By Maiwada Dammalam

Much as I share the pains of parents and family members of late Izuchukwu F. Ezimoha, the young man executed for drug trafficking in far away Indonesia and whose funeral was held with pomp and pageantry in his village of Ezigbo, I will not subscribe to their idea of "heroism" as the executed drug peddler was lavishly described by his funeral posters etc.

Ezimoha's tragic end is sad and much as it induced traditional grief, it should also induce sober reflection by the family and Nigerians particularly the Igbo of the Southeastern Nigeria. This is a fine young man that could have been anything legit but was allowed to be wasted in pursuit of quick wealth. Our society has abandoned old ideals on which quality character used to be founded in favor of "get rich quick" ideals that always leaves behind trails of blood and pain.

Looking at the picture of Ezimoha as the death penalty was passed on him; which must have also came with the realization that the cottons were about to be closed on him and the only way he could ever get back to his Ezigbo village would be in a casket, one could see the regret for not listening to voice of reason. In one short moment, all the blitz and glitz and allure of a movie star kind of life that pushed him to cross the thin line between life and death were lost in that short moment. All the fancy clothes, the fancy cars and "A" class holiday resorts were reduced to nothing but a dream turned into nightmare. I'm sure the picture of his beautiful mansion in his village must have meant nothing to him in that short moment of hopelessness and must have remained so till life was snuffed out of him by the hot bullets.

His village was yet to get over its grief when another set of 7 young Igbo "International businessmen" were nabbed in Hydrabad India. The septet of Ejeana Rapheal Chidara, Ugochukwu Solomon Ubabuko, Obiora Chukwumeka Peter, Chrisval Akuabata, Okorie Samson Chukwuebuka, Eze Christian Chukwu and Uzo Promise Chukwudi were arrested by Indian police after long investigation of their hideous activities. From their names, one could easily hazard a guess that all the arrested young men were from the Igbo extraction.

I refuse to be naive and assume that it's coincidental that almost all Nigerian young men arrested across the globe in drug related issues are mostly young Igbos. Certainly there must be a driving force behind young men of Igbo extraction making the deadly drug trafficking business a business of choice and, I also don't believe it's the quick gains of the trade. If that's the case, other Nigerian youth of that category would have joined the train.

I believe the insistence of Igbo youth to stake it all in pursuit of their dreams is not unrelated with the manner elders of the region treat such deadly businesses with the same honour and respect they treat other legit pursuit as described by the hero funeral of Ezimoha. It beats me why a young man who decided to cross the globe to ferry deadly wares that could potentially destroy a whole generation of youth be treated as anything but an anathema to humanity.

Nobody could pretend ignorance about the menace of drugs in any human society. Currently Nigeria is under the vice grips of local drugs like codeine and other substances which could be bought over the counter without any prescription and, which when ingeniously abused give as much "high" (and as much death) as the deadly and expensive cocaine, heroine etc.

It's a duty to every Nigerian to condemn the actions of drug traffickers and revolt against seeming gains of the deadly trade the traders as outcasts. This is not particularly difficult especially for the Igbo community known for the revulsion against "osu". The fact that Indonesia refused any call for clemency to save people like Ezioha is indicative of its resolve to save its youth from randy young men afflicted with the "get rich quick or die trying" syndrome. It's instructive to note that no sane nation would allow its youth to be destroyed by being weak to implement its laws.

To the Igbo young men and indeed, the rest of Nigerian youth, the price for easy money is always heavy. Just in case you decide to go for it, be fair and consider people you will leave behind to carry the shame of burying you while struggling to hide the cause of your death as the family of Ezioha struggled to hide the cause of his death by just writing "who died in oversea".

Please don't just die in "oversea", die honourably.

Mocking the dead is not my game...

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