Kudos to Igbo Elders for Moderating Agitation
It is heart-warming that genuine elders/leaders in Igbo land have now decided to take charge of the political proceedings in the South-east. For too long, they left a massive gap for an intellectually-bankrupt Nnamdi Kanu to exploit. It’s so difficult to phantom how a region with eggheads sat down for that long to allow a tenderfoot like IPOB’s Kanu to go about misleading the masses of the region. I am not sorry to say this: Kanu lacks the intelligence, finesse and maturity to lead South-east’s battle for justice and equity. His specious exuberance and crudeness will create more problems than solution for this great region. Kanu’s sense of history is also crooked. His hate speeches and conduct are aberrations in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society like ours. Every God-fearing Nigerian must rise and bury this extremist called Nnamdi Kanu.
Great sons of Igboland must take full charge of the South-east struggle. This is a struggle for justice and equity in Nigeria and not the balkanisation of this great country. It is a struggle for true federalism, constitutionalism, freedom, rule of law and not setting brothers against brothers. The great men of this land of the rising sun that I am talking about include: Alex Ekwueme, Ebitu Ukiwe, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, Emeka Anyaoku, Mbazulike Amaechi, Sam Egwu, John Nnia Nwodo, Ike Ekweremadu, Uche Okwukwu, Uche Onyeagucha, Prof Anya O Anya, Pius Anyim Pius, Peter Obi, Ike Nwachukwu, Enwo Igariwey, Alfred Achebe, Dozie Ikedife, Maxwell Anikwenwa, Joe Achuzia, Anagha Ezikpe and Ogbonna Onovo.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex-Igbo sociocultural organisation has already taken a giant step to check this motor park tout called Kanu after the comical IPOB leader called for the stoppage of the November 18, 2017 governorship election in Anambra State.
Ohaneze’s leader, Nwodo, remarked: “Yes, we are not happy with our treatment in Nigeria. Yes, some of us want Biafra. Yes, some of us prefer a restructured Federal Republic of Nigeria, but the fact remains that we are still part and parcel of the present Federal Republic of Nigeria, bound by its laws, no matter how repressive or unjust. Our approach to reforms of our laws, even if it leads to self-determination or restructuring, must be lawful. We must convince other Nigerians of our point of view, we must strive to make others share our convictions.
“Our language must be civil, respectful and lead to consensus building. We must resist any attempt to turn division amongst us, as to which way we must go, to a source of altercations between us. As we speak, very many of our people living in Northern Nigeria are in complete awe and consternation regarding how safe they will be after October 1st. Other Northerners living amongst us are also worried.”
Also, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, in a letter to Kanu remarked: “Biafra’s concept is a metaphor for the demand for equity and fair play in the Nigerian state and not a separatist movement. Nnamdi Kanu’s call for a boycott of elections in the South-east is irresponsible, irredentist and totally devoid of any focus.
“You must appreciate that for different logical reasons and perception, the Biafra concept has attracted favourable comments among our people, ostensibly borne out of the marginalisation of Ndigbo in the Nigerian state. In this popular agitation for Biafra, Ndigbo have not instituted a separatist movement or a terrorist gang as it were. We are more concerned about the continued existence of Nigeria under the present structural arrangement.”
APGA advised the IPOB leader to drop his “emperor” perception of himself and humble himself before the true leadership of Ndigbo for a proper and better articulation of the Biafra struggle.
It is also cheery that Igbo leaders from the South-east zone, including its governors, National Assembly members and leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, rose from a closed-door meeting in Enugu last Sunday, restating the zone’s commitment to a united Nigeria.
“Ndigbo are in support of a united Nigeria where peace, love, fairness, justice, equity and equality of opportunity are paramount, regardless of creed, ethnicity, gender or political affiliation. That we condemn all hate speeches and conduct emanating from any segment of Nigeria,” remarked the Igbo leaders.
The icing on the cake was from the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, who appealed for caution among those pushing for a sovereign state of Biafra, and called on Igbo youths to jettison the idea of leaving Nigeria. He remarked: “Having invested across the country, the best option for Igbo is to team up with those pushing for the nation to be restructured. The truth is, times have changed, and so have political interests because 1967 is different from 2017.
“Igbo leaders must set up a committee for continuous engagement and moderation of IPOB, other pro-Biafra organisations and their leaders to avoid hate speeches and reckless statements that would make the South-east lose its friends and sympathisers. Ndigbo need a bigger space to operate. In fact, Nigeria as a country is even a small space for the enterprising spirit of the Igbo, hence our people are scattered all over Africa and are capable of dominating the economic space.”
Wise men of Igboland have spoken. No right-thinking person will recommend secession as a solution to any problem in any region. Immoderation destroys. Let us all learn from the tragic story of Republic of Southern Sudan. Prior to the country’s independence, the late John Gerang’s Sudanese People Liberation Army and other so-called freedom fighters regaled the people with stories of prosperity and justice once it became an independent country. They got the independence, but few months after, Southern Sudan is worse than what it was in the bigger Sudan. Massacre, hunger, disease, poverty and malnutrition now pervade the land, no thanks to a gruesom e fratricidal war that cropped up few months after independence. Suddenly, they are no longer brothers. This is food for thought for all of us this morning.