Prelude
Throughout the history of what is known today as Nigeria, the Igbo man has always been the sacrificial lamb. Whenever there is any misunderstanding between Moslems and Christians, including the one that happened in faraway Denmark, Northern Hausa-Fulani Moslems would seize the opportunity to burn, loot, destroy properties and kill Igbos. This has happened so often, that it is almost predictable. That is why whenever an Igbo trader doing business in the North hears of a conflict involving either the Hausa-Fulani and any group in Nigeria or between Christians and Moslems anywhere in the world, the first thing the Igbo man does is to quickly lock up his business and run for his their life. Almost always, these shops are not saved as they are usually burnt down, looted and destroyed. Often times, the owners of these shops are pursued to their homes, hunted down and killed.
Attitude of Northern Elites
Each time these killings, destruction and looting of Igbo businesses in the North occur, one hardly gets any serious reaction from the so called Northern elders and politicians. The much one hears in very rare cases is some sort of mere and forced verbal condemnation. That is why those involved in these atrocities have continued to perpetuate them over the years. In fact, the looting of the properties of Igbo traders has over the years become a big business for an average Hausa-Fulani Moslem.
Attitude of Security Agencies
Southeast Nigerian is flooded with the Nigerian Police and Army. One hardly can travel a distance of one pole in any major road in the Southeast without meeting two or three roadblocks mounted by the army and the police. What does these military and police officers do at the roadblocks: they extort commuters and cause excruciating delays for road users.
Usually, whenever and wherever there are disturbances in the Southeast, particularly anyone involving the Igbos and the Hausa-Fulani residents in the Zone, the response of the security agents especially soldiers is usually very prompt and decisive. By the time the military intervention is over, scores of Igbo youths would be down either dead or wounded. And woe betides any Southeast community where a soldier is killed. The response is always swift and merciless. The soldiers would surround the community, kill whoever they can lay their hands on and burn down houses. It doesn’t matter whether the persons they are killing and the owner of the Houses they are destroying have anything to do with their dead comrade.
The only time the Nigeria security agencies failed to act in these swift and decisive manners was the period when there were widespread attacks on farming communities by Fulani armed herdsmen across the states in the Southeast. The soldier would only arrive when the herders have finished their massacres and disappeared.
The dichotomy in the rule of engagement of the Nigerian security agents in the North and the Southeast has raised a lot of questions: why do the Nigerian security agents treat violent Northern youths with soft gloves but treat the nonviolent Igbo youths with the highest level of brutality? Why are cities and roads in the nonviolent Southeast flooded with security agents whereas there are not enough security agents to quell riots in the more violent prone Hausa-Fulani territories? And finally, is there a secrete plot by the so called owners of Nigeria to destroy the Igbo nation?
Attitude of Southeast Leaders
The major responsibilities of leadership are to inspire courage and to show direction especially in times of fear and despair. This is why till date, Ojukwu is respected by youths all over Igbo land because the see him as a courageous leader who stood up to give his people direction in the darkest moment of their history.
The current crop of Igbo leadership has shown that it has anything but courage. This is why they are despised by their people. Unlike what happens in the North where Northern elders either stay quiet or come out to support their youths whenever there is any social disturbances in the Southeast, Igbo political elites, almost always rush out to condemn their youths and dish out compensations to the Hausa-Fulani communities for their losses. What about Igbo losses? Who has ever compensated the Igbos for their properties and their relatives murdered in the North by fundamentalist Moslems or in the Southeast by agents of the Nigerian state?
Other things Igbo leaders do are to rush to Abuja to complain to the same man their people are holding responsible for their ordeals or to cry and ask their people to pray each time they are attacked. The feeling in the whole zone is that the leadership in Igbo land has collapsed.
The Response of Igbo Youth
The fear inspired by the questions raise above and the fact that Igbo leadership has become so enfeebled in the face of grave dangers are the things fueling Biafra agitation in the Southeast. The same fear that there is a plot in the high places of Nigerian leadership to undo Ndi Igbo and destroy Igbo Land is also what inspired Nnamdi Kanu to form Eastern Security Network (ESN). The idea is, even if we cannot defend ourselves in the North where they are killing us and destroying our properties, we should at least be able to defend ourselves in our land against attacks from armed marauding killers’ herdsmen.
Let’s Renegotiate Nigeria
All these point to the fact that the current structure of Nigeria is faulty and the need to renegotiate the relationship of the various social and cultural groups that make up the country. What happened yesterday at Dei Dei in Abuja has made this call more urgent. The millions of hard earned income of Igbo traders that went up in flames at Dei Dei yesterday is yet again another reminder that the life and property of the Igbo man as always are not safe in the present Nigeria. Obviously, the Igbo man can be a part of Nigeria but not in its current state where they are always the sacrificial lamb. In the final analysis, there is a limit to what the human spirit can endure. If the consistent call to renegotiate this country continues to fall on deaf ears, a time will come when Ndi Igbo will be forced to pursue their own safety and destiny by whatever means necessary.
