FEATURE ARTICLE

Dozie Ikem Ezeife, Esq.
ezeife@yahoo.com
Attorney-At-Law
Oakland, CA, USA

The Igbo leader - Myth or Reality?

ages of local newspapers and magazines are replete with conflicting claims to leadership of Ndigbo by various people in Igboland. It seems that any Igboman who acquires a chieftaincy title or finds himself in any political position, elected or appointed, quickly lays claim to the leadership of Ndigbo. Any Igboman who can adorn "Ishi agu" automatically transforms himself to an Igbo leader. State Governors, Federal and State Legislators, Federal Ministers, Political Party Officials and plain political charlatans all claim the leadership of Ndigbo. It is only amongst the Igbos that people are so immodest as to self-proclaim themselves tribal leaders. The Yoruba, the Hausa/Fulani and other tribal leaders earn their status and do not feel the need to openly campaign for that status. Abraham Adesanya and before him, Obafemi Awolowo and Pa Ajasin, did not usurp the status of Yoruba leaders. Their tribesmen bestowed the honour on them guided by their prior efforts to protect and preserve the Yoruba interest over and above their selfish personal interest. Reuben Abati recently spoke on the vexed question of Igbo leadership thus "Dimgba Igwe and Mike Awoyinfa.... have raised critical questions about the structure of political leadership in Igboland. Who is an Igbo leader? Is there really a void in leadership in the East which just about anybody can fill...If Orji Kalu's mother and supporters are able to organize some Aba cheerleaders to praise him, does that translate into Igbo leadership in Enugu, Owerri, and Abakaliki?"

These self-proclaimed Igbo leaders have been enmeshed in their selfish drive for material wealth and their interest in crushing perceived challengers to their "leadership" at the expense of the greater Igbo interest. That explains the current trend amongst these "leaders" in defining the Igbo Agenda in terms of political appointments and contracts as opposed to development projects that would benefit the entire Igbo community.

Leaders of the rival tribes, especially the Hausa/Fulani, are aware of this fatal flaw and therefore have perfected the modus operandi of tossing a few monetary crumps and innocuous political appointments their way to cause a scramble and an in-fighting each time the Igbos make an effort to come together to present a common front. The NPN employed this potent tactic during the second republic and the PDP are currently improving on the tactic.

The Igbo "leaders" have a penchant for destroying their rival "leaders" to curry favor with politicians from other tribes. Whilst the Yorubas deified Chief Awolowo, Igbo politicians flippantly mocked Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe. Senator Chuba Okadigbo is reputed to have dismissed Zik's criticism of the Shagari Administration as the incoherent "ranting of an ant". No Yoruba man/woman would have had the temerity to call Pa Awolowo an ant. No Hausa/Fulani man/woman would have dared to use such a demeaning epithet to qualify the Sardauna. Igbo leaders such as Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu, Chief Jim Nwobodo, Chief Alex Ekwueme, and Chief C.C. Onoh have suffered similar faith in the hands of their kith and kin. The Hausa/Fulani hail the Sardauna as a hero and will never speak evil of the great leader. Aminu Kano and Tafawa Balewa enjoy similar immunity from politically expedient criticism.

Speaking on the question of an Igbo President in 2003, Chudi Okoye made several very important points. In his seminal piece: Why I am against Igbo Presidency in 2003, he said that the Igbos are today not in a good shape to make much use of the ultimate political power because their leaders are in "stupendous political disarray" and no-one knows what these "feckless leaders" stand for. He maintained that these "leaders" have not espoused any coherent political ideology for Ndigbo and are largely embroiled in factional rivalry. His conclusion was that "without a clear political vision, without a cohesive leadership, and without a discrete political organization", Ndigbo cannot make a serious bid for the Presidency of Nigeria. I agree. A cursory look at the raging debate amongst Igbo "leaders" on the subject of the Igbo Presidency in 2003, will reveal the disarray among these "leaders" and will reveal the abject lack of cohesive political target for Ndigbo.

In 1999, it was Igbo "leaders" who conspired with the Hausa/Fulani political elite to steal the presidential candidacy of the PDP from Chief Alex Ekwueme and toss it over to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Three years later, the same corps of perfidious Igbo "leaders" are now crying marginalization of Ndigbo and are tossing around the concept of Igbo Presidency in 2003. What irony!

The pioneer Igbo leaders: Azikiwe, Ibiam, Okpara, Ojike, Orizu, et al., selflessly served the Igbo community. Theirs was a time when merit was respected and sound moral conviction was the order of the day. They did not defer to the moneybags but they strove to discharge their functions devoid of corruption. Many of these leaders retired and died penniless. The legacy they built and left behind was one of exemplary service.

The advent of the next corps of Igbo "leaders" heralded the arrival of fractional infighting. The creation of political fiefdoms by individual Igbo "leaders" who were preoccupied with carving out a permanent sphere of influence and control for themselves. The idea of a united Igbo interest was lost in the shuffle. These leaders allowed themselves to be used by other tribal political machines and the military to tear down other Igbo "leaders" and to marginalize Ndigbo. Little wonder that every political party since the Second Republic had an Igbo Director of Publicity and every military regime had an Igbo Army Information Officer. These charlatans were used essentially as attack dogs often against Ndigbo. Other than Odumegwu Ojukwu who led Ndigbo during their ill-fated bid to secede, the only other Igbo "leader" who fought selflessly for his people was Chief C.C. Onoh. He spearheaded and relentlessly fought for the preservation and protection of the "Wawa" peoples interest. A cross section of Ndigbo (yours truly included) disliked him for his pro-Wawa stance but one cannot but recognize his true leadership and immense contribution to 'his peoples' aspirations.

The current Igbo "leadership" is a classic exercise in political and strategic implosion. What we have is a myriad of political and economic desperados parading as Igbo "leaders" and in the process singing discordant tunes. They have descended from the sublime to the ridiculous. They have succeeded in turning Ndigbo into a laughing stock. The Igbo tribe has been reduced from an equal stature with the Hausa/Fulani and the Yoruba, to the status of an inconsequential minority tribe. We are now "led" by political opportunists and apologetics hand-picked and "imposed" on Ndigbo via the pages of newspapers by puppeteers from other tribes. They spend their time barking and sniping at each other in their desperate efforts to outdo each other in their contest to impress their political benefactors from the other tribes.

Ibiyinka Solarin in his interesting piece: How Obafemi Awolowo became the Leader of the Yoruba and its Lesson for Today, said "...one thing must be borne in mind always; partisan politics or not, the Yoruba, discerning and fastidious as ever, are eminently adept at differentiating and separating the chaff from the substance. They know who is in politics in search of lucre, position and patronage, personal aggrandizement, hence not every politician can even remotely be considered let alone be chosen to hold this title." This should be an interesting food for thought for the Igbo "leaders" and those they "lead".

In summary, leaders or no leaders, what is important to Ndigbo is keeping alive the Igbo Agenda and the pursuit of equality of opportunities for Ndigbo.