In the first part of this essay, I stressed the need for Igbo Charter and the components that would help an Igbo convention in producing
a document based on Igbo cultural ideals as they pertain to a "nation state." I also warned that until
there is an established order to be respected and upheld, the state of the Igbo nation "will" continue
to be vulnerable, thus being receptive to empire and anarchy. In addition, I pointed out that when establishing
a "nation state," a consensus is required in order to present a document suitable for the people in question,
meaning the purpose of a "nation state" viewed from the perspective to recognize and maintain a legitimate
institution of a democratic fabric and especially of Igbo cultural and traditional ideals must be a collective
effort, entailing Igbos from all walks of life.
But the problem that persists in establishing a working
document for Igbo common good has been the result of lack of forming a coalition for Igbo unity. In the pages that
follow, coupled with extensive research and analysis, I attempt to point out the problems and loopholes, and why
it is very important to sustain the existence of the present generation and the ones to come. However, it should
also be recalled and borne in mind that when there is a quarrelsome and disenchanted collective whose enemies are
well entrenched in figuring out the weakness of its prey by planting seeds of discord to create factions as commonly
seen within the Igbo nation, and when Nd’Igbo becomes part of the growing problem allowing their enemies to dictate
the ways and means on which Igbo is to survive, then a whole lot of work is required to reshape and bring about
a cultural order of Igbo ideals.
On the other hand, one of the reasons why Nd’Igbo continued
to be disorganized without a charter has been the ongoing rift among Igbo Diaspora and the inability to resolve
the rift and pursue collectively the "Igbo agenda." And I have said it in many occasions that the prerequisite
for Igbo unity and survival would be a nation state directed toward building a cultural and traditional order with
the understanding the Igbo nation is a "nation state."
And why do Nd’Igbo need a charter? First of all, a charter
for any nation state is required to preserve basic Igbo ideals for what most writers and commentators have called
"Igbo common good." It would also serve as a mandate to participate in internal conflicts with the necessary
tools as a principle to be respected and upheld in all aspects, as the working document would prescribe. A mandate to determine the values with the ability to strengthen
its commitments in sustaining the existence of Nd’Igbo as a "nation state." The idea of a nation state
in this respect, would be to address the concerns of Nd’Igbo and provide a solution
to its troubles, grand and small, with a zeal meant to pursue a common interest for Igbo common good. It is the
simple truth that every community in the Igbo nation today either lacks a sense of direction or has been struggling
to survive the hostilities in its surroundings for the fact that a profound guideline or principle from a general
Igbo standpoint is lacking.
In elaborating the significance of a "nation state"
whereby one is bound to adhere to the provisions of the subject-matter in enforcing its rules and regulations,
it is very important to know that character counts if checks and balances are to be effected. Character, here,
must be demanded on many grounds-from logistics to credibility, from accountability to transparency, from hard
work to being reliable and from honesty to faithfulness-to be sure that those entrusted with responsibilities to
man the structures established with a sense of purpose, which is being totally dedicated would not demonstrate
their unsteadiness and even their worthlessness in the face of criticism and adversity.
Given that character can be misguided if proper examinations
are not carried out in choosing the character which may reflect on the purpose of a charter, Igbo as a collective
whose representatives from all walks of life in the Igbo nation should be able to detect such a bad character and
make the necessary changes required to produce a formidable and capable directive to meet its projected mandate. The persons who self-appointed themselves to draft a set of “articles of surrender” and pass it
off as Igbo charter turned out to come from the ideological armpit of AlaIgbo.
After so many years of humiliation and persecution, one
could observe and quickly realizes that the issue of character toward effective leadership has haunted Igbos especially
since the post-civil war era. And one also quickly recognizes why character and effective leadership
drawn from the understanding based on merit and showmanship has failed Igbos all along, and upon cease fire. Now
the question here is: how is character picked and identified when dishonesty, being gullible and vulnerable is
at stake? But, how is character chosen as in this regard never minding the
fragile state of the person in question based on his or her moral standings even though it is well known the person
possesses leadership capabilities? Do the leaders get elected or appointed based on their moral bearings or leadership
capabilities or should they be taken on both? And if the leaders are elected recognizing the importance of their
morality, how are the abilities determined requiring fortitude to effect change? Or if detecting one with organizational
skills, what then guarantees his or her reputation of moral outrage would not be a hindrance to propelling the
establishment of the Igbo Nation to the forefront as laid out by the charter?
Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, who to date
since the post-civil war era was the only individual with guts to challenge the Fourth Republic in a quest to actualize
the sovereign state of Biafra, demanding the right to self-determination from a complex Nigerian state on the ground
it would be however the only ideal to achieve solidarity. Uwazuruike was roadblocked probably to kill the vision because according to the moral weaklings who now say they want to draft
an Igbo charter, MASSOB was not the right choice
to speak on behalf of the Igbo nation. While other Igbo elites held their tongues on the fate of the Igbo nation
and Biafra, Uwazuruike boldly challenged
Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration,
pointing to discrimination, injustice, and illegal arrests of MASSOB members, while Ganiyu
Adams of Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) caused havoc and instituted criminal activities and high-tech armed robbery
all over the Western states of the country. Adams, whose gang of criminals could be compared to the spooky days of
Lawrence Anini-Monday Osumbo armed robbery network,
was an outlaw and could not be arrested or found despite the bounty on his head by Obasanjo’s shadow government.
Ironically, that was how the confused bunch of "Igbo
elites" played their so-called "significant" roles in defending the interest of Nd’Igbo. Issues
like the horrific Sharia debacle of the satanic Islamic North in which scores of Igbos lost their lives and Obasanjo’s outright hatred toward Nd’Igbo. Unlike Uwazuruike’s MASSOB and
the sudden emergence of Bakassi Boys, Adams had full backing by the elders and kingmakers of the Yoruba nation
claiming his gang of hoodlums and professional hit-men were protecting indigenes of the Egbe
Omo Oduduwa from criminals.
When Adams gang took to the streets of Lagos and other cities in the Western Region to "protect its citizens"
even though it was well known Adams faction of OPC were a bunch of criminals who maimed innocent citizens, carried
out political assassinations to silence opponents of the "sovereign nationalists" and renewed the institution
of anarchy in what supposedly should be a new democratic experiment based on the rule of law, a collaboration of
Yoruba kingmakers and Obasabjo’s inept and corrupt administration could not locate Adams’ Gangs of
the West and arrest them for criminal activities. The Yoruba nation, including those of the Diaspora stood behind
Adams and demanded from Obasanjo’s government that
his warrants be repealed.
When in May 1999, Obasanjo was sworn in as president of a fabricated Fourth Republic with his vows of "no sacred cows," the Igbo nation and its confused bunch of "elites"
were the only ethnic group caught in crossroads, having problems figuring out what exactly they want. If you remember
(those who can remember), it was in our own eyes Obasanjo told a inquiring mind in an Atlanta gathering that "Igbos can go to hell." It is also noteworthy
to recall that the same bunch of confused "Igbo elites," the efulefu Diaspora bunch reneged and abandoned their "Biafra Lives" mantra, substituted
some gibberish about “embellishment,” and headed to Abuja to seek political appointments and inflated government
related contracts after going behind closed doors opened by Kema Chikwe to shake the treacherous and bloody hands of Obasanjo. They came back to New
Jersey with fat wallets
and permanently sealed their tongues.
"Charity" they say "begins at home,"
and one of the fundamentals of Obafemi Awolowo’s initiated Egbe Omo Oduduwa is that every Yoruba has to be his or "her" brothers keeper. Nd’Igbo pay lip service to their Onye aghala nwanneya analogue to Egbe Omo Oduduwa . The dream of cohesiveness announced by by Igbo leaders of precivil war era meant
nothing to the privilege and "elite class" when Igbos were murdered in the most brutal of circumstances
on the eruption of the Sharia debacle. Most ironic, one would say, while Igbo lives and properties were being destroyed,
people like Ojo Maduekwe, Kema Chikwe, ABC Nwosu and the rest efulefu
bunch were busy selling out and feeding from the crumbs of Aso Rock caliphates, war
criminals, and bigots.
But we the Igbo, renowned for knowing that there is no substitute
for hard work and believing in the ideals of collectivity established by our Founding Fathers did not take to heart
what our leaders built over their lifetime and squandered every opportunity toward our enterprise and growth because
of greed, material rivalry and lack of leadership. And when our troubles began with our "adversaries"
and "colonists" as some commentators would put it, no serious move was made however to take care of what
was destroying the Igbo nation, and when a new crop of "leaders" emerged during the Reconstruction Era
with greater expectations of unifying the Igbo nation, the crop of "new leaders" did not envision a disorganized
and chaotic people would become the order of the day--a perfect and well-calculated strategy mounted by the "adversaries"
for either a dissolution of the Igbo nation or a people who would forever feel humiliated and conquered. In this
case, the consequences of that strategy are both.
Nevertheless, if Nd’Igbo had realized the dismal effects
of the pogrom and civil war, forming a coalition among all aspects entailing the Igbo nation, and if divisional
leaders had taken up the responsibilities with the consciousness of the status quo having the sense of purpose
to rebuild their communities as a collective, overcoming their predicaments as instituted by the "colonists"
and "adversaries," the common place humiliations, embarrassments and grave injustice as it’s been seen
today would never have existed or taken form. The demise, however, did take form for many reasons relating to the
fact Igbos are a conquered people. Conquered in the sense they gave up hope and abandoned all principles to living
the legacy of Igbo ga adi ndu ruo mgbe ebiebi, Igbo will live till eternity.
In the 1967 Six-Day War, the nation of Israel was marked for destruction by the Arab League. Then Israeli leader Levi Eshkol
noted the avalanche of threats to Israel’s
security and statehood. He was heavily criticized for his dovish role in an alleged compromise
with the Arabs, proposing a comprehensive peace treaty based on direct negotiations. When Eshkol’s interest was targeted toward giving "full respect for the independence, sovereignty, and territorial
integrity of all the states in the region," he was politically isolated followed by reproach and the emergence
of several opposition parties, among them: The
Herut Party,
led by Menachem Begin and Rafi formed by former
Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion along with his protégés Shimon Peres and Moshe Dayan. Many more parties sprang up in a tactic, presumably diplomacy, to keep the Jewish state divided
and permanently disfigured.
At a time of mounting border friction, Eshkol was reproached by his Jewish opponents who insisted on a military attack on Syria to defend the Golan
Heights and maintain the state of
Israel at all cost. Regardless of the factions, the Jews had one sole purpose
that their enemies or adversaries would not be allowed to undermine their collective commitment to preserve the
Jewish state and defend her territories under any circumstances. Despite Eshkol’s determination to make peace and cede the Golan Heights, the Suez Canal, the Sinai Peninsula and
the surroundings of the Sea of Galilee proferring dialogue to
avoid the destruction of Israel, Jewish military elites and hardliners consisting of Dayan,
Begin, Ariel Sharon, Yitzak Rabin, Peres, Ehud Barak, Yitzak Shamir, Jonathan Netanyanhu and numerous others gave Eshkol an ultimatum to
abdicate his office or defend and preserve the state of Israel until the last blood is lost. Eshkol gave it a thought with sound counselling by his advisers
considering the fragile state of the Jewish nation realizing what it means to defend Israel. He rallied his opponents and allied with the more left-wing to respond on Arab aggression.
When Egyptian president Gamel
Abdel Nasser declared war on the Sinai Peninsula to
destroy Israel and when Damascus Radio boasted, "The war of liberation will
not end except by Israel's destruction," the reaction to defend the state of Israel was swift and vehement with Dayan immediately installed
as defense minister. The war projected to last longer than anyone could have imagined to decimate the Jewish state was over in six days, in an overwhelming favor of Israel's military might on the command of Dayan. The Six-Day War
as it became known entered the history books and Israel
unified ever since.
It is true that Nd'Igbo had been engaged in a war in which
diplomacy reached at Aburi could have avoided the starvation to death of 200,000 infants and
children if the International Community had intervened and compelled the Nigerian vandals with an ultimatum to
stop its military aggression on the Igbo nation and respect the resolutions at Aburi
or face the consequences of imminent counter attack to save the Igbo nation from extermination. Biafra, was indeed alone with no sympathy from the International Community.
The decision at Aburi was followed by Yakubu Gowon's purchase of "weapons of mass destruction" from his Russian and British collaborators
capsuling the Igbo nation. When it was all over, hundreds of thousands of
Igbo men, including women perished or were displaced.
Enter the new era, the time to start all over again realizing
who the enemies were after exercising the right to self defense as all states have, including Israel, fighting and paying the price, Igbos found solace dealing with
their enemies who wanted them wiped out from the face of this planet.
Henceforth, every project was abandoned and the idea of
building bridges based on Igbo cultural ideals for the Igbo nation became a lost cause. When the vandals staged
a pogrom against the Igbo nation, it was assumed Igbos learned their lessons and it was time they start all over
again with a clean slate in reestablishing a profound Igbo nation. That did not happen. Igbos fell apart, fell
from the standard and became a beating drum.
So, how then could Igbos form a coalition toward a "common
goal" for "Igbo common good?" Would it be with Uwazuruike's MASSOB and
thousands of Igbo related cultural and social organizations like the worthless Nd'House of Los Angeles? As the mess grows, what are the exit strategies to form a coalition toward
a "common goal" for "Igbo common good?" When we don't even want
to talk about it, talk less of helping one another with thousands of fraudulent organizations that is found
here and there? It is the truth that no Igbo cultural or social organization takes to heart the plight of the suffering
Igbo man on the street or the fate of a troubled kin if it's not how much you've got in your wallet. Uwazuruike, on the other hand, wanted to unify the Igbos with sound cultural and political backing as perceived
when his movement began without a clue he was also pursuing a show of his own interest. The ending was very dramatic.
Picture this: Chief Uwazuruike arrives in his state sponsored leased limousine to the African Union Conference in a city of the
African continent chaired by a notorious African tyrant. Uwazuruike is given a red
carpet reception representing the sovereign state of Biafra as other heads-of-state
would do on behalf of their respective nations. He takes salute as leaders of other African nations would do, too.
He takes his seat alongside his beautiful bride and watches other leaders shake hands. He joins in the handshaking
and introduces himself as the new leader of Biafra.
He is full of life and happy for the nation he singlehandedly fought for its independence by persuading and convincing the international community about cases
of genocide, discrimination, ethnic cleansing and blah, blah, blah against his own people. While the head-of-state
Uwazuruike is feasting, and right outside the building of the conference, Uche Okwukwu, "Nwamazi" Obinna Okoro and Longinus Orjiako are on sentry with their bullhorns singing the blues they started the movement together and shocked
to find themselves abandoned. That "only heaven knows!"
If you can imagine, this is the fantasy of Uwazuruike and Okwukwu in what could have been dramatically a box office hit in Hollywood.
I quit reading anything about
MASSOB. Not that I was no longer interested
in its worthy causes, but I became disgusted with its tellflaws. In May 2000,
BiafraNigerians were panick-stricken 
learning
MASSOB would be declaring the sovereign state of Biafra in supposedly a dialogue of a right to self-reliance. Evidently,
as the MASSOB "Manifesto" began to attract Diaspora attention with mass following, Uwazuruike became the star of the movement in what was seen as liberating Biafra. But as time
went by, MASSOB's tale propped by Uwazuruike and criticized
by his opponents became a twisted one, bent into strange shapes by scandals, sex and alcohol. Before they met to
actualize the state of Biafra, lawyer-businessman turned activist, Uwazuruike, presumably had tailored himself to spearhead a new movement in the wake of the fabricated Fourth Republic. Elsewhere in the coast, there was another lawyer named Okwukwu, savvy enough to know that working together with Uwazuruike would create
an alliance relative to a profound Biafra statehood.
The movement started in earnest. Uwazuruike had put together a group of loyalists as followers and had sought for support from the Diaspora,
which was overwhelmingly received. Besides, it was justified in his quest for Biafran statehood based on the eruption
of several incidents as the Fourth Republic
took its course in upholding democracy and respecting the rule of law. In April 2000, less than a year when Obasanjo was sworn in as president, the question of religion and state apparently ignored by the military
juntas who wrote the constitution, was not considered by the old wine in a new bottle bunch of legislators who
were only after their own belly as would be lawmakers. No one envisioned a fire would prompt the satanic Islamic
Jihadists to action. The heated debate was that the fabricated 1999 constitution
in its specificity had deliberately ignored the relevance of Sharia, therefore, the satanic Islamic Northern states,
especially the radical and more devilish states of Zamfara and Kaduna, among
others, in its state legislature found it appropriate and constitutional to implement Sharia laws. The makers of
Sharia had argued that, for democracy to survive in the nation's political dispensation, Sharia must be observed
and respected as a law governing the regions of the Islamic faith. The Christian South then argued Sharia was unconstitutional,
gruesome and barbaric by its nature.
The Sharia gimmick was another political strategy to sought
Igbos wherever they could be located in the Islamic North, round them up and slaughtered them in continuation of
a quest to eliminate the Igbo nation. In the wake of the Sharia debacle, the carnage in Kaduna,
Kano and several other cities in the Islamic Jihadic North, the world witnessed how the evil Islamic fanatics littered the streets with burned beyond
recognition innocent Christians, majority of the victims, Nd'Igbo who were going about and carrying out their normal
business activities. Churches where Nd'Igbo worshipped were burned down to the ground. Market stalls owned by Igbo
traders were plundered and demolished to preserve satanic Sharia in the name of a one united Nigeria.
Imagine!
On that score, one would be wondering what significant role
Ohanaeze Nd'Igbo and the "elite class" played in addressing the
spooky Sharia when helpless Igbo traders were rounded up and slaughtered in the most brutal of circumstances. As
it happened, it was clear no one understood or knew the position of Igbo elites and Ohanaeze on that given issue, the fact that Igbo leadership was totally lacking during the systematic massacre.
Also, given the apparent circumstances behind a possible attack on Igbo residents in the Islamic North as the Sharia
laws was being implemented, the confused bunch of Ohanaeze Nd'Igbo and the
desperate money-loving efulefus of World Igbo Congress who would rather stand aside and watch its
kith and kin slaughtered than confront the origins of the bloodlust Sharia whose positive bloodthirstiness has
always been aimed at Nd'Igbo.
Perhaps one would take it that the reckless attitude by
"Igbo elites" prompted Uwazuruike to take action and save the Igbo nation from doom. Uwazuruike, however, was playing an important role, keeping a legacy alive and well. On May 30, 2000, Uwazuruike, determined and desperate, carried out a peaceful demonstration
reminding the world his dream of Biafra statehood lives. Igbos at home and the Diaspora adored him on the
ground he had the guts to challenge Obasanjo's administration and the murderous Sharia. He was kept under the microscope
while federal troops and state sponsored hoodlums were ordered to make arrests and shoot at sight "illegal"
MASSOB gatherings.
Somehow, and in the interim, Uwazuruike took the mantle of leadership in Igboland, strengthening his MASSOB base, reaching out to the Diaspora.
More establishments were identified supporting MASSOB and Biafra. In late March
2001, just as BiafraNigeriaWorld exploded cyberspace, Uwazuruike arrived in New Jersey to continue his campaign for "Biafra Actualization." He met and spoke with stalwarts
of many Biafra worthy causes ready to present a case of persecution and genocide
to the United Nations Security Council as it was then perceived. In September 2001, Uwazuruike came to the shores of America,
his second visit in five months. On September, 21, 2001,
Uwazuruike and Okwukwu were in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the Biafra House Opening. This time, they met younger
and more dedicated and fearless
Biafrans, including the US Army veteran
and intellectual property law scholar, Dr. Emeka J. Amanze, who emphasized
to Uwazuruike and MASSOB the need for a robust intellectual foundation and core
for the struggle.
As political pressures mounted within the Igbo nation over Biafra statehood,
the threat of nervous Igbo-haters escalated. They nosed around the Washington, D.C. area to find out how the ceremony unfolded and "surely" to find out the brains behind
another Biafra project. The spies came as conduit to Aso Rock at the peak of
another Nigerian gang up against the Igbo nation and Biafra. If they went to spy, they would also be awed. That the Biafran struggle
was no longer a picnic was evident when Dr. Amanze himself wrote the report of the Biafra House opening published exclusively
at BiafraNigeriaWorld. Biafra was back, and its message was being communicated to the world with the highest level of refinement.
Although most Biafra related groups
were skeptical on how to go about Biafra and Uwazuruike's MASSOB agenda,
he (Uwazuruike) was not sure if he was doing the right thing. He did not even care
one day it would come to light that character counts. Personally, I had a problem with Uwazuruike's character and I had problems with many other Biafra statehood projects
when the dirt-digging and scandals began to unfold with absolute lies, and all for a purpose no one was willing
to explain. What went wrong within MASSOB and character was typical of Igbo leadership failure. The story behind
Uwazuruike's scandals had everything--conspiracy, corruption, power struggles,
deception, victims, victimizers, lies, greed, anger, gossip, and, of course, sex, sex, and sexaholism. A whisky and whores story it turned out to be, one wondered what happened to the Igbos, the Igbos
our Founding Fathers envisioned.
Igbos, no question, at their modern-day height in the 1950s/60s
were the educated elite group in the continent of Africa, flourishing in government, commerce, medicine and the arts. The days of our forebears when everything Igbo was community-based
and solution-oriented. Here, my concern
is drawn to Igbo national unity and why character cannot be ignored or neglected in the establishment of a nation
state. The reason is to enhance our political, cultural, economic and academic prospects of a people who have a
sense of purpose, and must be held in that direction, learning from the established order that character is important
and for future generations to maintain the status quo. Character, as in Uwazuruike's libido, which destroyed MASSOB in its totality and series of common-faire immoralities within the
Igbo communities, one would be quick to conclude how our lives changed contrary to our founding fathers and Igbo
cultural ideals based on a working document. And how do we reestablish
the order, as laid out by our forebears in building community? Are we willing to listen and form a coalition, and
have things done, and make it happen? And if we get things done, are we willing to have it implemented and respected
without a monkey wrench thrown into it?
In another essay "Igbo Political Errors and the Leadership
Debates" I emphasized the root causes of our demise ever since our founding fathers retired in anticipation
that their offspring would be equal to the task of keeping up with Igbo solidarity. Writing in response to the
first part of this essay and criticizing my viewpoint for "being abusive, casting too many successful Igbo
political industry and community leaders as traitors," Francis Nnamdi Elekwachi-Mpuomigbo, sharing my concern wrote in Igbo Forum:
Millions
of Nd'Igbo, me inclusive, share youir mostly legitimate and patriotic concerns. Nd'Igbo are truly in dire straits. Nd'Igbo are at the crossroads.
If there can be a State of Emergency for
a people of a nation, Nd'Igbo are facing one currently. It is for every onye
Igbo (whether leader or lead, rich or poor, educated or illiterate, or otherwise) who is sufficietly committed and capable to take the bull by the horn and help to arrest the emergency. I emphasize
'every onye Igbo' because Igbo tradition is that of the collective leadership
of the 'umunna.' 'Umunna' in this instance
means the community of 'Umunnadi,' 'ndi nne' or 'ndi uyom,' 'umu ada' and the various age grades.
Nd'Igbo
have failed to rise above tragedy and trauma (I agree with you on that point) but it is primarily because we allowed
'feudalism,' 'arewanisation' and 'oduduwanization' to creep
into our social structures through the imposition of our conquerors. The traditional Igbo leadership/social structures which emphasize personal and foreign interests
rather than Igbo National Interests.
The
Umunna (as defined in this response) which is the SUPREME LEADER in Igbo
traditional, political and government systems has been disempowered.
The
'Umunna' must be reempowered to express
its will and its laws if Nd'Igbo are to become free from bondage. If the 'Umunna'
mandated Aburi, the 'Umunna' has never had the
opportunity over again since the demise of Biafra to express its will.
Elekwachi-Mpuomigbo's critical analysis stemmed from his frustrated effort in reaching
a consensus for Igbo Charter. I sympathize with him and agree with him that Nd'Igbo are
finished. As for the bastardized "Igbo leadership/social structure" there has been--to cite only one
item on a long list--the leadership inability to identify that being vulnerable and gullible destroyed the nascent
union of Igbo unity and a profound nation state. But as the leaders and "intellectual elites" whose footsteps
would have set the example for generations to follow by building institutions, from all aspects of life but just
because as Kelechi Ehirim would put it: "The
Igbo hand is something on a tinder box as the fight for supremacy among different coalitions takes on a murderous
hue...The situation will continue to get worse until 'Ohanaeze' is restructured
to have credible leaders."
And the case of being "re-empowered," is it by
establishing a "nation state" with regards to the Igbo Charter or carrying out a revolution within the
Igbo nation? And how can this be achieved when you have a bellicose and twist minded collective whose
"enemies" planted the seeds of discord to dissuade them from the consciousness and uprightness to effecting
a "nation state?" The not far-fetched answer is the power and material rivalry which has ultimately led
to a state of empire and anarchy is the cost we have for our solidarity, and has made any prospects of Igbo unity
the most difficult task. Even though Igbo Charter is now a
"no show," after its authors were rejected by Nd’Igbo, we must continue to put more effort until a consensus
is reached to produce a viable and intact document for the Igbo nation.
In considering a convention about Igbo Charter and by delegating
our representatives to draft and ratify the said charter as deemed appropriate for the Igbo nation, we must not
forget the fourth estate of the realm. Without good press, a worthy
cause without an independent press, be it liberal , libertarian or
conservative views, cannot survive and stay in a business. The lack of a formidable press, I would say, is why
Nd'Igbo have not been able to reach out and send the message across. It means
we must provide books to read, educate our communities, set out institutions and have adequate resource by way
of funding and personnel to match the challenges that may arise in derailing Igbo projects of establishing a profound
nation state.
For instance, and to put this point more concretely, the
rhetorical balderdash from the ngbati-ngbati press, so-called "Lagos-Ibadan
axis press" and their feeding frenzy faced no challenge in their defamatory charge that Igbo's Christmas celeberation during the pogrom was a cold one, and that money could buy any Igbo
man regardless of his principles and political stance. Or describing Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu as a “warlord” to score cheap points because they seem to control
the media and have Igbo writers and journalists in their payroll, who as rubber stamps are doctored and not knowing
how stupid and foolish they look. The Guardian Newspaper sensation-seeking Rueben Abati,
to be precise, has been allowed to get away with his lines of personal attack against Nd'Igbo and the Igbo nation,
encountering no difficulties in doing it because the people in question exposed their weakness by being the conduit
through which Abati's jargon operates. Abati’s Igbo schoolmates from journalism school are busy writing rebuttals
at yahoo forums – where only a handful of mostly confused Igbo and mischievous Yoruba have access.
And why have Nd'Igbo been a target of ngbati-ngbati press sensationalism without a counter response from independent Igbo newspapers totally of Igbo
thoughts and ideals to defend the dignity of the Igbo nation? When Igbos are
slaughtered and their chopped remains are littered on the streets, where do you first find the write-ups? No question,
the ngbati-ngbati- press. When Ohanaeze Nd'Igbo leaves
Aso Rock in anger and frustration their demands were not met, where
is it first published? Ngbati-ngbati press. When Uwazuruike and his followers are detained for trumped up criminal activities, who reports it first? Ngbati-ngbati press. When Umuleri and Aguleri, apparently cousins of the same lineage are engaged in a bitter
battle, which reporters are found there? None other than the notorious ngbati-ngbati press. And the list goes on, and on and on.
In April 2001, I had "Orji
Kalu and Igbos Political Future" published in a non-Igbo related
media in praise of Kalu's doctrine when he stood as the only no nonsense Igbo governor to
stand toe-to-toe with Obasanjo regarding Igbo Day Celeberation and paying
respects to the Biafran heroes who perished fighting to save motherland Biafra. I was chastised in Igbo Forum
with all sorts of allegations on why I took my piece elsewhere for publication when I could have done it in
Igbo medium as if I was obligated and rubber stamped. Must my articles be published
in Oh'uzo or "Igbo National Congress" newsmagazine. That's where the issue of Igbo media comes in. There is none, and that's why you have Igbos here
and there writing everywhere, even for their enemies.
Once an independent press is established and our kids and
their kids are able to read and grasp with the way we are and how we came to be, reading journals and scholarly
works of Igbo literature, tradition and cultural ideals, outpunching the biased
ngbati-ngbati press, it then would be understood universally that the Igbo nation
no longer could be taken for a long ride. When incidents which I outlined are reported by an independent Igbo press
without the twisting typical of ngbati press, its place in mainstream media will be fully recognized changing
the way business is conducted in the media. When this starts happening, there will be no more Lagos-Ibadan axis press to tell
spinned stories of what is going on in Osina
and Umuleri, or write fabricated essays on Igbos history.
But, the Diaspora Igbos who were in a much better position
considering press freedom could not take up the responsibility to establish a powerful Igbo press. Igbo Diaspora
proved to be incapable of building community awareness or setting an agenda that could be said to serve Igbo
unity and "Igbo common good." The press in this case, would reach out to ime ala Igbo, Igbo heartland, spreading
the news in the communities and encouraging education, hardwork and values. Sadly, most people I have encountered
in the past showed signs of having no clue regarding the significance on how community-based programs with an independent
press can influence society. It was in this same vein World Igbo Congress was seen as the last straw to tackle
the problems of Nd'Igbo, once and for all, in correcting the ills of a political, cultural, moral and economic
impotent people.
Ka akpacha ya akpachaa,
was the agenda with the hope "this time around" Nd'Igbo would come to terms with reality, never again
would they be a laughing stock in a nation where they once were the kingmakers. In that convention, with high expectations
to seek resolve in unifying the Igbo nation, the dilemma of a confused bunch continued apace when Obasanjo sent his agents in disguise as Igbo patriots and leaders, it was quickly concluded "Igbos
as a people are finished." Whatever happened to that cliche Ka akpacha ya akpachaa and a genuine Igbo mandate.
Ojukwu himself asked for the mantle of leadership be taken away from him?
He (Ojukwu) had expected much from the Diaspora Igbo and had clamored for the
"change of guards" and leadership when he noted in his speech at WIC Dallas Convention September 2000
with distress "our people" at home "are" going through excruciatiing pains and hardship calling upon the attention of Igbo Diaspora "elite class" before the
Igbo nation destructs as tailored by their enemies. "They don't like us, our people are suffering," Ojukwu would exclaim.
Ojukwu's distress and worries about the plight of the Igbo nation and despite
the months of debate that took place in Igbo Forum and other Igbo related discussion groups, focused especially
on how to return the Igbo nation back to the heydays of the Founding Fathers, the era of Igbo Union and onye aghala nwaneya, most discussants and participants
arrived to the conclusion "Igbo common good" would be back on, and putting everything into perspective,
it would be a done deal. In that convention, 2000 WIC Annual Summit hosted by Igbo Cultural Association of Dallas-Fort
Worth, Texas, and as the entire world was watching, Islamic fundamentalist Abubakar Rimi, out of no where popped up and splashed money in the face of Nd'Igbo,
in the sum of $10,000, summing it all up Igbo nation when it comes to money are a conquered people. Ironically,
the organizers of WIC 2000 Convention did not see any damage done by inviting Rimi
to a scandalized summit aimed at unifying Nd'Igbo, ala ka
akpacha ya akpachaa.
As it happened, though, WIC's funny bookkeeping after the
convention got the organizers into a squabble of money-sharing formula and overheads, having problems figuring
out who did what at what time with the agenda ka
akpacha ya akpachaa not even mentioned. So, too, would be the case of Igbo Charter as Elekwachi-Mpuomigbo grieves for the Igbo nation, in the event it holds. The organizers would be trapped in money-haggling
with nothing accomplished. I still remember vividly well as a little kid when my enigmatic father, with no formal
education led meetings in his community and delegated in occasions as an abroadian to keep the principles of onye aghala nwaneya and to sustain
"Igbo common good" for generations to come. Today what our fathers envisioned to maintain a "master
race" is now totally shambled. Not that Nd'Igbo wanted to be a "master race" out of coercion as
alleged by Obafemi Awolowo, Igbos were engaged
in collectivity and community-based programs as in nation state whereby every state bears the same obligation to
care for all within its charge.
If I'm correct, when Igbo Charter is being drawn which would
entail an independent and free press, pros and cons in constructive criticisms and knowing when to call a spade
a spade as a mark of patriotism, bizarre and bias comments like the one found in This Day, October 11, 2002
by one Uju Onwuka who writes from
Lagos and in "The Fate of Imo People" added:
But in all fairness,
Imo State, the Eastern Heartland has been on the favorable side of God's benevolence especially in the present
democratic dispensation under the dynamic leadership of Chief Achike Udenwa. For the past 3 1/2 years of his administration, Imo State has witnessed a lot of transformation
that it has significantly moved from what it was before May 29, 1999. The Executive Governor has been able to provide
basic amenities to various communities that today, more than 160 communities
are either enjoying portable water or electricity courtesy of Redemption Agenda.
Now it was either the writer was paid through Nduka Obaigbena's This
Day or he doesn't exist in such a ridiculous
and misleading commentary. The idea that Udenwa may have done a
whole lot more for the people of Imo State as his admirers and do and say anything for money sellouts, one wonders
if they have conscience or just bent on mischief and self denial when it is clear Udenwa's administration in Imo State has not paid teachers and other civil servants their salaries in many
months. These lines of misleading
and outrageous commentaries to cover up Udenwa's widespread corrupt
regime has to do with a lack of Igbo independent
press and the political tool of assassinations now commonplace in Igboland.
Amazingly, as Nd'Igbo got caught up in a state of empire
and anarchy with the end not in sight due to the perception of a rotational "you chop, I chop" and "chop
and clean mouth," that is, take all you can, it does not belong to your father," an avalanche of insanity
and a case of sad reality, Igbo Charter if agreed to be held, scribbled, deliberated and ratified, would draw a
line to stop the ongoing mess in Igboland, as long as it's implemented and respected with patriotic concerns to
save the Igbo nation from imminent doom. And how could it be done when we have the "elders" and "chiefs"
including the Diaspora "elite class" who continue to fill the younger generation and future Igbo leaders
with legends of Igbo Aristocrats and Ogbuefis whose creed
was money under any circumstances, that the norm is either you are rich or you are poor, implanting in their brains
as they grow up and leaving them with one of those two choices? This is a clear case of wrong ideas; when implanted
into a child’s brain, it is plausible and becomes difficult to erase. Igbo youths no longer care about education,
learning a trade as in the arts, technology and the "social structures," and hard work which has no substitute.
On a sad and painful note, the modern Igbo now works according to the ideas laid out by the new class of "elders"
and "chiefs" whose beliefs are "show me the money" and not your brains. Relatively, it is beyond
my imagination to find thirteen to sixteen years old Igbo teens running and hustling for oso ahia and igba applico, trade bargains at Alaba Market, Oshodi Market, under Idumota Bridge, Ojota, Ketu, Sabo Geri, Kafanchan, Gboko, Mile 3 Diobu, Adabraka, Yaounde, Doala, and as the list goes on, when they are suppose to be in the classrooms
learning for a progressive and better future.
As is now, however, it is not easy to reconstruct in our
imagination the damage already done as the wave of nouveau rich and omemgbeojis has become the order of the day in Igboland. The new order, in many ways, is the result of empire
and anarchy of which in its totality made the Igbo nation a battle zone with money and power being the issue at
all cost. It is also evident that money is the root cause of Igbos disunity and demise of Igbo cultural ideals
when brothers take sides and communities begin to square-off over money and property in an entrapment not of their
own making and the bulk of money not in their own hands. As it goes, we have to ask why we have become a victim
of a calculated strategy which has taken us to a level no one could have imagined after the spectacular blueprint
with a sense of purpose and community laid out by our founding fathers in the days of Igbo Union and Onye aghala nwaneya? And as in "Things Fall Apart," why Ohanaeze Nd'Igbo, typical
of Chinua Achebe disturbed about
societal problems with a shambled "center" could not live up to its name and take up to its responsibilities
of profound leadership as a guardian to the Igbo nation, thus community?
Many of these questions are already being asked in Igbo
related forums including Igbo Forum, the do nothing cyber talk show designed to address Igbo matters big and little.
But the problem that lies in all this is the bunch of infallible "Igbo elites" and intellectual bandits
who without a clue, or perhaps pretend not to know what it takes to build community as the backbone of any nation
state.
For instance, the collectives who have gathered behind
closed doors to write Igbo Charter cares less to locate and ask the farmer who would produce the food for our consumption;
the barber who would cut our hair and get paid; the guard who would protect our businesses and homes; the nurse
who would administer and take care of us when we get sick; the physician who would diagnose our ailment and make
us well; the teacher who would teach our children the best they could; the legal practitioner who would defend
our rights; the pharmacist who is trained to make drugs prescribed for our ailments; the tailors and designers
who make our clothes; the musicians who provides entertainment and gets paid; the day care centers that takes care
of our children while we are away; the cabby who shuttles us back and forth and gets paid; the publisher and his
staff or writers and journalists who produce quality journals, literatures and news reports; the bankers and financial
planners who manage our money; the contractor who provides estimates to build and remodel our homes; the structural
engineers who would build our roads and bridges; including other professional devices, and as the list goes on
and on, their take in participation to influence Igbo Charter toward "Igbo common good."
Disturbingly, as I have seen it in Igbo Forum and elsewhere
in "Igbo communities," the would be framers of Igbo "constitution, a guideline or charter as the
case may be," do not intend and have no desire to include the thoughts of a laborer, a scavenger, a journeyman,
a bouncer and other handy areas of survival on the probable ground of being "air heads." This has been
the case of Nd'Igbo gathering whereby for one to be accepted in cases of that nature--Igbo Charter--and other decision
making, one must have attended prep and Ivy League schools; must have hauls of chieftaincy titles; must have a
chest full of Ph.D degrees; must have a closet full of Islamic Jihad-like flowing gown
outfits; must have a bag full to the brim with money; must live in an overclass bedroom community; and must have a fast and the "ultimate driving machines"--BMW, Mercedez Benz, Porsche, Bentley, Hummer H2, Ferrari and Jaguar--before ones ideas or thoughts could be considered
valid.
With all this, and for us to make headway in restructuring
our activities for "Igbo common good," the thoughts of the layman, the common man and vice versa must
be fully recognized, and to deride and underestimate the capabilities of onye Igbo under any circumstances must be dismissed if there is to be seriousness in a convention of
Igbos from all walks of life to engage in Igbo Charter. Equally, the ovation and special treatments of patricians,
titled persons, the Brahmins and Aristocrats should not be entertained under any circumstances, as well, if we
believe in the right of opinion and equal opportunity in establishing a nation state. And with the formation of
Igbo nation as a functioning nation state within whatever entrapment, the "bitter jealousy" with our
neigbors would have nothing to do with the present political dispensation
and the anger that we hold in what is being done to us by a people we shouldn't have had any association with,
in the first place
Moreover, since we have nothing in common with our neigbors and distant countrymen as our culture and tradition varies, and with our mobility, hard work, community
and faith that our destiny is in our hands, our "adversaries" and those critical of our survival would
eat up their own words with their idea that we can do anything for money and "push too hard" in that
regard.
It is no news that Nd'Igbo have
enemies who would sit on their progress and undermine their efforts in unifying themselves. That should not be
an excuse for not being able to reach a consensus on Igbo Charter because whatever the case may be or embarked
on, say, by Nd'Igbo coming together realizing the time has come to get back to the heydays of the founding fathers,
the jealous neigbors will always do their dirt-digging and snipping work to tear them
apart, succeeding in what they have been doing for years. Nd'Igbo should not allow their "adversaries"
if at all there is any, to continue with a mapped out strategy at their behest in the destruction of the Igbo nation.
We must not let it happen, and we must start getting things done for time is really running out.
It is folly to pretend nothing is wrong. Thus I will
continue to hope that sooner or later Nd'Igbo will convene and deal with the fragile situation which will bring
us to resurrection and salvation, that finally we have overcome our predicaments. And I do also hope and look forward
to a one united Igbo nation of Igbo nationalism relative to a functional nation state when the deal is done. Untril then, I will continue to weep for the Igbo nation, and whenever it happens, be it in the next ten
years or so, we will look back and thank the Almighty God that He came to our rescue, for we live by faith.
_____________________
Endnotes
Some notes were adapted from "Igbos, Igbo Charter, Etc., and the Igbo Nation
I."
"Igbo Political Errors and the Leadership Debates"
"Orji Kalu and Igbos
Political Future" Courtesy: Niger Delta Congress;
BNW
Staff : "Chief Ralph Uwazuruike Interview."
BiafraNigeriaWorld
Message Board Debates--MASSOB SUSPENDS UWAZURUIKE
Michael B. Oren "Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern
Middle East." Oxford University Press; New York: 2002
Francis Nnamdi Elekwachi-Mpuomigbo. "Igbos, Igbo Charter, Etc.,
and the Igbo Nation," A rejoiner. Nd'Igbo Forum, Friday September 6, 2003,
MSG # 3341
Kelechi Ehirim "Igbos, Wake Up From Your Slumber."
Uju Onwuka "The Fate
of Imo People." This Day
October 11, 2002
Chris Anyanwu "Udenwa and New Face of Imo." This Day October 11, 2002
Dawan Maharay. "Nigeria
Threatens to Fight Violence" Los Angeles Times Monday, March 17, 2003
James M. Mcpherson "Crossroads of Freedom" Oxford University Press, New York: 2002
Chike E. Okafor "Justice Oputa Panel and the Parade
of Igbo Imbeciles at Enugu." Web Published. Courtesy: Niger Delta Congress
John Gunter "Inside Africa." Harper and Brothers. New York: 1955
Uche Akunnaya "Udenwa and the Opposition."
This Day March 21, 2003
BNW Forum: 2003 Polls, End Game
"Defending Ojukwu: A Perspective" Igbo Forum Wednesday November 15, 2000
BNW: "Whiter Igbo Newspaper/Journalism? BiafraNigeriaWorld Message Board
Forum, June 04, 2002
Obi Nwakama "On Ehirim 'Governor' Achike Udenwa Visits America For What?" Igbo Forum Friday June 21, 2002; MSG # 22050