WHAT NDỊ IGBO NEED TO LEARN FROM THE FULANIS; THE TEACHINGS OF COALITION FOR IGBO RENAISSANCE. Written by KEMKA S. IBEJI
They are also gradually coming down the Eastern Nigeria where they have already had a seat in Enugu which is the practical headquarters of the Southeast. This will further reduce the space of Ndị Igbo within the minute confines of the Southeast geopolitical zoning.
The Fulanis are calmly spreading, expanding and dominating wherever they enter in Nigeria. They lead their cows and rams along the bushes and forests while establishing their domain and abode everywhere they touch their feet. These folks are planting their nation, culture and existence wherever they are or pass. In many places they have planted themselves in the past, they have now germinated.
The Southeasterners who are the Igbos in Nigeria had also lived in the north many years before the Fulanis arrived the shores of Nigeria through the conquest of Uthman Danfodio (sic) in about 1804. Some Igbos have lived in Sokoto and Zamfara for about 300 years before the establishment of the emirates in the north.
The Igbos have kept shrinking their acquisition and reducing their domain by consistently reclining and settling into very small and shortened space. On the other hand, the Fulanis are expanding rather into all the places where Igbos had prior presence and experience but abandoned for their little space called home in the East.
Today you have the Fulanis in Kogi, Kaduna, Benue, Kwara, Adamawa, Taraba, Yobe, Maiduguri, Niger, Sokoto, Gombe, Nassarawa, etc. You not only have them in those areas and much more, they have established recognized systems of government and union. They come in, live, own and dominate their environment. They most certainly are fulfilling the biblical injunction that says; "go into the world, be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth". Beyond this, they are dominating Nigeria and even Africa.
 |
| KEMKA S. IBEJI |
An example that rapidly comes to mind is the "Abiola Exodus" which saw many Igbos run home from around Nigeria where they lived. They retreated southwards in the Southeast for common experience of violence against Ndị Igbo in Nigeria at any slightest provocation. The Igbos are fought even when they are unconnected with the issues of the trend time. It is common to see a Yoruba and Hausa fighting and the next thing you see both of them in union vandalizing, burgling, and destroying shops and businesses of the Igbo man or woman nearby. This has also made the Igbos feel and live very unsafe in Nigeria. You will always notice that once the other tribes start making their introductory troubles anywhere now, the Igbo man or woman will start locking up his/her shop because they know it is the next target. Of course, these are some of the reasons why you always see the Igbos running back to the Southeast during general elections and during crisis.
Now the problem becomes what the agitators want and what indeed the people of the Southeast need. Of course, there is the difference between want and need. Most times we find ourselves wanting what we actually do not need. But need however is more important than want because need is much more crucial than want.
Several groups and associations have emerged years after the Biafran war which ended in 1970. They have also taken up their agitation from where the Biafran warlords stopped. But the concern is that they have ignored the reason for the war which ought to be the starting point. What caused the Biafran war and the agitation secession? This should be the first call of all groups calling for Biafra at the moment.
The major problem of Ndị Igbo remains suspicion, denial, lack of trust by our neighbors and uncertainties experienced by Ndị Igbo themselves about their need and place in Nigeria. It is a common knowledge that the government established the Principle of Federal Character to cater for inequalities in our ethnic constructions and constitution. To grant equity, the Federal Character Commission was established and encoded in the statute of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to fashion some form of equality that guarantee equity. This is why you can see an Igbo son or daughter score 200 points in an examination yet lose the admission where you find northerners with 90 points in admission.
However, the Igbos are also shortchanged even in this policy. They willingly give in to accommodate others but nobody is willing to allow them when it is due them. The lopsidedness of the Federal Character mounts further threat to the life and existence of the Igbos in Nigeria.
The lives and property of Ndị Igbo become so unsafe in Nigeria. Their businesses are looted, vandalized and destroyed. Their lives are threatened by almost all their neighbors in Nigeria. They have been pushed and shut out of power in subtle, covert and overt armistice by the rest ethnic groups. They are feared around political power and no consideration is given to Ndị Igbo. But more of the problems rest on the Igbos. They have been scattered in location, disposition and viewpoint. They have been so disorganized with respect to their collective needs and wants. They have been made so confused and dazed that they now are unsure of what they really need.
To this end, COALITION FOR IGBO RENAISSANCE has set up the table for discussions within and without. Ndị Igbo should now come together to discuss their sincere needs. We have through CFIR now the opportunity to engage ourselves and enquire within us what we actually are in need of and how best to approach it. Part of the questions to be attended to in this movement are;
Do Ndị Igbo need a separate nation state with sovereignty? Do they really need to expand and dominate the world around them and maintain integrity of themselves? Do they need safety, protection and security for themselves and their property in Nigeria? Do they need to make use of their merchandise in all parts of the country and beyond to expand the Igbo heritage and experience?
What do Ndị Igbo need going forward in Nigeria?
Ndị Igbo should rather be thinking of dominating their environment. They should be rationalizing on having the required protection of their rights and privileges by the law of the land and not shrinking their horizons. Ndị Igbo should learn expansion and domination from the Fulanis in Nigeria and across the world today. They should be reasoning out patterns and methodologies of entrenching themselves in all parts of the country and even the world. Ndị Igbo should as well learn from the Jews who, at a time in history, even while controlling the world economy had little or nothing to do as they lack hold of political power. Ndị Igbo should learn and understand that without political power in Nigeria, they are in control of practically nothing. They should know that a single policy of the government can crumble all their wealth and acquisitions of many centuries. It is time to get fully involved in the processes of ruling Nigeria and Africa by extension.
The current pursuit of Biafra in the manner it is canvassed and agitated is limiting, shortchanging, self-defeating, counterproductive, outdated, archaic, inordinate, unreasonable, detached from real need, insensitive and brazenly removed. To say the least, it is the worst description and labeling of Ndị Igbo as cowardly and mostly enfeebled.
KEMKA S. IBEJI
Comments
Post a Comment