By Rev Fr Gerald Nwafor
The protesters were all over Nigeria except in the Southeast; but there was a call from the Southwest to push the Igbo’s out of Nigeria.
The Igbos did not raise the Russian flag nor did the Igbos call for a regime change as we saw in the North. Why this hate on the Igbo people?
The Yoruba people calling for the head of the Igbo people took our money and gave us the certificate of occupancy (C of O) in every land we bought in Yoruba land.
What they did with the money is not our concern although one of their sons said they used it to organize an owambe-party and the remaining they sprayed on top of musicians.
How can the Igbos be blamed for the mismanagement of their fund? I heard the president saying that ethnic bigotry would not be allowed. A person who said that Igbos should not be allowed to interfere in Lagos politics anymore was rewarded with the special adviser to the president in the person of Bayo Onanuga.
The other person who said that Mama-chukwudi should not vote was rewarded with the office of transportation in Lagos state. They call him MC Olomo (Musiliu Akinsanya) and he is enjoying government largess.
When you reward the people who have fanned this ember of hate and used ethnic baiting to get a lucrative job what is the message you are sending? Until these two people are arrested and prosecuted with the full weight of the law, those presidential speeches are empty and insulting to the Igbo people.
The government was quick to arrest the tailor who sowed the Russian and Chinese flags during the protest but Yaya Bello who dipped his hand into the treasury of Kogi state to amass over 700 billion Naira is walking free.
The NNPC chief who imported bad fuel that destroyed millions of vehicles is still in charge of the NNPC. Not only that, but he has also spent over $4 billion (yes, dollars) to put one refinery in order or at least refine a liter of fuel for six years and nothing has happened, and no arrest has been made. Oby Ezekwesili said that this government is majoring in a minor, and I agreed with her. How can you arrest a simple tailor because he sowed a flag and allowed Bello and Kyari Mele to walk free in this country called Nigeria?
And why should you reward Onanuga and Omole and preach peace in your address which is pure hypocrisy?Anyway, I was watching the Olympic games since I did not go to Paris to watch it live as planned.
I saw Nneka Echikunwoke winning Silver in the Hammer Throw. I was excited because I knew her, and she has represented Nigeria in the Commonwealth Games before now. She ran to the crowd and got a USA flag for the victory lap. I was curious (ginizi na eme?).
She could not participate in the 2020 Tokyo games because the Nigerian government did not register and did not fulfill their part of the bargain by submitting her Olympic required test. So, in order not to sit down and watch her career die and her talent wasted, she jumped ship.
The United States welcomed her with two hands and pushed her to the Olympic games where she got herself and the USA the Silver Medal. I was also heartbroken when I saw the 21-year-old Favor Ofili break down in tears after featuring in the 200-meter final in Paris. First, she was not registered by the Nigerian officials for the 100-meter women where she thrives, and finally, there was no support from the government of Nigeria. It was a Ghanaian journalist who was consoling her and she was just saying I am tired.
How can you explain that someone wanted to help his country put its name on the map of the world, and all she keeps getting is disappointment and abuse? As I was writing this piece, I was watching the Nigerian Women’s Basketball Team battling the almighty USA in Paris for a place in the semifinal. I looked at the names of all the girls involved in that epic history, it was 90% Igbos. Should I tell them that the country they are fighting for is planning to kick them outside the same country? I do not want to join the fools to be foolish neither should I allow myself to be dragged into an ethnic quarrel.
The Igbo people have a saying that he whom the gods have ordained to be king must end up in the throne with the crown on his head to the chagrin of the enemies. The Igbos are the glue holding Nigeria together.
The day the Igbos would leave Nigeria the North would use the West for ngwongwo.The protest and the presidential address looked like a stage-managed thing before the eyes of the world. The protesters were talking about hunger and hardship.
The presidential address was 18 paragraphs long and said nothing about how to alleviate hunger and hardship: rather the president was praising himself. The protesters were talking about the price of fuel and food items and the president was talking about 10 million hectares of land. Meanwhile, the 500,000 he promised last year has not been seen. What a disconnect!
The protesters in Lagos said that the presidential address touched their key points and the protesters in the North felt insulted and started calling for regime change. This is the best time to watch from the gallery.
The president is from the West, the vice president is from the North, and the senate president is from the South so why should the East be in trouble (kedu utu ndi-igbo na nsogbua). Peter Obi said that the campaign is about promises, and the government is keeping the promises made.
He goes on to make the point that Tinubu promised during the campaign that he would start where Buhari stopped therefore nobody should be raising eyebrows because he is keeping his promises. The political class who are saying that the protesters have no leadership, and the demands are not realizable should look at Bangladesh recently, Kenya, and Sri Lanka last year. These people have no leadership personified but have a leadership modification called hunger and anger. Because their leadership is not personified you can only talk to the demands. The people of Eastern Nigeria say that (ubiam na-echi nti) poverty tends to be deaf. The real protest would visit when the jungle is mature for it.
