Whither the Igbo Nation?
Ubanese Nwanganga
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
I recall writing an essay, “Ndiigbo
Need Deliverance,” in which I argued that Ndiigbo needed divine
intervention in their affairs if they had to move forward and consequently take
their pride of place in the larger Nigerian family. It would appear that at the
time I wrote the essay the Igbo nation was like a virgin, unspoiled.
I mean that comparing then with now I feel guilty of being rash in
condemning my kinsmen. But that is not correct.
The purpose of criticizing social ills is to guide society on to the path that
one thinks should be preferred. In other words, a social critic (Ubanese is not
claiming to be one) points out what is wrong in the society and offers advice on
the way forward. The criticism takes place at a point in time. An unacceptable
behavior is defined in the absolute and not in the relative. For instance,
incest is an unacceptable social behavior.
The fact that it was condemned in, say 2000, when it became an
embarrassing occurrence, does not mean that it would no longer be a
reprehensible conduct in, say 2009, when bestiality being committed in the name
of human rights, became a serious social issue. Both of them are evil and stand
to be condemned by all and sundry, the fact that one is more serious and
manifested much later notwithstanding.
Therefore, I was not rash in my judgment. Instead, evil has now developed wings
amongst my kinsmen. In any case, whatever I said then was out of love and a
strong desire to see my people get back on to the driving seat in the affairs of
our dear country. It is the same desire that informs my decision to come out
once again from retirement to volunteer to write this unsolicited essay. As an
adult Igbo man, whenever it pleases the Almighty to recall me I will definitely
reincarnate thereafter among my people. It cannot be otherwise, no matter what
the white man’s religion teaches to the contrary.
Not quite long ago a friend told me a chilling story about how a group of young
men, because of the love of money disregarded respect for age and kidnapped an
elderly woman in her seventies in her village. The old woman was alone with her
house help. Her husband of several decades had died some months back. After the
funeral the children, scattered all over Nigeria and abroad especially Europe
and America, returned to their respective places of abode.
The big family house was empty, as it was occupied only by the woman and her
house help. As she waited for her
house help to serve the evening meal the young men arrived at her house and
entered through the backdoor. Politely, they greeted her. She returned the
greetings but demanded to know them. One of them brought out his gun and asked
her to follow them. The old woman did not understand and expectedly began to ask
questions upon questions. They disregarded her questions but assured her that no
harm would come her way. They simply wanted to use her to get her children to
give them money.
The old woman followed the young men while her house help could not talk, cry or
shout from shock. They walked her to their car outside and she almost fainted
when they opened their car boot and bundled her inside.
They sped off and after about one hour she was taken into a bush, which
would be her home for the next eight days. Contact was established with one of
her sons and the ransom was negotiated. The son spared no effort to reach his
siblings. The ransom was paid on the eight day. Thereafter, the old woman was
released.
As you read this stranger-than-fiction account, I want you, Igbo man or woman,
boy or girl, wherever you may be, to visualize what happened. Yes, ponder over
the incident. Just picture these young men entering the old woman’s house and
even addressing her as ‘Mama,’ only to order her out with a gun. Considering her
age let us assume that she must have been suffering from arthritis. Now, imagine
her walking with difficulty while the young men patiently waited for her. Then,
she was bundled into the boot. Imagine the psychological condition of this
unfortunate old woman.
For eight odd days, which must have appeared like eternity to the poor woman,
her ‘children’ held her captive. At no point did they have a change of heart.
Not even when she cried and pleaded with them to release her. She shed tears,
which the heavens collected. When she had to answer the call of nature, the
‘boys’ simply showed her where to do so. Food was provided for her when they
felt she needed to eat. Of course she did not have any bathe during the period
of her captivity. If she died they would have just abandoned her remains there
in the bush and decide on their next victim. When her children paid the ransom
she regained her freedom. Such an elderly woman deserving of respect was
humiliated because some young men had suddenly discovered a new immoral way of
making money-kidnapping. Nothing can be more sordid than this.
Festus Odimegwu is a household name in Imo state, especially in the Orlu zone,
where he hails from. He was a former managing director of Nigerian breweries. He
made quite a lot of money while in the service of the company. Before he retired
he swore to make life a hell sort of for Eze Godwin Okwuaka, the traditional
ruler of his home town. In fact, he wanted to unseat the former diplomat and a
fine gentleman.
In Nigeria, wealthy retired civil servants usually worked in such departments as
customs and excise, immigrations service, ports authority, NNPC, works and
housing, national boundaries commission, etc during their active service. That
explains why these hotcakes are the preserves of our black imperialists, the
Muslim north.
So, Eze Okwuaka, a middle level officer at the time he was compulsorily retired
in 1984, had no financial muscle to flex with Orlu’s man of the moment. Even
though his younger brother had been commissioner for finance in Imo state,
Okwuaka’s family was no match for Odimegwu’s. Not when Odimegwu promised to
support Governor Achike Udenwa’s re-election bid in 2003 with two billion naira.
With the possible exception of men like Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter, every
politician is like a prostitute: whoever can afford his price will have him as
many times as possible.
Not surprisingly, Governor Achike Udenwa refused to call Festus Odimegwu to
order. Instead, he allowed him all the latitude to humiliate Eze Okwuaka.
However, a few men of conscience from the Eze’s home town refused to be swayed
by money and never sold out. To pacify the money bag, Eze Okwuaka’s small
community was partitioned in two, and Festus Odimegwu was crowned Eze and
traditional ruler of one part of it.
Typical of the nouveau rich in Igbo land, the new arrivals who have made it
rich, Eze Festus Odimegwu was not satisfied. He must carve out a bigger fiefdom
for himself where Ndiigbo, Nigeria and the rest of the world must recognize him.
Like a man under heat, he threw himself into the PDP primaries to choose its
governorship candidate for Imo state in 2003 but lost his deposit. While he was
fully into active politics, nobody reminded him that he was a traditional ruler
by his own choice and was therefore not expected to engage in partisan politics.
No, he was above the law.
According to news reports, Eze Odimegwu’s wife was sometime last March kidnapped
by misguided young men, who stormed the church where she was attending a wedding
service in a Rambo style. The young men numbering about thirty were reported to
have shot into the air sporadically and caused panic in the house of God before
snatching the woman. She was released after spending one week with the
undesirable elements, who had demanded one billion naira ransom from her
husband.
It is obvious that I am no fan of Eze Odimegwu. But the point at issue is not
Eze Odimegwu and his fantasies; it is that Igboland is under siege and is being
terrorized by its own sons and daughters who want money at all cost. Therefore,
kidnapping Mrs. Odimegwu and desecrating the house of God by miscreants, who are
hell bent to disgrace and shame their motherland without qualms, must be
condemned by all decent people of Igbo extraction. Some reports claimed that the
kidnapping was politically motivated while others said that Mrs. Odimegwu had
high kidnap value.
Whatever the motive the kidnapping, like others before and after it, represents
the new face of Ndiigbo, which old men like me, wish they had not lived to
witness. How can young Igbo men and women degenerate to this absurd level of
lack of conscience in the name of making money? What will they do with the
money? Money is good in life but must it be made or acquired at the expense of
one’s conscience? Do the vipers know what harm they are inflicting on the
collective image of Ndiigbo
gburugburu, not only in Nigeria
but also globally?