Recent killing of Igbo’s in the Northern and the silence of Igbo politicians – By Odenigbo C. Anyeache

Posted by admin Articles, Columnists, NNP Columnists, Odenigbo Chidi Anyaeche, South-East Friday, January 6th, 2012

By Odenigbo Chidi Anyaeche, London, UK – Jan. 6. 2012 – Killing of Igbo’s in Nigeria by their fellow Nigerians of Northern Nigerian Muslim extraction seems to be a yearly ritual. But the recent killings by a radical Islamic sect called Boko Haram (Western education is meaningless) that operates mostly from North East Nigeria that culminated in the Christmas day bombing and the resultant killing of mostly Igbo’s during worship in a Catholic church in Madalla, Niger state and the follow-on killings afterwards that culminated in the killing of over twenty (20) Igbo’s in Mubi, Adamawa state, Nigeria on Friday, January 06, 2012 and without adequate protection of Igbo’s by the Nigerian state is now alarming. The same sect – Boko Haram – had hitherto issued a warning for all non Muslims to depart from Northern Nigeria. Igbo’s constitute a majority of the non Muslims.

It is pertinent at this juncture to let my fellow Igbo’s know that the Nigerian government owned media outfit, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) did not air the Friday, January 06, 2012 killing of Igbo’s in its prime news whilst other media outfits around the world did.

But the most worrying and pathetic aspect of these mindless killing of innocent Igbo’s by their fellow Nigerians of Northern Nigerian Muslim extraction, besides the inability of the Nigerian state to protect them, is the silence of Igbo politicians especially the governors of the five Igbo states that have the resources more than any other person or group to stand up for their people being exterminated like a lamb to the slaughter. For the uninitiated, the five Igbo states are, Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo. Then, there are the added silences from Igbo politicians within the ruling party, PDP and apex socio political group called Ohaneze. These silences are at best disgusting and at worst conspiratorial. It is disgusting for the governors prefer protecting their own individual gains to the gains of the people they swore to protect. It is conspiratorial for the governors are in cahoots with the anti Igbo forces that put them in power to murder their fellow Igbo’s. Silence is consent.

These silences goes to the heart of how Igbo politicians emerge to ‘leadership’ positions in Nigeria after the 1966 – 1970 civil war, of which the Igbo’s came out second best. Since the end of that war, persons who are usually light weights within Igbo communities and other aspect of life have being fostered on Igbo’s as ‘leaders’ by the Nigerian state whilst genuine Igbo leaders that have command and respect of the Igbo community have been sidelined. The rest of Nigeria play their first eleven in the Nigerian political game whilst external forces foster fifth eleven on the Igbo’s with the resultant vacuum in intellect, integrity and respect within the Igbo polity. These challenges have also permeated the Igbo chieftaincy institution that known fraudsters, political and economic jobbers are now traditional rulers fostered on the people from above.

This author, Odenigbo Chidi Anyaeche has chosen the governors in particular to castigate for this nauseating silence, for they are the ones that have the office, the resources and the reach to defend my people. If we recall, in 1966 when a similar situation arose, a young Igbo army officer and governor of the then sole Igbo state, Eastern Nigeria, by name Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu RIP rose to the challenge and defended Igbo’s vigorously. That vigorous challenge led to the Nigerian civil war of 1966 – 1970.

It is noteworthy to compare the calibre and intellect of the late Odumegwu Ojukwu and the modern day governors to see why Igbo’s have a leadership problem right now. Ojukwu in a nutshell was an Oxford educated and Sandhurst trained army officer and was not fostered on the Igbo’s by the rest of Nigeria.

None of the current Igbo governors can compare with him in this regard and therein lays the problem. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. Political and intellectual lilliputs are now running the affairs of the Igbo states and rather than answer to their people, they are answering to the non-Igbo masters that placed them in power. The Igbo race that can boast of world class individuals in every aspect of life are been ruled by utter mediocres that are brain dead and care only for what they can loot from the treasury rather than service to their people; so sad.

Just to digress a little, last year (2011) the Igbo governor of Abia state sacked all Igbo’s that are not from his state from the employ of the state (whilst retaining non-Igbo’s) in sheer disregard to the body and the spirit of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that grants the citizens the right to work in any state of the federation. The Attorney General of Nigeria did not see it fit to challenge this assault on the constitution of Nigeria, but most importantly the rest of the Igbo governors acquiesced with this behaviour of the Abia state governor. It is pertinent to point out that no state in Nigeria has ever carried out such a barbaric act on their fellow Nigerians of same ethnicity.

Every cloud has a silver lining goes the saying, perhaps this conspiracy of silence by Igbo governors in the face of massive killing of Igbo’s by Northern Nigerian Muslims is the silver lining that Igbo’s need to wake up and retake power from these reprobates that has been fostered on us. It may also be the silver lining the Nigerian states needs to address the unanswered question about the unity or not of the country.

These senseless killing of the Igbo’s (or any other race) must end and right now and may great shame visit these spineless politicians especially the governors of Igbo extraction.

And to my fellow Igbo’s, please look no farther, the enemy is amongst us. They are one of us.

May the souls of our fallen brethren rest in perfect peace and May Almighty God give their loved ones the strength to carry on. Their deaths will never be in vain; NEVER.

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