Promise Adiele
The reality of Nigeria’s political configuration since independence and the extended parodies that have defined its economic undercurrents should agitate the mind of any concerned citizen. Indeed, the North-South dichotomy, sustained by a reprehensible revenue sharing formula and an asymmetrical political structure has subsisted without hindrances. No thanks to the imprudent enactment of the Lugardian administrative architecture in 1914. Although Nigerians have co-habited under an unjust economic and political matrix which glaringly favours a section of the country, the gulf has continued to widen while the rest of the country regrettably imbibe that familiar salve of timid consciences, ‘it is well’.
The tragic consequence of the Nigerian condition is the subliminal endorsement of a perverse revenue formula where a section of the country laid the golden eggs; another section of the country enjoys the plum vibrations without corresponding contribution to the national enterprise. The protagonists of this revenue pervasion, over the years have imposed their imperious diktats through a strangulating hold on economic channels and through a maleficent appropriation of power lineaments. It is this kind of disproportionate alignment that has led to agitations from the Niger Delta to the fight for self-determination spearheaded by the Igbo. Let us emphasize here that the fate of the Igbo in Nigeria was decided after the Nigeria-Biafra war in 1970. Since then, power procedure and the attendant economic disbursement have unfortunately been incongruous to the Igbo as the rest of the country have viewed them with suspicion underlined by inane pronouncements such as ‘the Igbo cannot be trusted with power.’ In spite of all these, the Igbo emerged from the crucible of the civil war and inaugurated through sheer determination an edifice of boisterous commerce and industry. The foregoing is a corollary of their natural inclination for wealth creation with an enviable degree of mercantile solidarity and unbroken continuity of entrepreneurship.
Like the proverbial coat of many colours, the different components that make up Nigeria have tolerated one another with the hope of a new egalitarian system with specific ideological doctrine. This tolerance in quietude has conferred a strain on the collective consciousness with the inevitable risk of generating sinister by-ways which in turn beget revolutionary monsters. While some of us insist in the continued existence of Nigeria, some have vehemently posited for its disintegration citing obvious lopsided economic allotment. Although the latter carries with it ominous reminiscences of war, restructuring has emerged as an ensemble with a more urbane consciousness. The call for restructuring is among other things a response to the problem of economic distortion and political absolutism which negate the principle of autonomy.
Since 1960, Nigeria has been a parcelled territory of the military that produce retired coup maestros, and like the Ogbanje or Abiku child, they continue to re-incarnate. Their peregrination is marked by particularized idiosyncrasy which lacks morality or a culture of devotion beyond plunder and avarice. However, the enthronement of democracy has bred objectivity in the psyche of Nigerians who, in spite of brutal provocation, decide to follow the path of peace to the point of docility. The horse-rider is ignorant of the kind of awareness which currently pervades every section of the country, people whose existence is stripped to skeletal need and are repositioning for a better condition come 2019. While power resides presently with the Hausa/Fulani, the Yoruba is not a fool and cannot be used anymore; the Niger-Delta is now more aware, different ethnicities in Nigeria are concerned about their welfare come 2019 and in this the Igbo must rise to take a definite position.
In a sense, we can argue that since the end of the civil war, no power machinery has been unfair to the Igbo like the existing one. Some observers have argued that Muhamadu Buhari has seismic hatred for the Igbo. While this perception can be interrogated and questioned, the president’s proclamation on anything Igbo will not help the argument. The agonizing number of Igbo in president Buhari’s appointments into major positions in the country can be misconstrued as enemy action or an attempt to communicate that message of hatred. Due to the wanton neglect of the Igbo since Buhari assumed office, the agitation for the actualizing of Biafra has gained traction. It is a political reality all over the world that when a group within a country feels aggrieved, they reserve the right to ventilate their frustrations through any form of revolutionary instrumentality. Such circumstances demand a humane response, an astute political engineering where dialogue would be the best option. The Biafra agitators didn’t orchestrate carnage like the heinous Fulani herdsmen. But for obvious reasons, military action was ordered and in a demonstration of despicable sadism, many Igbo youths lost their lives, an act that revolted the sensibilities, drawing the attention of the international community.
The total lack of federal presence in Igbo region is inimical to good conscience and antithetical to the psychology of political fellowship. Although the present administration recorded very low votes during the last election in the Igbo region, Buhari’s pronouncement immediately after the election that he will first attend to those who voted for him cannot be associated with a man of good intentions. APC as a political party cannot be blamed for the fate of the Igbo in the current power protocol. After all Lagos State is controlled by the same party where there is a semblance of responsiveness in terms of governance, a state where the Igbo are accommodated, making good progress in business and corporate life. However, whatever strides the APC has made in Lagos is obliterated by what presently obtains at the centre and in Imo State where a ludicrous comic circus is in operation.
2019 presents a very big opportunity for the Igbo to assert their identity in the Nigerian project. The first assignment in the pursuant of this objective is to cultivate the spirit of humility and friendship with other ethnicities. Let the Igbo divest themselves of the putrid garment of arrogance and self-pity but get involved in real politicking by building bridges across the land. Every Igbo person of good age should register to vote as it is their only instrument to make a choice in leadership. The socio-cultural group, Ohaneze Ndigbo, through its actions has proved incapable of representing Igbo interest as it continues to pursue the vanishing illusions of political amorality.
Adiele writes from Department of English, University of Lagos.