Taking Igbo out of Nigerian bondage

What Igbo people want is to leave Nigeria

by Osita Ebiem-Mar 21, 2017

( March 21, 2017, New York City, Sri Lanka Guardian) On

the 29th of May 1966 the Igbo irreversibly renounced their
colonially imposed Nigerian citizenship. That date marks the
official beginning of the 1966 Pogrom of Igbo people in Nigeria.
So, it goes without saying that what the Igbo want is to cut clear
and exist sovereignly, politically and territorially independent of
the Nigerian state.
There has never been any ambiguity about this Igbo national
aspiration and unflagging resolve to attain an unassailable liberty,
untrammeled independence and inalienable right to live their
lives and conduct their businesses on their terms. This Igbo
resolve to be free and to determine their selves does not have to
and is not conditioned on any other thing other than, it is the
peoples choice. The Igbo as a collective believes that their
individuals dreams and their collective national aspirations and
destiny cannot be fulfilled within the context of a united Nigerian
state.
After all this while, no one can still be in doubt since it has been
stated over and over again that the ultimate goal of all Igbo social
and political engagements is and should be to free the Igbo as a
people and as a territory from the debilitating burden of a united
Nigerian state. It needs to be emphasized that this collective Igbo
resolve to ultimately achieve a total separation from Nigeria was
not arrived at in a hurry. It is a well-considered decision that was
reached after putting all things into consideration and agreeing on
those things that are in the utmost best interests of the present
Igbo and their unborn generations.
For practical reasons, as days continue to roll into years, the
wisdom in Igbos unflinching resolve to leave Nigeria is continually
vindicated. The institutionalized outrageous injustices against the
Igbo and other horrendous events of the last fifty years which are
stage-managed to dehumanize and reduce Igbo prestige and self-
esteem have continued to not only reinforce the wisdom of this
Igbo decision but have also made the necessity of Igbo freedom
from Nigeria urgent. Given the prevailing institutionalized acts of
violence, discrimination and other forms of undignified
mistreatments of the Igbo by the Nigerian state and by other
members of the Nigerian citizenry, the need for Igbos territorial
and political independence from Nigeria has not been more
urgent at any other time than it is now.
Igbo journey out of Nigeria can only be led by the best
that Igbo have to offer
We are confident that it is a few focused and incorruptible Igbo
who through team spirit (njiko,) aka idi ocha (sterling character)
and amamife (wisdom) will eventually, without guns and bombs
free the Igbo from Nigeria. These Igbo-centric politicians will need
to work in partnership with their Igbo brothers and sisters both at
home and abroad to free their people and territory from Nigeria.
They will have to depend on the veracity of the Igbo wisdom
which says that; ire oma (ofor) ka idide ji aga nogu (awa ani:)
Truth or belief in the justness of its cause (survival) the crawling
worm crawls over thorns and breaks and through earth
successfully without hurting itself and without the use of any
apparent tools: Relying on ones innate abilities to win. This truth
reassures the few faithful Igbo; that seemingly impossible feats
can still be achieved by a puny and inconsequential people if they
applied humility, amamife and honesty in their pursuit of a just
cause. In pursuing this goal the Biafranists will be required to
continually apply ako nuche; guileless smart thinking. Therefore,
dishonest persons should not have any place in this movement or
effort to free the Igbo nation and its people.
Backing up the demand for humility, amamife and honesty in Igbo
affairs we make reference to the Igbo institution of ofor nogu.
Traditionally, ofor the physical symbol of ogu (justice) is only held
by the elders whose moral values and ethical probity have been
proven on several occasions. Igbo definition of the elder does not
always consist in the age of the individual. Relatively, young
honest achievers of greatness who are endowed with amamife
and who apply such wisdom for the advancement of justice are
also considered elders who their strength of character has earned
them their place in the elders council. These kind of wise young-
elders are very unlike their other young counterparts who are
smart and may have also achieved success but engage in trickery
and the use of their cleverness to twist facts and realities. No, the
young-elders honestly, sincerely and truthfully discern public and
private matters. They wield ofor Igbo without blemish. This
assertion can further be explained in the saying that nwata kwo o
aka osoro okenye rie ife: If a child can wash clean its hands it can
also eat from the same dish as the elders. (In the same vein the
reader can still be reminded that one of the major ceremonial
rites which those that sit in the elders council perform is isa ire;
tongue washing.)
With this understanding, we are calling out Igbo elders who
have passed through the rite of tongue washing; who
understand that they can no longer tell lies or deceive the people.
If such elders are endued with honesty, amamife and are of
proven integrity, let them step forward and assume the
responsibility of raising high the ofor Igbo as they work as teams,
leading the way to free Igbo nation from Nigerian entanglement
and bondage. We have had enough of leaving the most serious of
Igbo businesses in the hands of men and women of shady
character and of dubious credentials. In this journey to freedom,
the Igbo must be led by the best they have got.
Eat with the devil but with long spoon
If we should equate Igbos existence in Nigeria as being in hell
then it is inevitable that the Igbo must eat or interact with the
devil the lord of Hell. Though the ultimate goal of the Igbo is to
exit Nigeria, but to be able to do that, the Igbo must first engage
the Nigerian state politically, diplomatically and in other ways. In
engaging Nigeria the Igbo must be creative, firm and determined.
While partaking in the Nigerian corrupt meal (politics) and other
businesses the Igbo must, for obvious reasons, use a long spoon,
as the saying goes. The importance of the long spoon is to enable
the Igbo to disengage and escape even in the middle of a
seemingly great delicious feast (prosperity) and peace.
In resolving to free their selves from Nigeria, the Igbo should be
pragmatic enough to understand that they have to anticipate and
face challenges, even obstacles. They will deal with these
challenges not by avoiding them but by facing them and proving
their strength of character by resisting manfully every form of
temptation to distract them from their original intention. Among
the many challenges which the Igbo must face is the fact that the
Nigerian state and its allies will want to resist attempts by the
Igbo to free themselves from Nigeria. This is so because within
Igbo land there is oil and other natural resources which Nigeria
depends on for its sustenance. The foreign allies of Nigeria have
always falsely believed that they can only get better deals if the
one-Nigerian status quo remained intact.
Peaceful non-violent solution is another name for political
solution
It is also expected that this Igbo resistance against oppression
might at some point become too hot and boil over into actual war
of guns and bombs. Igbo people do not want that. They had
fought an earlier one the Biafra-Nigeria War. They would rather
prefer a peaceful non-violent solution to the problem. But they are
not nave to overlook the possibility of another war. However, the
people believe that should there be another war that the Igbo
should fight to win this time around.
On the other hand, if the Igbo had adopted non-violence instead
of violent means to free their people and land from Nigeria, then
it needs to be clearly understood that the best known way to
achieve that freedom is to engage the Nigerian state politically.
But at the same time, while the Igbo are involved in all aspects of
Nigerian political processes they cannot afford to take their eyes
off the mark Igbo freedom from Nigeria.
Hitherto there has been a minimal involvement of Biafran activists
in the various aspects of Nigerian politics. This non-participation
of genuine Biafran activists in Nigerian politics has to be
reviewed. Let those who believe in freeing the Igbo from the
Nigerian entanglement get involved in Nigerian politics. Starting
from the forthcoming Anambra gubernatorial election, let genuine
Igbo-centrists take over the statehouse in Awka. From Anambra
the revolution must spread until the required critical mass has
been mobilized throughout the entire Igbo land. And Igbo people
will be free.
Perhaps some people may have some reservations about this
strategy. Such people will be concerned about the corruptive
influences of demonic Nigerian politics. However we will need to
allay the fears of such ones. We are not pretending to believe that
there will not be some who will ride on the crest of Biafran or Igbo
freedom to gain power and thereafter abandon the original
wholesome intention. Because some people will sell out or fall on
the battlefield cannot prevent the people from fighting a just war:
Anaghi eji ngbagbu hara ogwu. The reality is that in the end not
everyone will eventually fall for such fleeting filthy lucre. There
will always be the few who can neither be bought nor be
intimidated to derail or lose focus.
Igbo want to take control of Igbo business
The resolve by the Igbo to regain its sovereignty, political, social
and territorial independence remains an enduring national
pursuit. This explains why the goal of most political moves of the
Igbo in the last few decades have been geared toward placing the
Igbo nation; its ethnical and physical geography, in a position
where the people have the total control of the will and power to
determine and define for the rest of the world who they are and
how they should be related with as individuals, as a collective and
as a free and independent territory.
By this decision the Igbo are anxious to assume the ultimate
responsibility of their security, social, economic and political well-
being without deference to or interference from any other groups.
The Igbo want to be the only ones who make the first and the final
decisions on how they pursue their collective dreams and the kind
of future and destiny they work to attain for themselves and their
children. On this journey the Igbo have chosen to neither
encumber nor endure the encumbrances of the company of any
of their neighbors the other ethnic groups. This pursuit for
liberty, freedom and independence is an exclusive Igbo agenda
and this should suffice to allay the concerns of others who may
feel threatened or uncomfortable in any way afraid that the Igbo
may want to co-opt them into an exclusive Igbo business. At this
point in time, the Igbo should be able to take care of their own
business by their selves without involving or inconveniencing their
neighbors.
Deconstructing the false image of the Igbo as the
posterchild liberators of their neighbors
Over the last few decades it does not speak well of the rationality
of some of those involved in the Biafran or Igbo liberation
movement that they base some of their actions and statements
on mere assumptions. As a result some of these Biafran activists
have created in the minds of some observers a false impression of
what the overall goal of the Igbo is. This false image imposed on
the Igbo is unwarranted and cannot be sustained. The false image
makers have come to make some people believe that freeing the
Igbo nation from the unfortunate Nigerian entanglement must
involve the other neighboring ethnic nations.
First of all, we acknowledge that this comes from the figment of
the imagination of those who have their mind frozen in time. For
such people, life and events that shape it are meant to be static
rather than dynamic. Such individuals are finding it difficult to
appreciate the fact that there is a time gap of more than half a
century between the old concept of the former Biafra and the
envisaged Biafra of the now. After fifty something years, no
reasonable person should expect that the conditions that
produced the first Biafra will remain exactly the same. If the
unfortunate conditions are not the same why insist on applying
the same old static tool in solving a constantly evolving problem.
For this and more reasons it has become necessary to remind
these people who are obviously mistaken that there is need for
them to bring their minds and analysis up to date. The
contemporary truth and reality is that the circumstances of the
Biafra of 1967 to 1970 are not the same with those of the
presently envisioned Biafra of the now 2017.
Like Nigeria, old Eastern Region was created by foreign
colonialists
The former Eastern Region as created by the foreign colonialists
excluded an important Igbo territory on the west side of the Niger.
As it has always been emphasized, the declaration of
independence of the state of Biafra which lasted from 1967 to
1970 was necessitated by the 1966 Pogrom. The killings during
the pogrom involved non-Igbo easterners as well as the Igbo.
(Though, as the crisis progressed the Nigerian state revised the
scope of the victims and persuaded the other non-Igbo easterners
to believe that the original pogrom-targets were intended to be
only Igbo people.) Secondly, the former Eastern Region as
originally created by the European colonial masters was under
one administration at the time when the 1966 crisis began. In
reality, it is inconceivable that a sovereign independent Igbo state
will exist without the unification of the Igbo populations on the
two sides of the river.
As already stated, Biafras secession from Nigeria resulted from
the 1966 Pogrom whose victims included the Igbo and other non-
Igbo easterners. So the main purpose of the secession was to
protect and preserve the lives and properties of the pogrom
victims. It is natural that since there was a central administrator
(Emeka Ojukwu, the then governor of Eastern Region) who was in
charge of the embattled territory from where the victims came,
that his protective actions should embrace the totality of the
victims who were indigenous to the area that he governed. That is
exactly what was done. Therefore, the Biafra of the 1960s was the
Biafra of all the easterners who under one central government of
the Eastern Region were the victims of the 1966 Pogrom.
Now it is Igbo secession
Today, 2017 that 1966 narrative has changed. The people who are
campaigning for secession, independence, separation or freedom
from Nigeria are the Igbo as a people and the Igbo as a territorial
geographical space. There is no doubt in the mind of any honest
and sincere observer that the perennial victims of the Nigerian
state and its other citizens are the Igbo and the areas of land that
Igbo people traditionally occupy. It is therefore the Igbo who are
and should be fighting to liberate their selves from the Nigerian
oppression. As such they do not and should not shift their
responsibility and problems to involve their neighbors who have
not expressed any wish to leave the Nigerian union.
Even if these other South Southerners had expressed their desire
to secede from Nigeria, the Igbo have a saying about a new born
child and its mother. The Igbo believe that the child after birth will
now have a separate chi from that of its mother. Hence it is
expected that the childs chi will from henceforth, after its birth,
take over from the mothers chi to protect and guide the child. So,
the Igbo in 1970 at the end of the war concluded that from
henceforth let Chi Igbo take care of the Igbo while the Chiof their
neighboring ethnic nationalities take over and care for these Igbo
neighbors.
United States of Biafra an unnecessary ethnic
entanglement
Interestingly, some of these Biafran activists who are finding it
difficult to accept the reality of the now have even manufactured
some fantastical, infantile phrases such as the United State of
Biafra as their proposed new name for the free Igbo state. But
one reality which these infantile phrase mongers will have to face
is the fact that taking into consideration the present level of the
local peoples social and political evolution, that many of the
idealistic dreams and promises being brandished about the place
are merely utopian which have no basis in reality. It is an
indispensable condition that where other human beings will be
affected in any decision that non-coaxed consent of all the parties
must be obtained through transparent and non-dubious methods.
In the end, it is the mutual agreement and understanding of all
parties to any project (including the Biafran Project) that is the
key to its success.
I think it is important at this early stage, to put the feet of some of
these Biafran independence advocates on the ground. There may
be nothing wrong in having their head in the clouds but there is
everything wrong when the dreams they dream are not based on
reality. Among the first realities they will need to recognize and
internalize is the fact that founding and building on the
foundations of a new country will take a lot of hard work and
sacrifices on the side of those who champion the movement. But
the greatest of all that is required of all Biafran advocates is
humility and the willingness to let others (the right others) shine
while working from the behind.
What the new free Igbo country will look like
So, from the onset it needs to be understood that a country where
it is all done on Earth as it is in Heaven, remains what it is a
heavenly dream with no basis on Earth. The new free Igbo state
as envisioned will definitely be progressive; a civilized society
where people will be free to dream and achieve as far as their
minds can think. But let no one mistake the free Igbo state for
the ideal perfect state. There will be many challenges and
obstacles which are expected to be faced and surmounted by
pragmatic thinkers among the people through the sheer exercise
of reason and hard work. The free Igbo state will succeed if the
people resolved to play by the rules as based on reason grounded
on the principles of up to date human knowledge and empirical
truths, and not on unreason and emotional wishful sentiments.
Among the best ways to show modernity and cosmopolitanism is
to build a society where there is law and order. Lives and
properties of every inhabitant of the state is secured and
protected by the might and will of the state. Within the
boundaries of the new Biafra or Igbo state let justice and order
(usoro) flow in all streets and alleys with excellence as the
peoples standard. In Igbo-Biafra let no one be discriminated
against and let all inhabitants rights and opportunities be
protected and enhanced by state power and by fellow citizens. Let
people of all shades of physical and intellectual sizes and power
move, congregate and engage in all manner of intellectual
exercises that encourage the greatest amount of freedom of
thought and opinion. Let the weirdest of dreams not only be
allowed in the new Igbo state but they should be supported and
sponsored and made to flourish both by state and private citizens.
Whether by night or day, let no ones freedom in Igbo land be
molested or curtailed by hoodlums or agents of the state.
Like the Igbo, all other ethnic groups in Nigeria have their
own chi
Every other ethnic group has its own chi and with their chi they
can do well on their own without any input from the Igbo. The
Igbo cannot pretend to assume the unenviable role and pride of
being the messiahs or saviors of any other ethnic nationalities.
The truth is that the Igbo presently and in a long time to come
have their plate full. They therefore cannot pretend to be the ones
who have all the answers on how to redeem their neighbors. It is
wiser to redeem their selves first before dreaming of saving
others. (Onye akwo nazu adighi akwo onye ozo; this means that
an incapacitated warrior who is being backed away to safety
cannot elect to back another.)
Igbo circumstances and conditions in Nigeria are not the same as
those of any other groups that make up the Nigerian union. Of all
the ethnic nations in Nigeria, the Igbo remain the only ones who
are rejected by the Nigerian state and by the other ethnic groups
in the union. The Igbo are feared and hated at the same time by
all the other partners in the Nigerian union. It is therefore, of no
use for anyone to pretend that Igbo people will somehow go into
any viable political, social and territorial alliances with their other
neighbors all because some reckless Biafran enthusiasts want to
be heroes at the detriment of future generations. They want to
look good and appear as the ideal cosmopolitans and altruistic
saviors who unfortunately are yet to save their selves but are
bent on saving the other ethnic nations.
Do we really need to remind these self-appointed heroes that
these other nations would rather work out their own salvation
without the undue and unsolicited influence and meddling of any
Igbo saviors? The Igbo must successfully save their own selves
first before offering to save others. (For those who recall history
well, the foolishness of wanting to save and yoke others into what
is supposedly an exclusive Igbo agenda compares very well with
the Ore incursion debacle at the onset of the Biafran War. No
reasonable person who is genuinely concerned about winning
should recklessly repeat one mistake twice.)
Successful relationships; social contracts, political alliances,
commercial agreements, including personal relationships begin
and end in mutual trusts of all parties to the contract. Such level
of mutual trust is completely lacking between the Igbo and all
their neighbors. Every campaigner today for Igbo or Biafra
freedom must come to accept this reality which is that in Nigeria,
the Igbo have had enough of the unnecessary and senseless
forced yoking together of peoples with different cultures,
unreconciled worldviews and divergent national aspirations. Let
the Igbo go into this journey of founding a modern state in
partnership with only Chi Igbo and her Igbo human partners.
Then, the Igbo would have finally accepted to become the sole
architects of their individuals and collectives fortune or destiny.
The Igbo want to do something for themselves create a
country for and by their selves
Igbo as an ethnic nation has a population of 50 million. Though
the people are dispersed across the globe but they all have their
root in a definitive physical geographical space which is often
referred to as Igbo Land. All Igbo everywhere call this piece of real
estate to which they are indigenous: Homeland. Present Igbo
people inherited this piece of ground from their forebears who
had inhabited it for almost as long as human beings have existed
on the planet Earth. However, between 1967 and 1970 the Fulani,
Hausa, Yoruba, among other ethnic nationalities under the
institution of the Nigerian state unsuccessfully attempted to
dispossess the Igbo of this their ancestral heritage and to
completely exterminate Igbo people from the land.
In this 21st century, it is expected that Igbo people have come of
age and should know what is good for them and their children. It
is only children that grownups decide for what should be good for
them. Matured people make their choices for themselves and they
live with the outcome of their choices. Taking it even further, it is
not circumstances and events that should determine for a people
how they should choose. Igbo should deliberately choose and
create the kind of country they want and not that which is chosen
for them by events and circumstances or by European
colonialists: (Old Eastern Region.) Adults take full responsibilities
for the consequences of their actions. Therefore, at this point in
their existence, the Igbo do not need to seek for approval from
their neighbors or from any other, in order to be who they want to
be. In the same vein the Igbo cannot decide for their neighbors
when and how they want to free themselves from Nigeria.
The colonial Europeans created the former Eastern Region. Let the
Igbo therefore create for and by themselves, based on their
prevailing experiences; a radically different and rational country
that will work. The logic is that if the Igbo were leaving Nigeria
mostly because the same Europeans created the unjust Nigerian
union then the same Igbo should be ready to make all things new
by creating a new country which is void of all input from the
colonial foreigners who did not understand the cultural
topography of the local people and could care less about the
devastating implications of yoking these diverse peoples together
in an incompatible national union.
Madu ka and ndu ka
Before the encroachment of the British colonialists, Igbo people
existed independently, always relying on their innate abilities in
meeting and dealing with their environmental, social and political
challenges. The methods and standards the Igbo applied to their
situations were based on their original native cultural values and
established customs and traditions. And it worked for them. This
uncompromising self-reliance throughout Igbo history until the
interference of colonialism helped to shape Igbo values and
worldviews; cultural gamut, politics and social practices.
As a result of their well-established way of life, the Igbo do not
limit their values and the extent of their achievements to the
finite extent of their physical geography and material resources.
The greatest and most valuable of Igbo investments and values
are vested in human beings. For this reason they work to preserve
and maintain a high quality of human life. Hence madu kaand ndu
ka are two important ideas in Igbo cosmology. What those mean is
that human beings (madu) and life (ndu) are supreme (ka.) That is
to say that as long as human beings can live their lives free then
they can overcome all limitations and achieve any goals they set
for themselves. In this sense, the Igbo do not have to depend on
any physical geography to reach their potentials. All they need
and crave for is freedom (life or ndu) to be and to dream. (The
Igbo equates life ndu with freedom.)
Izu ka nma na nneji (siblings are the best confidants)
As a people the Igbo have all the prerequisites to exist and thrive
as a self-governing independent modern state. The Igbo do not
need to append themselves to any other ethnic national groups in
order to prove anything. To exist and demonstrate relevance as
positive creative contributors to humanitys commonwealth; the
Igbo can do that without assuming the impractical image of the
perfect cosmopolitan. The Igbo by themselves alone can still
participate effectively in civilized humanitys commitment to
continually push against the limits of progressive enlightenment
and humane civilization. The Igbo can exist independently and
still be accepted as an important part of the common humanity
while they contribute their shares, working and dreaming as a
free people.
The Igbo national group is just as entitled to its uniqueness and
Igbo identity as any other inhabitants of this Earth. There is
nothing to be ashamed of as Igbo. Or to think that the Igbo will be
complete only when they have appended themselves to other
neighboring nationalities. Existing as a monochromic Igbo state
does not in any way diminish the well-established cosmopolitan
Igbo image. Nor does it make such Igbo state closeted, parochial,
or any less modern than any other civilized and progressive
society anywhere else. Instead, by founding an Igbo-centric state,
the Igbo would have finally accepted themselves for who they are
and at last become comfortable in their own skin. A new and more
confident Igbo will then be born.
For a group of people who are violated, looted, persecuted and
killed by fellow citizens and the government agents of their
country as Igbo people are in Nigeria, the best thing they can do
to their selves is to stick together and effectively control all
instruments that enhance their security while ensuring their
unrestricted access to liberty and independence.
Posted by Thavam