The fate and future of over 20 million Igbo men , women and children living in Northern part of Nigeria hangs in the balance while the world pretends nothing is amiss. The Igbo live in fear of their physical safety and security following the infamous quit notice given to them by a coalition of 16 northern youth groups. Their fear is even made worse by the recalcitrant posturing of the northern youths as contained in an open letter to the Acting President dated 19th June 2017. In the letter the Arewa Youths not only laboured to stand logic on its head, they went a step further to libel and label the entire Igbo race. How these northern youths imagined all the ignorant nonsense they wrote about the Igbo remain a puzzle except it’s no more a surprise that the youth had the support of their elders. The spokesman of the youths, Alhaji Sani Yerima admitted that the coalition have the support of the Northern elders, an indication that they spoke for the North.
The plan to attack and displace the Igbo had been long in the offing. It was averted in 2015 when former President Jonathan surrendered the presidency in a flawed election. It is therefore not a coincidence that the Igbo are shut out of government and excluded from the security establishment and barred from within an ear shot to power.
Even though, I have no intention of joining issues with the Arewa Youths given their one sided revisionism of history and events, I will nonetheless remind them that the history of aggression against Ndigbo predates the political events of 1966 which they like to blame on the Igbo.
For example, in June 1945 hundreds of Igbo were murdered in Jos by northerners and their properties either looted or destroyed. After that massacre of Igbosin 1945, another orgy of bloodletting took place from May 1st to 3rd 1953 in Kano whereby hundreds of Igbo were gruesomely killed and their properties looted because of Chief Awolowo , a Yoruba leader campaigning in the North to promote Chief Anthony Enahoro’s bill for independence, .
Besides the genocide committed against the Igbo in 1966 across Northern Nigeria and the subsequent civil war in which another three million Igbo died, Igbos have been killed like cockroaches in northern Nigeria for one flimsy reason or another. The most ridiculous was the killing, looting and destruction of Igbo properties by Northerners protesting the publication of a cartoon of Prophet Muhammad by a Danish newspaper.
In the same manner, it was grotesque that hundreds of Igbo were again gruesomely murdered in November 2002 following the controversy surrounding the hosting of Miss World beauty contest in Nigeria, which had nothing to do with ndiIgbo.
In spite of the thousands of innocent Igbo lives routinely wasted in northern Nigeria, we still do not blame all northerners for such vicious acts of aggression because we understand there are good northerners too. Also, there has never been a case where we the Igbo initiated the profile killing of any ethnic group let alone targeting northerners for slaughter . Even the unfortunate January 1966 coup commonly blamed on the Igbo cannot be labeled as an Igbo coup as it is on record that some Yoruba, Tiv, Idoma, Ijaw etc participated in the coup. The coup plotters never consulted with the Igbo before the putsch and definitely didn’t act on behalf of ndiIgbo. It was a purely military affair.
In the light of the above, it is uncharitable for the Arewa Youths to irresponsibly engage in selective perception in castigating all Igbo on account of pro-Biafra agitators. There are Igbo in millions who do not support Nnamdi Kanu’s vicious rhetoric just as they are against all acts of violence, hate speeches and incitements irrespective of its origin.
Ndigbo are not decided on secession and has not mandated any one to seek secession from Nigeria on their behalf, neither can Ndigbo be held responsible for all of Nnamdi Kanu’s speeches. Only a referendum will properly situate the position of the Igbo on all of these.
Ndi Igbo are major stakeholders in project Nigeria. They have built many parts of Nigeria by their sweat and it will be counterproductive to opt out of a country they have contributed tremendously in building without thinking it through.
A vast majority of Igbo want a restructured Nigeria. They are open and willing to cooperate and collaborate with all groups who are interested in a restructured Nigeria.
Igbo are tired of being used as Nigeria’s scapegoats and cannon fodder. We do not have any more blood to waste for Nigeria.
One of the reasons fueling the discontent of Igbo Youths as epitomized by the actions of IPOB/MASSOB is the routine killing of Igbo by Hausa-Fulani muslims even for things they have absolutely no connection with. It is inconceivable that any group of people will be happy that the only solution is the killing of people who don’t worship like them or speak the same language with them or dress like them.
Another significant reason for the pro Biafra agitation is the glaring marginalization of the South East region by the Federal Government. The region is suffering severe infrastructure deficit and the absence of significant federal presence. For example, the only Federal government commercial venture in the South East is the moribund Nigerian Coal Corporation, while other regions have petro-chemical, steel, aluminum, defence, fertilizer, iron ore, liquefied natural gas, power plant ventures etc. The initial national gas pipeline network was designed to by-pass the South East under the pretext that the demand for gas in the region is low. Out of over 140 non-ministerial agencies, which excludes educational, health and research institutions, only two have Headquarters sited in the South East, namely the War Museum in Umuahia and Anambra/Imo River Basin Development Authority in Owerri.
Even at this we still do not hold the vast majority of good northerners responsible for the actions of the unscrupulous elements in their midst. The Igbo are not seeking people to dominate or exploit. Neither are we violent people as we are not known to kill or maim non indigenes living in our communities. All we seek is a Nigeria fair to all. Even in the quest for Biafra , all the Igbo agitators seek is a nation of their own where they can live in peace and develop their God given potential.
I recommend that the government embrace restructuring of Nigeria as a cardinal policy. I recommend that the government find answers to Igbo agitation through dialogue. I believe that restructuring and finding solutions to the Igbo agitations will douse tensions and usher in a new era of peace and prosperity for the entire country.
We the Igbo abhor the reckless loss of human lives across the country. Consequently, there should be no double standards in dealing with those who choose to callously take the lives of fellow citizens.
Because we live in a perilous and dangerous time, I will urge ndigbo living in the North to think home because we cannot continue to be perpetually on the run from those who want our blood and target our properties. With no single arrest made of those who issued quit notice and inciting the street mob against law abiding citizens , I doubt if the security agencies will protect the lives of Igbo or guarantee safe passage to those who want to exit in case the killing starts. A word is enough for the wise.