A lot have been said in memory of our fallen heroes in these 50 years since the Biafra/Nigeria civil war. As we remember the painful experience and the abandonment of the people of the then Biafra by the world in that critical period, let us also take the time to reflect on our lives as Ndi Igbo.
Yes, it was a pogrom. Yes, there was an international conspiracy against Ndi Igbo of which nobody has told us our fault till date(The say we orchestrated the first coup and killed everybody but ourselves. But history has proved that wrong). Yes, there was an intended genocide against umu Chukwu. Yes, there is still national and international gang up to suppress, intimidate and quench the Igbo spirit. But Ndi Igbo have shown great resilience by their ability to rise from the rubbles of hatred and oppression to the amazement of the world. Yes, they seized all our assets and gave our fathers £20 pounds (GBP) to start life afresh after the war. All these are gone. We cannot continue counting our losses. That amounts to the parable of Lot’s wife in the Bible who turned into a pillar of salt for looking back when she ought to be moving forward. And believe me, we will all turn into pillars of salt by freezing in consciousness. As we continue to push for proper reconciliation, there is something very important for us to consider with this opportunity for sober reflection.
While I give my support to the struggle for self-actualization and independence, I think that this 50th year anniversary provides the opportunity for total assessment of ourselves as a people. It is also true that since after the war that we have regained all that was taken away from us in double folds. Since then we have travelled far and wide, we have developed in education, science and technology, commerce and industry. We have even made more money than we thought was possible after all we were put through. But amidst all these successes, we have attracted more hatred for ourselves as a people and from our neighbours due to the way we conduct ourselves.
Due to the economic, psychological and social vacuum created in us by all these mistreatments, we went and still going too far in filling our avarice for wealth. Our quest for wealth and material things of life is unequalled and unquenchable. And it makes a mess of our already soiled reputation which was also a victim of the war. Anywhere there is a bad deed, an Igboman is the first suspect. Our bad reputation has grown so wide that other tribes take up our names to commit crime because our names have become synonymous with crime. All over the world, our names have been dented and rubbished with one crime or another. The Igboman will do anything to make money including selling his own parents.
We have made so much blood money by importing fake drugs and claimed so many lives than can be imagined. I personally blame it on our failed system because such things cannot happen a functional system, but we are taking advantage of it like other Nigerians would do in other spheres of life. We have imported all sorts of substandard products into the country simply because we want to make easy money. There are so much treachery and betrayal among us that it becomes obvious that we are not together. The Igbo trader will do anything to maximise profit including swearing by God that what he is selling to you is the quality product even when he is actually killing you. We can’t hide from all these. The whole world is watching. That is why our closest brothers deny us.
Our civil servants are not better. If you enter the office where onye Igbo is the head and speak Igbo, you are in more trouble. You meet an Igbo policeman on the road over a minor traffic offence if care is not taken you will end up in jail. An Igbo man would prefer to please someone from another tribe than helping his brother.
Our desire to get rich quick is unparalleled. In the 70s and the 80s we had more males in school. But now because of our obnoxious exhibition of wealth, the table has turned since the 1990s. Now we have more women in school than men. What is the implication of that in the future? Only time will tell. Rather, a majority of our youths are busy killing and maiming for money.
Even inside of us, there is too much segregation. We know that the reason for creating the states was not for development but to divide us even more. But we could grow above that physical borders and still get connected economically, socially and otherwise. Our leaders are using “local content” to discriminate and divide us ever more. We have made all the money, yet we are still poor in our minds and in the appreciation of what we are. The Enugu man does not want the Anambra man and the Imo man does not want the Abia man. Same with the Ebonyi man. When will it end?
Our love for money seems much because we are loud in attitude and behaviour. We don’t have to be. We don’t love money more than other tribes but our show-off is too much. They all know our weak point and exploit it. In politics, if they are looking for someone to disorganise Ndi Igbo, they would send an Igboman and give him the money he cannot resist. And surprisingly, your brother that was with you yesterday will be ready to kill you to prove his allegiance to his paymasters. But the rest are not so. They will collect your money and still do something that will benefit his/her people. After all it is a stolen money, as they claim. We have been betrayed a lot of times as a result. Now they are not appreciating it as an act of obedience and allegiance, they see us as vulnerable. And truly we are.
In the academics, I acknowledge we are tops, but our bad records still follow us. That academic citadel of learning has turned into a battlefield where seniors lecturers suppress juniors and deprive them of the opportunity to grow. We “make mouth” with the fact that it is very difficult to make a first class or a PhD in our school. That is why lecturers leave their schools to do high degree in another school because the lecturers in their university will not live to see them grow. While other people are taking pride in the number of PhDs and first class produced, we boast with the number of people we failed. What an irony. Kill them before they grow syndrome is everywhere in our Universities. When is the right time to stop all these self-destruction? When is the right time to know that we have made enough money as individual and we must turn and look inward for common good?
When is the time to know that all these division is robbing us of our successes and gains we made since after the civil war? When is the time to realise that “na aha oma aka ego”? (Good name is better than money). When is the time to start emphasising collective group interest rather than personal interest? A 50-year-old who lacks the wisdom of the broom runs the risk of destroying his generation even before his enemies do. The wisdom of the broom demonstrates that a single broomstick is easy to break, but a bunch of brooms can hardly be broken. When will we become like that bunch that is unbreakable?
I dream of the day when an Igboman will respect and acknowledge his brother who speaks Igbo to him.
I dream of a day when our Igbo importers will realise that hurting another individual is hurting himself. It is not part of our culture to kill or hurt people.
I look forward to the day when the Igboman will be known as a symbol of truth and perfection.
I look forward to the day when my child will proudly say that I am an Igbo boy not onye Abia, Enugu, Anambara or onye Ebonyi.
I look forward to the day when my children or yours will be the governor of any of these states because of merit without discrimination.
I look forward to the day when our importers will denounce fake and substandard products and begin to associate themselves with good quality products.
I look forward to the day when money is no more the yardstick to measure greatness in ala Igbo but honesty and uprightness.
I look forward to the day when we shall love each other and be ready to make sacrifice for group interest rather than personal interest.
I look forward to the day when our language will be respected and honoured as a password to opening doors not for shutting doors.
I look forward to the day when we will regain the trust and confidence of our brothers and neighbours who have disassociated themselves from us due to our aggression for wealth. Until that day, this struggle for self-actualization of Biafra may not gain the trust and confidence of many of us in the land.
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