I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent
Igbo youths appear thrilled and privileged to be witnesses to the ongoing orgy of violence in name of the Biafra “revolution” being propelled by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and his Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB. This apparent charm is without regard to the youths not having a clear vision of where the so-called revolution is headed.
Needless to say, most of these youths were not born during the actual Biafra war of 1967-1970, which explains their unwholesome excitement. But never overlook that from birth, the youths have witnessed the systemic marginalisation of the homeland by the officialdom of the Nigerian state. Increasingly, gang violence and organised crime have become a part of everyday life in the South-East. It goes by the name of Biafra agitation. Ahead of the 2023 general election, this calculated violence has become a peremptory political issue for conversation.
Last week, I was inside Prof Chukwuma Soludo’s state [Anambra]. My special friend, Madu Onuorah, had lost his father whose remains were scheduled for burial at Umuchu. I needed to be with him. Everybody I told asked if I had to be in Anambra State. I was unwavering, so everyone offered what their mind told them might be their last prayers for a recalcitrant friend.
“Won’t your friend understand why you cannot come at this time?” one friend asked, almost pleading. Off I went; my family always called to ascertain if all was well with me. Of course, there were reasons to justify the apprehension, Anambra State has been a killing field lately with great heads rolling in cold blood. The worrisome state of affairs got even worse since Governor Soludo, elected in November 2021, embarked on a mission to end the spiralling violence and find a solution to the deteriorating insecurity in the state. Moreover, Umuchu, my friend’s town, is in Aguata Local Government Area where daring gunmen just burnt the secretariat and killed people in an apparent affront to Governor Soludo’s counter-order reversing the subsisting Monday sit-at-home observance enforced by IPOB initially. Stay-at-home has run on autopilot even after the original enforcer, the IPOB, changed it to whenever MNK is to come on trial.
New in office, Soludo had mobilised all critical stakeholders in the state, including the leadership of IPOB, churches, and the communities in a bid to find an enduring solution to the situation. But as it turned out, the Soludo solution appeared to have provoked the unknown gunmen who tried to underscore their feelings by attacking and burning down the governor’s native LGA secretariat. A few days after the mayhem, they struck Isuofia, the hometown of Soludo, to attack and kill more people. This happened on the day of my arrival. One thing easily noticeable about the reign of terror was the absence of uniformed operatives on the streets except for various military checkpoints that have become a source of frustration to commuters. The situation In Anambra State currently paints a picture of an asylum being taken over by lunatics.
Despite my extreme caution and anxiety, I still got a feel of the ugly situation. At Ekwulobia junction on the approach to Umuchu, two unruly motorcyclists, struggling for space at a traffic jam, hit my vehicle from the rear and seriously dented the rear bumper. As I came down to look at it, thinking I was in Abuja, a kind kéké driver behind me calmly advised me in Igbo, “Oga, hapụ ndị ara jewe….” loosely translated as “Forget mad people and proceed.” I had no choice but to quickly heed the counsel. Meanwhile, the two young men who hit me were abusing each other and didn’t care about me. Another of their type, from a commuter bus, was openly calling them names, but they never bothered.
In Anambra today, the fear of the youths is the beginning of life. It’s generally believed, wrongly or otherwise, that every youth in Anambra has a gun in his pocket and could deploy it at little provocation. If you need the grace of God to live in Abuja, perhaps you need it in abundance to be in Anambra, Imo or Kaduna states. Only a fool can go on and challenge youths in Anambra under such a situation. If a sitting governor can get such a daring challenge, imagine what becomes of an ordinary person in the street trying to dare them. As a journalist visiting Anambra State, what is on notice is the clear indiscipline of a people engrossed in money-making and unwilling to be controlled by rules and regulations.
Governor Soludo needs everybody’s goodwill and cooperation to succeed because he means well but has now become a source of provocation to the fifth columnists. He needs great tact in handling the IPOB menace so that Anambra doesn’t end up like Imo State on security matters. In Imo, Governor Hope Uzodinma has become hopeless in dealing with security challenges because of his tactless approaches. Governor Soludo must avoid such roads by detaching himself from officialdom which sees the IPOB as the sole cause of all security breaches. There may be more to the violence than the IPOB.
Social researchers have long made us aware that several variables other than politics are potential causes of violent crime in a society. Unemployment and inadequate engagement of youths caused by poor governance can breed severe social disorder. In our climes, all the variables that germinate violence are in abundance. Therefore to focus on IPOB alone as the cause of violent crimes in the South-East would amount to a story of the man who had gone to the town festival to watch Ijele and stood at a point to admire the masquerade. Such a spectator certainly cannot adequately discern and or describe the elegance of Ijele.
Moreover, South-East political leaders should resist the urge from the enemy political camp who would want the world believe that the IPOB is a threat to democracy. Yes, an attack on the facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is worrisome and condemnable but is not enough to generalise it. After all, nobody is sure who did the attack. Given what we see in instances like this in the past, couldn’t somebody or some interests within or outside the system do it to give the IPOB the usual bad name to continue to keep it in chains? The onus is on the government which controls all security agents to fish out those attacking INEC facilities and treat them like the criminals that they are.
We all know that MNK and his IPOB are creations of this administration. Kanu was just a rabble-rouser seeking attention and the government played into his hands and made him an instant hero of the Biafran cause. The federal government is continuing the mistake by keeping Kanu in prison.
Those who are trying to make a political mountain out of the IPOB and insecurity in the South-East ahead of 2023 have shallow memories to recall that violence has always been the music that the Nigerian system hears before addressing injustice.
General Olusegun Obasanjo, fresh from incarceration in 1999, had said he did not forget anything in the presidency but ended up being the soothing balm for Yorubas after they turned the country upside down because of the annulment of June 12. Well-meaning people from other regions joined the struggle for justice. Now, influential politicians from the other regions are not seeing the injustice of not allowing a South-Eastetner to emerge the next President. Ditto the ethnic Ijaw of the South-South who got the deserving attention and became the Vice President in 2007 and President in 2010 credit to the blowing of oil facilities in their area as a protest for injustice. Even President Muhammadu Buhari got his position after the threats that he used to scare away PDP members and supporters in the North.
But that notwithstanding, it’s still irrational and foolish to be killing yourself because of injustice done to you by another person but that is if it’s established that the killing is solely political. But we need to note the warning of social scientists that when the stomach is the cause of revolution, the method of execution may not be palatable or savoury.
The point to underscore here is that if a system is deaf to reason and justice, as in our clime today, it may require some measure of violence to be able to open the ear. If through the IPOB nuisance the South-East is able to get what it deserves, why not. It will only be repeating history to a recalcitrant nation .
God, help us.