From the time, Nigeria got her independence until today, Igbos have never “drank water and dropped their cup” without any incongruity arising within or outside their territory. Combing the hairs of Igbo records has always been a sad reminiscence of “feudalistic fatherism” and political oppression to the Igbo people of Nigeria.
The massacre of over 10,000 to 30,000 Igbos in the mid-1960’s is still very much green at the heart of every faithful Igbo man. While trying to overlook this vicious bloodbath, you would stumble on a further unpleasant incident that took the lives of over a million Igbos who were casualties of the Biafran war. [1]
Such like stories have fraught the Igbo history. Is it not in Igbo territory that gory monsters (Bakassi) emerge as vigilantes, armed with government clout victimize and kill the poor masses in the disguise of safeguarding the land? Then again, is it not from the same territory that we first heard of a governor, swearing before a brutal deity, to willingly share the national cake of the state with a particular set of hoodlums? The same ground harbors many people who were discovered dead at the front of the shrine. What is happening to the Igbos? Why are we always the victims of circumstance? Is this a curse?
The incident that resulted in the dethronement of the governor of Anambra state is the issue that is currently disturbing the minds of devoted Igbos. Why “godfathers”? What do they impart to the nation? Are they above the law? Somebody asked me a question, “On what system does your state operate; is she a constitutional state”? It took me several minutes to think of the best answer to give. After a few minutes I said, “It is composed of a lawless “Mili-cratic” system, fortified with the survival of the fittest“syndrome, where some people are above the law.
Subsequent to my response, I became speechless in the whole discussion, as I was ashamed of myself over my current state and country system. What else can be said, for I know almost every Nigerian will have a different answer with similar meaning if confronted with the same questions, except those who would like to cover the truth.
In my previous article, “Which way Nigeria?”, I asked symbolical questions of which no one has dared to answer. Where is Nigeria now? Where does she want to be? Which way is the shortest route to reach her destination, and who is leading her to the place?[2] The same question applies to our modern day Igbos. Are we still heavy-eyed? Is this battle not over? Do we still want to hear more mysterious but factual stories? Haven’t we heard enough?
Every Nigerian national and true Igbo person should answer these questions. If your answer is geared towards progress, let it begin from you. Show progress in your family, in your place of work and in any community meeting. We must strive to align our country to step forward. We must save Nigeria from her precarious anarchy!
This movement to combat Nigeria’s illness must start from families, moving on to villages, local government, and continuing to impact even the State government and Federal government. It should be a massive fight to a glorious victory. We must fight to eradicate injustice and corruption in our land. There has been enough bloodshed in Igbo land over the past years. This bloodbath of several millions of Igbos, since our independence until now should have served as fertile ground for peace and progress in the Igbo community and Nigeria at large.
My dear comrades, the battle is over; let us march towards progress. The panacea of our precarious predicament is within us. Let us not go too far from the source in search of thee cause. The government should educate the youth (free education), inculcate a sense of sanity, and promote good health by providing the necessary infrastructure to ameliorate the lives of her people. The share of our national cake should be evenly distributed to all Nigerian citizens. There should be a heightening of transparency in all government affairs. With all this in place, I believe the path to her success will be imminent.
May God bless Nigeria and grant her a good democratic government.!!
References
[1] Collier (1997), Nigeria civil war, Microsoft Encarta reference library 2003
[2] Onwutalobi Anthony, C (2006), Which way Nigeria : a constant cry for help source: http://www.codewit.com/nigeria/which-way-nigeria-a-constant-cry-for-help.html Date accessed 19/04/06
CSN: 7710-2008-10-29
The article was retrieved from http://www.codewit.com with permission and was first published in 2006
