When, for the first time in my life, I set foot on Igbo and arrived in the beautiful city of Onitsha 28 years ago, I encountered a people so receptive that in no time I fell in love with Adaeze, an Igbo princess from one of the autonomous communities in Imo State. It was only fate, and a cruel one at that, that stood between me and marrying the beautiful young woman.
In those days, one could travel anywhere in the South East without fear of discrimination or attack. Not even me, who the people knew was not one of them because of the tribal marks on my face. Of course the marks are till today, somewhat invisible because of the cosmopolitan foundation I was privileged to have right from age six.
At that young age, my father, of blessed memory, enrolled me in a Christian missionary school that used to have the biggest church in old Kano State (comprising today’s Jigawa State). If there is one thing I have never been accused of in all the many places I worked, it is tribalism.
I can bear testimony to the industry and resilience of the Igbo. From Onitsha, I travelled all over southeastern Nigeria and witnessed the rich cultural heritage of these great compatriots of ours. With talks about secession and other unpalatable scenarios, I cannot imagine needing a visa to visit such great minds as Onuoha Ukeh, Rose Moses, Ray Echebiri, Louis Achi, Ijeoma Nwogwugwu, Steve Nwosu, Ken Njoku, Patrick Agbambu, Iheanacho Nwosu and several other Igbo colleagues who I see and appreciate as my brothers and sisters from another mother.
My Igbo friends in the organised private sector are too numerous to recount here. But they are led by two successful business men, namely Dr. Mike Ezeaju of Swisstrade Securities and Chief Gideon Egbuchulam, the IT guru.
In 2017 when I decided to contest for the post of Deputy President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, it was an Igbo man and countless Igbo editors who saved me when virtually everyone that mattered, including many from my Hausa-Fulani tribe, abandoned me. I am talking about the Group Managing Director of Africa Independent Television, Mr. Tony Akiotu, who I regard as my benefactor for life. Though he is a resoundingly successful media personality, Akiotu it was who led in the efforts at ensuring I won that hotly-contested election, even if the victory was by just one unforgettable vote!
Reflecting on the Nigeria we live in today, I nterviewed many Igbo friends and discerned that their main grudge stemmed from the bad choices of the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari. This, obviously, informs why the Igbo, in large numbers and for the first time in their history engaged in tribal politics by queuing up behind one of their own, Peter Obi, at the presidential election that took place five months ago. It could be argued that in the First Republic the Igbo lined up behind Chief Azikiwe, but in those days, it was regional politics at play, somehow even up to the Second Republic.
Since the presidential election this year, the Igbo have found themselves at the receiving end of endless bashing from other parts of the country, with many ostracising them. But anyone interested in finding out who the Igbo really are should discountenance the vituperations of Simon Ekpa and rather sit down with individual Igbo citizens and they will see just the generosity of spirit that the Igbo, or at least many of them, are made of.
Twelve days ago, I was driving from Abuja to Kaduna. But about 60 kilometres to Kaduna, the engine of my car that I bought not long ago gave a loud bang and was shattered to pieces. It was as if a bomb was thrown at me. I called Malam Sama’ila, my mechanic for many years, pleading he should mobilize a team to come and rescue us on the highway reputed, until a few months ago, as the most dangerous in the whole country.
But he refused to come. Then a remembered a certain Mr. Sam, an Igbo young man selling spare parts on Katsina Road in Kaduna. I met him only once in my life, at a time I needed a replacement for a part of another car. He was referred to me by another friend from Kano. I told Sam I needed a discount, but he ended up giving me the requested part almost for free. He offered to buy my own that I thought of throwing away, and make up with a small amount to get a new one. And that was what I did.
I have since formed the habit of taking down the phone number of most people I encounter. And so, in that bush, a kind of no man’s land and a spot that used to be inhabited by kidnappers, I thought of this same Sam. And you know what? The young man not only mobilized a team to come and rescue me, he also personally led the team.
When eventually the car was towed to Kaduna, I left it with him, until I was able to buy a new engine, which he also got for me at a generous discount. I left the car with him for days after the engine replacement, until I went to Kaduna two days ago to collect it.
Now, this space is not enough for us to cite endless examples of not only Igbo persons, but also members of all tribes in Nigeria, whose excellence of character is at good as any other one anywhere.
As written by countless commentators, the whole problem lies with the elite members of the society, who have continued to pitch us against one another, knowing that once we, the masses, cooperate and work together, we are going to take back the country from them and build the just and egalitarian society we have all our lives been dreaming about.
Those who built Dubai or Singapore are not spirits. They are human beings like us. The difference is their deep sense of selflessness and patriotism. There are good people in every race or tribe, just as there are the bad ones even America and other developed societies. The difference has largely been the leadership. Whereas, in those climes, they more often than not only vote for the best, here, we allow sentiments to be loud our vision and vote only for a member of our tribe or religion, forgetting that once that person settles down in office, you that voted for him may have the roughest deal, as majority of northerners have under the leadership of President Buhari.
Now, for those who have taken up arms against the Nigerian state, or are peacefully pursuing a balakanisation of the country because of him, the message I have for them is that the man is gone and will never return as our president. Though most Igbos that voted for Peter Obi have not succeeded in getting what they want, the most important thing is to close ranks and ensure that all of us see first to the survival of this country as a corporate entity, then deploy democratic means to ensure only the best rule over us. The next four years may seem far, but it will soon meet us.
Many northerners that I know of, who have genuine friends all over Nigeria, feel sad that the push for the dissolution of Nigeria is somehow getting stronger even with the exit of Buhari as president. But those pushing for secession do not also factor the fact that the Igbos in particular own more property than any other tribe all over Nigeria. In Abuja, they own 72 percent. I personally saw the statistics at AGIS. Certainly Abuja has not been envisaged to be a part of Biafra. Even Kanu has not claimed it. So are the Igbo property owners going to uproot the buildings they own and take them to Biafra land?
And one other reality the agitators are forgetting is that if Nigeria gets divided, none of the major tribes will have its way. The minorities are not fools. Chances are that the only “nation” that is more likely to remain one is the far-north, consisting of at least ten states.
Exactly two years ago, Governor Diri of Bayelsa State was very categorical that the Ijaws cannot be part of Biafra as they don’t want secession. Former Governor Wike has severally said the same thing. Even among the Igbos, the autonomous communities of Imo and other areas will want to be independent. So if we allow anger to drive us into dismembering Nigeria, we are likely to end up with at least fifty or hundreds of small, inconsequential countries that nobody will ever reckon with.
The unfortunate perception out there is that the North represents evil. But those holding on to this sad point of view have forgotten that there are by far more good northerners than the few evil ones, and this, of course, applies to every tribe or region.
I asked my friend Louis Achi why the Igbos feel treated as inferior citizens, reminding him that there was a time in recent past, particularly when Goodluck Jonathan was president, when most levers of government were being controlled by the Igbos, but he reminded me about the fact that the southeast has only five states, as opposed to seven for the northwest and six for all others.
Definitely he has a valid point there. But why should I, a dispassionate northerner, be made to suffer for the ills of IBB and Abacha, who created most of the states by fiat, in the military governments they headed, that also had very many Igbo sons and daughters as key members?
Since the return of this democracy in 1999, not even one local government has been created. The structure we have was bequeathed to us by the military, and one wonders where the present day prominent Igbo sons and daughters were when these things were happening.
At the end of the day, the clear message is that Nigerians want to remain as one, to reap bountifully from the benefit of togetherness, as United we stand, divided we fall. Anyone in doubt could, for example, go to Kano and see a vast, beautiful area in Panisau, called Billionaires Quarters. It is composed of exotic buildings, each worth hundreds of millions of naira, carved out for the Igbos. And they have been living in absolute peace. No one harasses them.
Those Igbos are now an integral part of the Kano society. They make the state tick, with their great contribution towards keeping the state in the frontline of development, even with the mess that the former governor Ganduje represented.
The simple reality is that the looters of our national patrimony do not see themselves as belonging to any tribe. They speak the same religion and language, which are anchored in godlessness and unprecedented greed.
(To be concluded next week)