It is no longer in argument. If Nigeria as a project is to survive, is worthy of survival at all, then two names tower and rank above all others. Two names, and they are Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi and General Aguiyi ‘Ironside’ Ironsi. I repeat Fajuyi and Ironsi. Ironsi may have been a divine dramatis personae by default, but that was his historical grace. And he should not be denied his place in the pantheon.
However, the genius of the historic and historical, perhaps creational, occasion, belongs to the greatest Nigerian of modern times, of all times. His name, we repeat, is Fajuyi. No other Nigerian and no other Nigerian historical experience compares with the drama these two men enacted in some of the most interesting times of human history.
First, let us do some foregrounding. As historic events and ceremonies go, the most impactful are often the least dramatic. Whether it is in Islam or Christianity, to give these examples, the core messages are conveyed by the least theatrical events. The Muslim calendar, for instance, is built on the hegira. And the hegira was the movement of the then seed-like community from Mecca to Medina. Medina was a default choice almost like Ironsi, if you like. But, by that, it has become the second most sacred city in Islamic civilisation. For those familiar with Islamic history, many other outlandish and hugely theatrical things happened. And these included the sacking of whole empires by the ragtag army of a nascent Islamic community. Militarily, it was as dramatic as sighting two moons in one sky. But events such as those, as dramatic as the fires of hell, are not core to Islam.
It is in this light of the life-giving symbolisms, rather than the big theatrical events, that the nation may come to knowledge on the moral genius of Fajuyi. Fajuyi has given us our own hegira, our non-ecclesiastical hegira. Nigerians and Nigeria, thus, should take their historical reading from that day and moment that Fajuyi laid down his life. That act of Fajuyi was as historically rare as it was Christ-like. And all Christ-like acts, by logic, transcend territory. Ironically, it is only on such transcendence that territorialities – say countries – may be built. And it is in keeping with the scriptures, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.’’
And Fajuyi showed and showered the nation in all these, nonpareil.
The point is, it is upon such Fajuyi-style sacrifices that nations are built. They are the templates over which a union may be made sustainable. These, not the halitosis of mouthing unity in words, and never in sacrifice and never in deeds. Point is, if Nigeria has a Christ (please forgive the blasphemy), his name is Fajuyi. On default, Ironsi was his cross. The two are sacred.
And if Nigeria is to be rebuilt, these rejected cornerstones must be returned to be the capstones. And nothing dramatises the call for such a new capstone Nigeria than the latest confluence of the East and West. It was aptly termed “Handshake across the Niger.” It held in Enugu. And many spoke. And we listened. But one speechmaker above all others bore witness like one who was there at the historical, but non-ecclesiastical Pentecost. What Fajuyi and Ironsi accomplished was Pentecostal. The man who spoke and captured the spirit of the moment as a living past was Ogbueshi A. Ofili-Okonkwo. Okonkwo, easily one of Nigeria’s leading corporate visionaries, is keen on civilisation and human legacy.
He says: “I see the immense wisdom in the kind invitation by my compatriots to participate in this auspicious and historic event. As an Igbo man who lives at the western flank of the Niger, who has already accomplished an eternal bond with the West, having given out two of my daughters in marriage to our brothers in the West, my first grandson a native of Ibadan is proudly called Ofili and my first granddaughter, a proud native of Ijebu, is called Kambilinudo.’’
And I read this and dropped a tear. For non-Igbo readers, KAMBILINUDO means, may I live in peace. That is exactly why Fajuyi died. Fajuyi died that we – the rest of us living – may live in peace and in sustainable union. So, it is clear Ofili-Okonkwo is not mouthing words, he is living it out in the flesh. And that through a peerage that actually lives and crosses and handshakes the Niger via his children and grandchildren. He is being Pentecostal, worshipful of life-giving logics.
Oji Ofo Ndigbo?
Emeka Obasi is well-known to us. He is a great guy and fine journalist. In a Vanguard piece, he writes: “Ndigbo, here we are with a man who was governor in the North as well as the West, fought for Biafra and rose to become the equivalent of a Vice President. Here is a man of integrity. Ukiwe. Ofo Ndigbo, is the man for us all. Ukiwe, our new leader!” – Emeka Obasi.
In our latest book NIGERIA THE UNREPORTED GENOCIDE AGAINST THE IGBO, we addressed the issue of Ochiagha Ebitu Ukiwe being made Ofo ndi Igbo. The points are as follows: the very concept of a man as an exclusive holder of ofo is anti-ofo, it is anti-Igbo and anti-development. Ofo, as our ancestors developed it, is a concept, an idea, a bundle of categories. Ofo is, therefore, universal. It is only developed by the Igbo. It is just as the Germans developed or invented Existentialism, the Jews, Judaism, the Indians, Buddhism. These are ideas interested parties can use to serve their purpose. To say Ofo Ndigbo is to delimit that which is worldwide to a clannish thing. Don’t do that to ofo. Ofo is self-expressive, ofo is outflowing and ready to serve any guy, white, Arab, Igbo, Yoruba, etc.
Ofo is not about power or leadership, saving tangentially. Ofo is about the very existence of the universe. Ofo as a category concept was founded and invented and innovated by the unnamed, ancient and many Socrates of Igboland. And I am happy to report that my mother’s ancestors were some of those who founded and established the concept and category of ofo na ogu.
Luckily for the Igbo, taken together as a category bundle, ofo na ogu is the single greatest, okay, one of the single greatest ideas ever founded by man. Let me repeat. My name is Ozonma Ogbugo na oru not Igbo. Ofo na ogu is one of the finest, the single greatest developmental category tools ever founded by man.
And I have a proof for it. But, first, this. Like all great ideas, Islam, Christianity, Marxism, Existentialism, no man, save he is Caesar in the guise of Pope, or Saladin in the guise of Imam, can claim to hold constitutional, constitutive, proprietary or legal possession or seizure of her. No great ideas, by logic, are patentable. Immediately they are founded, they are out in the air.
Thus all great ideas are, by logic, open to endless innovations and reinterpretations. So, Islam, Christianity Marxism, capitalism, ofoism, to the extent that they are great ideas and categories, are open and must be prized open for and to innovation and being innovated. And by the logic of this, there can be no gatekeepers or holders or possessors to and or about ofo, or just any great, really great ideas and categories.
Let me tell a personal testimony and testimonial to ofo na ogu as a category bundle. Modesty apart, one of the most original contributions made to modern competitive science, etc, is driven, informed, and imbued by the magical, protean and fungible concept that is ofo na ogu. And this shows that the new and able inventive analysis serves well in several disciplines. It serves well in economics, sociology, warfare, family life, etc. This broadness of applicability shows the depth of the invention. And it came from ofo na ogu. It is the concept and taxonomy of constitutive and brace sectors as we founded it.
And how were we able to do it? It is just because we understood ofo na ogu as she properly is – and above all that it is our common heritage. That is something we can use without approval of any powers or pretender-powers. And we have warned Igbo to be wary. We should not let folks seeking powers – nothing wrong – to usurp our heritage and bullshit it in their greed or bid for power. Scholarship must be made sacred. Scholarship must be made and be freed from the partisan shopping for power.
To summarise, let us rather make Ukiwe, if we must, Ikenga Ndigbo. That is apposite and adequate for the game and aims of those about this. Ofo is a quasi religious, or better, a wholly civilisational tool. It is as sacred as the bible. No power chiefs should purloin it.
Ofo thus must not and can’t be embodied in or around one man. If it is, then, we are on the road to perdition. Involuntarily. I have spoken as an elder. I am thus innocent before ofo na ogu and the law. It is now left to the youths not to be hard of hearing, if they are not to be found guilty before history and ofo na ogu. Ahiazuwa.