Re-Biafra protests: Nigeria police in mass arrests
It is quite possible that corrupt Nigerian politicians are the reason many Ibos want to opt out of Nigeria. But some of these unpatriotic Ibos must remember that they have contributed in no small measure to the corruption that is tearing Nigeria apart. It may not have been their plan, in fact it may never have occurred to them - the corrupt and unpatriotic of Ibo land - when they started their corruption, that it would lead down a destructive path; BUt secession has always been on their minds, in their actions, in their pronouncements, in their gaits, and in their words. There is an old English proverb that says "once beaten; twice shy" that does not seem to be remembered by my Ibo brothers and sisters now agitating for a separate country. Let it be known to such people that no apple falls far from its tree - in other words their corrupt, discriminating and lording tendencies will not stop if they actualize their dreams of a separate country. Nor will their sectional bickering with the Yoruba. Nor their unholy seeking of territories which do not belong to them. Not their look-down characteristics on other parts of Nigeria. As far as many of these unpatriotic and corrupt Ibos are concerned, they are superior in everything to any other tribe in Nigeria. This is the crux of their unfettered push for nationhood which unfortunately has forcibly incorporated decent, rational, reasonable, and honest but silent Ibos.
My people have a saying - "enek ese edem" which is interpreted to mean that one should watch his/her back as one dances. The impropriety of that proverb is that no one can see his or her back except through a looking glass. Other peoples - not of Ibo origin - (and a few honest
Ibos) have acted as that looking glass to the rejection of many of those Ibos who believe in their righteous seeking of Biafra. We know that many outside Ibo land, particularly those united by marriage to the Ibo, have acted in ways which give these men and women seeking secession from Nigeria, the hope that support for their cause is ripe and plentiful. But many of them should pause to think - if such people (promising support for Biafra) are unpatriotic to their own locality and people, what gives the secessionists hope that their promises are genuine , and that such people will be there to support them when the waves of violence break as it did before; and will happen again if they insist?
What any secessionist is asking for are waves of violence upon violence upon violence unmatched. They should ask how comfortable the Arabs and Israelis feel with generational violence engulfing their enclaves. Generational violence are bound to mature based on the characteristics of the Ibo man - seeking what does not belong to him will certainly cause the descendants of the deprived to seek justice no matter how long it takes!
How many of these secessionists will forgo the seizure of territories long coveted by the Ibo? How many of them will resist the incorporation of other peoples into their territory who have long resented the corrupt and oppressive attitudes of the Ibos upon them?
How many will forgo their pride to build a united nation even in the Biafra they are clamoring for today? How many of them will forgo their love of money to join hands honestly with the few honest ones amongst them to build a nation of equals? Will many who are so proud, forget that there are others whom they have come to regard as "osu" in their midst? Do they believe for one moment that their past oppression of other tribes will be forgotten if their Biafra extends such unholy hands again to grab, or to cheat, or to insult, or to enslave others? It will be wise for them to learn from those whom they have mentored themselves after - the Jews - whose seizure of Arab lands and possessions have brought no peace to Israel despite Israel's military superiority.
It is safer to mend the country which they have contributed to breaking than to seek another country by whatever name. Their insults upon others, their insolence, their criminal practices upon their own people, their look-down on others, their pride, their unmitigated boisterousness, their ready eagerness to deprive others of their rights and their due, their mistaken belief that those who are quiet are cowardly, will ALL surely haunt their Biafra. If there are any sections of Nigeria who have averred that they also want to secede, the Ibos ought to learn from their past experience, and not allow such mutterings to goad them on another destructive path. Anyone who hopes that secession in any part of Nigeria will be a cake walk must not have heard how wrong Dick Cheney of the United States was in his push for the invasion of Iraq. History does not have to repeat itself for lessons to be learned. I lost numerous good friends and classmates before. I do not want it to happen again. But if it must; then significant others will be ready for whatever might chance; except belong to that Ibo territory called Biafra!!!
OduduAbasi Nicolas Edet