By Akinyemi Onigbinde
The news filtering out of the East is not pleasing to the ears, ears of those who think this ‘mere geographical’ expression can yet be put together to constitute a nation-state.But for the demagogues, self-assured descendants of stone-age despots who has resolved, against all rationality and statistical data, that the ‘unity of this country is settled and therefore,non-negotiable’ the Igbos of the South-East geo-political zone of Nigeria deserve to be taught a lesson for ‘daring to cross the national ‘red line’, as decreed by the Emperor of this unravelling fiefdom.And, if you may ask, of what constitute this imaginary ‘red line’, the emperor and his beagle-sounders are short of concrete definition that can be of value to the civilized world, occupants of a global space where freedom is taken for granted.
Except a quest for self-determination by a group of people who feel short-changed in their present relationships, and conclude that opting out may provide a better platform for the concerned peoples to realize their individual and collective manifest destiny is deemed treasonable, can anyone fault Nnamdi Kanu-led Inependent Peoples of Biafra(IPOB) agitation to seek a Biafran homeland.And the last time I checked the group modus operadi is still the Abraham Lincoln approach to crisis management, where consultation with affected people is consolidated, a sure way to avoid confrontation.For now, Che Guevera has not been consulted to offer a lesson in guerrila conflict resolution tactics, where armed struggle, from dug-out trenches is the language of dialogue.And, let no one think a war in the East, against the Igbos, will go the same way it went in 1967.
Yet, those thinking a pan-Nigerian approach, along the mantra of ‘to keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done’, as we gleefully parroted it between 1967 and 1970, is applicable in this season of anomie are better adviced to take a crash programme in comparative politics.The point is, the Nigeria configuration of 1967 is not the same of 2017, where the talk of marginalization has assumed a monosyllable statement among all of the ethnic-nationalities in the South of Nigeria.Thus, those who hope to launch a frontal attack against the Biafrans may need to constantly retreat to quell possible similar agitations in other parts of a nation space, littered with seperatist tendencies.As we write irredentist groups, within two other ethnic-nationalities, have declared their putative Republics, publicly posting their flags and maps of their possible nations. Truth is, many national ‘red lines’ have been crossed, and how many dancing festivals can a Python engage in, simultaneously .While they may not have adopted a Kanu-led IPOB boisterous approach that has attracted much attention to it, it is inconceiveable to expect that any region seeking an exit from Nigeria will lend a helping hand to any ‘Federal’ efforts to keep Nigeria one, especially if it is to be achieved at the expense of vanquishing the Ibos quest for fairness, equity and justice.Other sections of a beleagured country will be more guided by extant principle of ‘enlightened self-interest’ which suggest that their fate is tied to what becomes of IPOB quest for self-determination.I suspect that a full-blown military engagement in the South-East of Nigeria may well be the last push required for Lugard error of 1914 to be corrected, and his Mistress, Flora Shaw, naming ceremony to come unhinged.
Let it be clear to transient wielders of power, much favoured to deployment of violence as means of crisis management,that the main thread in all of this is peoples unstopable quest for freedom and justice, and no chapter in The book of History, yes The book of History with a capital H is it recorded that any tyrant, no matter how devilish in temperament, has been able to stop the unending match of freedom.
Now, the questions to ask the author of the badly-scripted ‘operation python’ are, what has suddenly warranted the deployment of armoured tanks to civilian enclave in the country South-East zone.Has anything changed, by way of crisis escalation in the IPOB operational approach in quest of secession.And, is military intimidation and threat of possible killing of leaders of agitating groups the only feasibe way to end such legitimate quest.Indeed, we may further ask, are agitations by groups, either for self-determination within a common geopolitical space, as we have in the clamour for restructuring, along regional parametre, a quest that is favoured by the generality of Yoruba people of South-West geopolitical zone of Nigeria, as made manifest at the recently held Yoruba Summit in Ibadan, or secession by a group of people, as may be defined by their occupation of a geographical space within a given country, with intent to evolve into a seperate and independent country, as Kanu-led IPOB is asking of, a crime
Let it be clear to transient wielders of power, much favoured to deployment of violence as means of crisis management,that the main thread in all of this is peoples unstopable quest for freedom and justice, and no chapter in The book of History, yes The book of History with a capital H is it recorded that any tyrant, no matter how devilish in temperament, has been able to stop the unending match of freedom.
Quest for freedom, as it is to be found in every human gene, may be delayed in manifesting, but at no time, in recorded history, has it actuality been prevented from coming to fruition by a most sophisticated weaponry, as may be deployed by a most wicked ruler.Otherwise, most nations, as we know of them today, would be unknown to our contemporary history.Reality is, our history book is full of the rise and fall of empires, and there is no law of nature, or that of social engineering to suggest that Nigeria may not go the way of dismantled kingdoms
Professor Akinyemi Onigbinde