What
is Igbo Diaspora leadership? Who are these Igbo leaders in Diaspora and how does one measure their leadership roles
in Igbo nation? Where are they and where can they be found?
Let's take a look at this
very long list: World Igbo Congress (Igbo umbrella, alpha and omega); "Igbo People’s Union"; Ohanaeze
Nd’Igbo and its efulefu bunch; the wannabe town hall meeting format of the Dallas-Fort Worth Igbo Cultural Association
of Nigeria; the ridiculous Yahoo Igbo Forum handlers and moderators who could not distinguish between maintaining
archives and memory loss; the ego-tripping Opuruiche pocket chiefs of Los Angeles; the sensational beyond imagination
and "glamorized" fraternity-like Ada Ugo of Los Angeles; Mbaise Family Association; Jimmy Asiegbu’s-led
Anambra State Association, USA; Acho Orabuchi and Dr. Charles Maduka's Pan Nd’Igbo Foundation; Anambra
State Organization of New Orleans; Awka Union, Maryland; Onicha Igbo Cultural Association; Abagana Welfare Union
in the Americas; Mbieri Community Association; Arondizuogu Patriotic Union; Nwobiko Odozi Obodo Society of Abakaliki;
Nkwerre Association of America; the structureless Nd’House of Los Angeles; Awka Union, Dallas Fort Worth; "Nd’Ngwa
in America and Europe;" "Nd’Okigwe" in America and Europe; "Nd’Mbano" in America
and Europe; "Nd’Isu," wherever they are in the universe; "Nd’Owere" all over the
globe; "Nd’Njaba" in the Americas and elsewhere; "Nd’Emekuku" and it's series of
organizations; "Nd’Nnewi" and its list of money bags;" "Nd’Ikwerre" and
its attempt to fit in within Igbo culture; Orlu Regional Assembly, USA; "Nd'Nsugbe" in America; "Nd'Ogbunike"
in America; "Nd'Onitsha" in North America and Latin America; "Nd'Anioma;" "Nd'Ibuzo;" "Nd'Diobu"
in America and Europe; "Nd'Aguata" scattered all around the universe; "Nd'Osina" in America;
"Nd'Akokwa" wherever they are; "Nd'Umuaka" in Britain, South Africa, Bahamas, Canada,
Denmark and America; Amazano Progressive Union, USA; "Nd'Amaigbo" all over; "Nd'Abriba" in
the United Kingdom, Asia and America; "Nd'Oguta" in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia;
"Nd'Asaba" in the far east, Middle East, Oceania, America and Europe; "Nd'Eziama-Obiato"
in Finland, South Africa, Madagascar, United States, India, Uruguay, Brazil and Ireland; "Nd'Mbano"
in Austria, Argentina, Peru, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Namibia, Equatorial Guinea, and Egypt; "Nd'Awkuzu"
in Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, America and France; "Nd'Obosi" in London, Manitoba, Arkansas, Paris, Atlanta,
Baltimore and Boston; "Nd'Nando" in the United States and Britain; on and on. What have they done
to be called leaders, if at all they exist?
Igbo Diaspora—my humble self included—have
been wrestling with these
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questions for years and they certainly haven’t figured it out, or they wouldn’t be asking questions about widespread
problems that need to be apprehended. It is disturbing, however, that the very few who proclaim to be leaders have
lost every sense of belonging and would do anything in the name of loyalty to feed from the crumbs of their alleged
masters, being apologists to a corrupt and inept regime, caring less the plight of Nd’Igbo in its entirety. They
found solace dabbling into a nasty political game and are yet to realize the dangers it has posed to its people.
Realistically, every Igbo
organization that I know is doing its own thing and would like to show off from its camp as relevant; yet, all
in all, "Igbo Diaspora leaders" are no where to be found despite claims of thousands of Igbo associations
parading every now and then throwing lavish parties. These days, the Internet cowboys and bloggers found in every
nook and cranny of Igbo related discussions groups are the latest that had been displaying local championships
behind closed doors. It’s amazing what’s encountered in these forums. It has been an all out war. It is nasty and
brutal. And the confusion is not ending anytime soon. Each day that passes by, there is a debate or discussion
going on somewhere, from cyberspace to the cell phones among a variety of issues on what the Igbo wants and who
should be blamed for Nd’Igbo ineffectiveness in getting things done.
The Igbo brouhaha has boiled
down to something like this: the egghead blames the wise guy on the basis of manipulating authority with his acclaimed
magnitude, while the wise guys and rude boys accuses the eggheads for being too bookish, thus could not have anything
done with his ego and a haul of academia. On the other hand, the pundits and political animals blame a bunch of
societal nouveau riche for destroying a nascent union by way of buying out vulnerable politicians and brokering
deals to keep a business faith in order as a done deal. And as it happens, the political animals and eggheads who
for some reason lost a sense of purpose becoming fragile and gullible would kowtow to these wise guys, "money-baggers"
and societal nouveau riche in all aspects of life endeavors including the dangerous game of partisan politics.
That has being a norm as a result of pocket leaks.
So the question remains,
what went wrong? This takes one back to the days when everything was well organized and in form.
The days of the Igbo Union
said to be as solid as the "Rock of Gibraltar," her adversaries and "enemies" could not figure
out or knew what to make of its foundation.
The strong Igbo that took
care of its own and did what was required as a tradition in building community for Igbo common good.
The Igbo of utopia arrived
through collectivity. The Igbo well-known for its trademark in commerce and industry.
The Igbo, symbol of academia—philosophy,
history, science and technology. The Igbo who thrived in all aspects of civil society emerging with a sound democratic
fabric and republican ideals, Igbo enwe eze, a no title of nobility became its trademark.
The Igbo, her unique traditional
and cultural heritage. The routine cultural festivals and folklore. The costumes. The make-ups. The masquerades
and invocation of our ancestors magically praised as a matter of pride.
The value of ngborogwu, shrubs, herbs, spices, roots, stems
and leaves in Igbo folk medicine for helping its own stay well from the common cold, headache, stomach ache, arthritis,
high fever, tuberculosis, cystic mass and many other ailments.
The market days--Orie, Afor,
Nkwo and Eke.
The political elites. The
public intellectuals. The thoughtful laymen. The Council of Elders. The Council of Chiefs. The successful merchants
and realization there is no substitute for hard work.
The Igbo who strictly adhered
to moral values and maintained the status quo.
Igbo customary courts--of
legends, names, sayings, proverbs and religious and cultural prescription--Agwuisi and Amadioha.
The Igbo had it going on.
But ironic and sad is the Igbo who had no parallel and once known as the "Jews of Africa" is now dismissed as a hopeless
hellhole.
Meanwhile, this hot-button
issue simmered to a point "Ijemere Oh'uzo," a teacher who lives at University Village of California State
University, Los Angeles, drove from his East Los Angeles home to my West Los Angeles residence with a draft of
literature he said was a "fictional biography" about himself, "our leaders" and life in Diaspora.
He had just whisked his parents from his native Mbano to avoid a tragedy he wasn’t in a position to handle at that
particular moment based on the extreme hardship engineered previously by a deadly gang of military juntas and presently
by Olusegun Obasanjo’s outrageous regime. On arrival to my home, Oh'uzo handed me a typewritten manuscript
requesting my counsel, what should be done and how to get it published. I perused the said draft while we sat over
some drinks and precise talks on the advancement of the Western Hemisphere, United States in particular with a system that is thorough and why we should emulate that as a model. He actually
meant Nd’Igbo Diaspora leadership to effect change back home. It was another evening worth telling.
To begin with, he was seriously
perturbed that the "elite Diaspora just lost it" and had betrayed the profound principles laid by Igbo
leaders of thought in pre and post independence era. He was specifically concerned about Nd’Igbo of post-Civil
War era and how rapidly they destroyed a unique Igbo Union once a symbol of pride. He had asked between intervals
during the course of our conversation "what would really happen to Igbo people if the present generation expires"—who
seemingly are the last generation of Igbo with ample knowledge and care for the plight of a people who are about
to disappear from the face of the planet.
Then we talked about Igbo
cultural heritage, for instance, the exceptional traditional and cultural phenoms, the pride of our forebears and
how it swiftly vanished without records, "scribbled," written, orally told and passed on. We also gambled
on assessing the newer generation, precisely first generation immigrants, if at all they learned that Igbo ever
since the scramble for Africa, had been persecuted from place to place for who they are based on its republican
ideals. That Igbo had believed from long time ago the principle that human endeavor and enterprise with regards
to hard work should be based on merit. That as Americans would say, "no such thing as free lunch."
As we talked into the night,
we recalled how our fathers were able to survive every hostile environment in a nation that was meant for all of
us according to a British mandate. We reflected on a widespread discrimination and marginalization of the Igbo
who after Yakubu Gowon’s-led genocidal campaign would never be the same again. But nevertheless, we had hope a
whole lot could be done for Igbo to reclaim her old glory, dating back to the profound days of our fathers and
their fathers when the schools ran very well; when visiting a brother or an uncle for a jar of nkwu enu, palm wine, did not pose a threat;
and when the meetings and every gatherings climaxed without a shouting match and exchanging blows. That hope wasn’t
lost when Oh'uzo, showing an expression of disgust over what has been going on with Igbo Diaspora, attempted
at convincing and persuading me to attend one of Igbo related conventions in the Los Angles area, so one may figure
things out.
It was not about figuring
or sorting issues out even if I may have had the desire to see Nd’Igbo meet on a usual picnic noted for its trademark—peppersoup,
isi ewu, nkwobi, ugba and nibbled steamed rice with varieties of "bush meat." It was specifically about
the sorry state of the Igbo nation. It was all about a people who felt they have been conquered and had been left
with one of two choices, to either perish or feed from the leftovers of their masters who had ultimately succeeded
in dividing and demolishing them.
Oh'Uzo, who noticed
I wasn’t comfortable with the Igbo situation wanted something to be done. Of course, who doesn’t want to get things
done? But the fact of the matter is that it pains me to see a lousy and passive Igbo lacking the ability to get
things done. It pains me that after all these years and after all that has happened to us, Nd’Igbo, many do not
know and many still have no clue the Igbo nation rose like a phoenix. It pains me that a united Igbo nation is
looking more like a mirage now that our "foes" have succeeded in their handouts for us to sell and sell
out. It pains me that our behavior has the same resemblance of a hopeless and finished people when we succumb to
the diatribes and anti-Igbo sentiments by minds full of bigotry and hatred.
Oh'Uzo, who is now
in law school just for the heck of it told me it would perhaps take another two generations of Igbos to rise above
the limitations that had hindered the Igbo nation from maintaining the status quo, the way things use to be, from
a profound cultural heritage to a magnificent Igbo union well established by our forebears. I could read a mentally
distressed Oh'Uzo pounding on a ridiculous Igbo Diaspora leadership, and blaming a bunch of infallible "intellectual
elites" for lacking a sense of direction towards taking up initiatives to walk the walk and talk the talk
as in all symbols of great leadership.
A mark of radical change
and symbolic leadership as in Oh'Uzo's quest to effect change would presumably start from himself and notably
when it's time to drag the bull by the horn. But obviously, when it's time to take up the initiative, a sudden
180-degrees turn becomes the order:
"Oh, no! Do not mention
my name. Do not drag me into the mess. I don't want to be part of it. I love my family and I would love to be with
them till eternity. They will blow my entire family apart if I get involved. I am not the one to solve Igbo people
problems. Leave me out of it and let me know when you are done, Ok?"
And why am I putting the
above into perspective? It was the same Oh'Uzo who
had been crying the blues that tipped off on Imo State "Governor" Achike Udenwa's real estate investments in California's Southland (Southern California). He spoke from a very confidential
and reliable source that Udenwa had acquired properties in the Southland and had used his in-laws, the Olumba family, as
principal homeowners. We brokered a deal agreeing he would show me the piece of property where Udenwa is said to
have invested with public funds. Oh'Uzo, who sensed I may write critically positing I may be seeking out secrets
to uncover and publish about Udenwa's money laundering schemes, reneged, told me in my face he never discussed
anything with me, and that it was a case of mistaken identity. Imagine!
And we say Igbo Diaspora
is not part of a persistent problem which has subjected the Igbo to a laughing stock in a nation begun by Igbo
intellectuals, successful merchants, thoughtful laymen and industrialists who condemned imperialism ordained by
a British
empire?
How would Oh'Uzo expect miracles of change after singing the blues, when for reasons best known to him decided
he would not be the one to be labeled a whistle blower in a case that concerns the well being of us all? How would
Oh'Uzo expect teachers and civil servants to be paid salaries when Udenwa and his gang of Diaspora money laundering
conduits have raped the entire treasury of Imo State? How would Oh'Uzo whose parents came close to death because of a horrible medical service in Imo
expect getting things done by way of providing better health care programs in Imo, when he is tongue-tied, encouraging
the way Udenwa's-like are ruining the people? I don't get it!
However, Oh'Uzo started
well when he sought my advice for his manuscript which is yet to be published, and when he engaged me with a better
understanding the Igbo nation needs to be fixed with an insight of a Diaspora leadership. Oh'Uzo was good
when he voiced out his desperation to get things done for a better Igbo nation; when he, I would imagine, expressed
his anger and dissatisfaction regarding the way a financial oligarchy class has ruined the Igbo nation from a political
sponsor program. For instance, the Anambra State drama and a sad reality case of armed gangs and hoodlums fighting
one another on the streets, torching government buildings and ruled haphazardly by competing pocket warlords, rival
factions and political clans who found themselves engulfed in power struggles and turf battles that had destroyed
a sound Igbo democratic fabric. Most institutions of state are now in shambles, in part from a hoodlum Chris Ubah
and a missing leadership in "Governor" Chris Ngige whose tale of bad business deals has continued to
throw the state of Anambra into a state of empire and anarchy.
In the meantime, the debacle
in Anambra was a subject of extensive and exhaustive debates in Igbo-related forums and discussion groups. Yet
as much as I could not stay away from old habits visiting these forums from time to time, I continue to be puzzled
by the bloggers who concluded nothing was wrong with the fracas in Anambra, and who would pretend not to know what
happened in Anambra is an Igbo tragedy. Before the nsogbu, or problems in Anambra, Mbadinuju's
previous administration and his so-called political-sponsor-godfather Emeka Offor had nothing like a gang banging
episode of Ubah's-led hoodlums. Everywhere in Anambra is now divided. Villages, kindreds, hamlets, businesses,
the streets, the churches and traditional rulers are now playing different vibes. So, too, are other Igbo states,
Imo, Ebonyi, Abia and Enugu. The villages, the local governments and its revenue sharing formulas; the courts and police
posts; the markets and you name it, are all divided. Everyone is agitating because there is no political and cultural
will. There is no political and cultural leadership.
The above-mentioned and
among other complicated issues in Igbo-related states was where Oh'Uzo slipped badly when he thought of his life
and what could or may happen to him in the event he becomes the one to be held responsible for a telltale. Initially,
by carefully explaining how he'd been disturbed regarding a sorry Igbo nation since the post civil war era, he
was completely sure about himself that he would not be taking in any prisoners when called upon to give a detailed
account of what he may have known or seen; for instance, the case of Udenwa's real estate adventure and money laundering
enterprise in the Southland.
Which brings us to a Diaspora
leadership when Oh’Uzo wanted both of us to take our grievances to an appropriate channel: Imo State Association
of Southern California? I was there. Prior to "D-Day," I had demanded from Oh'Uzo the purpose of such
a gathering and what the agenda was. He insisted I could make a difference by attending meetings on a regular basis.
The meeting as it happened was held at St Cecilia's Catholic Church on Normandie Blvd. in South Central Los Angeles. It
was the same spot Igbo religious and cultural groups entertained His Eminence, Cardinal Francis Arinze during his
august visit in 2003.
Meanwhile, I did not make
the call. Oh'Uzo did. For the first time, I was excited to attend a business related meeting, not a picnic, I would
imagine, when it comes to the affairs of state in Imo. It was opposite, of all my expectations. Upon arrival, I
looked for Oh'Uzo and located him at the back bench sitting quietly and listening with interest. We sat on the
same row as he seemed to have a whole lot of issues he couldn't wait to get off his chest. He had also wondered
why I was tardy as if I had missed much in the "state of the union address" presented by the Southland's
Imo "commander-in-chief."
Nevertheless, I looked forward
to what the gathering was up to, especially with its bookkeeping, policies, if at all there's any, and progressive
ideas to help keep we of Imo origin afloat. The outcome did not look good. As a new member, or should I say observer,
the protocol for registration included a questionnaire. First, it was my full name, my father's name, my town of
origin in Imo State, my business locale and address in Los Angeles. Next, was my religious and political affiliation perhaps to identify what particular order I belonged
to. Then, they demanded my family background to see if I was entitled to the prefix "nze," "ichie,"
"ezeoha," "ezegburugburu," "iyi," "oshimiri," "odoziobodo," "ugwumagala,"
"omeiheukwu," "ebubedike," "ezego," "onwanaetirioha," and things like that
to my name and the transmission of these titles before my application for membership could be reviewed and approved.
I gave them all that I had. No title, though.
So far, I thought that was
all. The big shots of this very Imo State meeting were "flashy" enough to be noticed in a color riot costumes and traditional regalia
sitting on the "high table" ready to give orders. While the meeting was being dragged to hell, which
it did, by two notable hagglers, Mike Ohia and Chuka "Ideato" Okoli, over whose record keeping is funny,
I did not hesitate to pop up the question on the purpose of the meeting and what it has achieved since its founding.
I was curious because the meeting as usual was a replica of a park picnic. It turned out the organizers were up
to something. Time and time again, history from every aspect of my observations has repeated itself in anything
Igbo-related.
As the entire episode goes,
I took permission to make a comment, and typical of a confused and infallible bunch, the provost, another Islamic
Jihad flowing gown wearing freak and ego-tripping chief who seemed to have "constitutional authority"
on who should be allowed to speak yelled I sit down and keep quiet if I do not have a solution to a messy Imo State.
He knows the problem and they all know the problem. Do you see what I mean?
But in an organization that
has a host of problems, real problems no one could ever imagine, the theme of the meeting was "we know the
problem, let's focus on the solution," as if they read my mind on what I was going to say regardless of the
state's accumulated social and political problems, both home and abroad. I had also thought the format of the meeting
was suppose to have been an egoless process towards focusing on the economic and political ills caused by a whole
lot of crisis in our communities that desperation has turned to brothers turning against their own brothers and
greed turning to a deadly duel.
Ohia, who had his file of
records ready to prove beyond reasonable doubt his profound account of bookkeeping, argued at length to convince
and persuade a gullible and vulnerable audience that he had no intension whatsoever to defraud the people
of Imo State residing in Southern California. As it happened, Ohia was part of a delegation to convey and distribute drugs and other related
medical devices donated by charities and philanthropists who stood for worthy causes in providing proper healthcare
programs to the disabled and needy. That, however, did not matter. The twisted stories of Ohia and Okoli who kept
fabricated paperwork and funny books were what mattered. Ohia, in the course of his presentation sounded more like
an ambitious politician who had visions of programs designed to aid the poor and protect people against unemployment
should he hold an elected or selected office in Imo State. Ohia proffered that while giving account of his errands
in distributing expired drugs to Imo State, that he and his dubious colleagues set precedent for a better for Imo State and the Igbo nation.
To those whose knowledge
of the delegates consists, essentially, of the fact that Ohia and his colleagues were honest in their transactions
of a hyped-up "ambassadorial team" to save Imo State from an epidemic, let it be no surprise to learn
that these roving ambassadors were up to no good. They were greedy, deceitful and had no agenda for the welfare
of Imo indigenes. I lost my money in that gamble and with all that I know, Ohia and his colleagues as crooked as
they were, deliberately established a scheme to collect money on behalf of running errands for Imo people.
Greed, money and corruption
as we know it is nothing new in our society of potential Igbo leaders. In all the dealings, there was no shred
of patriotism which should involve civic duties and responsibilities to the people Ohia and his colleagues were
representing. Ohia who practiced law in Los Angeles before he made his way for a shot at one of the local government
bureau in Imo, would be well situated from graft, catapulting himself to the top at the expense of an entire local
government federal statutory revenue allocation formula supposedly meant to provide services, keep and maintain
infrastructures and effect democracy giving a detailed account of his stewardship.
"Ideato" Okoli,
on the other hand, was not as flamboyant as Ohia in his presentations to determine his contribution to a better
Imo State. In his argument, he noted a whole
lot of issues could have been in order had it not been for those he called okenye,
elders, he accused of not living up to their responsibilities by addressing in appropriate and adequate terms the
economic and social ills of the state. Indeed, Okoli meant business when he demanded immediate dissolution of any
Imo Association in the Los Angeles area for lack of organizational effectiveness. He also called for other Imo factions elsewhere
to disband for ineptitude. He had a platform for Imo Southland indigenes, a guideline he said he would write as
a remedy for a better Imo in Diaspora. Certainly he staked a great deal on the notion that Nd'Igbo will be well
off if Nd'okenye were made to put their acts together and provide a good leadership or a radical step is chosen.
Today, after all the blah,
blah, blah to move mountains, Okoli is back to his native Akokwa championing nasty local politics and haggling
for his share of the "golden goose" and "national cake" in alliance with the fraudulent PDP
that decides the beneficiaries in statutory revenue allocations. Ironically, Okoli, the self-acclaimed doer abandoned
his principles and never practiced what he preached. He now hangs out with Rochas Okorocha. He is a fat cat and
"anybody can go to hell. It's a done deal and my hard work has paid off, in the long run." You see what
I mean again?
The case of Owere Association
of Southern California is worth mentioning too. Sometime ago, I was invited as an observer on how this "elite
club" runs its show, and honestly it was nothing to talk or brag about. It was a Shakespearean-like act full
of tell flaws and telltale of bitterness, embezzlement, moral outrage and obloguy, approached with verbal confrontations
and a haul of complaints. The opening act was begun by by a cast's narration of emotional instability, that one
of the actors in the drama "has been sleeping" with his wife, and that he'd be pushed to cause bodily
harm if the said subject in the drama does not cease and desist. Then, surfaced the real melodrama of an executive
who coerced and stole from the union's treasury. The said union account was projected to purchase a franchise in
the Los
Angeles area as part of the organization's quest for enterprise and growth.
As the entire story goes,
years of alleged fraud, keeping funny books and questionable business deals left Owere Association of Southern
California totally in shambles, prompting most of the members to lose interest in any of the organization's activities.
One major problem in the said drama was that some of the complainants have been connected to helping the accused
defraud the association. With all these, this "elite club" fell into pieces from struggling financially
at terrible cost.
Enter the Islamic-Jihad-like
flowing gowns annual picnic of a confused bunch that calls its do-nothing fraternity World Igbo Congress whose
gang of infallible members believe they are the chosen ones, that God has called upon them to save the Igbo nation
from collapse. Now after years of supposedly progressively Igbo ideals, what would one say these Igbo chiefs and
pocket warlords whose duty was among others, to keep the Igbo nation viable and intact, have done? After all these
years of ineptitude and waste, there is--what? A firm Igbo community in Diaspora and homeland morally sound based
on the ideals of Igbo cultural heritage and a cornerstone of social-justice? That Igbo has begun building bridges
and has unshackled itself from the limitations imposed on her since the post-civil war era? That Igbo has apprehended
the bias and liberal ngbati-ngbati press establishing its own media chain to take charge of its own destiny?
That Igbo based on the so-called "marginalization theory" and political impotence has realized there
were no "enemies" and adversaries that had hindered her progress and well-being but the Igbo? That Igbo
has come to grips with bigotry and hatred towards her should have served as her source of strength and unity?
And that Igbo know what amounts to utopia is collectivity?
The idea to this is very
clear and when WIC organizers and managers declines to accept the fact that it's been a waste of time all
these years they've been holding a picnic of "who is who" in Igboland, something is wrong and I must
honestly admit it is an Igbo tragedy. We must bear in mind that no great community was ever founded by means of
a social contract the way WIC has been parading in its fanfare over the years. It's also true in that entrapment
we all call "our country," and God forbid, it's only the Igbo that has grown industrially and academically
without government patronage. So why is Igbo and WIC encountering difficulties to undertake establishment
of a well organized community on the basis of growth in all aspects of society, incurring obligations to do so
by nature of enterprise in which they are engaged? Just like we parents who bring children into the world,
undertake an obligation to raise them, and not only those whom we favor; and just like a teacher in setting foot
in the classroom, undertakes an obligation to his or her students, and not only those who excel. So, too, should
be WIC, by virtue of the "exclusive" powers it claims, should undertake the obligation to care for
its entire people on which it establishes itself. Such obligations are not contractual; they do not come to existence
by consent and they cannot be discarded by choice.
The first week of September
will mark yet another picnic at the Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. There is talk about a new president and the potential candidates are already known. Ugorji Ugorji
of New
Jersey has been on top of the list until recently when his shenanigan seems to have backfired creating
loopholes, agitation and more lobbying. So controversial he may not get the mandate as his critics notes his weaknesses,
past failures (administratively) and dubious ways. A whole lot of organizations have popped up campaigning to stop
Ugorji from taking up remnants of a ruined leadership on the ground his cocky and fraudulent ways might take the
fledgling organization to hell. Yet, despite what these folks are saying, I do like the selection of Ugorji as
president of WIC to materialize, come the Labor Day Weekend picnic at the Hilton in Los Angeles. I like it first of all, like WIC;
Ugorji will help the organization sell out whatever is left. I mean, the errand boy that he would be to the northern
Islamic caliphates kowtowing and feeding from the crumbs of the generals and fat cats in Abuja, he would position the organization
to its normal footing of Aso Rock apologists, which is why the struggle for the presidency is very competitive
and highly priced.
Otherwise, what's the need
for WIC's annual summit which in its totality should be protecting the interest of Nd'Igbo wherever they may be
on this planet, and yet this "umbrella" organization has done nothing, absolutely nothing to defend Igbo
worthy causes in decades? Otherwise, why are these sellouts congregating every year in babariga, agbada, flowing
gowns and outfits of that nature, showing off, throwing loud parties and after party that has become an assembly
from around which the efulefu Diaspora bunch has used as an opportunity for a chain of money laundering conduits?
How has WIC engaged Igbo public leaders on responsibilities to adhere to a relatively open market economy, and
the aspiration toward equality of opportunity? Since when has WIC become an umbrella organization when Igbo-related
organizations in Diaspora too numerous to mention are falling apart, maliciously assassinating each other's characters
leaving a clueless bunch of these riff raffs without a creed and without a country? When was the last time WIC,
as umbrella organization sent out press releases (even though Igbo lacks a powerful media), to top newspapers,
examining and condemning acts perpetrated on Igbo by Obasanjo's Gestapo and killer squads? Why should anyone be
paying attention to WIC's annual picnic when these efulefu bunch has continuously engaged governors, assemblymen,
councilmen and local government bureau chiefs in a disturbingly, massive money laundering schemes?
There are things not to
be forgotten. As one is weary of pointing out, how soon do we forget, by the way? From Kano to Minna; and from Bonny to Port Harcourt. From Lagos to Benin; and from Jos to Onitsha. It was unbelievable. The pogrom.
The mutilation of civilians. The long walk home. The stalled peace talks (Aburi Accord) and continuation of misery,
starvation and genocide. At the height of Yakubu Gowon's-led genocidal campaign against the Igbo nation in which
an estimated two hundred thousand infants and children were starved to death, the bigot, Obafemi Awolowo told the
press starvation was a normal procedure as part of his strategic weapons of war.
I was then a little kid
and learning slowly and painfully what many had learned
before. The horrible stories and grief that occupied the center stage of many mothers' lives; the grief that won't
let many fathers move on with their lives and the frightening moments of children who had been abandoned when their
parents and guardians had been kidnapped, buried alive, hacked to death or murdered in the most brutal of circumstances.
But despite all the atrocities as Biafra struggled for survival, Almighty God was alive and well when the Igbo nation, at His mercy, could
not be entirely wiped out from the face of this earth. And despite what had been the most blood soaked event in
Africa, many Igbos, intellectuals included,
sees what happened as myth. Probably a myth to myself who did not witness what happened. To be sure, it was no
myth--there was genocide.
On the other point, it is
dangerous when WIC and other mushroom Igbo organizations have not been able to figure out the best way to deal
with the Igbo situation for now that we happened to be entrapped, which borders to the way Igbo may go about things
when the entrapment dissolves. As we may be taking the recent US intelligence report lightly or perhaps
dismissed as US interest propaganda, the question remains: would Igbo be ready and well prepared assuming Nigeria disbands? Afenifere is intact with
a written constitution ready to declare a "United Yoruba Socialist Republic" tracing back its steps from Awoism, Egbe Omo Oduduwa. Arewa may not be organized but to split
would not pose a problem between the northern ruling elites and the almajiris who had no problems from day one
for servitude. The "Niger-Delta Republic" has more of a cause and had been fighting the system since Ken Saro Wiwa got what he deserved
for, and since Obasanjo's vow of "no sacred cows" started from the demolition of Odi and Choba massacre.
They probably have a viable and intact document to declare statehood when the time comes as predicted by Washington's intelligence report.
Now on Nd'Igbo, there are
too many pundits roving around behind closed door forums, too many neocons, strong and paleoconservatives who wants
to maintain the status quo, too many communatarians and nouveau riche hawks not even to mention the most powerful
women in our households whose assimilation into mainstream American popular culture have caused more havoc than
produce a normal Igbo traditional family; making the Diaspora Igbo man a wimp as time passes by. If you read much
political commentary, you will be amazed at how these pundits have sorted themselves out without an agenda but
a pattern to display "intellectual ignorance." They have destroyed Igbo ideals and they bear no
resemblance of a serious people who wants to get things done.
To be continued....