by Dr. Chuks Osuji
One of the problems which we the Igbo Ethnic nationality have is our difficulty in being rational in certain political issues. I still remember what an Hausa young man told an Igbo trader in Kano many years ago : you the Igbo are intelligent and hardworking but you lack wisdom. Similar to this was a conversation between an Okada rider and his passenger in Douglas Road when a conversation ensued between the okada man and his Hausa passenger. A minor conversation between the two had it that the Okada man abused his passenger a Hausa by telling him that, “You hausa’s behave very foolishly like cattles. Without much ado, his Hausa passenger said in reply saying,”Yes, we behave like cattles, but you the Igbo are the grass we eat to be wiser than you the Igbo.” The Okada man closed his mouth firmly.
As a writer, once I begin to write an article, my mind goes far and wild. I recall when on my way from London to the East in February 1966 when I made a stop over in Kaduna to see my most elderly brother who was then a senior staff of Barclays Bank. As I was walking to my brother’s office, a load carrier probably an Hausa guy while asking some passers by to give space to pass, a brief altercation ensued between my load carrier and two passers by when the load carrier lashed out at the passers by,”please this Hausa boys, give me way to pass lest I teach you a lesson as Nzeogwu has taught you people a lesson. I was not happy with that statement but one of the two Hausa passers by replied immediately, you nyamiri people, wait, you will not laugh or rejoice for a long time. By the time we got to the gate of where my brother’s office was, I tongue lashed my load carrier, advising him to mind his tongue because lashing out this type of statement could bring trouble for the entire Igbo race.
In fact, many writers are by nature philosophers and sooth sayers. Things they say or write more often than not are prophetic.
I have dropped this three incidents because, “Nobody is a permanent custodian of wisdom.” Because this three narratives, we can learn a lot from them.
Thank God I am an Igbo son through and through. And fortunately through several circumstial imperatives, challenges and opportunities I have traveled far and wide and had accumulated world experiences. I recall what two passengers told me while I was an indigent student in Dallas Texas, “that the similarity between the Igbo and some black Americans is that a black American can tolerate an insult of being called a nigga by a fellow black but will pull a trigger if he is called nigga by a white.” What this means is that the Igbo are tolerant when cursed or abused by a fellow Igbo person. Perhaps, that is what sociologists call self estimation/self control.
In this analysis, efforts will be made to try to balance the equation between Ebubeagu and the Eastern Security Network. In the end, we will see that the quarrelling is unnecessary. It is just like in a family of the father, mother and their only child. After the evening meal, the mother and the father began to argue over the remaining portion of dinner. The mother argues that the remaining portion should be left for their child to take as breakfast in the morning but the father disagreed saying that their son should be given the extra to be satisfactorily fed. Their seven year old son uttered, mom and dad, you are both right. You are fighting for my own wellbeing therefore you should not quarrel.
In a way, those supporting the creation of Ebubeagu and its existence and those supporting the existence of Eastern Security Network are all struggling for one objective which is the Security of the Igbo Nation and Southeast.
Except some political concomitants being injected in the whole scenario in addition to some selfish elements, I want to pose a question. Can’t both of these two bodies-the Ebubeagu as could be fashioned out by the government of the five Eastern States and the already existing Eastern Security Network work together to achieve greater results in the interest of Southeasterners? According to General Alexander Hagg, a former Chief of Staff to Richard Nixon, “The difference between two opposing enemies is between yes and no.” Indeed, Wilson Churchill, at the end of the Second World War has posited during a peace conference said,”It will be better for us the combatants to jaw-jaw than war-war.”
As a senior citizen and an intellectual for that matter, I strongly posit that one of the greatest things which Southeastern governors can do for the southeasterners is to through diplomatic niceties bring together members of the envisaged created Ebubeagu and the Leadership of Eastern Security Network which must include all other prominent figures to reconcile their differences in the best interest of the people. This is the type of spirit we need. Harmonious behaviours otherwise even if Biafra is dropped for us from the sky, we may not know how to manage it.
Finally, I also posit that we must do everything collectively together to arrest power (The presidency 2023) because if we the Igbo get the presidency in 2023, no matter how “insane” we maybe, most of these Marginalisation propensities will go down the sea. I recommend that people should read the argument between Marcus Garvey and W.E.B Du Bois on the issue of Political Power and Economic Power. That will help to redirect our thoughts.
