran nation as a DOT in the middle. We took offense to this pronouncement and went all out to make the president eat his own words. Some people even went as far as using this remark to reengaged Igbos and push the Biafran concept forward. Politicians, not wanting to be left out of any opportunity, used it to either gain notoriety and/or project their own popularity. Through all these, we never asked the question…why did this tone-deaf lame president make such provocative pronouncement? It is true that Buhari never took the time to explain what he meant by the DOT in the middle, but if we can stop chasing ghosts for one minute and think, we would realize what this inept president was saying. It was while reading one the Nigerian newspapers talking about what constitutes Biafra that it dawned on me what Buhari meant by the DOT in the middle.
You see, as we continue to ask for inclusivity and to a lesser extent, a Biafran nation, we need to understand certain circumstances that may work against us. First, if you look at all the states that may, and I repeat may join an independent Biafra, you will see that we are land locked. By that I mean that our only access to the outside world would be through the air. Our main river the Niger river empties into the ocean through River State other sources of sea access would be through Calabar. If these states and cities, for whatever reason, refuses to join an independent Biafra, you can see how we have become that DOT in the middle. So, my interpretation of what the president said regarding the DOT is to remind us, albeit in a threatening manner that we are land locked. Do I appreciate what Buhari said, of course not, what I am reminding all is that there are lots of Buhari everywhere in Nigeria who are waiting to teach us a lesson and/or treat us in a language we would understand. They are among the Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, Rivers, Cross River and Akwa Ibom and heck even within the Igbos. They are patiently waiting for us to make this move to showcase their presence. Like the Igbo proverb that talks about the little bird dancing, do not be concerned about the little bird, but be concerned about the person beating the drums that the bird is dancing. We should not always jump at the comments of someone like Buhari - we know he has already checked out, but carefully evaluate the sources of those comments and what it was intended. Many of the people that died during the Biafran war was due to starvation. A starvation that was a direct consequence of our geographic location as that “DOT” in the middle. Therefore, unless you have a plan to overcome that weakness, please stop your agitation and figure out how to do that first. If Nigeria grant us a sovereign state of Biafra, do not think for one minute they will make it easy for us to succeed or survive. A word is enough for the wise.
Most recently I read a caption across some Nigerian newspapers that states thus “The Southeast Groans Under IPOB Sit-At-Home Order.” This headline tells the entire story regarding how self-destructive sit-at-home-orders could be. IPOB has been issuing these “sit-at-home” orders and like sheep, we keep honoring these orders thinking we are hurting the Fulani or Federal government. To the contrary, we are hurting ourselves. Could someone please tell me what single achievement that is a direct result of these sit-at-home orders? I have been speaking out against these sit-at-home orders because it add no value to our quest but serve only to deplete our already scarce resources by posting losses in the billions of naira. When I read that caption, I said to myself, what an irony. To think that we are attempting to punish the rest of the country that would not allow us to secede from Nigeria by starving and depriving our own people from making money. Could you define “biting your nose to spite your face? I am glad to hear that IPOB leadership now understands the folly behind these sit-at-home orders and are trying to call it off and I hope never to issue it anymore – they are basically non-productive acts.
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