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ch_chukwuma@yahoo.com Paris, France

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THE IKWERRE QUESTION: FACING THE REALITY!

he guardian of Monday the 19th of June published an article titled the "Ikwerre in national politics" by one Okachukwu Dibia. The writer did indeed attempt to analyse the major problems confronting the Ikwerre both politically and economically, but neglected or ignored the most important factor that has stunted the growth of the Ikwerre politically and economically in contemporary Nigeria. As an Ikwerre myself, specifically from Emohua in Rivers State I believe I am most qualified to render my observations on the problems and way forward for the Ikwerre.

Without any doubt the greatest problem confronting the Ikwerre, is the self imposed or politically induced identity crisis that has earned them the distrust of other Nigerians, and hatred of the larger Igbo nation. In order to avoid the confusion that has been unleashed by the identity crisis plaguing the Ikwerre, I took time out to do an extensive research on who the Ikwerre's are, and my findings I believe are common knowledge. During the colonial period the British clearly Identified the Ikwerre's as Igbo. The 1958 Henry Willinks commission report in a less political age also clearly identified the Ikwerre's as Igbo.

Every ethnologue report I consulted compiled by international ethnologue's free from local politics classified the Ikwerre's as Igbo. Inspite of the overwhelming evidence on the true identity of the Ikwerre, the Ikwerre leadership has continued to employ "the great lie strategy"; which says If you repeat a lie so often, it becomes the truth. However I am of the view, that the truth is constant and cannot be changed.

In considering the question of identity, there is a spiritual aspect which a lot of people tend to ignore. We all were created by God, and none of us had the luxury of choosing our race or tribe before we were born. Whatever race or tribe we are born into is the wish of the all knowing supreme God. To deny our God given identity because of some earthly politics is at best an insult to God who created us and made us who we are in the first place. How funny or Stupid would it be to see a Blackman claiming not to be black? What we the Ikwerre's have been doing is no different from such a scenario. In language, culture (new yam festival) or even as our names readily testifies the Ikwerre's could be no other people but Igbo. If the British colonialists had decided to carve out of what we now know as Nigeria, ethnically homogenous nations as is the pattern in Europe, no doubt the Ikwerre would have been part of the Igbo country.

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I believe the time has come for a new thinking among the Ikwerre leadership concerning our identity. It is obvious that whatever the leadership sought to achieve by the needless, shameful and undignified identity sham, the reverse has clearly been the case. Right from the creation of the old Rivers state, the Ikwerre's having sold their birthright for a pot of porridge became marginalized by the Ijaw. That marginalization led the Ikwerre to begin campaigning for the creation of a Port-Harcourt state. In 1996 Bayelsa state was created which automatically made the Ikwerre's the single largest majority in Rivers state, but ironically the Marginalization of the Ikwerre has continued. It is instructive to note that even though the Ikwerre's constitute the largest majority in Rivers state, they were not able to produce the Governor, largely because of the distrust they have earned from other indigenous nationalities, and even non indigenes resident in Rivers state. (Who would trust a man who denies his God given identity?).

The Ikwerre's have continued to be in political and economic wilderness both in Rivers state and nationally. There has never been any significant presence of the Ikwerre in the federal level, and that trend would probably continue until the Ikwerre leadership rediscovers their true identity and earn the trust of other Nigerians.

Common sense indicates that the Ikwerre's would be better off by aligning with the Igbo family who fortunately constitute a majority bloc in Nigeria. Things may not be too rosy for the Igbo at the moment because of the hangover of the civil war, but no condition is permanent and sooner rather than later the Igbo would have to be given their rightful place, which is a sine qua non for Nigeria's very survival. Nigeria is a nation beset with the continuing fear of disintegration. Eventually the overwhelming need to redress the Nigerian quagmire to guarantee her survival and the beginning of true nationhood will compel a honest restructuring of the Nigerian plate in every sphere, which would naturally see the Igbo regain their influence. Without aligning with the larger Igbo family, the Ikwerre can never aspire to play any prominent role in national politics now or in the future.

Politics is a game of numbers. All over the world ethnic groups strive to be the majority in order to be able to play a prominent role in national politics; it is not for nothing that census results have always been historically manipulated in Nigeria to give certain ethnic groups the majority they need to continue to dominate the affairs of state. Yet the Ikwerre leadership has continued to deceive the Ikwerre into struggling to be a minority, when they have the opportunity to be a majority by aligning with the Igbo family where they rightly belong. Whereas the Ijaw is struggling for a majority status, and have even started the campaign for 2 more Ijaw states, the Ikwerre is ironically struggling to be and to remain a minority of minorities. (What a shame!) Whether we like it or not ethnicity will continue to play a role in Nigerian politics. And the grim reality the Ikwerre leadership has to face; is that the Ikwerre's will forever be condemned to politics only at state level unless they assume their true identity and align with the Igbo nation. For instance no Ikwerreman can ever aspire to be the president of Nigeria without the backing of the larger Igbo nation. Even in the state level the Ikwerre's will predictably continue to be politically marginalized for the same obvious reasons.

There is no difference between the Ikwerre and the Isale Eko's of Lagos who are the original inhabitants of Lagos. The Isale Eko's never denied their Yoruba ancestry and have proven to be a very accommodating people, accommodating both the hinterland Yoruba and other Nigerians in general, today Lagos even without oil resources is the richest state in Nigeria. But the Image of the Ikwerre is that of a hostile, deceitful and very unaccommodating people, unaccommodating even to their own people.

The Politics Of Crude Oil:

There is no denying the fact, that crude oil is a factor in the calculations of those that sponsor the needless identity crisis. However oil is a wasting asset, and the Ikwerre must be very smart in dealing with such a situation. While it serves the purpose of those who wish to see a divided Igbo nation, it clearly does not serve the purpose of the Ikwerre in the long run. What happens in 30 or 40 years when the oil wells dry up, like the first well in Oloibiri? Or do we need to condemn our children and our grandchildren to a harsh and uncertain future because of needless greed,opporturnism and politics of divide and rule? The Ikwerre leadership must retrace their steps and walk a fine line between their Igbo brothers and whatever factors led to the identity crisis. In life what goes around comes around, and chickens often come back home to roost, we must not condemn our generation and possibly the generation after to possible retributive justice and punishment.

Ironically even those agents of the Nigerian state Who may have encouraged the identity crisis, though they may have celebrated, because it serves their purpose, yet they will still not trust the average Ikwerreman,because simply put nobody will trust a man who denies his ancestry. "It is better to deal with a trustworthy enemy, than an untrustworthy friend".

Change Will come In Our Time:

As the saying goes; "the only thing that is permanent in life is change" and it will come in our time. Evil cannot triumph, that much is certain. The Ikwerre leadership will be surprised how much they miscalculated, when the momentum for change and change itself will sweep through this land. I pray they quickly retrace their steps before that time comes.

In conclusion I wish to state that people should not deny their ancestry under any circumstances, it is not only cowardly, it is also shameful and a direct assault on God who made us who we are. One of the major reasons why Nigeria has continued to fail, is the willingness to promote fraud and deceit as the basis of statehood.

The best approach is to join forces with our Igbo brothers and fight for justice within Nigeria. By doing this, the Ikwerre Would have been liberated physically and spiritually and would be better placed to take their rightful place politically and economically in Nigeria. Only the truth can set us free!

Reference:

http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ibo