• Urge Osinbajo to arrest those behind it

By Emma Njoku and Chinelo Obogo

The Southern Leaders Forum has called on Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to immediately order the arrest of those behind an anti-Igbo song which has reportedly gone viral in the northern part of Nigeria and on the internet.

The Forum met in Lagos recently and after an exhaustive deliberation on the unrest in most parts of the country said the song which was done in the Hausa language was capable of causing tension and more unrest in the country. 

An unknown female artist voiced a song in Hausa language, calling for action to be taken against the Igbo.

In the profanity laced five minute audio, which can be sourced on YouTube, the artist, among other things referred to the Igbo as ‘bastards’ who were in the habit of carrying out ‘non beneficial’ ventures.  Part of the translation of the song states: “Igbo are bastards. Let us break up and we will see who will cry. We know that you do not have anything. Arewa produces beans, but you have nothing. We are farmers, but you have nothing. We produce rice, but you have nothing. We have onions, but you have nothing. We have groundnut, but you have nothing. We don’t like you at all. Let us break up and have our peace.”

Speaking on behalf of the Southern Leaders forum, the spokesperson of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, said in the light of the recent threat made by some Arewa youths in Kaduna where Igbo living in the North were told to vacate before October 1 or be driven out forcefully, “this recent anti-Igbo song will only succeed in worsening the already heightened tension in the country.”

He said: “It has come to our notice that there is a threat song against the Igbo currently going viral on the internet in Hausa language. This song came after the Acting President warned seriously against the increased rate of hate speeches going on in the country. We think that a direct challenge has been posed to him to get to the bottom of this and apprehend the authors of the song and deal with them decisively.

“We also restate our earlier decision that any untoward action taken against the Igbo will be interpreted to be an attack against the entire south and, by extension, against the middle belt of Nigeria.”

Also, reiterating the stance of the Southern leaders, the former president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Joe Irukwu, said no one has the right to issue threats to anyone or any group of people in any part of the country by telling them to leave.

He said: “Every forum believes in peace, but it has to be in a Nigeria where everyone is happy and proud to be a Nigerian. Anyone who holds a contrary view is not working for the interest of Nigeria.

“This is why when Arewa youths issued the threat many well meaning Nigerians and the international community condemned it. I do not think that people will be reckless enough to carry out their threat and, in any case, the government has issued instruction asking them not to proceed with that. They should think properly and realise that no society can progress in the midst of evil.”

On the issue of restructuring, the Forum said leaders who oppose restructuring will find themselves isolated such that they would become progressively irrelevant. 

The former Director General of the Department of State Service (DSS), Ambassador Albert Horsefall, who also spoke at the event said that the core of the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference was the need to restructure, insisting that it is the only option that van ensure the unity of the country.

Similarly, former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has condemned, in strong terms, the song disparaging people of Igbo origin. He said the song could trigger a major crisis in the country akin to what happened in Rwanada where thousands were killed in an ethnic conflict between two major tribes (the Hutus and Tutsis) in the East African country in 1984, following the death of that country’s president in a plane crash.

In a statement released by his media office, Atiku urged Nigerians to condemn the threat song and called on the security agencies to fish out and bring to trial those responsible for the song.

Atiku said: “It has come to my attention that a song disparaging people of Igbo origin, and which wishes them dead, is circulating in some parts of the nation. I totally and unequivocally condemn this development, and I call on all men of goodwill to rise up against this evil.

“The song is reminiscent of beginning of the Rwanda Genocide. Nigerians need to be aware that the Rwanda genocide was believed to have been ignited by a song titled Nanga Abahutu (I hate Hutus), sung by Rwanda’s then most popular musician, Simon Bikindi. God will forbid such a déjà vu in Nigeria.

“I call on the security agencies to thoroughly and decisively swing into action and apprehend, try, convict and severely punish those behind this ungodly song which incites racial hatred.”

Atiku recalled that Simon Bikindi was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for igniting and aiding the Rwandan genocide and warned those who think they can treat their fellow citizens so unjustly to understand that “within and outside Nigeria exist mechanisms that will ensure they answer to their crimes.”

He said: I call on all men of goodwill to remember those immortal lines from our former National Anthem; “though tribe and tongue may differ, in brotherhood we stand.”

“The effects of hate in any shape or form were made more evident over the weekend, in a mass shooting incident that left many of us reeling with shock. I commiserate with the people of Ozubulu in Anambra State, who lost family members in the fatal shooting that also left almost a score injured.

“I pray peace returns to their minds and the community soon even as the police work hard to get to the bottom of the matter. May God comfort them as no man can.

“The difference between us as Nigerians is not a difference in our tribe or our religion; it was and remains a difference based on whether we are good Nigerians or bad Nigerians, and I am very certain that the good Nigerians far outnumber the very few bad ones.”