*By Chief Olu Falae’s call for secession, Yoruba not innocent
I will not be surprised if the Arewa Youths insist that Igbo in North must quit…although I want united Nigeria.
The people that surprise me more and whom I pity so much more are those lawyers, media men and women, human rights activists and other vocal few who were shouting on top of their voices against continued detection of somebody who has a case of treason against his neck but who have failed woefully to talk now that the man for whose cause they so much engaged in campaign of calumny against President Muhammadu Buhari has persistently breached conditions guarding his bail by court on health grounds. That man, for whose cause they talked and did ills against President Buhari has consistently mocked Nigeria and its courts but these so called human rights fighters have never spoken a word. I wonder if Amnesty International is still in alive.
I remember that these people have misplaced blames all along: They call the wrong person a dictator who does not obey the rule of law. But they roll out the drums all the times celebrating the very people they should call for their being buried alive for their devilish activities disturbing the peace of Nigeria simply because they are being asked to come and return the monies (Naira, Dollars, Pound Sterling, Euros in trillions and billions) they stole from the coffers of the country. Did we not tell them that what the agitations were doing was not what the international convention or law of any nation recognized? Did I particularly not repeatedly say that there was no law that permitted anybody to exercise a right that does not respect the right of others?
Yet these same people before March 28, 2015 presidential elections agreed with President Muhammadu Buhari that “If we don’t kill corruption, corruption will us.”
They have failed persistently to know that those who stole Nigeria’s money meant to better the lives of Nigerian people and who do not want to be brought to justice are the ones behind Nnamdi Kanu’s criminal agitations. They fail persistently to know that they were the same people behind the Niger Delta Avengers who bombed our oil that is the economic cash cow of the country to the extent that they sent us into recession.
But Niger Delta youths (sponsored militants) appear to be different from Igbo youths. The moment the Federal Government of Muhammadu Buhari made them see the evil in what they were doing, they ceased the criminal acts of economic terrorism against their country, our country. An attitude which now makes me believe more in Niger Delta people that they have more things that are good inherent in them than those of Igbo youths as epitomised by Nnamdi Kanu. Like the Arewa Youths said: “No amount of peace move or agreement reached with these Igbo agitators will ever make them stop. So, Your Excellency (Yemi Osinbajo) please facilitate the process for them to go into their Biafra,” I also hold the same belief that because the Igbo Youths are fully backed by their leaders, no amount of peace move by the Federal Government will make them stop their criminal agitations.
No to secession by Igbo
But I will not call for secession. No. Nigeria must not grant them what they are asking for. I do know of many Igbo who do not believe in the agitations. I do not many of them who are angry with their leaders for supporting the agitations by IPOB and MASSOB to breakup Nigeria. What I will call for is for the Federal Government to criminalise agitations for breakup, henceforth. It can come by executive order and that stands.
What kind of democratic right do you have to claim against Muhammadu Buhari’s government that is not responsible for your political, economic and infrastructural predicaments, which you failed in good six years to claim against the very man (Goodluck Ebele Jonathan) who made your lives miserable by causing you social, economic and infrastructural backwardness? It means the very agitation that you are making now is based on insincerity and so you must watch it.
I just want to warn those writers of Igbo extractions who are still talking about marginalisation of Igbo to hold it. Nobody marginalizes the Igbo. But Igbo marginalise themselves by their hate; from their last man in the street to the highest man at the top of their hierarchy. If writers of any of the regions cannot begin to open their eyes away from sentiments, biases and emotions, I wonder if their people will ever find the light to get to the right path because, where those who are supposed to show others the right path are themselves filled with instincts of these inadequacies: sentiment, bias and emotion, the kind of what will be their situation is what is happening to Igbo people right now.
Two reasons Igbo want Biafra
The two major reasons Igbo are asking for secession is one, Hausa/Fulani man is in power (that is hate). Two, corrupt people are sponsoring the secession agitations. If infrastructural predicaments is the issue, it can never lead to agitations for secession. The United Kingdom has continued to live as one with Scotland, Ireland, Whales, Britain. They do have their issues, they will rather sit down to address it not to call for secession. Even as a continent, the Britain exit from Europe has continued to face brick wall. That is to show everyone that cares to listen that the larger the size of Nigeria and the more diverse the peoples of the country the more their blessings.
So, whoever asks you to agitate for secession, ask him: for what reason? He will never come back to you. Just look at the same America which has refused to break in spite of the fact of many languages and races, it led the United Nations to split the old Sudan into the main Sudan and Southern Sudan. Today, people of Southern Sudan would jump up in joy if it ever comes that they should return el-Bashir’s Islamic Sudan that they so much hated like the Igbo hate Northern Nigeria presently and which the Federal Government is battling with. But will anybody ever want to beg Al-Bashir to allow Southern Sudan back to his union? Never!
By Chief Olu Falae’s call for secession, Yoruba not innocent
That is not to say that Yoruba race too is free of same. If you have somebody like Chief Olu Falae speaking angrily that Nigeria must break, you should know therefore that the problem does not preclude Yoruba race and not restricted to Igbo Land alone. Although it is more apparent with Igbo.
As for Chief Olu Falae, who wants Nigeria to breakup, may we ask him some questions: Sir, why do you want Nigeria to break up at this time? Remember you once contested to be President of the country that you so much hate? Would we now be wrong to say that you are angry with Nigeria because you have failed as economist (recall SAP), as a politician and, even because you have failed as a regional leader? I mean when you and others cried at Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s house at the inauguration of Yoruba Unity Forum (YUF) against marginalisation of Yoruba race by Goodluck Jonathan-led PDP Federal Government, the moment he started giving you and others money to work for his re-election, you switched and became Niger Delta leaders.
You particularly led the struggle addressing press conferences that “the man who will implement the report of 2014 national conference we shall vote for.” You apparently meant Jonathan. Yet, you did not remember that the man, who, as most powerful person in the country failed in one year to implement that same 2014 national conference report he spent billions of Nigeria’s public funds to hold, can never be able to implement it even if you reelected him to be in power for another four years. If you have issue against Fulani, is that the basis for calling for breakup of the country? You so much hate Fulani and I don’t know why. I doubt if that hate is not the reason you even have issues persistently with Fulani herdsmen and you wanted us to treat your personal interest as national disaster? You are a major beneficiary of Nigerian State. Why did you go to this condemnable extent Sir? This is the problem.
Word on Arewa Youths
As for the Arewa Youths calling on Igbo to quit, as a person, I cannot fault them because when a goat that is not known to be carnivorous animal is pushed to the wall, it will bite. For long, we have not had it easy with the level of hate speeches coming from Igbo people against the Northerners of Nigeria. Part of that was what Nnamdi Kanu was doing with is Radio Biara.
Recall Nnamdi Kanu once on his Radio Biafra that he said he established to call misinformation of the public said: “Kill one Hausa in Onitsha market, the North too will kill one Igbo man in Maiduguri and then the whole country will erupt in confusion.” Is that a praise statement? The same people called Nigeria a Zoo. The same Nnamdi Kanu said any Igbo man that worships in a church presided over by Yoruba man is a fool (if not that he called him or her a dead person). All Igbo leaders supported him on all those hate words.
To crown it up, all the deriding of Nigeria and its courts that Kanu has been doing since he was released on bail with conditions on health grounds he has been doing them from the Palace of his father. Where you have a traditional ruler backing his son on criminality against the nation that provides them with enabling and security, what other way to describe that? So, I don’t belong to the group that blames the Arewa Youths for asking Igbo to quit.
What I can only tell the Arewa Youths and some Yoruba Youths that have warned Igbo in their regions is that, we should show them that we are more civilised than they are. We should prove particularly to a people whose highest government officer in Deputy Senate President publicly back their youths to continue their hate, saying it is their democratic right, that we have names and that we will do everything possible to protect our good names by not going to misbehave to the laws of our country. We respect Nigeria. We will continue to respect the country and will do everything possible to support the Armed Forces of Nigeria and other security agencies to protect the territorial integrity of the country.
Before we look at your agitations, pay our money that you stole
As patriotic Nigerians, before we can ask our government to look into the agitations of Igbo to have Biafra and Falae’s agitation to have Oduduwa Nation (and I know Afenifere where Yinka Odumakin – current Federal Government’s arc-hater is spokesman recently held meeting Igbo on secession and so Falae must have spoken for them), we are first and foremost asking all of you from those areas who have stolen Nigeria’s monies and are currently standing trials in various courts of Nigeria to return the money they stole. You must be deceiving yourselves that you will steal all the monies and then cause trouble that will lead to breakup so that nobody can question you and you will continue to hold the monies in your respective households that you will then call nations to yourselves. No.
Before you go, if at all you can, you must first return our monies. Chief Dezani Alison-Maduekes, Falaes, Femi Fani-Kayodes, Ayodele Fayoses, all the Igbo politicians currently standing trials before our courts in Nigeria: you must return Nigerian monies before we can, if at all, ask our government to look into your agitations to have your own country: Biafra or Oduduwa.
No to Nigeria’s breakup
Whatever the case, our stand is for One Nigeria!
*This piece was lifted, with permission, from the Facebook wall of Prince Bashir Adefaka, a Lagos-based Journalist and social media activist in Nigeria.
