Saturday January 28, 2012
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Uwazuruike Photo: Sun News Publishing |
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Killing of Igbo in the North
Our position has been made known to the public. As matter of fact, we have taken up advertorial to make our points known. Right now, we are saddled with the responsibility of burying our leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and you know the involvement of MASSOB in the burial is massive. We think that at this particular time, we will not combine anything with the burial of our leader. So, it is very unfortunate that the massacre of Ndigbo is occurring at the time Eze Ndigbo is yet to be buried. Our late leader was on the forefront of delivering our people from bondage.
The things he saw then are the things that are happening today. All the things he foresaw about 40 years ago, are happening which many Nigerians did not see and that also reinforced my own activities that what I foresaw about 15 years are things many Nigerians are seeing today. I saw then, when it was about 30 years after the war, that the war had not really ended. The peace existing in Nigeria was the peace of the graveyard. There was no sincerity in that peace and all the things cumulated in the forming of MASSOB are the things that are prevailing today. The people didn’t see that the time I started MASSOB it is not a new thing to us because we anticipated it and that is why we form MBASSOB. It will be new to other Nigerians and to those who will not be able to see tomorrow. It is new to them that bombs are being thrown around, but to us, it is no news because that was what we saw that made us to clamour for Biafra and that was what Ojukwu saw that made him to declare the Republic of Biafra. We positive thinkers, it was not new to us.
The killing of Igbos started in 1945 in the same Kano, 25 years before the independence of Nigeria. So, you can see it did not start today and we are asking for the permanent solution and the permanent solution is for Nigeria to bifurcate (divide) and people don’t seem to marry this word. Nigerians try to play cosmetic world. The only solution to the crisis in Nigeria today is to bifurcate Nigeria. It has happened in so many places. If Nigeria is not bifurcated for the different ethnic nationalities to go to their different ways, there will be no peace in Nigeria.
To talk about Boko Haram, I have nothing against Boko Haram and the moment they started, I came out and I said that I supported them. They are saying the same thing I am saying, but the only difference is on methodology – killing innocent people. I don’t support killing innocent people. I don’t do anything that will bring the spillage of blood otherwise, we are saying the same thing. They said that they want Islamic state and I said we want Biafra. It is all about self-determination. They are Muslims and we are Christians; our cultures are different and they believe that if they kill, they will go to heaven and I don’t believe that if I kill I will go to heaven. So, we have different ideology and concept. Remember in India it happened – the Muslims, the Hindus and the British saw that they couldn’t co-habit. But in the case of Nigeria they (British ) kept blind eyes because of the oil.
At the beginning, they knew that there was no way the North and the South could co-habit, but because of the natural resources they saw in the southern Nigeria, that is oil and because of their interest and they believed that the North could assist them exploit the oil if they are in leadership. Upon all the killings in Nigeria, they keep blind eyes. They don’t talk about it and they only condemn it, condemning what? The people are killed in their hundreds, the United Nations came up with one sympathy condolence message. If it was other nation, the UN will take a different position. Look at the case of Biafra, the genocide, the UN pretended as if it didn’t see anything. But if it had happened in another part of the world, they would pick interest.
In conclusion, what is happening today will continue to happen unless in this country, justice is done and for justice to be done in Nigeria the different ethnic nationalities should be separated peaceful.
Are you calling for Sovereign National Conference (SNC)?
I don’t advocate sovereign National Conference because the moment you convoke it (SNC), politicians will hijack it and once they hijack it, they will make nonsense of it. Take, for instance, if you call for National Conference and you said that Ndigbo should be represented, the politicians should go there to represent Ndigbo, then the powers that be will grease their palms, they will call the leader and promised a plum position and he will change immediately and tell the whole world that Igbos are in support of one Nigeria. But you would know that it was because of his selfish interest, not for the interest of the majority of Ndigbo. So, when you talk about SNC, you only tell it to people who don’t understand it. Who are the people that will go there to represent others? It will be the same politicians we saw yesterday, they go there for their own interest. They know that what they are saying cannot be for the benefit of the people, but they are saying it for their own benefits. Everybody knows in Nigeria today that the only solution is for the division of Nigeria, but people will say no, we want one Nigeria. They will say that they want a bigger country where they will be President, Senate President among others or closeness to the nation’s treasury not because of the interest of the people.
The solution to Nigeria crises is not the convocation of the Sovereign National Conference. The solution is self-determination and not to discuss whether Nigeria can be one or whether there will be true federalism. If the agenda of the SNC will be centred on self-determination, I will support it.
As a non-violent group, how would MASSOB respond to Boko Haram if the killing of Ndigbo continues unabated?
No, no, the issue is, when you get to the bridge, you will cross it. We preach non-violence, but if you are in your house and another man comes in and takes away your wife, you cannot say because you believe in peace, he should go away with your wife. We preach non-violence to the extent that we do not intend to attack anybody but if you attack us, at least we have the right to self-defence and programmes can change with time, depending on the prevailing circumstances. If our people are killed, we have the right to defend them; we have that right to provide them with security and remember, even self-defence we have the right also to kill in order to defend ourselves. If the person is coming to attack you and you see the force he is coming up with is strong enough to kill you, you kill him in self-defence. In the process of defending our people, we can also kill; it all amounts to self-defence. MASSOB’s position on non-violence does not mean folding our hands to watch our people being slaughtered. No! It doesn’t amount to that.
Do you think that the Federal Government has done enough to protect vulnerable Nigerians in the North?
The Federal Government has not done enough in providing security to Nigerians in the North. I think the situation is above them now. My advice to President Goodluck Jonathan now is to call a meeting of all ethnic nationalities and place only one agenda before them, which is self-determination for the different ethnic nationalities to go their different ways. I have said it before and I will continue to say it and that is the only solution. History will not forgive him if he doesn’t use his good offices today to bring self-determination as the final solution to the crises because if he doesn’t do it, history will never forgive him and another person will do it. And until there is self-determination in Nigeria among the ethnic nationalities, there will be no peace in Nigeria.
Call for Ndigbo in the north to return home, is it a solution?
Ndigbo in the North should bring back home their children and wives and they will remain there to protect their investments. There is a struggle in Nigeria and that struggle is self-determination. The struggle for independence which Ndigbo is fighting for. There is struggle for independence now because we cannot suffer what we had suffered before and the moment the Igbos left, they will tag their houses and investments as abandoned properties because that is what they are looking for. My advice is that they should bring back their children and wives home and stay there. Then we are watching. We know that nobody has the monopoly of violence, but we are keeping quiet for so many reasons, reasons that border on the fact that our leader just died and he must be given a benefiting burial before we open our eyes to what is really happening. We are taking our time. What is Boko Haram? If we come out today, Boko Haram will fizzle out and all of them would run away. The danger in it is that all these Hausa and Yourbas condemning the activities of Boko Haram will join hands to fight Ndigbo. That is why we taking our time and you must appreciate our position. If we come out shouting nzogbu enyimba enyi, and head towards the North, all of them will run across the Sahara desert. We can chase them away.
Any palliative measures in place to accommodate the returnees ?
Well, I am a member of the Igbo Elders, we hold meetings in the residence of our late leader, Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu. The main reason we are holding that meeting is that of the crisis in the North and how those Ndigbo returning from the North will be taken care of. We advised that Ohanaeze should open registers in different states for them to register their names. I think at the end of our meeting today, Saturday January 28, we will issue a communiqué to that effect.
Apart from self-determination you canvassed for, is there any other solution to the insurgence of Boko Haram?
My brother, there is no other solution. Take for instance, the emergence of Boko Haram. Before the 2011 Presidential election, some elements in the North said that if the power doesn’t come to them, there would be crisis and as a matter of fact one of them said that those who make peaceful change impossible would also make violent change inevitable. And after that election you see what is happening now. It is targeted at President Goodluck Jonathan. What people don’t understand is that if for any reason they disgrace Jonathan out of power, that oil they are lifting from the Niger Delta may not work again because the Niger Delta people will not allow the oil to be lifted by parasites. The only solution today is to divide Nigeria because there is no more trust. The best thing now to do is division of Nigeria and good a thing, they said they need Islamic state. Please, for God’s sake, give it to them. To stop these killings, the North and South have to part ways. Any tribe that wants to stay, should be allowed to do so.
You have been given the title of Eze Igbo Gburugburu II, thereby stepping into the big shoes of the late Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu, do you think you can fit into the shoes?
As a matter of fact, I was called from the palace of Eze Nri to inform me that I had a letter and I told them I would send somebody to pick it for me. They waited for one week and they called me again. I sent Ogurrish (Chief Rommy) to go and pick the letter for me and he went and stayed for three days. He called three days after that my letter was with him and I instructed him to read it and let me know the content. When he read the content to me, I cried. Early the following day, I went to him to pick the letter by myself because I could not believe it. I feel so humbled and asking God to handle this position for me. I don’t even know why these people should consider me – seeing my little self fitting into Ojukwu’s shoes. In fact, Ojukwu’s shoes are very intimidating.
One thing about our people is, no matter what they do, they don’t forget those who are fighting for them and that is what Ojukwu had always told me. Ojukwu told me that no matter what you can say about our people, Ndigbo, they don’t forget those who had suffered for them. I have never thought of it before or thought that Eze Nri and his cabinet could consider me for the position. It was very strange to me and it made me cry bitterly because it was unexpected and up till now, I feel it is a very big challenge and I pray God to assist me.
With your position, how would galvanize Ndigbo for a purposeful leadership?
Do you know one thing, most of Igbo elders I always cherished and whenever I call them on phone or go to greet them, they always referred to me, as ‘my leader’ or ‘our leader’ and sometimes I don’t know how to continue with the discussion again. I have only started in my little way and many senior citizens of Igboland have called me on phone to encourage me. I feel so humbled. We are using Ojukwu’s house as our meeting point and we will continue to use it. To us (Igboman) Ojukwu is not dead. His House at Enugu is just like a Mecca to us and for me to succeed, I have to continue my attachment to that family. And for Ndigbo to see progress, they have to attach themselves to Ojukwu’s house. I am canvassing that Ndigbo should always go to his graveside and asked God to give us the strength to survive. There is no way you can achieve greatness without Ojukwu. Ojukwu’s death must bring the unity of Ndigbo because he had been the foremost Igboman that ever lived. I know that in the spirit world now he is fighting for us and now that he is there our problem will be lesser because he is fighting for us. For us to achieve anything, we must attach ourselves to him. In the past, there was no spirit covering Ndigbo in our struggle, but today, Ojukwu is in that place coordinating things for us.
