By Rev Fr Gerald Nwafor
History does not repeat itself, but history is repeated by those who do not pay attention to it or do not take it seriously. I do not want to go back to 1929 or 1945 but let me give a little bit of history so that those alive would counter or affirm what I posit.In 1953 Akintola a Yoruba man went to the north and spoke about southern Nigeria (East and west) separating from the north and gaining their independence, since the Northerners said they were not ready.
Riot broke out in the North and guess who was killed? The Igbos. Meanwhile, it was an Igbo man (Azikiwe) who was advocating for one Nigeria (begging the West to wait for the North). How come the people who were for the North were the people targeted and were killed in numbers?If you have an elder in your family, ask him/her about the 1953 massacre of Igbos in Kano. My father and my uncles were victims.
In 1966 there was a coup to reinstate a Yoruba man (Awolowo) into power. The coup failed and there was a counter-coup that saw the death of almost all the Igbo military officers and eventually Igbo-massacre that culminated in the 1967 civil war, which claimed the lives of over 3 million Igbos. Awolowo was released from prison by an Igbo man so he could go back to Yoruba land and declare Oduduwa-Nation.
We know how that plan was used as a ploy to exterminate the Igbo people by the same man (Awolowo). Very recently 1993 a Yoruba man won an election on June 12, 1993. The president (IBB), a northerner, nullified the election and there was a carnage in the war against the Igbo which resulted in OSO-ABIOLA.
Most of the Igbo people lost their businesses, properties, and lives.Even recently the person who organized the election (Professor Humphery Nwosu), and who fought to make sure the election was made public, was denied any kind of honor in the national assembly because he is an Igbo man; but the person who nullified the election was honored by all the dignitaries in Nigeria and was able to raise 8 billion Naira to build a library.
Why the hatred towards the Igbos? I gave these three dates because I know that the people who experienced them are still alive and can explain more to our young generation.The times and signs we are facing now are challenging and we should be very careful to make any alliance. Yes, we need the alliance to remain relevant in the political equation of Nigeria but we should be very careful so that we do not commit political suicide in the quest for political freedom.
We might have won the 2023 presidential campaign when Mr. Peter Obi unleashed the obidient movement. We stood behind him like the rock of Gibraltar but the INEC chairperson from the North connived with the Yoruba presidential candidate to do the overnight magic that caused a glitch on the server.
I am not against alliance but do not allow the same stick to poke your eyes twice (Osisi ada adu onye ma ife ugbolo abuo).I have been listening to the political language of the North, the West, the South-south, and the Southeast, none is palatable. The North did not make too much noise in the 8 years of Buhari’s presidency.
And one would ask what has changed? They want Tinubu out today or tomorrow (Nke taa Nke echi). I would simply say selfishness. The nepotic tendency during the Buhari administration was the worst since the creation of Nigeria, but Tinubu has supposed that nepotic tendency. The economy was failing during the Buhari administration but today under Tinubu the economy has failed. There is no reason to praise Buhari; neither do we have any to praise Tinubu. The two should be given red cards or shown the door.
How can the citizens do that in 2027? That is the big question. The coalition and alliance going on now should not be a sellout for the Igbos. Nobody should force us to achieve their goals. The Hausa or Yoruba agenda should not be our agenda, if we have one at all.
The Igbo political class sometimes is the real problem in Igbo land. I looked at what Natasha did in Kogi in 6 months and I wondered what those Igbo senators are doing in the senate. I do not want to discuss other things Natasha did but 5,000 (five thousand) laptops to school children is enough sign of governance for me. In Anambra state, we have three senators, and I have not seen their effects since May 29, 2023.
The coalition and alliance should not work if it is all about their selfish interest and aggrandizement.Politics is a game of numbers: the Igbos are all over Nigeria in their numbers, so we are very important in this political horse-trading. Politics is a game of interest; the Igbos have a lot of interest in Nigeria today.
As they say in politics, interest aligns. We need a seaport. We need a full-fledged international airport because our people are commercially inclined and industrious by nature. Some academic professors of Igbo origin have shops and stores in main markets all over Igbo land.Politics is local, we are the most cultural people of African heritage.
We believe so much in eyes on the ground (Anya lue gi ana). It is only the Igbos that can boast of running two empires at the same time (Home and abroad). The visitors in Onitsha had houses at home and they maintained them and paid their dues in both places.
The Igbos living in Lagos, Kano, Abuja, and overseas have homes in both places and relate and communicate perfectly. Therefore, if politics is local, the Igbos are the champions of local activities. There is no reason to shortchange the Igbo people in the 2027 election. We should not play second fiddle if there is any alliance or coalition. Our political machinery should be well-positioned.
Our fathers yielded for Belewa, Ekwueme yielded for Obasanjo, when will they yield for us? I do not want to sound selfish or ethnic but for us to support anyone in this coalition, the person must be better than Obi and the track record must be judiciously compared, if we are not to hold the short end of the stick anymore. We have sacrificed way too long in this Nigerian contraption.
