Ovation publisher, Dele Momodu,
has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerian military to exercise
restraint in handling Nnamdi Kanu and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
He spoke against the backdrop of
the declaration of IPOB members as terrorists.
Read his article below
Fellow Nigerians, let me confess
my admiration for security forces generally. It is not just because of the
cleanliness and crispiness of their uniform or the famed discipline that they
imbue in their members. It is because I find their job too risky. I often
wonder why any man or woman would voluntarily sign his or her death warrant.
For me, they appear more like suicide bombers. As a toddler in the ancient city
of Ile-Ife, I remember being told by older people that “soldiers are trained to
kill” and we were told to avoid them.
The myth flying around included
that most of them were recruited without having much education. But as I grew
up, I began to acquire a special fascination for them, especially the elite
squads in the Navy and the Air Force. I would later interact with many soldiers
at home and abroad. I love their uniforms, jackboots and in particular their
menacing guns.
I still imagine till this day
what it takes to be a killer. We were told soldiers were regularly injected
with special drugs that makes it impossible for them to have the milk of human
kindness in them. But with time, I saw and met many soft-hearted soldiers. I
used to tease them about what we were told as kids. I must say I became one of
their fans and good friends. I visited our soldiers in Sierra Leone and Liberia
and gave them my humble support and they were very appreciative of my modest
contribution and inspiration.
The reason for my preamble must
be obvious to you all. I was seriously angry after seeing a video purportedly
showing how our soldiers were brutalising fellow Nigerians and subjecting them
to the worst indignities known to mankind. I’ve been praying that the videos
were shot in outer space and not anywhere near Nigeria. But if what I saw very
vividly actually took place on our planet and in this our dear beloved nation,
then we’ve truly missed the road. I did not see any sign of weapons with these
hapless victims of oppression and repression.
At the very worst, even if as the military
authorities claimed, that the soldiers were pelted with pebbles and stones, the
treatment meted out to the personalities in the video is undeserved by any
human being. How was the response from the military commensurate to that of the
supposed hoodlums? Was it not an act of provocation in itself for soldiers to
be engaging in drills in an area already soaked with tension?
Let me stretch the argument a bit
further. Whose idea was it to draft the soldiers onto the streets to intimidate
Nigerians in areas where there was no war? How can anyone send soldiers to
threaten a people who already feel marginalised and are saying so very
resoundingly? What is wrong with empowering members of the Nigeria Police Force
and especially the anti-riot police squad to tackle cases of hooliganism and
even terrorism. Soldiers are meant to come out in open battle only in extreme
cases where there is total chaos and mayhem. President Muhammadu Buhari has
wittingly or inadvertently walked into the trap cleverly set for him by the
Biafra secessionists. Kanu and company have read the President well knowing his
proclivity for no-nonsense and high-handedness.
If truth must be told, this is
the height of intolerance on the part of the Nigerian State. I have not seen
any Lawyer who believes in the legality of what our soldiers have done. Kanu
may be reckless and irresponsible by promoting internecine wars and heating up
our country unnecessarily but no one can deny him the right of expressing
himself and agitating for his beliefs. What could have been done to him was
very simple; send the police after him and get him rearrested for flouting his
bail conditions. Some of his hard core loyalists and acolytes could be easily
identified and kept out of circulation. For the past few months, Kanu has been
raking and ranting but he has not fired a bullet.
As a matter of fact, this
government has unfortunately resurrected a man who was already on his way to
Golgotha and at a time his bravado was becoming increasingly irritating to many
of those who took him seriously initially. The staccato fashion of his argument
was becoming boring and predictable. I really don’t know who misadvised our
leaders into thinking they can fight all wars and win all. Believe me please, I
know Nigeria a bit, it is a dangerous gamble.
I’m aware that our President is a
retired Major General, a man well known for his taciturnity, who packs his
punches and loves to take on known and imaginary enemies. But we supported him
because we believed Baba had transfigured into a born again democrat. The
Buhari we supported was not the man who ruled with draconian Decrees from
1983-85 and was forced out of power and his detractors rejoiced openly and
widely. The same Nigerians who praised you for beating your child would soon
turn around to castigate you and ask why you’re so wicked. That is the reality
of Nigeria. This particular case is even more precarious. Some Northerners had
issued threats to the Igbos to quit their territory or face monumental
reprisals.
A few of the respected people in the North
cautioned them but they were rebuffed with insults in a most vicious manner. No
security arm ever tried to even invite them for any chat not to talk of
arrests. The then Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, did so well by
engaging different sections of Nigeria in peaceful dialogue and we were happy
that the ticking bomb was carefully detonated. Just imagine what would have
happened if he invaded parts of the North or East with soldiers blazing with
guns and bayonets. He would have been accused of all sorts, including ethnic
cleansing.
Our President should be told in
very clear terms that the world has changed drastically in the last three
decades. No leader can order his troops out in the streets to kill and destroy
wantonly. We should not over-stretch our luck. Nigeria cannot afford a second
civil war. Our economy is already in shambles. We should prosecute how to
return to economic recovery urgently and resist the temptation of wasting our
scarce resources on persecuting our fellow citizens. The videos in circulation
tend to portray us as barbarians who belong in the prehistoric age. We’ve
suffered enough negativity and should not invite the wrath of the world upon
ourselves.
Believe it or not, Nigeria may
find itself in the bad book of War Crimes Tribunal. It is not impossible, no
matter how long it takes. Mass graves have been reported in some parts of
Nigeria with concrete proofs. Nigerians have been detained indefinitely in near
solitary confinements without trial. These are not the best examples to lay for
our future. Many of those who should speak up against tyranny are too squeamish
for obvious reasons. But it should not be so.
I’m not a supporter of Biafra. I
don’t have to be. I love and prefer a bigger, stronger and more prosperous
Nigeria. But there are reasons for many Nigerians to detest Nigeria, today.
They feel they have been horribly marginalised and treated like second class
citizens in their own country.
Their perception is that they believe all or
most of the following things. Their children no longer attend the good schools
for which the Igbos have become well known. The goods, some of which they even
make themselves in Aba, have become only available for the rich. Infrastructure
is sorely lacking for the most part. Where they exist, they are decaying
and nobody is really attending to them.
There are no new jobs and the few old
jobs are being lost in droves. The state of healthcare is almost hopeless.
Federal character has become a total charade. We can go on, ad infinitum,
reeling out the litany of woes that our brothers and sisters in the South East
believe is responsible for the unusually strident agitation that we are now
witnessing. To be fair and charitable they do have cause to be aggrieved in
many respects.
Our government should address
these issues instead of attacking those who disagree with them. One of the
surest ways to do this is by education, information and public enlightenment to
demonstrate that the position is not as bad as they feel.
The social media is awash with
facts and figures for and against the depth and seriousness of the so-called
marginalisation of the South East. The next step would be to identify those
issues which are of critical concern, proffer solutions to resolve them and
then act on these solutions. The third and equally important
duty of the government is to ensure an equitable distribution of resources and
positions.
Indeed, this is the major reason for the clamour for
restructuring. Whilst we still operate in a system where government provides
practically everything, it is only just that people must have a sense of
belonging and participation.
However, the best form of
restructuring that Nigeria needs now is not merely to decentralise power but to
cede power completely to the private sector whilst government contributes its
quota by providing the enabling environment for the much needed
industrialisation and technological advancement that will take us out of our
present doldrums.
In the name of God, the
omnipotent and merciful, everyone should beg our Federal Government to end this
self-immolating war of attrition. We have nothing to gain. In fact, we have
more to lose.
Agbaya that is what you are,where was your voice when Kanu was creating problems?Where was your voice when he was going against the law of Nigeria?Creating his own military,flags and insulting the same Nigeria he lives in.Did you expect the military to go pet the IPOB members?So you did not see any weapon with the IPOB it means therefore they were not with weapons abi?You expect them to still hold on to their weapons while being dealt with? Nobody is a fool except you choose to be fooled.When push gets to shove then every body to your tent oh Isreal
ReplyDeleteDele have on seen the video where kanu was solisiting for money to buy GUNS from igbos in the US
ReplyDelete