₦airaland Forum

Igbos 41 years after the civil war

Igboeli Arinze, a public affairs analyst writing from Awka, Anambra State is of the opinion that the post civil war issues are far from settled

Events rolled on as thus, the declaration of a state of emergency in the Western Region; A trumped up coup plot charge; Massively rigged elections; A state of tension then compromise; The “Wetie” crisis; The coup by the January boys; Ironsi foils the coup accepts power by the rump of the  civilian authorities then;  Ironsi makes attempts to unify the country; A counter coup by the July boys; The senseless slaughter of Igbo officers and then civilians; Colonel  Ojukwu refuses on principle to recognize  Colonel Jack Gowon; Colonel Jack Gowon begins a  drifter’s leadership of  our nation juggles with secession “Araba”(the Hausa term for secession), then a confederation and finally the same unitary system he and his northern goons kicked against;  Another massacre, while the likes of  Major Hassan Kastina and Colonel Jack Gowon looked the other way; Aburi our last beacon of hope for peace; Gowon reneges on agreements at Aburi, creates twelve states; Unjustly treated and humiliated, the Consultative Assembly of the Eastern Region gives Ojukwu mandate to declare an Independent State at the earliest practicable date; May 30th, Colonel Ojukwu declares the former Eastern Region and its continental shelf as the Republic of Biafra.

Gowon bloodthirsty as ever orders police action;  Okoi Arikpo boasts that Biafra will collapse under three months; Three  years on the Republic of Biafra with sheer determination and convinced in the justice of their cause producing military miracles in spite of the absence of a just international opinion and the immoral backing of the British and Soviet Union Governments; Biafra collapses like historical Carthage having fought hard but against the heaviest of odds to give the people of the Eastern region and Ndigbo a right to life, peace and progress.

It doesn’t end here; Gen Gowon announces “No Victor No Vanquished” but Gowon is no Lincoln as such a declaration is only a sleight of hand, for it only marks the beginning of an era of marginalization of the Igbo man; 20 pounds for every Igbo man even if he was worth more, properties worth millions being confisticated under the term abandoned property, talk of legalized stealing. Government comes, government goes and there seems no respite for the Igbo man. Crisis after Crisis and he is gunned after,  even when he has no business with the Genesis, Psalms nor Revelation of such a crisis. This single largest ethnic group in Nigeria has surely had it rough in this contraption called Nigeria, yet it is left with five states and a sum total of 95 local governments whereas a state like Kano bandies 44 local governments alone nearly half the five states in the Southeast region, perhaps you can get an impression of this state of injustice we live with.

41 years after, we still seek a new song against the bureaucratic and political conspiracies engendered against our sons and daughters by the hegemonic establishment. A list of its victims run plenty Alex Ekwueme, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, Anyim Pius Anyim, Dr. Chris Ngige, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, Ibeto etc. We still seek a new song against the nonattendance of quality infrastructure in the South East as seen in the poor roads and linkages within and outside the South East. We seek a new song against the obnoxious economic policies initiated to keep the Igbo man under.

But who is to blame for the Igbo man’s calamity? Whose finger is behind the political and economic lashes handed out at our backsides? I have searched this out and apprehended two principal culprits. [b]The first culprit is the Nigerian nation, ever divisive and continually in a state of national flux, which has seen the Ijaw pitched against the Itsekiri, Birom & Angas vs Fulani, Ibibio vs Annang, Shuwa vs Kanuri, Tiv vs the tag team of Idoma and Jukun, Yoruba vs Hausa, Egba vs Ijebu, Owo vs Akoko [/b]etc a consequence of our faulty road to nation hood and a blind refusal by our elite to realize that a forced unity may suit their selfish needs but falls short of helping our path to greatness. For where there is no sense of belonging within any nation state, any demand for robust nationalism of these people cannot be more than wishful thinking. That is a forum for discussion another day. Yet the Nation becomes united when the Igbo man is in competition, there appears to be an unconscious agreement between them, on how to deal with this ambitious and proud stock of people resident on both sides of the Niger. To the rest of the Nigerian nation, pre and antebellum there exists an imaginary plot by the Igbo people to dominate all other ethnic groups in Nigeria, yet there is no justification for such, shockingly such ethnic groups have applauded the very real culprits of such an attempt to dominate others. Yet the Igbo man wears that toga and is viewed with suspicion and resentment everywhere he goes.

Sometime back I happened to come across a kiddies educative programme, and as these kids played out a drama sketch with the theme based on Nigeria’s unity, progress and greatness, you could  imagine my shock and indignation when one line of the drama ran as thus “Igbo man your own is too much ( The Nigerian symbol at this point in time crashes) apparently blaming the Igbo lad and the Igbo in context for the woes of the nation, kiddies drama right but may I state that at that  point in time a seed was sown into the psyche of those children and other children viewing that programme, sprouting trees of hatred and antipathy. Thus I may disagree a bit with those persons who describe our alleged cries of marginalization as a hoax; it is like Mr. Ahamadinejad, the political leader of Iran deploring the holocaust as a myth.

The second culprit is the Igbo man himself, yes, that hardworking, republican in nature fellow has a huge stock for the blames too, which is two pronged. The first is our penchant for what I will call short term politics and the second a naivety syndrome that sits pretty well with our leaders and people as well. The Igbo political stock of past and present has exhibited actions that betrayed him as a short term minded fellow, never prospective. Examples abound, the great Zik struggled for independence as our nation’s foremost nationalist and battled the British in wits and grits yet when leadership beckoned on  him he chose to be a representative of the system he loathed without any pretence to authority. Today such short term politics is no longer premised on principle as supporters of Zik might claim, our leaders have suddenly become Cash and carry politicians and no matter how odious a job might seem to be, our politicians seem to be more the ready to be its hatchet men.

The naivety syndrome again is another disease affecting the Igbo man, the Igbo political class to our dismay,  have shown signs of this again and again, more like symptoms to our detriment and downfall. When we think we have learnt better, then we repeat the same blunders but this time with a greater amount of clumsiness. Zik and General Ironsi betrayed this flaw resulting to the former’s diminishing political relevance and the latter‘s overthrow and death. The rest is history for the decline of the Igbo nation in Nigeria began shortly after Ironsi’s death. Again in 2011, in the build up to the general elections, the five governors of the South East region and our so called political leaders rejected the opportunity of producing a Vice president for a candidature that has refused to stick his neck out for the position of speaker even when the odds favour us, while others extracted promises and concords, our leaders blindly supported and rigged themselves into derision, (any one who believes those presidential results  from the southeast needs his head examined) today we are the laughing stock of the nation.

Finally my generation of Igbo youths believe in one Nigeria, one nation, united and destined for greatness, but my generation must realize that we cannot be Nigeria’s expendable ethnic group and that until we build the Igbo nation on a value system and politics that recognizes our vast contribution to the Nigerian nation not as beggars nor as second class citizens but as equals. Then and only then can we being to sing a new song.


http://www.independentngonline.com/DailyIndependent/Article.aspx?id=36233

Rgp92:
Can you ban EzeUche! too?? His a big tribalist, his always the first person to turn the topic into a Igbo vs Yoruba debate. Ban him or ask him to stop please!!  

What is this?  Is this you Jason or alj harem?

If I am truly a tribalist, I would have been banned already.

The majority of my post deal with politics and uplifting the former Eastern region.

Where is tpiah?

She knows a lot about the oil palm plant.

I remember the insults I thrown at the customs officer who tried to ask me for a bribe.

There was a lot of shouting between us until a military friend of my father ended the argument.

[quote author=Ileke-IdI link=topic=648709.msg8148863#msg8148863 date=1303063009]I'm not sure if this is the final voter's registration number.

 Lagos          6,247,845
     Ogun          1,869,326
     Osun          1,293,967
     Ondo          1,558,975
      Ekiti             750,753
      Oyo           2,577,490
Total(SW)  14,298,356
 
 
 
     Abia            1,481,191
     Anambra    1,758,220
     Enugu    1,301,185
     Imo            1,611,715
     Ebonyi       876,249
 Total(SE)    7,028,560[/quote]Lagos should not be included, because we know the voters that make up that state come from all across Nigeria.

I think my brothers enjoy antagonizing the Ndi Yoruba.

playmode:
By the way ,IGBOS should not expect to be president until 2030

Who cares? As long as our region is being developed, we don't mind supporting minorities for president. Especially those from the former Eastern region. Enjoy minority rule.

Genius100:
The people that should be commended are the northerners that voted for Jonathan

Sorry, but it is the Igbos who should be commended due to the fact of old wounds that existed between the Ijaw and Igbo. I do not know of any old wounds that exist between Northerners and Ijaw, like the ones found in the East that date back to the era of Adaka Boro.

Hausa music sounds very nice. Their language reminds me of Arabic.

I always say that there are too many Igbos. Every Igbo man produces at least 4 or 5 children.

I am so proud of the good people from Rivers state in their overwhelming support for President Jonathan. This was collective effort among Ijaws, Ogoni, Ibibio, Igbo and all other groups that reside in this state.

Hopefully, President Jonathan can return the favor and develop the state. Let us make Port Harcourt a world class city. With Amaechi has a wise steward, I see great things for Rivers State.

Port Harcourt 1st Son!

Jonathan polls 1,817,762 to beat others in Rivers state

By Jimitota Onoyume
PORT HARCOURT:  PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party has won last Saturday’s presidential poll in Rivers state.  He polled a total of 1,817,762 to defeat his rivals.

Announcing the result yesterday at the state office of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC in Port Harcourt, the Collating Officer for the state, Professor Joseph Ajienka who is also the Vice Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt  expressed gratitude to all who made the election violent free in the state.

He said the Action Congress of Nigeria, A.C.N. polled 16,382 to come second while the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC came third with 13,182. Other results announced were “ ADC-276; ANPP-1,449; APS-102; ARP-93; PNPP-148; FRESH-289; HDP-319; LDPN-156; MPPP-99; NCP-253; NNDP-144; NTP-134; PDC-1646; PNP-775; PPP-685; SNDP-105 and UNPD-118”

Commenting, the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Mr Aniedi Ikoiwak thanked the electorates for the way they conducted themselves during the polls.  He pleaded with them to do so in the next election slated for Tuesday, April 26.  According to him, last Saturdays election was an indication that the nation was fast moving away from its past when violence characterised elections.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/04/jonathan-polls-1817762-to-beat-others-in-rivers-state/#disqus_thread

That is the question we should be asking ourselves. We seen record turnout in other areas of the country, but why was the SW voter turn-out, excuse me for saying this, but it was dismal.

Igbos championing the minority cause! 

Any person, no matter his ethnicity, should have a chance becoming of president.

Maybe the next person should be Ibibio, Edo, Urhobo or even Tiv and Idoma!

[quote author=Chyz* link=topic=648678.msg8148340#msg8148340 date=1303058090]Uche eff the bull dawg, if it were them you would see wonders. Remember last weeks bragging of the NASS? So to let it be known, Obiagu is right. We Igbos are the ones who voted for Goodluck not them [/quote]We must hold ourselves to a higher standard my brother. Either way, I like what I saw yesterday. The SE and SS as a solid voting bloc is a formidable power that can counterweight the political power in the North. This changes the political landscape of Nigeria for future generations.

SS + SE = Powerful voting bloc

Include the Middle Belt, and we have an unstoppable force.

Why this thread Obiagu?

Yes, there was low voter turnout in the SW, but that does not mean we Igbos did it alone for GEJ.

It was a collective effort done by all Southerners and the Middle Belt.

Why the hostility? People have often stated that the SE would never vote for someone from the SS. However, we showed everyone that we could have a united political front. This is a step in the right direction for healing old wounds.

I love my brothers in the SS. The Ijaw, the Ibibio, the Ogoni, the Urhobo, the Itsekiri and anyone else I have forgotten. It was about time we seen someone who hails from the Niger Delta win the presidency.

President Goodluck Jonathan! I support you!

[img]https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?action=dlattach;id=424592;type=avatar[/img]

^^^

With words like that, this country is FINISHED.

Betrayal is a common theme that comes out of the SW. 

Look at what OBJ did to the Northern elite.

ChinenyeN:
. . commended for supporting an Ijo; the same Ijo that, not too long ago, you were advocating for their complete and utter absorption or annihilation. . .

Of course, those words were used out of context my brother. I have always loved the Ijaw though. They at times upsetted me, but those days are in the past. I am looking for a brighter future of peace and prosperity amongst our brothers and sisters in the Niger Delta.

kasiem:
For once the SSers have realised that igbos remains the only helping hands for them in their times of tribulation. I'm still waiting 4 edwin clark's apology

Once Edwin Clark apologizes, then there shall be peace.

Fstranger, all I can say to you is that 2015 is a long time from now. In politics, even a year is an eternity. We shall see. Now let us all enjoy GEJ before making predictions.  

I am confident that Ohanaeze, not the Igbo governors will have some plans.

The last First Lady who could be said to have grace was Maryam Babangida nee Okogwu.

fstranger5:
Which platform are you going to use?

Pray tell?

I am going to tell you this. How is Fashola going to win. GEJ may even wish to run again. The North shall support their candidate and the SW will support Fashola.

Who is going to get 2/3? A notherner has a easier chance of getting 2/3 than either the Igbo or Yoruba.

^^^

Think for once, if the Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa field their own candidate, who is going to win?

Dammn some people need to think for once in their life. Especially that idddiot Fstranger who doesn't know the Nigerian constitution.

The Hausa will support a Hausa, the Yoruba will support a Yoruba and the Igbo will support an Igbo or SS. Amaechi is someone I want to see running in 2015.

People continue to say that Fashola will run in 2015, but somehow I doubt that.

Either way, this will be a battle of titans. The North will provide their single candidate, the East shall provide their single candidate and the West shall provide their own.

I cannot wait till 2015.

I swear the SW is the only roadblock to Southern unity.

sbeezy8:
the man killed in enugu and the lady kidnapped in enugu aswell

Where is the proof about the man killed in Enugu? I haven't heard of anything on any website except for a twitter rumor.

gidson12:
buhari and ribadu my asss, its time for SS and SS it shall be, thanks to SE for the support

Your welcome. The SE enjoys helping our brothers and sisters in the SS. You all deserved this chance.

SEFAGO:
Wharreva. Anyone can type crap on the internet. Speaks volumes that you spent your saturday night online lol.

Nothing else to do with tornado warnings and non-stop rain. I guess you having been listening to the news in the U.S. about the storm that has hit the East Coast.

Like I said, sucks to be you.

I am very proud of my people for finally voting in a solid voting bloc. We have made our voices heard loud and clear, wherever we reside in Nigeria.

United we stand, divided we fall. The Igbo unity in supporting our neighbors in the Niger Delta.

Onward we march. Always progressing.