By Chike Nwosu

I read the interview granted by Paul Unongo on page 42 of Saturday Sun of 26th August, 2017, entitled: Biafra: Why North won’t allow Kanu go on. With all due respect to Chief Paul Unongo, I am appalled by his attempt at disinformation and turning of history upside down.

It is good to note that he acknowledged that Aburi Accord was voluntarily entered into between Ojukwu and Gowon. He went on to state that “Something happened” that made Gowon renege on the Aburi Accord. He failed to tell us that “Something” that made Gowon renege on the agreement reached in Aburi, under the chairmanship of the then Ghanaian president. He further went on to say that Ojukwu said “Give me confederation” or “give me war”. At no time, Chief Paul Unongo, did Ojukwu request for war. He merely said that “On Aburi we stand.” He wanted the Aburi Accord, willingly entered into by both parties, honoured. The accord was intended to keep the aggrieved parties apart until tempers were cooled thereby creating a conducive atmosphere to discuss the way forward.

Our respected and honourable elder from the middle belt region of Nigeria want us to believe that Ojukwu regretted defending his people from being annihilated. Nothing can be further from the truth! Chief Paul Unongo, and other people of like minds, do not expect that after these holocaust in the North and with no other place safe to call home other than the East/Midwest, our people should fold their arms and allow their complete decimation when attacked in their own  ancestral home – their last bastion of hope and safety. I am, however, gratified to note Paul Unongo’s recognition of over three million of East/Midwestern Nigerians slaughtered during the civil war.

No one, now and even then, in their right frame of mind, will advocate for war. I do not want war! My people do not want war! This has been sufficiently amplified by our elders through the appropriate organ – “Ohaneze Ndigbo”. While I am not speaking for Ohaneze Ndigbo, I dare to say that what my people East/Midwest Nigerian want is not war but one united Nigeria based on the following tenets, equality, justice, equity, fairness, political/freedom of association, press freedom, security of lives and property without any discrimination, and citizenship right.

It is my opinion that these and more are what our restive and chafed youths; Kanus’ IPOB, Niger Delta militants, our South West brothers, our Middle Belt brothers etc are asking for.  Are these tenants too much for us to bequeath to our children and posterity yet unborn?  Our children must be allowed freedom of speech and association within the ambit of the law. We all have a duty to guide them, educate them on the benefits of one united Nigeria based on the tenet enumerated here. We must avoid distorting history for any reason whatsoever, religious, pecuniary, political, ethnic, because it opens up old wounds. We must avoid utterances, actions or inactions that accentuate disunity. Let us build bridges and not walls. Our system and laws must be seen to be fair to all Nigerians. We must not operate a system of “all animals are equal but some are more equal than others”.  It must not be a system where the man whose chicken lays the golden egg is denied the egg and given crumps from the master’s table. His farms and environment are destroyed and polluted in the pursuit of this golden egg and he is even killed for daring to complain.

While, Nnamdi Kanu and his IPOB are being hounded and harassed by the authorities his Northern counterparts who are threatening violence are treated with kid gloves. How many of those who have wasted innocent lives in churches, market places, public places, in farms, raping children and women have been arrested and, or tried?

We must not have sacred cows. What is good for the goose must also be good for the gander. Our laws must not have two colours. Instead of distorting facts, let us tell ourselves the truth and nothing but the truth so that we can have genuine reconciliation and put a closure to the ugly episodes of our unfortunate past.  My take on youth agitation and moving the country forward is that we shall go back to the peoples constitution of 1957 and 1963 as handed over to us by our founding fathers in a true federation, the four regions before the raping by the military and restructure into the present six geopolitical zones but under the peoples constitution of 1957/1963 on the basis of equality of each region.

We shall discard the imposed military decrees and constitution which has perpetuated unitary system of government and ensure the constitution is of the people, by the people, for the people, that speaks for the people and guarantees the people, the right to life and freedom.  The people should make military or violent take-over of a democratically elected government a treasonable offence with the consequences not subject to any time limitation.

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Is there a provision in our 1957/1963 founding fathers constitution authorizing the military to violently take-over power, or amend the constitution under any guise? All those, dead or alive, who have played a part in raping our constitution must be tried for treason even if symbolically and discard our individual interests if we truly love Nigeria, and act on the interests of our collectivity. Substituting mediocrity for meritocracy is legalized “Advance fee fraud” (Alias 419).

Do we need a crystal ball to know why after 57years of independence the government cannot guarantee two hours of uninterrupted power supply nationwide? Do we need a magician to know why even our president and money bags have to  go abroad for medical check-up when our hospitals and abattoirs are competing for first positions in best practices?  In the past we have lost so many Obama’s, Emmanuel Macrons, Justin Trudeaus Angela Markel to this obnoxious system. This system has continued to cripple, blind fold, gag, chain, shackle present and future generation. Must we continue to prop up this fifty seven (57) year old wasteful man who has refused to grow with pillows to enable him sit? When will he learn to sit on his own, crawl, stand, walk and run so that our Obama’s, Macrons, Angela’s, Trudeau’s can be librated to make our country great?     

Nigeria with a population of about N193 million has a GDP of U$405 billion dollars. Minimum wage for those who are lucky to be employed is N18,000 per month. Even some states cannot afford this minimum wage while some are in arrears in paying salaries. The Nigerian senator earn about N40M per annum excluding their allowances. As our Servants “we their masters” will have to save our N18,000 per month salary without touching a kobo of it for feeding, house rent, clothing, etc for 185years before we can realize what those we “elected,  selected, or are imposed” to serve us, earn in a year without their allowances. Those who are benefiting from these anomalies must stop using the unenlightened youths to further their personal interests using religion, ethnicity, etc. as their cannon fodder.

My dear brother, Paul Unongo, the problem is not Nnamdi Kanu or our Niger Delta brothers etc. I will specifically request that you talk to our minority Northern brothers and their Minority Southern collaborators that restructuring does not mean splitting Nigeria. It means positioning the various component parts of the country that make one United Nigeria, to actualize their true potential and achieve collective economic, individual, educational, scientific, cultural, etc development.

Our country will move forward developmentally as every part is part of one whole  body. We will become the pride of Africa by taking our position within the comity of Nations as the most populous, most advanced economy, most scientifically, politically, culturally etc advanced black race.

Nwosu  writes from Enugu.