Memo to a segregationist!
Let me begin by reminding you of what some of us think of your agitation.
Some of us think, and honestly too, that rather than dissipate energy campaigning for Nigeria’s break up, it is time you joined hands to end the Osu caste system in Igboland and emancipate the stigmatized members of the caste who, till date, are still victims of hate, discrimination and despising! Honestly, you cannot continue to stigmatize and hate a large section of Igbo population and expect outsiders to take you serious.
You might have succeeded in programming the despised members of the caste to join your hate campaign of seeing to other Nigerians as sub-human but, truth is, in the unlikely event you succeed in your segregationist campaigns, the world will soon have another South Sudan and Burma to contend with. Tell me, what place has the Osu in the Biafra of your imagination? What guarantees are there that Osu will not become the target of ethnic cleansing in your imagined Biafra?
Do you even understand the antics of the arm-chair revolutionaries who claim to be your well-wishers? From their comfort zones, they feed you with so much hate and incite you to carry arms to shoot their way out of a zoo. They feed you with such racist jargons about the Igbo being a special breed and whose blood should not mix with others. Yet, the hatred they have for the Osu literally wears a hat! I hope this Osu thing is not at the heart of the confusion between IPOB and MASSOB?
It may sound blunt, but the only way to put it is that Nigeria has to remain one, united and prosperous country! Professor Chinua Achebe captured the essence when he said ‘there was a country’ that we all know lasted 30 months! This is a fact we must accept. We have to move on, and to move on is to build a great, united and prosperous Nigeria. As it is, we all have grouses, valid or otherwise, against the fatherland. Even the lecherous Boko Haram bandits reel out grouses!
If what I hear is true, there has never been a common ground among the armchair revolutionaries who pose as well-wishers, at home and in the Diaspora, in finding real solutions to the problems of Nigeria. Yes! I am referring to the constant deadly clashes between supporters of Nnamdi Kanu’s IPOB and Barrister Ralph Uwazuruike’s MASSOB! Is that right? You should know because you have attended several meetings with these people where you are taught to hate and abuse and insult others.
You may not believe it but very few people advocate a break-up to redress perceived injustices. See what is happening in South Sudan! In just five short years, the people of ‘Africa’s youngest sovereign country’ have become refugees among former compatriots they were programmed to hate! As I write, thousands of South Sudan refugees say they feel happier and safer in among the Sudanese they were told to regard as mortal enemies! In other words, what the people of South Sudan formerly called a zoo has become their sanctuary! And, the people they were programmed to see as beasts and cannibals are now their protectors!
Truth is, the people of South Sudan were deceived by the elite into believing that the only way to cure a headache was to cut off the head! Just as you and other segregationists are busy deceiving innocent Igbo people of south east Nigeria to hate their compatriots! The damage has been done and the long-suffering people of South Sudan have now realized that they were fooled by hate-mongers and gunrunners into believing they were headed for Eldorado! Can’t you see that IPOB of Nnamdi Kanu and MASSOB of Ralph Uwazuruike are planning to create a problem in Igbo land that will turn South Sudan into a tea party?
It is strange, dear segregator, that the reason you give for your agitation is that Igbo people are marginalise in Nigeria because they do not get to occupy strategic positions in government! What is biting you? Should that be ground for a fight? It is about time to sit back and reflect deeply on your agitation against the backdrop of facts on the ground. Yes, there are sound reasons to grumble and people should feel free to grumble. Even then, do you think it is okay to shed blood in the name of grumbling?
And, let me take you a little back in time! You could not have forgotten that a prominent Igbo, HE Dr. Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme was elected vice president of Nigeria just nine years after the civil war! And this was in the genuine spirit of ‘No victor, No vanquished’! At the time under reference, Igbo occupied two of the four top slots in the country! It’s a pity that this fact of history is either lost on you and your colleagues or you choose to ignore it!
Now, when Dr. Alex Ekwueme occupied the number two constitutionally-recognised slot, the senate president was Dr. Joseph Wayas while the speaker of the House of Representatives was Chief Edwin Ume Ezeoke, another Igbo! Tell me, dear segregator, where, exactly, is this marginalization stuff coming from?
The arm-chair revolutionaries, the same commissioned agents who pretend to be your wellwishers live in affluence in Europe at the expense of gunrunners. It is from their comfort zone that they sneak into Nigeria to pollute the mind of people with hate campaigns. You hear them say: ‘those people are animals’! ‘you are surrounded by enemies’; ‘the Hausa don’t like you, they want to kill you’; ‘the Yoruba are your mortal enemies’; ‘never trust the Tiv’!
Prove them wrong. Free your mind! Turn your back to hate and do not allow it to consume you! After all, there is enough room in the sky for all birds to fly in. Remember that the task is to make Nigeria a great and united country. This was the message of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu as it was of Dr. Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe. It has been the message of Ohaneze Ndigbo.
It’s a task that must be done!
Magaji wrote this piece from Abuja
You may not believe it but very few people advocate a break-up to redress perceived injustices. See what is happening in South Sudan! In just five short years, the people of ‘Africa’s youngest sovereign country’ have become refugees among former compatriots they were programmed to hate! As I write, thousands of South Sudan refugees say they feel happier and safer in among the Sudanese they were told to regard as mortal enemies!