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Of body and soul of the Sun
M. O. ENÉ, Ph.D. New Jersey, USA Friday, May 30, 2003
PREAMBLE On May 30, 1967, the sovereign state of Biafra emerged. On July 6, 1967, Lt.-Colonel Yakubu Gowon, head of state in Nigeria -- from which Biafra had broken away, declared war on a people physically persecuted, morally wounded, psychologically traumatized, and spiritually scarred. He had thought a walkover “police action” was all it would take to stop to Biafra. Never in the history of modern warfare had there been such a deep disparity in firepower and manpower as in the Nigeria-Biafra War, yet Gowon’s regime could not stop Biafra. An indigenous African power had emerged. With what we witnessed in Iraq recently, the Biafran military machine was in a class of its own. It would take the unholy Anglo-Arab-Soviet alliance to make Biafra sweat.
Thirty months later, on January 12, 1970, the political and military structure of Biafra dismantled. The body of Biafra is gone, and its flag no longer flies freely in the Land of the Rising Sun, but the soul of Sun lives. It lives because we are still traveling the same route that led to Biafra; we are still living the drama, and many of the original actors are still on stage playing the similar roles. Nigerians forgot to win the peace in the euphoria of enormous oil wealth. Even the Igbo who stood to lose from forgetting their past logged onto the forget-Biafra ferret and sunk deep into a dungeon of dangerous denial.
Biafra began to look like a dream within three decades. As in all dreams, people who were nowhere near Biafra told fairly-tale versions. In the early nineties, Nigeria’s perennial political paralyses snapped us out of the farrago of forgettery and out of the dungeon of deep denial. Ten years ago, I found myself on this side of the Great Pond. Everyone was busy chasing a dream, the American dream. I decided to chase the dream of which many had vague or no recollection, the Biafran dream. It was not a dream. It happened.
Slowly, the repressed memories flooded back. I collected parts of the legacy, published in the first issue of KWENU. Eventually, I conceived and implemented the Nigeria-Biafra War Memorial Day on Friday, May 30, 1997 as the highlight of Igbo Heritage Month, with Igbo Day holding on the last Saturday. Why Ohanaeze later chose September 29 is another story. The memorial comprised a church service for all those who lost their lives and a lecture titled Beyond Biafra: What Biafra did to us and what we did with it. The concept was to hear from different persons -- especially those who were there, to document and learn from their experiences, and to pay tribute to those who gave so much so that others might live. Since then, we have heard such distinguished persons as Professors Michael J. C. Echeruo, formerly Director of War Information Bureau in Biafra (1998), Uju Afulezi of CUNY, New York (1999), and Reuben Ogbudimkpa, formerly of UNN (2000).
INTRODUCTION This year, I am very pleased that Igbo-USA of New Jersey under the leadership of its President Ugo Uzodike is keeping the legacy alive. The organizing committee Chairman Titus Osuagwu (Mmaagha) invited me to give the keynote address. I would have preferred someone else, but who am I to say no when umunna calls, especially when the guest speaker -- immediate-past World Igbo Congress Chairman Austin Egwuonwu (Ekwueme) and I served in the 53 Brigade of the Biafran Army, stationed at Ajalli in Orumba. Looking back, it still thrills to remember such fine officers as Colonels Nsudo and Iheanacho, Brigade Major Laz Ezedike, Adjutant Adirika, Brigade RSM Ugwuanyi, etc. However, I will not revisit Biafra proper here. In the inaugural lecture, I looked beyond Biafra. Today, I will dwell on what we can still do with Biafra. It is a simple proposal: Let us reclaim the soul of Biafra, if the body we cannot now resurrect. The why and the how are the meat of the matter before us.
Biafra was a child of circumstance, a nation of necessity. Biafrans built a nation to stop what they saw as the “final solution” (the extermination of a race) hatched and set in motion while the world watched. They tapped into their spirit of survival and fought back. They survived as a people with their heads held high because, as George Orwell put it, “it is better even from the point of survival to fight and be conquered than to surrender without fighting.” Biafra won many battles but lost its physical being. The war is not over. It continues on many other fronts, with supposedly fellow citizens vowing to rain on the triumph of the Biafran spirit. Unfortunately, for these people, the progress of Ndiigbo inextricably ties to the survival of Nigeria. [See Enduring experiences, lasting legacy.] As Pini Jason rightly observed, “One of the things standing between Nigeria and greatness is the fear of freeing itself from the fear of the Igbo.” Since you cannot keep a nation down without staying down, everyone stays down! Ewu dina n’ana, dina n’akpukpo ya!
FROM ABURI TO ABUJA Ndiigbo are rugged republicans and daring democrats; they are also great realists. Therefore, it is not hard to see why many are not climbing fast enough onto the actualization-of-Biafra train. On the contrary, they are diving deeper into the heart of Nigeria and sweating it out in the hostile and uneven-playing field. Is this situation reflective of the actual mood of the people? If so, then maybe the message is wrong, the messenger is not strong, or the time is not ripe for such a giant leap. People ask me what I think. I throw the same question right back at them: It is not what I want; it is what Ndiigbo want. What do they want? I believe that Nigeria has failed to live up to the expectations of its peoples and well-wishers worldwide. Force, we have found out, is not a good solution to Nigeria’s perennial problems. Nigeria will only work when its components work because dysfunctional parts do not a functional whole make. As an engineer by training, I know that one faulty nut-and-bolt assembly that cost a few cents can disable a million-dollar power plant, no matter the level of computerization. You cannot resolve many engineering problems with holistic troubleshooting; you will eventually narrow down the diagnosis to the faulty components, even when almost all components are failing.
Ndiigbo need not impress on and show other Nigerians that they are not the problem: They hold the key to the survival of Nigeria. They have sat down to talk these things over. In Aburi, Ghana, General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu presented an almost perfect solution that would have saved Nigeria decades of dismay. It died. There was Biafra, and there was a war. In Abuja, Ndiigbo presented a similar system that could have solved some of the fundamental flaws of federation. It remains unimplemented. Ndiigbo should give up trying to save Nigeria and, for a change, try to build its nut-and-bolt component. Ndiigbo could continue to pursue equity for all in a soiled system they find themselves, but they must stop carrying the cross of the country. It is no good waiting for something to happen before they start dusting up Igbo nationalism. Let the Igbo confront ethnicity in Nigeria squarely and for the last time. There should be no avoiding of amorphous ethnic and religious nationalism of other Nigeria nations.
soul of the sun The Igbo are screaming about “actualizing” Biafra (the same Biafra actualized 36 years ago) and doing little else! Do Ndiigbo really want to resurrect Biafra? If so, they should go at it like true democrats and build the thrust. However, they should note that Biafra was not an exclusive nation of Ndiigbo, neither did it include all Igbo people. It excluded the Ika of Delta and the Igbo communities of Kogi and Benue. Biafra involved such neighboring nations as Andoni, Anang, Eket, Ekoi, Efik, Ibibio, Izon, Ikom, Kana, Mbembe, etc. It would be insensitive to talk about the resurrection of Biafra without these neighbors’ input. It would only sustain the wrong notion that Ndiigbo want to dominate others. The consequences of such an inside-the-box thinking are self-evident.
Our ancestors advised the blacksmith who does not know how to forge a gong to look at the tail of a hawk. [Uzu amaghi akpu ogene lee egbe anya n’odu.] We do not always have to dictate the music before we display our dance steps. The Hausa-Fulani and the Yoruba are already playing brass trumpets and talking drums with Arewa and Oduduwa respectively. What stops Ndiigbo from complementing the music by playing their golden gongs with Aladimma, a pan-Igbo nation that would display unity of purpose and resolve to raise human dignity in Africa? The Igbo should therefore reclaim the soul of Biafra and inject it into a pan-Igbo nation called Aladimma, which would include all Igbo communities from Igboakiri (Igbanke) through Igbouzo (Ibuzo) and Igboariam to Igboeze and Igboere and down to Igboani (Bonny). The Yoruba have designed Oduduwa Republic and are standing by to swing into action. The Islamic republic of Arewa is a fait accompli, complete with Sharia laws and on-the-go governors. O’u gini ji Ndiigbo?
From Ahiara to Aladimma No Nigerian can claim that Ndiigbo wanted or want out of Nigeria. Unfortunately, some still see in the revival of Biafran spirit another attempt to dismember Nigeria forcefully. Nothing could be further from the truth. Even MASSOB’s Aba Declaration harped on the inability of government to protect lives. Ndiigbo have shown that they are true and peaceful Nigerians, something other ethnic groups cannot claim. Ndiigbo work so hard to weave Nigeria together it attracts more misery from those who mock their efforts. While these people distance themselves gradually from the Nigerian project, they see and scream at Biafra as a dismemberment dart that would prove them 30 years late to the game! It can be agonizing to discover that you fought the truth and won!
Do not think that tinkering with another name for pan-Igbo nationalism will lose the promised potency of Biafra. The Biafran Revolution was not about names and inflexible ideologies, or there would not have been all the 60s peace talks. “Biafra of the mind” or of the body is about fairness and equity, about democracy and freedom, justice and progress. The reason why neighboring nations look over the Igbo for allies that often maltreat them is that the Igbo appear “unorganized.” If the Igbo show that they are together and that they are for the people, nothing would stop them from coming to a prosperous, peaceful, and purposeful Aladimma nation set up on the principles of Ahiara Declaration. Everyone loves a winner; if the land is good, it will accommodate everyone equitably. [Ala di mma, o bata onyeobula ofuma.] From here, a formal and mutually beneficial coalition shall emerge. And you can call it Biafra!
CONCLUSION: Why do Ndiigbo keep taking insults, abuses, assaults, and the insanity of endless ethnic enmity? Any other nation on earth would have run out of cheeks to turn. The problem therefore is spiritual. I believe in destiny: If the nation of Biafra will be, it shall be at its own time. No one can force it; no once can stop it. It did not take a year to actualize the modern Biafra; it should not take longer to reactivate and restart the engine. Ndiigbo have shown that they can physically put together a nation by any name within weeks, that they have the capacity to take charge of their affairs and defend the fatherland, and that they have adequate technological prowess and human resources to compete at the world’s stage. The problem to overcome is spiritual.
Ndiigbo need to resolve a whole lot of spiritual issues that would release the soul of Biafra before they can reclaim the body of Biafra. The internal squabbles and senseless self-destruction have reached a crucial self-deprecating stage where stagnation and backwardness take over. Those who gave their bodies for Biafra remain buried with Biafra, forgotten. Since Ndiigbo have denied these souls adequate burial rites, they cannot now resurrect a part of them.
My stand is simple: Let us reclaim the soul of the Sun. How we do that is the issue to address. There are several proposals, including the Martyrs Memorial or Remembrance Wall at Oji River, pan-Igbo burial rites for everyone who perished during the war, a return to our cultural values because a people without culture are like flies without wings, a total revamping of time-tested tradition and, lately, Igbo Charter project and the Igbo National Assembly. These could coagulate within the year. It is up to Ndiigbo to let go of superfluous socializations, ridiculous backstabbing, uncouth debates, and unsophisticated intolerance. It is time to concentrate on nurturing a nation of contiguous communities of all peoples of Igbo heritage. Whether the Aladimma nation is inside Nigeria, or within the regional umbrella of ECOWAS or the continental body of African Union, is presently irrelevant. The important thing is that Ndiigbo would have the opportunity to display in their own God-given geography what they do well amongst hostile hosts in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, Jos, etc. Everything else is flying a kite at the mercy of a wild wind; where it will wind up or wind down, no one knows.
Ekene m unu. Ndeewo nu!
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