A vulture is known as a bird that pulls it's legs out very long before it gets to where it will perch. My people see that attitude of the vulture as an indication that the vulture is a bird without sound cognitive abilities.
Now, let it be clear and it's as clear as snow that Ndigbo have continued to be relegated to the background - as far as Nigeria's political equation is concerned - since the end of the last civil war. This is even without considering the pogrom that preceded the war and the casualties of the war and the obnoxious policies against, and callous treatment meted out on, Igbos - by the Nigerian state - immediately after the end of that war.
That's talking about the £20-to-any-amount monetary policy, deliberate and conscious scheming Ndigbo out of the indegenisation exercise of the seventies, etc by the Nigerian state. These things were terrible handouts from a state that declared 3 Rs at the end of a 30-month gruesome debacle. Every Igbo man or woman will see this as greatest injustice. And I see it as such. But the method of seeking a redress, by various Igbo groups, is what will become the tragedy of the the situation.
To rewind the whole steps that led to the past experience would mean that nobody has learnt anything from history. If there has been any changes in the variables that led to the earlier events that have brought us to where we are today, they are only precarious in nature. We've not installed industry where armament is manufactured. We've not reduced the number of tribes that hated us; in short we increased that number with recklessness. We've not secured coastal areas; in short those through which we would secured the sea are in defiance with our course the more. We've not built bridges with other tribes that would enhance their letting us go without acrimony. We've not made any sustainable diplomatic move that would increase the number of super powers that worked against the success of the first move.
Initially, there was this notion that "Igbo enwe Eze". Today we are seeing that Igbos are now having "Ezes" even before the kingdom is declared. All, in the name of activism. When Igbos want to start their own things, they put "jara", sometimes, negatively. The new Republic being sought for may end up being thorn apart by the number of "Ezes" that will be strutting to lead it, reminiscent of Southern Sudan, if it ever comes to fruition.
What is playing out now actually shows that some of these agitators - IPOB particularly - are far from being politically diplomatic and with little knowledge of internationally acclaimed processes leading to self-determination.
Who says that self-determination is self-destruction? We have many other self-determination groups around the world. We should learn from those who have succeeded and those who are still on the mission.
Unmitigated arrogance and a parochial understanding of the enormity of the challenge blinds the IPOB management.
Their only understanding of methodology of self determination is insult, vitriolic language and some insane notion - such as - that Trump has passed an executive order for the creation of Republic of Biafra or that the British Parliament or United Nations has ordered the Nigerian government to conduct referendum for Biafra's exit from Nigeria. Very weird thinking, indeed. The Nigerian state has a very vital role in the fate of a sovereign Biafra, if need be.
It is true that peaceful protests for self-determination is not outlawed by any local or international legislation or treaty provided it does not encroach on societal peace, but are we not all grown to understand the saying that words are more lethal than weapons? The scars of weapons are only on the skin while the scars of words are internalized in the subconscious.
There has never been any strategy by this group. You are complaining of marginalization and here you are co-opting other groups without their consent and anybody who does not align is washed down like a leper.
Where in this wild world has the arrow head of a struggle become a feudal lord and a spiritual head, heavily beaded with a monarchical costume, all in one? Have we gotten to the promised land, yet?
We all should be wise to know that squeezing Ndi Igbo into a small space is not going to give them the latitude to unleash their industry. The meaning that the Southeast is the most densely populated is that we have more people than others in the same square kilometer of land. And we all agree that an enlarged economic block within a country is far more relevant than smaller units of economic blocks with geographical boundaries. And IPOB has this temerity of attacking everybody, including Ohaneze, etc.How will a house divided against itself sustain an offensive from outsiders? Can't we be reasonably civil when even there is no agreement? Should everybody who does not agree with the method become "efulefu", animals in the zoo, etc?
How may times have IPOB and co asked the political leaders of the East for accountability? Why should we fail to recognize that it is the Nigerian State that is responsible for the Igbo retardation and not every Hausa/Fulani or Yoruba or Ijaw or TIv or Nupe, etc, who is also denigrated by the same system? In the process, we incur the wrath of ordinary citizens of the other groups who suffer the same fate with the ordinary citizens of Igbos.
If this agitation is executed with diplomacy, we would even see that it would be more portent towards the real enemies of the people; the political class. We make the mistake of dividing the ordinary people who would have helped in igniting a revolution. What is needed is not this tribal acrimony but a total revolution that will address the entire system and unseat the real agents of oppression. Is there any division amongst oppressors?
I shudder when some Igbos parade the notion by some other groups in Nigeria that they will declare their own republic less than 12 months after Biafra succeeds. Can you imagine that? You've been the guinea pig and you want to become another one. When shall we have sense? I understand the frustration. I see it. It's real. I feel it. But I choose not to lose my senses. The problem of Igbos is the Nigerian state including Igbo "leaders" and not the talakawas, the proletariat across the country. We should identify the problem. Placing analgesic on stomach ulcer is not just wasteful, but irrational.
My greatest frustration is that some young people are toying with what can cause the carnage of greatest magnitude in the history of humanity. Where is the strategy? Where is caution? Where is a fallback arrangement?
Out of the 30-45 million Igbo population in the country, it's not an overstatement to say that over 45% are living amongst other tribes with heavy investments there and with another 5% living abroad. What is the plan for their safe exit without amicable disintegration in view of all the venom spewed out on all other groups?
Quest for self-determination should be very well calibrated with sufficient education and unbridled diplomatic strategy and backed up by extreme unison on the spearheading groups and inclusiveness that would vitiate division.
Igbos say that Ukpana okpoko gburu, nti chiri ya.
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