INTRODUCTION

If there is anything that I repeatedly resent about my people -- the Igbo people, it is our inability to really come together and speak with one voice since after the war. Yet, an all-Igbo conference is organised yearly to look into the problems within. Since the Igbo structure was dislodged after the war, nothing appears to be working in Igboland, which has given others the opportunity to make maximum use of our talent and resources for their own morbid aggrandisement.

I am not saying this because I am an Igbo man but it is an undisputed fact that the Igbo people are the most industrious, the most advanced, the most exposed, and the high-ranking intelligentsias in Nigeria. If not for the Igbo people, Nigeria would not have been known as the “Giant of Africa.” I have been to Cameroon; whenever Nigeria is mentioned, what the average person thinks of is the Igbo. This is connected to the fact that most of the markets in Cameroon is predominantly Igbo. The Cameroon government had to introduce “residence permit” in order to check the influx of Ndiigbo in particular into the country, which was becoming more like an Igbo nation or an Igbo republic.

There is just no place in the world you will go and not find an Igbo person who is not only settled but speaks the language of the place, into which he has settled and is as fluent as the indigenes of the area. It is very possible that in every five Blacks in the world, there is an Igbo man. Yet, these achievements are not receiving the type of encouragement and support it ought to receive back home. Back home, it is like the rumble between “Jacob and Esau” in the Bible. I woke up one morning and though of it and asked myself “Why are we not united?”

OF UNITY

We do not need to be educated on the importance of unity. Rather, we should be disturbed by the fact that we are unable to be truly united since after the war. I do not think it will require much for us to be in harmony.

Jawaharlal Nehru said:

“Unity is always better than disunity, but an enforced unity is a sham and dangerous affair, full of explosive possibilities. Unity must be of the mind and heart, a sense of belonging together and of facing together those who attack it.”

What we have been doing in most of our conferences to address the Igbo problem has been a sham. That is why, nothing reasonable have been achieved or put in place. In 1999, our inability to rally behind one candidate caused us the presidency. On that day, it was one of the sons of the soil, Jim Nwobodo, who openly betrayed the Igbo nation. Yet no sanction was taken against him. I wonder the body that will even sanction him. But as fate would have it, the same person whom he supported dumped him. In 2003, while others were producing one presidential candidate, the Igbo came up with more than four; and, in the end, they all lost. Don’t you think we would have created an impact, at least for the future, if we had united? Of course, but who will Ndiigbo listen to or who will unite us?

THE PROBLEM OF A LEADER

This has been one of the major problems the Igbo people have been facing since the war ended. Anytime a discussion like this is raised, it always ends with the question of who will lead the Igbo or, at least, speak while others listen and execute. It is always as if there is no solution to the predicament. The notion of Igbo enwe(ghi) eze has so corrupted the minds of the Igbo people at home and abroad, so much so that every one now wants to lead irrespective of his background, one area that has played a key role in determining leaders in our community. That is why somebody like Chris Uba can hold a state like Anambra to ransom.

The difficulties in having a spokesman or leader may have contributed immensely, but I do not think it is enough not to make us to unite. Prior to the war, there was no distinct leader in Igboland. Then Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu was not our leader but, because we were in one accord to fight a justified course, we were able to -- in one voice and spirits -- choose a leader to lead us. It did not cost us conferences upon conferences but the sheer will of determination, courage and, above all,m love for our fatherland. In unity we fought for our right and, even though we lost, we were able to make a point. The question now is whether that spirit can still be resurrected. The answer is a big “YES,” but a lot has to be done.

WHAT TO DO

We are barely three years to another presidential election and already Ndiigbo have started clamouring for “Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB) for president.” That year is going to be a remarkable year for Ndiigbo as a nation because Biafra will be 40 and would have completed the circle of uncleanness. I made a remark about Biafra turning 40 by 2007 and, ironically, it will be the year of the presidential election. [See The unbending spirit of Biafra.] Forty days is the number of period mapped out for a woman who gives birth to a male child before she can present herself in the sanctuary (obi) for the child to be dedicated. And, for a nation, it is 40years just as the case in Israel.

The Biafran nation will be ripe for dedication by 2007 and that is why I am redirecting the minds of Ndiigbo worldwide to begin to think of how the Igbo people will benefit in that period, which happens to be in the same year of the next presidential election. This does not mean Biafra will be actualised by that period or whether it will not; rather, it will mark the beginning of a period in Igboland when sanctity will be restored in its earnest. If you recall, you will agree with me that the presence of God was only felt in Israel after 40 years of David’s reign. David ruled at the time of the mystical 40-year-period of uncleanness and could not build the temple. Solomon later built it and Jerusalem became a hallowed area. This will be expatiated in a future article.

Three years seem to be very far but it is not. A nation that wants to achieve a goal must start to plan from now. It is true we do not have a person who can talk on our behalf, but we have had one in the past and he has not been dethroned. He has not been dethroned by the collective voice of Ndiigbo that enthroned him and that person is no other person but Dim Odumegwu-Ojukwu. This was even made manifest in the last presidential election, where he emerged top of all the other Igbo candidates in the race. You may not agree but that has always been the case. A leader without opposition may never see his loopholes. There is bound to be opposition, but let it not affect our quest to be united because whosoever is in the opposition will want to rule a united people if s/he is given the chance.

I am therefore, advocating for an Igbo National Assembly (INA) with Odumegwu-Ojukwu to chair the meeting. If there is any person who will always oppose Odumegwu-Ojukwu to lead the Igbo then it is I because his hands are “unclean” -- after having taken us to war as David did in Israel. But the truth remains, he still holds that mantle and must be respected. You may argue that nobody made him leader, but you cannot deny the fact that he led Ndiigbo during the first Biafran Revolution, and we have never called a meeting to ask him to relinquish that position. Rather we have always been assuming that he is no more the leader. Assumption, you should know, is not the language of the spirit.

We are a highly spiritual nation or people and cannot dissociate ourselves from that tie. Therefore, whatever we do must always reflect some reasonable proportion of spirituality. No matter what we do we will continue to fail because we seem not to want to address our predicaments from the proper channel. It would have been impossible for Joshua to lead Israel into the Promised Land without Moses handing the mantle over to him; likewise, Solomon wouldn’t have built the temple if David had not handed the mantle to him. So also it is in our cosmic philosophy that unless the person who holds the mantle hands it down to his successor, there is bound to be trouble. We have to acknowledge the fact that Odumegwu-Ojukwu still holds the mantle, and he too must be ready to hand it over because power has spiritually shifted from the hands of Anambrarians.

I had earlier stated that the era of an Anambra person or Enugu person leading Ndiigbo is over. It will be very hard for those from these regions with presidential ambition to accept, but the indigenes of these states must have to acknowledge it and be ready to cooperate. The mantle should go to the old Imo region. A leader from that area is the only person that will deliver Ndiigbo in their future endeavours. We must have to always acknowledge this fact because the mantle may never leave the region. The 40 years period granted to Anambra region will soon expire. Our nation from time immemorial has been sacred and must remain so. I suggest therefore the possible step towards being united.

We must know that the role of elders is one of the most sensitive. We do not need elders who are learned because grey hair is not studied in schools and not everybody can have it. It is a sacred thing which God reserved for sacred people. To attain old age is not to get a doctorate degree. We must have to return to a leadership or a community that is gerontocratically oriented or centred.

One of the major reasons that caused Israel to split after the reign of Solomon was the neglect of the council of elders by his successor and son Absolom. An Igbo adage has it that “what an old man sees from the foot of a tree, a child cannot see even if he climbs to the top.” We may be of the same height or may have attained the same level in the society; but, if I am 30 and you are 50, the difference there is 20 years of experience. The experience of an old man cannot be bought.

This coming together should involve and reflect all the regions that were under the former Biafran region. I understand the difficulties in calling a meeting of this sort, but it will happen and that is the more reason it will happen so that at the end it will be like a dream to all. The first step towards this meeting should be the coming together of all the leaders of all the groups and organizations in the land. They have an important role to play in the area of uniting their ambition, which is for the collective interest of the people, unless there is any with a hidden agenda for the propagation of an “IBB 2007” presidential campaign in disguise. This will then pave way for an all Igbo conference that must be held in Igboland. We must have to put our differences in one basket, but we should be very free to make our points in a mature way and take decisions in the most perfect way. At the same time, we must be ready to apologise and accept apologies.

CONCLUSION

We have enemies and these enemies are happy that we are not together because our enemies know that if we unite we will achieve greater than we did 37 years ago. That is why anytime we try to bring our effort into one basket, our own people who are being used are scuttling it. Naturally, there is bound to be some bad elements in any society, but the activities of these bad elements can only be felt if we are not united.

Let us therefore sink these words and meditate on them and ask ourselves whether we can truly build a better future for our youths. You may say your children are all outside, which is even worse because your child may never leave to know where the father came from. Or maybe you have the money and you think the future of your kids is secured. Then remember that this life is full of ups and downs.

The best foundation you can build for your people is the same foundation that your forefather had truly left behind. This is the time for us to re-write our name in history and prove to our enemies that we can still come together and collectively achieve our dream – the Biafran dream.

“This revolution is indestructible and eternal”

INTRODUCTION

OF UNITY

WHAT TO DO

CONCLUSION

BIAFRA LIVES