Why Ndigbo Must Have a Re-think

I have a message which like a burden must be delivered. Like a woman in travail it must bring forth. The unalloyed and uncontrollable support given by my Igbo brothers and sisters to President Goodluck Jonathan gives me a lot of worries. While not being divisive, but rather factual, I ask my Ndigbo people ‘how can we be supporting a non performing president, simply because he is from the South South geo-political zone?’ Don’t we know that our brazen support for him is to the detriment of our own political future, existence and relevance?’

Why are we always moving in the reverse gear, instead of forward gear with the majority of other Nigerians? Why are we uninterested to engage in the wind of change currently blowing in the country? Why do we always play the hatchet man’s role for any government in power by conniving with powers that be to frustrate the yearnings of the majority? In 1993, it was Mr Arthur Nzeribe and his infamous Association of a Better Nigeria (ABN) that scuttled the freest and fairest presidential election in the history of Nigeria. The ignoble role played by Mr Uche Chukwumerije (now a Nigerian serving Senator) as that government’s spokesperson is still fresh in the memories of most Nigerians. During the reign of late General Sanni Abacha, another Igbo man, Mr Daniel Kanu came up with his 1 million march of ‘Youths Earnestly Ask Abacha’ (YEEA) to remain till God knows when. I recently read that out of the 10 lawsuits filed against the candidacy of the presidential candidate of APC, General Muhammadu Buhari, 9 of the suits were filed by people of the Igbo stock. I ask again, ‘what is really wrong with the Igbo man?’ ‘Why are we always sympathisers that grieve more than the bereaved?’ Is there anything the matter with our psyche? One of the problems we have is that we don’t tell ourselves the truth. We are always quick to point to the ills meted out to us by the Nigerian nation during the civil war, but we fail to see how our prior actions led to that civil war. I thought that the late Professor Chinualumogu Achebe would have mentioned it in his last book ‘There was a Country’ but for reasons best known to him, he did not. Many may not like what I will say now, but it is the truth. Truth is always bitter. We are not in any way opening up old wounds. But it’s for us to be reminded of this because it is part of our history. We cannot distort historical facts as this will help us in taking future decisions. We have to teach our children as it would help them to avoid the mistakes made by their parents.

The first coup in Nigeria in 1966 was led by an Igbo man, the late Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu. In the execution of that coup, many prominent Nigerian politicians were killed. The list of those who lost their lives included the following: the Prime Minister, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa; the Premier of Northern Region and Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello; the Premier of Western Nigeria, Chief Samuel Akintola; the Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh. In addition to the politicians some senior military men were also executed by these coup plotters. These included Brigadier Zakariya Maimalari who was killed by late Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna; Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun and his wife were killed on their matrimonial bed by late Major Timothy Onwuatuegwu. Aside the President in the person of late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe who was out of the country, no Igbo politician or soldier (except Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Unegbe, who was known to be close to Brigadier Maimalari) was killed by these coup plotters who were majorly of Igbo heritage. Although the Acting President and Senate President, late Dr Nwafor Orizu; Chief Dennis Osadebe, the Premier of Mid-Western Region and Chief Michael Okpara, the Premier of Eastern Region (all Igbos) were all in the country at the time of the coup, they were all spared. The most senior officer in the Nigeria military at the time, late Major General Aguiyi Ironsi who was Igbo was kept alive. In summary of the 15 people comprising politicians and military men killed, no Igbo man or woman, except Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Unegbe was assassinated. Can we rightly say that it was by co-incidence that no Igbo politician or military officer was killed? To say that is to be economical with the truth.

In any country whenever there is a failed coup, all the conspirators are court- martialled for treason. If found guilty, such coup plotters are given appropriate sentences, which usually are death sentences or very long imprisonment terms. Unfortunately there was no court martial. These coup plotters were only detained during which period their salaries were also paid. How do we think the officers from other tribes, especially Northern military officers who lost most of their heroes would have felt about this gross injustice? It was the leniency with which late General Aguiyi Ironsi handled these coup plotters who were majorly of Igbo origin that mainly led to a counter coup masterminded by late (then) Lieutenant Colonel Murtala Muhammed on July 29, 1966. This counter coup resulted in the death of Major General Aguiyi Ironsi and the selfless unsung national hero, Lieutenant Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi, the Governor of Western Region, who was hosting Ironsi in Ibadan at the time the mutiny took place.

Why have I taken time to bring this narration to the fore? It is to remind us that we Ndigbo always have the tendency of being very self centred, thereby forgetting the feelings of how others feel about issues. For the average Igbo man or woman, ‘it is always, me, me, and myself’. How others feel about what I do is inconsequential as long as it is beneficial to me. This is not to say that I support all that happened to us during the civil war. God forbid. I never will. Neither will I ever support the pogrom or better put the genocide committed from May 1966 against the Ndigbo living in Northern Nigeria. For me it lacks words to describe. It was wicked, callous, and irresponsible. It was and still remains a total lack of human sympathy for anybody to mete out such wickedness on their fellow human beings, which included children and women.

Now back to my main subject on why we must have a re-think of this unbridled support for President Jonathan. Let me point out that I do not hate President Jonathan. As an Igbo, and somebody from the South I have tried as much as I can to connect with him, but I honestly can’t. I utterly abhor his leadership style. He is a laissez-faire leader. He is not performing, yet he doesn’t want to relinquish power. He is a very desperate man. There is no doubt that he is not in charge. He has practically handed over the leadership of the country for others to run. It was utterly disgusting to hear him state that he was not consulted by the service chiefs before they told Dr Attahiru Jega, the INEC Chairman to postpone the elections. In some countries that alone will cost him his job.

Considering the support President Jonathan received from the Igbo States in 2011, what has he done in improving the lot of the Igbo nation? Are our roads no longer ‘death traps’? Has the second Niger Bridge been built? Do we now have 24 hours uninterrupted electricity? Are our schools now conducive for learning? Has the government of Goodluck Jonathan put the necessary conditions and machineries in place for us to harness our areas of competitive advantage? Are there things we enjoy as Ndigbo that other Nigerians don’t enjoy? Now that we are sticking out our necks for him again in the March 28, 2015 elections, what is in it for us and what are the Igbo agenda? I read a few weeks ago that Ohaneze Ndigbo said they were going to articulate the Igbo agenda and present same to President Jonathan before assuring him of their support. I said to myself, ‘now our leaders mean business’. I was shocked to later read that Ohaneze Ndigbo has endorsed President Jonathan for a second term. What happened to the Igbo agenda? Has this been done? None that I am aware of as I closely follow their activities.

It is rather unfortunate that those who parade themselves as Igbo leaders are persons with questionable characters who do not have the interest of the people at heart. They are preoccupied with how they will increase their financial gains. They feed the people with falsehood and take advantage of the average Nigerian’s self inflicted ignorance and lack of depth to divide the people and enrich themselves.

There is a lot at stake in this wind of change that is about to sweep across the entire spectrum of the nation, Nigeria. President Jonathan has obviously run short of ideas. The citizens of Nigeria have become highly disillusioned. The country is divided and polarised. The state of insecurity, joblessness, dearth and economic uncertainty in the country has reached frightening dimensions. The level of corruption is beyond imagination and abominable. We need a change.

Retired Major General Buhari may not be best of persons (nobody is anyway), but considering the present circumstance he is the best we have. Another four years for President Jonathan will definitely spell doom for Nigeria. The earlier we back off this man, the better for us.

As I conclude let us ask ourselves one simple question, ‘should President Jonathan win the next general election, what would be the fate of Ndigbo after 2019 when President Jonathan is gone?’ By then he would have finished using us and dumped us like ‘hot potatoes’. We must discard this ‘victim mentality’ and stop playing a second fiddle to any tribe or groups of people. We must log into the mainstream and articulate our style of politics better than we currently do. The interest of the average Ndigbo on the street should be of paramount importance to us in our decision taking. It is time to forget the evil of the past civil war and engage positively for the future. It will be most awful for Ndigbo with his talents, population and resourcefulness to lose out in this change that is going to overtake our landscape.
To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done.

Long Live Nigeria!


God bless you.

I thought igbo's doesn't count, I thought they said that without d easterner's oga cattler go win landslidely; so why is this "Mr crying Listen Mr Cryer mak i tell u, "Monkey No Fine, Monkey no fine but hin mama like am.. Oga Cryer, park well joor.

The main thing pulling Igbos back is the fact that they are overly sensitive and place tribe before anything else.

Until they start thinking and acting rationally (and not out of sentiment), they have a long way to go.

Apart from security setback, this govt remains the best performing in the history of this country

Op, shut d hell up, what's your full name and which village, town and state are you from the south east?
When you say Jonathan is non-performing, please give proof. Jonathan has performed better than all our former presidents in the last 30years put together.
And the injustices that have meted against igbos since independence is unequalled anywhere in the world, worse than even Rwandan genocide.
The Hausa-Fulanis hate us for our guts, and it's just reciprocal.
don't dare sell that old, sick man to igbos, an anti-democratic buffon because it will never work, even in a thousand years.

Op, go and read
Why We Struck By Adewale Ademoyega
Why We Struck tells the story of the first military intervention in Nigerian politics. The coup that took place on January 15, 1966, was conceived and planned together by Majors Nzeogwu, Ifeajuna and Ademoyega. The execution of the plan had a lightning effect, and the coup provoked a reaction within the first hours of its commencement, opening the floodgate that culminated in the Civil War.

Apart from being a vivid account of one of the most historical events in Nigeria up to date, the book is indeed a souvenir, being the original work of the only surviving member of the trio that conceived and planned the coup.

In this book, Major Ademoyega dispels the popular myths which some people, not directly connected with the coup, have amplified and used for their selfish ends.

A lot has been written about the motivations, actions, and purposes of the revolution that jerked Nigeria into self-consciousness on January 15, 1966. Much of what has been written was merely deduced from what the authors saw or heard. So far, nothing has been published by any of the actual revolutionaries. This is the first authentic account of the revolution. It is written by the only surviving member of the innermost group that planned the revolution.

“Everything has been done to ensure that this book is accurate and that it depicts the revolution and all that followed it exactly as they were seen from the centre of that great event, which has proved to be the first major milestone in the history of the political development of Nigeria since independence was attained.
My gratitude goes to my friends, who have encouraged me to write this book. I do hope that they and the entire reading public will be enriched in their knowledge of the truth, which is herein depicted.”
Adewale Ademoyega



We offer shipping to Lagos, Kano, Ibadan, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Benin, Maiduguri, Zaria, Aba, Ilorin and other locations across Nigeria via courier company
(other delivery methods can be arranged)
Contact us:
Address:
Sunshine book seller
Suite 41, Elim Vision plaza,
Opposite University Of Ibadan, 2nd Gate,
Oyo Road, Ibadan,
Nigeria.
Phone: 08028708577, 08055606369
BB Pin: 30FCA103
Yahoo Msg Id: instinctoflife
2go Id: AdewaleAloko

op 90% of IBO's will vote for Gej.....no amount of preaching can change that.....the little Gej has done for IBO's no former govt has done as much as that.

And pls stop comparing gej and buhari cause they are no match.....when APC bring a sound candidate than Gej we will vote for them....for now Gej till 2019

The way 20 articles about Ndigbo come out every week about who they'll vote for, it's very hard to say that Igbo's aren't the deciding factor in Nigeria's elections..

I tire o, the intolerant Islamic fundamentalists hate us and we reciprocate

billante:
op 90% of IBO's will vote for Gej.....no amount of preaching can change that.....the little Gej has done for IBO's no former govt has done as much as that.

And pls stop comparing gej and buhari cause they are no match.....when APC bring a sound candidate than Gej we will vote for them....for now Gej till 2019

Na waoh, of all the over 250 ethnic groups we have in Nigeria, everyday, it's just igbos. We wount vote Buhari, let the other tribes vote him naa

Ikengawo:
The way 20 articles about Ndigbo come out every week about who they'll vote for, it's very hard to say that Igbo's aren't the deciding factor in Nigeria's elections..

meforyou1:
Op, shut d hell up, what's your full name and which village, town and state are you from the south east?
When you say Jonathan is non-performing, please give proof. Jonathan has performed better than all our former presidents in the last 30years put together.
And the injustices that have meted against igbos since independence is unequalled anywhere in the world, worse than even Rwandan genocide.
The Hausa-Fulanis hate us for our guts, and it's just reciprocal.
don't dare sell that old, sick man to igbos, an anti-democratic buffon because it will never work, even in a thousand years.

why don't you just make your point without telling the op"shut the hell up?"