ontrary to the widely held perception,
the Igbo love Nigeria most
and have invested plenty in infrastructural development
from Port Harcourt to Bornu and from Sokoto to Lagos state
in a bid to prove their belief in one Nigeria
and every corner of the nation, their home.

But the Igbo feel unwanted
in a country they love,
and through visible political body language
have been edged out of political equation
and relegated to the status of permanent by-stander.

Nature seems to fill the air with uneasy calm,
while anarchy forges its daggers
from the broken pieces of splintered sword,
and in the face of the tribunal of public opinion
poorly informed youth accept to play the role of proxy
for the conservative elites.
Madness, that permanent state
of vertiginous somnambulism is poised
to unleash unreasonable acts.

There is nothing inherently evil in projecting
a people's ethnic love and identity.
But when ethnic follows the doctrine of exclusion,
it becomes horrifying and harmful,
when used as a yardstick for citizenship,
it infringes on human right,
and when invoked as a justification for extermination
of other ethnic groups,
it stands as a danger for civilization.

June 12, 2917