“As ever, I am ready to listen to the grievances of my fellow Nigerians”
-Muhammadu Buhari
I have been receiving disturbing
pictures of the multitudes of protesters rampaging the southern part of
Nigeria in the name of Biafra. A majority of them say that they are
showing solidarity with and calling for the release of the director of
the Radio Biafra and self-acclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of
Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, whatever that means, who has been held in detention
by the government. I am aware that Kanu has been granted bail under
very stringent conditions but I think that the whole issue of his arrest
was a big error on the part of government and a violation of his
fundamental human rights. The protests may possibly continue and could
snowball into something more cataclysmic for other parts of the country.
I am not an admirer of Kanu neither do I
understand his motives or comprehend his methods. Yet, I have nothing
against that young man. To the best of my knowledge, he has not been
caught in any violent action despite his verbal threats in his radio
station. Some say he is a fraud but most of the enthusiasts of his cause
contribute money to support him willingly. Such an attention-seeking
character should have been left alone. His arrest and detention will
only make him popular and expand his following. No one can predict how
far things can go especially with the army of unemployed and
impoverished youths full of discontent and misery against governance in
the country.
Whatever their motives may be, I think
that these protests across towns and cities in many states of the
South-East and South-South should not be oversimplified and swept under
the carpet, knowing especially that an action of government sparked it
off. I come from the South-East zone, part of the territories that
should have been named Biafra if the secessionists succeeded. But Biafra
is an undeniable part of my history and my identity. My father was
conscripted to fight in the Civil War towards the end but had to escape.
I was told that about four of my big cousins died fighting in that war.
I neither knew them nor met them but they were my blood and I daily
connect to the vacuum their exit created in our extended family. They
were a part of the thousands of able-bodied young men and women who were
ferociously killed during that war. The word, war, still continues to
give me nightmares if I recall some of the accounts of the atrocities
committed against the people in the then Biafra Republic.
My father explained how every
millionaire in Igboland was handed a N20 note after the war. How they
were able to rebuild their bubbling commerce and trade spread all over
the country is something that will potentially offer interesting lessons
for survival. I was told that a cream of intellectuals who hailed from
the old Easter Region died fighting or in the conflict.
More than 50 years later, no state from
the region affected by the conflagration is classified as educationally
disadvantaged while those not affected still remain disadvantaged
educationally while the victims have overcome those disadvantages.
But it is more than 50 years now since
that war was lost and won. Some of us have come to accept the
inevitability of the scars on our history. As someone who has lived much
of my adult life outside my homeland, I have chosen to deliberately
confine those dehumanising accounts and atrocities associated with the
experience of the war to the past where it belongs. I will not allow
these historical issues define my engagement yet I am a daily recipient
of actions borne out of the atrophied understanding of nationhood by the
powerful amongst us. Those who are in charge of Nigeria prefer that it
does not become a nation where every citizen will have equal opportunity
and a sense of belonging. Nigeria is still an aggregation of peoples
with diverse identities pursuing divergent interests. It is a space for
institutionalised injustice and ruthless oppression. If there was an
experiment to build a nation, it failed woefully. Whatever remains is
pretence.
Many of us from the southern parts of
the country are often on the receiving side of the majority of negative
things that Nigeria can offer its citizens. Only a section,
predominantly Ndigbo, keep paying the price of the participation of
their fathers and forefathers in what they saw as the fight against
genocide. Daily, others rub it on our faces as if we are less Nigerian
than others. Could this be part of the reasons why these able-bodied
youths hit the streets at the slightest provocation? Now, every agitator
must find a reason. After all, this is a country that incentivises
political opportunism. We saw the Oodua People’s Congress hold Lagos and
other parts of the South-West hostage. Boko Haram is still on the
rampage in the North-East and even annexed territories at a point in its
insurgency. In each case, the public continues to watch the responses
of government and that contributes to shape their own attitude and
allegiance towards the country. Between an ex-militant in Yenagoa, a
former Boko Haram fighter in Damaturu and MASSOB protester in Onitsha,
who is more patriotic?
My point here is that the detention of
Kanu may be the reason that these protesters put forward to the public
as the reason for their anger. However, it goes beyond him. That the
multiplicity of injustices in Nigeria remains unchallenged especially is
the cause of the agitations. Even when Kanu meets his bail obligations
and is released, the protesters will continue to look for other reasons
to remain on the streets.
As the opening remark indicates,
President Muhammadu Buhari promised in his inaugural address that he
would listen to the grievances of his fellow citizens. He should listen
to any reasons that these protesters will come up with and isolate those
that are doable. There is nothing wrong if this administration could
come up with a comprehensive plan to bring this matter to a complete
closure. Government must deliberately promote a political culture that
does not wait to reward citizens only when they agitate against the
state.
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