Was there a country? Agitation for
Biafra and its enemies
From the Maitatsine riots of 1981 to the
Boko Haram insurgency mostly in the North-East, the Igbo have been,
disproportionately when compared with Nigerians from other ethnic groups, the
greatest victims of wanton acts of destruction by their Northern compatriots
for no good reason.
Remember,
the brutal massacres of Ndigbo living in Northern Nigeria in 1966 triggered the
same feeling of alienation among the Igbo that pro-Biafran agitators are
feeling now because of the discriminatory style of Buhari, which is the
psychological foundation of the decision to secede from Nigeria in the first
instance. Of course, sporadic violence against the Igbo predated independence –
for example, the bloody riots of Jos and Kano in 1945 and 1953 respectively.
The pogroms were caused by inter-ethnic
rivalries and what Prof. Achebe calls ekwolo, that is, deep-seated jealousy in
large segments of the Northern population arising from the educational and
economic success Ndigbo had achieved which allowed them to occupy top positions
in the civil service, in business and in other establishments that require a
high degree of technical knowledge in Northern Nigeria.
In addition, the irrational, noisy and
showy exhibitionism of some misguided Igbo nouveaux riches living in the North
tend to infuriate their hosts who, lacking a non-ascriptive and non-hegemonic
democratic tradition of managing crisis arising from social change, often
resort to violence to express their anger. This point has been adequately
analysed by the political theorist, Patrick Wilmot, who points to the
persistent trait of the Northern establishment to uphold and defend its
political power in the society ruthlessly and tenaciously.
Those castigating pro-Biafran activists for
championing secession “at the slightest provocation,” need to be reminded that
the Igbo were not the first ethnic group to demand for separation and actively
work for it. Before independence, influential members of the Northern ruling
class used the threat of secession to blackmail British colonial administrators
to get what they wanted.
Thus, at the General Constitutional
Conference at Ibadan in January 1950, the emirs of Zaria and Kano made it
abundantly clear that “unless the Northern Region is allotted fifty percent of
the seats in the central legislature, it will ask for separation from the rest
of Nigeria on the arrangements existing before 1914.” As is well known, the
overarching aim of the bloody riots in May 1966 was araba or secession.
Furthermore, because of unsubstantiated fear
of Igbo domination, demonstrating civil servants in Kaduna carried banners
emblazoned with the strident demand, “Let there be secession.” When the
governor of Northern region, Col. Hassan Usman Katsina, called a meeting of all
Emirs in the region, many of them arrived with clear mandates from their
subjects asking for secession of the North. Frederick Forsyth reports that “In
Zaria the Emir was mobbed by crowds begging for secession.” Isaac Adaka Boro,
an Ijaw from Oloibiri, tried unsuccessfully to carve out an independent
republic in the Niger Delta. In 1961 or thereabout, he lost to an Igbo in a
student council election at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. As a result, he
concluded that in Nigeria minorities are second-class citizens, and decided to champion
the cause of his Ijaw people by forming the Niger Delta Volunteer Service, a
ragtag army which was quickly dismantled by government forces. Ironically, Boro
died during the civil war as a federal soldier to put down the Biafran
secession.
Let us not mince words: centrifugal
tendencies and separatist movements are a constant feature in federal systems
all over the world. Therefore, the United Nations recognises the right of
people to self-determination if there are sufficient political, economic, socio-cultural
and psychological reasons for that.
Now, to determine the appropriate moment
for secession and the means for actualising it is a perennial challenge to
political theorists and activists. Nevertheless, as in divorce to end a bad
marriage, secession must be considered as the last resort or option, especially
in cases where widespread violence and pogrom against a people are involved.
Concerning the secession attempt by the Eastern region in May, 1967, a
plausible case can be made that it was justified because of the killing of over
thirty thousand Easterners living in Northern Nigeria and nearly one million
who fled to their ancestral homes from there, mutilated, traumatised and
broken. Still, the devastating civil war could have been averted if Gowon and
Ojukwu were experienced sagacious political leaders who could see the bigger
picture, so to speak, by putting aside their petty jealousies and youthful
exuberance. Unfortunately, they did not, and the pretence that Biafra is
completely dead has been exploded by what is happening today.
The case for secession by Ndigbo now is far
weaker than the case for separation in 1967, despite the irritating anti-Igbo
pattern of decision-making by the APC federal government. To begin with, it is
definitely wrong to blame the marginalisation and underdevelopment of
South-East on the federal government and non-indigenes alone.
Largely, Ndigbo themselves are their own
worst enemies. Although Northern-dominated military dictatorships had, through
deliberate unfair distribution of states and local government councils, ensured
that Ndigbo were relegated to a minority status in the scheme of things, some
prominent sons and daughters of Igboland have, for myopic and selfish reasons,
connived with others to deprive the Igbo of what is due to them.
Moreover, since the civil war ended in
1970, most Governors of states in the South-East, with the possible exception
of late Chief Sam Mbakwe and one or two others, have embezzled a large
percentage of the funds that accrued to their states from the federal
government and from internally generated revenue. How many ministers of Igbo
extraction used their elevated positions to develop Igboland instead of
enriching themselves? What about Ndigbo in the federal legislature – how many of
them have sponsored bills for the development of Igboland or initiated
programmes for youth empowerment throughout the South-East.
Oftentimes, contracts for infrastructural
projects in the zone awarded to companies owned by well-known Igbo politicians
and businessmen were either uncompleted or not executed at all because funds
meant for the projects disappeared into the private accounts of the companies’
owners. Ndigbo regularly accuse indigenes of other ethnic groups for
discriminating against them unjustifiably – which is largely true.
Unfortunately, Ndigbo discriminate against themselves too: the grossest
instantiation of this horrifying behaviour was former governor of Abia State,
Theodore Orji, who dismissed civil servants from other Igbo speaking states in
Abia State civil service. It is not unusual to observe someone from Anambra
State discriminating against an Imo State indigene or the latter doing the same
thing to someone from Abia State. Even within each South-Eastern state, people
build Berlin walls of demarcation against one another based on which part of
the state or senatorial zone each person comes from. In some cases, an Igbo
would frustrate a fellow Igbo from getting a job or contract because of envy
and jealousy.
From my investigations, before the Biafran
war, the negative traits of Ndigbo highlighted above were not as widespread as
they are today. It appears that the civil war and its negative aftermaths
engendered a negative paradigm-shift in the group psychology of Ndigbo.
The extreme suffering caused by the war,
exacerbated by harsh anti-Igbo policies by the victorious military government
of Yakubu Gowon, compelled the Igbo, most of whom starting from scratch to
rebuild their shattered lives, to engage in single-minded pursuit of money for
survival to the detriment of time-honoured values such as truthfulness,
loyalty, and the philosophy of onye aghala nwanneya.
In conclusion, there was indeed a country,
Biafra, to which Ndigbo gave virtually everything. But it was short-lived.
Inasmuch as there is justification for protesting unnecessary discrimination
against the Igbo or any other ethnic group by President Buhari and his
lieutenants, I believe that the best way for the Igbo to achieve their immense
potentials is to look at themselves and begin a massive process of intellectual
and moral revolution aimed at eliminating those bad mental habits that have
prevented them from being the best they can be.
They should stop blaming others and begin
the arduous task of harnessing the incredible human and natural resources in
Igboland and the Diaspora for the construction of a strong prosperous Igbo
enclave within the federal republic of Nigeria. Pro-Biafran agitators should
focus their attention and energy on the agbata ekee politicians that have betrayed
the trust of Ndigbo and make them accountable to the people. The Igbo must
remove the cotton wool in their eyes first so that they can see clearly the
logs in the eyes of other Nigerians. Concluded
SOURCE: SUNDAY VANGUARD
SOURCE: SUNDAY VANGUARD
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