By COLLINS UGHALAA

Notable philosophers had inquired into the nature of human societies and wondered what life was like during the time societies were unorganized. To unravel the mystery, Mozi (Mo Di) started the inquiry into the state of nature and posited that in the state of nature each person had their own moral rules. As a correlation, people were unable to reach agreements. Thomas Hobbes picked it up and further argued that in the state of nature, every person had a natural right to do anything he considered necessary for preserving his own life. He summed it up, saying that life was “solitary, poor, nasty, bullish, and short”.

Looking at these theories, we cannot help but wonder whether life would be solitary, poor, short, nasty and bullish in Kanu’s Biafra. On Tuesday, July 6, 2021, the celebrity Gospel Preacher and former aide of former President Goodkuck Jonathan, Mr. Reno Omokri, in a widely published article titled, “What Would Life Be As A Minority in Kanu’s Biafra”, noted how he was insulted and threatened by people he said were members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), following a video he posted on his Facebook wall. He said the people did not mind the fact that he had defended Kanu and the IPOB for over five years.

In the said video, Nnamdi Kanu could be heard dissolving the UK branch of IPOB and tongue lashing the members. The IPOB leader could also be heard telling them “to hand over IPOB money in their possession”, because he appeared to have believed that the British Secret Service was running IPOB in the UK. Upon listening to the tape, Omokri was shocked and wondered whether the altercation could have possibly led to the UK authorities arresting Kanu and handing him over to the Nigerian authorities.

Omokri also recalled that the Imo State Police Command had arrested someone they said was a member of the ESN/IPOB, named, Emeoyiri Uzoma Benjamin, who was said to have told the Police that Kanu had instructed them to kill policemen, soldiers, and fellow Igbo men. He also reportedly claimed that Kanu instructed them to bury Nwaokike Kayinayo Andy, who was also called Ikonso, with 2,000 human heads; and that the IPOB leader also allegedly directed them to kill young virgin girls whom they allegedly used to prepare their charms.

Upon sharing the video on his Facebook, Omokri said he received the insults of his life. “The result was that various persons, who claimed to be members of Indigenous People of Biafra descended on my page and insulted me, attacked me and accused me of collecting money from Buhari...They said Nnamdi Kanu can insult anyone he liked and I should leave him alone”. This shocking experience led Omokri to wonder what would be his fate as a minority “If Nnamdi Kanu eventually gets Biafra. Would I be able to express myself? Would I have the freedoms for which I myself have been fighting for Nnamdi Kanu to get for the last five years? Would I be able to hold sensitive positions?”

We do not think there is any Igbo man in his right frame of mind who would claim that the marginalisation Igbo people face in Nigeria is not real, or work against the Igbo interest. But people do not have to be cajoled, coerced into accepting solutions they believe are actually no solutions. This is the point of divergence between the IPOB and countless other Igbo people. Many believe that the Igbo people should be forward looking in their search for solutions to the Igbo dilemma in the Nigerian permutations. Instead of engaging these people and finding a common ground, the IPOB and their leadership want to beat everyone into the line. As Omokri had noted, the IPOB leader makes no attempts to be persuasive and does not try to win people over. “[Kanu] made no pretence of anything but contempt to anyone who was not part of his Biafra”.

The IPOB was established in 2012 as a Biafra separatist group, with the aim of realising an independent state of Biafra. The IPOB is by all standards the most populous organisation championing the independence of Biafra. It has accused the Federal Government of sundry offences against the Igbo people, including lack of, or poor, investment; inequitable resource distribution, ethnic marginalisation, heavy military presence in Igbo land and abuse of human rights, amongst others. As part of measures to contain the group, a Federal High Court in Abuja on September 18, 2017 labelled the IPOB as a terrorist organisation. Igbo people have continued to fight against this toga.

The strategy adopted by the IPOB seems antithetical to the Igbo aspirations. The group has in the cause of its agitations carried out operations that are rather destroying the length and breadth of Igbo land. Not a few in Igbo land believe that the Unknown Gunmen is a metaphor for the ESN/IPOB. The activities of the Unknown Gunmen have wreaked havoc across communities in the entire five states in the Southeast, leading to deaths of hundreds of people and destruction of properties. The number of people killed since the IPOB began is challenging the figure recorded during the 1967-1970 civil war. And this happened during a peace time.

On Monday, August 9, the IPOB declared sit-at-home across Igbo states, shutting down economic activities in the area. In an earlier video in circulation, the IPOB announced that from Monday, August 9, every other Monday in Igbo land would be a sit-at-home. This would continue until Nnamdi Kanu is released from detention. Characteristically, IPOB threatened to deal with anyone who dared disobey the order. In keeping with their threat, economic activities across Igbo land were grounded and many students were prevented from writing their Maths NECO exam. These students may have lost a lifetime opportunity as many of them would fail the Maths exam and may not be able to sit for the same exam ever again.

It is worrisome that the IPOB is overly interested in creating the impression that they are in control of Igbo people; that their words are the law in Igbo land. This may be the case when all agree. But the IPOB is rather using fear and violence as veritable tools to beat people into the line. This may explain the number of deaths and destruction witnessed in some parts of the Southeast on Monday.

According to media reports, four persons were killed in Imo State and two killed in Nnewi, Anambra State, for breaching the sit-at-home order. Vanguard reported on Tuesday, August 10, that four persons were killed in Aboh Mbaise and houses burnt, with heavy shootings in Orlu area as well. Similarly, PUNCH reported that travellers were burnt as hoodlums razed five vehicles in an attack in Imo. “Five vehicles: three Hummer buses belonging to Libra and Okey Transport companies, a Sienna, and a Highlander SUV were set ablaze along the Owerri-Umuahia Road, which was later deserted by motorists. Scores of the occupants, who were travelling to Lagos and others returning to Imo State from Lagos, escaped with some carrying bullet injuries.”

Many Igbo people believe the IPOB was adopting the wrong style, taking the wrong approach to the problems facing Igbo people in Nigeria. Dr. Sam Amadi, an Igbo intelligentsia, noted: “Anyone who is boasting about the success of a shut-down that costs children one year and inflicted harms on people of the region does not mean well for the Southeast. They [IPOB] have succeeded in losing reasonable voices. They [IPOB] have sown a seed of failure in the years to come. Succeeding with violence against the people does not make you a revolutionary vanguard. Armed robbers and plain terrorists also succeed with violence. That is not the hallmark of those fighting to free a people supposedly suffering oppression.” Furthermore, an eyewitness who spoke to Vanguard said: “People are in their houses now. We are living in fear now. These unknown gunmen are giving us trouble. Is this how we will get this thing that we are looking for?”

We call on those celebrating the purported success of the sit-at-home order to pause and think. If government in all the states in Igbo land had ordered that any civil servant absent from work would lose his job; or that any trader who absconded from his shop would lose such shops, what do you think Igbo land would look like? Or, consider a man who lives in the US or Europe and earns $50 per hour or £50 per hour, and he is told to sit-at-home every Monday, would he not return to Nigeria broke? Consider also a man whose family depends on his daily income, and you ask him to stay at home every Monday; are you helping his course or impoverishing him? Put this together for one month and you would see the huge loss Ndigbo would suffer from this sit-at-home order. IPOB should rather rethink their strategy and redirect their efforts towards winning more people over in the Southeast.

•Collins Ughalaa KSC writes from Owerri. He can be reached via ughalaacollins@gmail.com

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