The Igbos Are Destroying Themselves With IPOB

The Igbos are presently toeing the path of self-destruction with the IPOB activities

The Igbos can do better through concentrating on a region-wide development of the south east within a Nigerian federal context as the Yorubas of the south west are doing, with very impressive results for their people

The agitations for the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) to dismember from Nigeria and exist as an independent State has assumed fresher destructive dimensions since the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu earlier this year. At present, the south east is fast becoming a ravaged, disorderly and insecure region in much the same way as the north east has been under the constant destructive assault of the Boko Haram group of terrorists.

The intriguing question surrounding the IPOB activities is why any people at all would choose to embark on such a self-destructive mission despite the lessons they ought to have learnt from the civil war experience of 1967-70.

I was quite impressed recently with the writings of one Chief Patrick Chidolue with his article “BIAFRA: Perfect Illustration”, where he tried to draw the attention of his Igbo kinsmen to the catastrophic consequences of continuing on the path the IPOB have chosen to toe.

In that article, Patrick Chidolue recalled how Ojukwu turned down superior advice both from his father and other elders such as Nnamdi Azikiwe, against declaring war as at the time he did. But Ojukwu refused their counsel, calling them saboteurs who were more interested in protecting their investments scattered all over Nigeria.

But three years after in 1970, three million lives of the Igbos had been wasted, and infrastructures and institutions destroyed beyond trace. Meanwhile the so-called fearless and brave warrior had sneaked out to a foreign land to escape capture, only to return to join a national political party and contest for presidency in the same country he sacrificed three million lives to disintegrate from.

ALSO READ: 87 NSCDC Officers Dismissed Over Vandalism, Forgery, Others

Patrick captures it succinctly when he writes, in reference to his Igbo kinsmen that: “We are crucifying ourselves to shame our oppressors”.

When you impose a compulsory sit-at-home on Mondays across the South east with a shoot-at-sight order on any citizen who refuses to comply, whose economy are you really destroying? When you raze down houses of supposed non-IPOB sympathizers, block roads and shut down markets, all in a bid to draw attention to your so-called agitations to break away, whose economy exactly are you destroying? Aren’t they really sacrificing themselves to shame their oppressors?

A better strategy for the advancement of the Igbo people (if that is really the sincere intent of the IPOB movement) is to rally their kinsmen, and leverage on their natural resourcefulness and entrepreneurial spirit towards the economic, industrial and technological advancement of the region. And all these can be done within the context of the Nigerian state. Indeed, rather than being a disadvantage, existing within the context of the larger Nigerian federal system would afford the Igbo people a greater market for their technological and industrial products.

The Igbos should take a cue from their South western (Yoruba) brothers on the other side of the Niger.

A study has shown that the Yorubas are the fastest advancing ethnic group in Africa in terms of education, commerce, and industry. Lagos is the commercial capital of Nigeria and West Africa; and one of the few mega cities in Africa.

The Yorubas have consistently been developing themselves and investing wisely in their region since the Awolowo era. Virtually all the multinational oil magnates have their Headquarters in Lagos. Even the mega churches have their headquarters there, where they harvest proceeds of religious pilgrimages on a monthly and annual basis. These are the kinds of reformatory agenda the Igbos can imitate.

More significantly, the drivers of the IPOB movement must now turn to their real enemies – the state governors and politicians of their south east region. State governors are so powerful in Nigeria so much so that given the right intent and political will, any region can be turned into a “Dubai” under a frugal and disciplined leadership period of 4 years. The culture of thievery, corruption, wastefulness and squandermania underdevelop the south east, and indeed all other geopolitical zones in Nigeria, much more than the alleged oppression from Abuja does.

Accepted that the federal system practiced in Nigeria is weak and needs to be improved on, any visionary governor can still perform wonders in infrastructural transformation, wealth and job creation, education, security and health, etc. with the resources at the state’s disposal.

The IPOB must now put a stop to this culture of self-destruction because it hurts no one but themselves. They must think about progress, sustainable development, economic advancement and industrialization of the southeast region in the context of a federal Nigerian State.
_*Zik Gbemre.*_
_*October 16, 2021*_