Sunday Igboho And The Dangers Of Stockpiling Arms In The Hands Of Non-state Actors

I have said it on different fora that a man like Sunday Igboho who thrives on violence cannot be trusted with the demand for self-determination, and this has been exhibited by Sunday Igboho’s call for violence in all his campaigns for the actualisation of Oduduwa Republic. For someone like Sunday Igboho with absolutely no knowledge of the workings of a State to be demanding for a Republic to the extent that he was threatening an attack on critical government infrastructure, I understood immediately that he is not a serious person and that he and his ilk are seeking the renewal of their expired political patronage.

The approach of Sunday Igboho towards self-determination is wrong from all ends most especially instances where he was calling on Yoruba Obas to purchase guns for their youths (and that he will even serve as middleman towards seeing to the procurement) in actualising Oduduwa Republic. At this stage of enlightenment and civilisation, it is important to say that arms are not needed to demand for self-determination. But, Sunday Igboho and his cheer-givers are absolutely naïve of this. In fact, those cheering him are not aware of the dangers of stockpiling arms in the hands of a non-State actor not to talk of one with serious history of violence like Sunday Igboho.

It is also insinuated in some quarters that Igboho is doing a Nigerian Che Guevara with his actions. This is no doubt a product of intellectual laziness. While the model of Guerilla warfare and the impact of the Castro-Che Guevera on the Cuban State is still in debate, we must acknowledge that the individuals like Igboho are grossly under-equipped ideologically compared to the likes of Che Guevara. In fact, building a State is more than fighting wars. Also, the world of Che Guevaras is now starkly different from now, all recent attempts to reenact such feats have failed miserably instead producing Libyans and Syrias.

Though, many might not agree with the invasion of his residence by operatives of the State Security Service, because it is as crude as the approach of Sunday Igboho towards self-determination, but, I am of the opinion that the triumph of Sunday Igboho is not a plus to the peoples’ revolution. The government must act within the limits of the law in bringing him down and some other persons like Gumi that make up serious threat to national security.

It is my belief that if Sunday Igboho were to be serious with his campaign for Oduduwa Republic and not a situation whereby he wants to set the country alight by calling for war, exposing innocent lives to the crude use of force by the government, he would not have owned a German resident permit amongst other international passports the SSS took away from his house during the raid. The implication is that, just like Nnamdi Kanu, he will flee the country immediately after there is war and then we will experience something similar to wild wild West while he continues his normal life overseas. This is like what he made the people of Igangan to go through in the hands of blood-sucking Fulani vampires.

The moment Sunday Igboho started agitating for Oduduwa Republic coupled with the mythical power he boasts of virtually every time, I knew that infamy has been exhumed from wherever it has been hibernating all these years. Those conversant with the story of Sunday Igboho will readily say that with a man like him spearheading the call for self-determination, the result is known even before he went far; placing himself above all known authority while acting bizarre.

Agreed, there is governmental failure and there is also the urgent need to negotiate our existence, but that could be done without calling for war. The recent happenings shows that the British-made Nigeria is about to fall into the abyss of history and there is a need for Nigerians themselves to design their own house and live in it according to their architecture.

Nigerians must be afforded a one-size-fits-all approach which will present Nigeria a new marriage identity either via unity in diversity under a confederation arrangement, one Nigeria under true Federalism or fragmented new countries emerging from different regions.

Kazeem Olalekan Israel (GANI) writes from Ibadan, Nigeria.