advertisement

ezukanma@verizon.net Washington, DC, USA

ANNOUNCE THIS ARTICLE TO YOUR FRIENDS

OJUKWU: LESSONS FROM THE SSS

t is the policy of the Obasanjo government to relegate the Igbo to second class citizenship in Nigeria. Olusegun Obasanjo was the commander of the 3rd Marine Commando Division that overran the last vestiges of Biafra. He accepted the unconditional surrender of Biafra, and beheld the Igbo at their weakest and most vulnerable state. An avowed Igbo hater, he must have hoped that the Igbo nation remain indefinitely broken and prostrate. The phoenix-like regeneration of the Igbo over the years must have disappointed his expectations. For the past five years, he has been striving to strip the Igbo of all the gains they made in the last 34 years. He falsifies Nigerian history to potray the Igbo as trouble-makers, and his government's programs, political appointments, resource allocation and public investments have all been skewed against the Igbo. The continued harassment of MASSOB, and the recent attempt by the SSS to humiliate Chukwuemeka Ojukwu are all aspects of his overall anti-Igbo strategy.

The Obasanjo presidency has been disastrous for Nigeria. Inspite of the steadily increasing oil revenue that accrues to Nigeria, the economy continues to atrophy, the quality of life in the country steadily deteriorates, hunger and poverty become more prevalent among the populace. Despite his administration's much touted anti-corruption crusade, Nigeria remains the most corrupt country in the world. The sinew of law and order has virtually snapped. The crime rate spirals out of control, and the general lawlessness borders on anarchy. Further, his narrow-mindedness and tribalism alienated a cross-section of Nigerians, and heightened ethnic tension and strife. Thus, making it even more impossible for Nigeria to be a viable country that commands the loyalty of all her people. It was this lack of faith in the feasiblity of a corporate Nigeria that produced MASSOB.

MASSOB represents the Igbo's frustration with the status quo. Its message provides solace for a people deeply wounded by historical injustices. It kindles the Igbo's imagination. It brings to mind the prospect of a sovereign Igbo nation with the potential to become the first black industrial power in the world, built on the limitless possibilities of Igbo creativity and ingenuity, as opposed to the squalor and stagnation they are trapped in, all in the name of one Nigeria. MASSOB is an emotive symbol of oppostion to an irresponsible and repressive government that tramples on the legitimate aspirations of the governed. The massive response to MASSOB's call for a stay home does not make the organization illegal. It was only the Igbo's verdict on the Obasanjo's administration. The verdict being that the Obasanjo presidency is a monumental failure.

advertisement

Nigeria, is supposedly a democracy with constitutional guarantees for the freedom of assocation and expression. Nigerian citizens therefore reserve the right to assemble under the banner of an organization, and espouse an ideal. Such rallying to a cause, as long as it is done peacefully, and within the confines of the law should be respected by the government. MASSOB is not a violent organization, and its activities have not breached the peace. In relation to the Sharia movement and the Oduduwa Peoples Congress (OPC), it is an innocuous group. Uwazurike has neither preached anarchy, nor incited the mob to violence. He is working to actualize Biafra through nonviolent means. The call for a strike is a legitimate tool of protest. It has been used by labor unions, civil right organizations and other activist groups to protest social injustice.

The Sharia movement has been associated with unparalleled barbarity and brutality. It has involved the wantom destruction of property, and the senseless killing of the innocent, by hordes of moslem fanatics matching to the drumbeats of hate-spouting perverts, posing as models of Islamic virtues. The Nigerian constitution allows for the application of the Sharia laws to civil and customary matters. The adoption of the Sharia penal code in some northern states is in violation of the Nigerian constitution. Inspite of its unconstitutionality and attendant savagery, Obasanjo has gingerly skirted the Sharia issue. His attempt to address the issue has been marked by equivocation and vacillation. He has not clamped down on the leaders of the movement. His government is not hounding Hausa/Fulani leaders who expressed support for the Sharia laws.

Oduduwa People's Congress (OPC) is a violent secessionist organization that has used violence and intimidation to further its objectives. It has brazenly flouted the law, attacked the police and murdered innocent people. It has repeatedly formented ethnic violence that has resulted in the deaths of hundreds. Inspite of Obasanjo's repeated promises to ban OPC, the organisation remains active. The federal government has not taken to harassing the Yoruba leadership for their support for OPC. Why then was the SSS trying to harass Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, for voicing his support for MASSOB. Because the Obasanjo administration believes that the Igbo are not entitled to the same rights as other Nigerians.

The point is that Ojukwu committed no offense, but if he did, there should have been an arrest warrant issued for his arrest. If he was being invited for an interview with the SSS, it should have been done respectfully, with some decency. The arrival of some spooky man at his gate, demanding that he goes to Abuja was improper and insulting. In a suffocatingly class conscious and socially stratified society that Nigeria is, the likes of Ojukwu do not fly economy class. So, presenting him an economy class ticket for a trip to Abuja was humiliating. The whole episode was orchestrated to embarrass him.

The gathering of Igbo youths to guard his house, and resist any possible attempt by the SSS to arrest him was laudable. The vocing of support for him by the generality of the Igbo political elite, including members of Ohaneze was unusual and most refreshing. The Igbo political elite have in the past failed those who needed their support. For example, Chuba Okadigbo, though ladened with his excessive baggage of drunkenness and arrogance, at some point, as the President of the Senate, needed Igbo support. Although Ohaneze promised him their support, he didnot get it. The Ohaneze delegation that went to Abuja to rally Igbo legislators to his side succumbed to the beckoning of Aso Rock, and soldout to Obasanjo's blandishments; and pulled the rugs from under his feet. So, in line with Obasanjo's wishes, he was ignominiously forced out of the office of the Senate President. Chris Ngige, an elected governor, kidnapped and forced to resign by a group of swashbucklers supported b! y the federal might needed the support of the political elite, but did not get it. They didnot support him because that would have bruised the sensitivity of Obasanjo and the other political benefactors of Chris Uba.

However, the Ojukwu/SSS saga is only a symptom of the Igboman's problem in Nigeria. So, to dwell exclusively on it is to ignore the real issue, to overlook the broader picture. The expression of solidarity from Igbo youths, organizations and leaders, and Ojukwu's colorful and defiant rhetoric are apt responses to the SSS insult, but they do not address the fundamental problems of the Igbo power elite. They are all endeavors that target the symptom, and not the problem. High fever, for example, is a sympton of malaria. Dosing a malaria patient with cold water in an attempt to reduce his fever is a pointless act. High fever will readily disappear once the illness, malaria, is treated.

The Igbo in Nigeria are not a minority group. Moverover, we are too talented, gifted and resourceful to be consigned to second class citizenship. However, the political antics of the Igbo leaders have sold the Igbo short. We can choose to blame Obasanjo, Hausa/Fulanis, Yorubas, etc for our problems, but that will not in anyway help in resolving these problems. The Igbo, especially the Igbo leadership must take responsibility for the Igbo's political predicaments. Humanbeings are by nature predatory, and those who have made themselves easily prey will be preyed on. Politics is not a game of love, and kindness. It is a colhearted power game. Those who have availed themselves for exploitation, will definitely be exploited. You can only be marginalised if you allow yourself to be marginalised. Those who positioned themselves to be trampled by others will undoubtedly be trampled upon. The Igbo have acquised to their present political circumstances. It is only the Igbo who can cha! nge their present political situation.

Just like education and wealth (when not inherited) come from the individual's effort, struggle and sacrifice, political power comes from group struggle and sacrifice. But a people cannot do anything on their own, unless they are directed strategically, that is, led. A people's political power is therefore contingent on the quality of their leadership. Although the Igbo have fared abysmally in politics, they have been quite successful in education, the professions and business. There is a direct relationship between success in education and business. The Jews have the best intellectual minds in the world, and are also the world's most renowned businessmen. In Nigeria, the Igbo are the most ardent in the pursuit of education, and are also the most astute businessmen. As the Koreans and Chinese are distinguishing themselves in business in America, their children are gaining a disproportionate representation in the best schools in America. Education and business are two sides o! f the same coin, because the central theme in both quests is the same - investment.

Investment in the very broad sense meaning foregoing today's pleasures and short term luxuries in preparation for a better life tomorrow, sacrificing today's resources in other to secure a better tommrrow. Similarly, the acquistion of politcal power comes from political investments, laying foundations for a more secured political future by forgoing today's immediate rewards and/or glory. Due to their greed, short-sightedness and unwillingness to subordinate their personal interests to the collective good of the Igbo, the Igbo leaders, including Chukwuemeka Ojukwu are unable to invest politically. With a greater loyalty to their bank accounts than their people's welfare, they are preoccupied with immediate gratifications: contracts, bribes, payoffs, handouts from the northern feudal lords and Yoruba tribal chieftains. Their fixation on immediate rewards has made it impossible for them to look beyond now, plan ahead and make the necessary political sacrifice. Just as wealth c! an neither be acquired, nor retained without planning and investment, the Igbo have not only failed to acquire political power, but are steadily becoming politically irrelevant. Politically, we were better off in 1979 than in 1999, and better off in 1999 than in 2003.

They have repeatedly shown that they are not particularly motivated by their people's wellbeing. That they have no morals, standards, principles, and that they have a price, and can be bought, usually for a paltry sum. They have chosen to play the role of the servant, serving the will of their masters for a pittance. Is it then surprising that the Obasanjo government is taking the Igbo and their leaders for granted? The lesson for the Igbo leaders is that respect is earned. If you desire to be treated as an equal, you must stop playing the role of the servant. If you desire to dine at the table, you must not only demand a place at the table, but also reject the crumbs falling off the table.

The lessons become even more pertinent to Ojukwu, the master of Biafra, the one of the few Igbo leaders who do not owe his position to the political needs and personal fancies of the northern feudal lords or Olusegun Obasanjo. I am definitely not an Ojukwu fan, but I cannot help acknowledging some of his outstanding qualities. In my view, his Biafranism was recklessness, an obstinate disregard for reason and caution, and the most dangerous approach to addressing the problems of the Igbo nation at the time. The realities of international politics and the geopolitical dynamics of the time made secession a foolhardy venture.

First, we could not count on the support of our neighbors, the African countries, because secession went against the grain of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The organization's charter recognized the gross imperfection, and the inbuilt injustices of the boundaries African countries inherited from their colonial masters, but opposed tinkering with these boundaries for whatever reason. It understood that attempts to change the borders in respect to cultural and ethnic homogenity, or for the self-determination of national units within multinational countries will invariably bring about unprecedented upheavals in Africa. Moreover, a successful secessionist bid anywhere in Africa would embolden the other secessionist movements in other Africa countries: Ethiopia, Sudan, Zaire, Senegal, etc. Therefore, the generality of the African countries were opposed to secession in general, and Biafra in particular.

Secondly, Nigeria was within the British sphere of influence. So, Britain reserved the sole right to determine the fate of Nigeria. No Western nation could intervene in Nigeria against British interests, because these countries have learnt the hard way to respect the spheres of influence of the other powers. The Ist World War was a war of spheres of influence. It was the explosive mix of two struggles for pre-eminence, the global struggle for influence that pitted Germany against France and Britain, and the rivalry for dominance in the Balkans between the Russian and the Hapsburg (Austrian) Empires, that sparked off the 1st World War. And from where the 1st World War ended, the 2nd World War finished off.

The United States invaded Panama, a sovereign nation, arrested her president and imprisoned him, without a murmur from the corridors of power of any Western country, because Panama is with the US area of domain. Inspite of American's total abandonment of Liberia (during her civil war), no major power went in to fill the void in Liberia. The peace accord that ended the war in Rhodesia, a renegade British colony, later renamed Zimbabwe was brokered in London. It was the British who finally determined the fate of Sierra Leone after many years of civil war. France naturally intervened, diplomatically and militarily, in Ivory Coast, a former french colony. The peace accords between the government of Ivory Coast and the rebel groups were reached under the auspicies of the French government.

Lately the French have restored to horrifying levels of heavy handedness in Ivory Coast, destroying the entire Ivorian airforce, and shooting at unarmed civilians protesting against the overbearing French presence in their country. Still, no European government has challenged the French presence and design in Ivory Coast. Similarly, it was the prerogative of the British to determine the fate of Nigeria as of 1967. Some European powers, France and Portugal, and even the United States, especially during the Nixon administration sympathized with Biafra, but could not get involved. It didnot require the most rudimentary knowledge of history or politics to know that Biafra was a doomed enterprise.

However, inspite of Ojukwu's arrogance, despotism and remarkably outrageous political blunders, he, unlike any other Igbo leader has outstanding qualities for leadership: powerful ego, oratorical grace, intellectual depth, personal magnetism. In addition, he personified the Igbo's concept of success - wealth and knowledge - millionaire-born and Oxford educated. He used his uncanny abilities, and unique dispositon to maximum effect in Biafra. Thus, he acquired an enthralling hold on Igbo minds. He became to the Igbo a messianic figure, if not a deity. While the name Nnamdi Azikiwe remains the most revered name in Igboland, the name Ojukwu evoked more powerful emotions, that of ethnic pride, defiance and (Igbo) patriotism. With his mesmerizing grip on Igbo minds, and the awe he inspired in Nigerian minds, his return from exile, in the words of Frederick Forsyth, "redrew the political map of Nigeria". With the exception of the political fathers of the nation, Nnamdi Azikiwe and! Obafemi Awolowo, he towered above every other Nigeria politician. According to Forsyth in the book, Emeka, the likes of Alex Ekwueme were visibly nervous around him. In addition, almost every political party dreaded him, but assiduously courted his alliance.

For him to have fallen from that pinnacle of political influence and relevance to a point where he is being toyed with by the SSS, something went terribly wrong over the years. He proved himself a political profiligate. Improvidently, he spent his political capital. Lacking in both principles and conviction, he sought ephemeral glory and immediate remuneration. Consequently, he blundered repeatedly. The most egregious of these political blunders being his Ikemba Front (and its attendant disturbance of the peace in Igboland) and his political waltz with Sani Abacha. His political association with the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and Sani Abacha served his personal interests on the short run, but exposed him for what he is, a political mercenary, ready to offer his services to anyone willing to pay for it.

The insults he can now recieve from the SSS are therefore consequences of his own actions. His mercurial politics founded on cheap glory and quick money stripped him of his credibilty and respectability, and blemished his political credentials. All his theatrics and colorful oratory are wonderful, but neither the histrionic of a movie star, nor the oratorical flourishes of a pentecostal preacher can ever restore his political credibility and relevance.