To The Igbo in The North: Suicides Are Buried in The Evil Forest – By Ike Enyiagu

Posted by admin Articles, Columnists, Ikechukwu Enyiagu, NNP Columnists, South-East Monday, January 9th, 2012

By Ikechukwu Enyiagu, NNP, Jan. 8, 2012 – This is no time for riddles and proverbs; every child must be made to hear and understand. These moments call for clarity and decisiveness-clarity in communication and understanding. A political statement in Nigeria is as worthless as a gold ring in a pig’s snout. While Ndigbo believes in self-sufficiency and hard work, it’s very clear to us that “Ndu ka aku,” which means, “life is worth more than riches. Another saying which backs this up goes thus: “Aghara ndu kpaa aku, onye iro erie;” this, when translated, may mean: “when one seeks wealth at the expense of his life, his enemies will inherit whatever riches he leaves behind.” A tree may be cut down even when the meeting and agreement for its destruction was carried out under it; but man is not so. Even domestic animals, these days, have become wiser against the pots of festive seasons, how much wiser can the Igbo get in this false united Nigeria where the blood of the Igbo are the fuel which drives its ship of unity. Those who claim that the Igbo leave under any feeling of being inferior in Nigeria are clearly ignorant of the obvious- these groups are unquestionably delusional. The only thing is that, by the virtue of the Igbo (who have been denied every place of true federal leadership) in Nigeria, other tribes have practically been non-progressive in their leadership of Nigeria. What Ndigbo say is that it’s OK to still have such an abomination (even though other tribes celebrate it) in Africa called Nigeria as long as we are not part of it; but if they will not let the division happen in peace, Nigeria will burn to the very last enemy of man’s peace and freedom. Then we shall look around for those who hate us without a cause, and we shall find none; and we will celebrate our freedom. From the 50s to 1970 and even to this day, the Igbo have experienced both pogrom and genocide in the hands of Nigerian and the Nigerian government without anyone accounting for it. Even though the Igbo were reduced to the sum of N20 each after the war, our surprising resilience, despite our “self-sufficiency consciousness” and our hard works, was as a result of remnants; while the blood of those who died in the pogrom and genocide continue to speak against the foundation of Nigeria, it was those who survived the genocide who thrived. Those Igbo who died in the North in those years (because they called the bluff of bloodsuckers veiled with the cloak of religion to destroy every living thing with a different view and root from them- they called their bluff maybe because some of them were married to Muslims or Christians of the Northern tribe, spoke Hausa more fluently than the natives, became Muslims as a yardstick for acceptance, or may have taken titles amongst the elders) did not have the opportunity of practicing self-sufficiency and hard work even in the South East from where they have run when none pursued- they just died…and neither the government of the North nor that of the federal did anything to stop it; if anything, they made sure more Igbo were killed. Ironsi’s confidence and honest intentions for Nigeria made him an easy target in the midst of those he worked, unarmed, and trusting. He paid dearly for that silly mistake. The so-called “Zik of Africa” sold the Igbo for one accursed Nigeria but, today, his professor widow is crying before all Nigerians that she has not received her stipends. Well, this is just the beginning for those who betrayed the Spirit of truth- within and without. She cries today, tomorrow she may not be able to speak let alone crying.

On the 2nd of February, 2012, the Islamist group, Boko Haram, gave Southerners living in the North a 3-day ultimatum to leave the North or be killed. With everything Nigerians know about Boko Haram, the one which stands out is that they have no business with bluffing- they would carry out their attacks to the letter even if it entails dying in the process. On the part of the Northern leaders, one cannot expect less than what they gave in the 50s and the 60s; they would make sure more Igbo are killed, no matter what and whom they must support to bring this to pass. And on the side of the federal government of Nigeria, well, everyone knows what to expect, especially when it concerns the Igbo. We all know what Islamist extremism have done and are still doing in many parts of the world, and it will be outrightly Nigerian (hopeless) to think that the Nigerian branch of this sect would be anything but serious; it’s no wonder why this is so because Nigerians never consider anything serious enough. Everyone is trying to fit in somewhere in this trinity of evil called Nigeria, so anything must be done to fit it. And while terrorism competes with the evil government of Nigeria in a spiritual dance of death in all our city squares, Nigerians would pay anything to (while suffering and smiling) watch this dance of death- they watch in jubilation not knowing that a cricket in the frying pan may be praised for oozing out oil but, in reality, is being fired out from life.

Suicides are not martyrs. They may have genuine reasons why they feel unworthy to or incapable of living further, yet the choice to leave this world should not be made by any individual for himself. If life is a fight, it’s “fight to the last,” and if it’s justice, then it’s justice to the last;” but on no account does anyone have any justification in taking his own life. It does not matter if he hangs or shoots himself, or if he consciously and comfortably stands unarmed and akimbo between armed soldiers in the war front; it’s not him who is right/more right that wins the war but him who has the ammunitions and better support. The Igbo and other Southerners were not given the right to defend themselves in the pogrom of the 60s by the Northern soldiers and civilians alike, they should not expect either the government of the North or the Nigerian government to offer them any honest protection this time. Boko Haram promised Nigeria series of attack at specific times and has faithfully carried them out: they attacked the headquarters of the Nigeria Police, military base, the UN, several churches, homes and businesses. They carried out their attacks from their hiding places to the federal capital territory- each time, with success. Like always, it’s been the masses that paid dearly for it; the government rarely feels a punch. On Christmas day, as they promised, they wasted the Igbo by families…in the very door of federal power. And they left, smiling. Even when some of them are arrested, they are either declared “insane” or quickly released without any excuse. Today, one of their governors hurriedly released many of them from prison in pardon while many who have been unjustly jailed for years look only up to God for their end.

Considering what happened to the Igbo in the past and seeing the same thing happening again, although is a much worse dimension, it would be evil for any man, most of all, any Igbo person to advice the Igbo in the core North to stand their ground and defend themselves and to call the bluff or this group which has become a better and functional government for the Islamic Republic of Arewa than Nigeria can ever be for a falsely united people with inherently diverging visions. Why the helpless police, who have been killed like Christmas chickens, boast of things they cannot do against Boko Haram, and why the Nigerian government tells Southerners to ignore the threats of this group, wisdom should play its role in the minds of the wise and those involved, and this wisdom should inform the decisions they take. It’s said in our land that “Onye ajuru anaghi aju onwe ya;” you cannot continuously try in vain to let the comfortable and confident blind see what he has been missing, you don’t negotiate with a man whose eternal vow is to wipe your generation off the earth. It would be a different thing if Nigeria is founded upon freedom, equality and justice; the Igbo would then stand their ground anywhere in Nigeria and defend themselves. But it’s not. So, why do you resist the path of life and insist on remaining in your enemy’s camp when your land has her arms outstretched to receive you? That is suicidal, and those who commit suicide in Igboland, no matter for what reasons, have their burial ground in the evil forest. A man may be trustworthy, rich and worthy to be emulated in the land, but if he kills himself or allows himself to be killed willingly, such man has lost every respect and rights to a decent burial; people curse him than cry for him. It cannot be omitted that those Igbo who have become either anti-Igbo as a result of many corruptions through relationships, and those who have clearly remained indifferent to the Igbo course are the people affected most in the moonlight games of the Northerners’ children whose fathers killed our fathers. Igboland is both fertile and vast for our people in any area of life we choose to develop more. These are days when a plot of land contains more than what it used to be in the 50s; with the type of modern structures seen all over the world today, Igboland could contain every one of us and foreigners yet have a vast sea of lands for any agricultural or infrastructural purposes. Every single Igbo in the core North should take the opportunity provided by this state of emergency in the North and relocate to the South East before it becomes late. One thing is sure in all of this: any Igbo who remains in the core North at the expiration of this 3-day ultimatum, and gets killed and his property destroyed committed suicide; such man killed himself. And as it is, the best such can get may only be having his name among those buried in a mass grave or burnt to ashes- Ndigbo will not mourn for such persons. As it is today, no formal statement has been issued by the Ohaneze on the Christmas day bombings which reduced families as a whole to monuments of everlasting sigh in Igboland. May Nigeria, having rubbed us of everything else, not rub us of the need to stay alive; yet we have to do the right thing. Ndu ka aku, umunnem.

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Posted by admin on Jan 9 2012. Filed under Articles, Columnists, Ikechukwu Enyiagu, NNP Columnists, South-East. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry