Which Way, Ndigbo? (2)
By Ichie Tiko Okoye
Before those whose regular trademark is to argue rather than debate topical issues showcase their prosaic apoplectic malady with vitriolic abuses and infantile ad hominem arguments’ let me hasten to declare right from the outset that I do not claim to be the repository of all wisdom. Igbo elders say that wisdom is like a goatskin bag with each individual carrying his own. A similar adage posits that there are more than one way to travel from Onitsha to Abuja.
And while it remains an incontrovertible fact that there are indeed many ways of travelling from Onitsha to Abuja, one would expect the rational traveller to diligently ascertain which of the ways would be most effective, say in terms of pricing, and efficient, say in terms of safety, comfort and duration. I’m hoping that that my piece elicits the same intelligent, robust interrogation.
It bears repeating that while Ndigbo have remained giants in trade and commerce, we have pitiably regressed to Lilliputians in politics since the end of the civil war. It would appear that our proclivity for profitable commercial ventures with a short gestation have engendered a zero-tolerance for medium- and long-term strategic thinking. Everything has to happen ‘in-the-now’!
A perfect example is when a handful of us shortly after the 2019 presidential election started asking in newspaper write-ups for Ndigbo leaders of thought to begin to engage with credible and pedigreed leaders in the other five zones to allow the South-East have an unfettered shot at the presidency in 2023 in furtherance of equity, justice and unity. Our stance was predicated on the axiomatic Igbo saying that it is prudent to search for a missing black goat while there’s still daylight.
My consternation wasn’t only caused by then-Ohaneze President, Nnia John Nwodo Jr., acknowledging both electronic memos I posted to him on the topic with a perfunctory “Hello,” but that even my own professional colleagues who ought to know better lambasted me for being a “busybody” as – according to them – “Ndigbo are only interested in Restructuring, not 2023 Presidency.” My pushback that restructuring and 2023 presidency are not mutually exclusive and my dire warnings that our crystal-clear lack of interest in the quest would amount to handing the more politically-savvy South-West a matchless opportunity to stake their claim were like water off a duck’s back!
That’s largely why I laugh humourlessly as the same people have suddenly become ‘Obidiently’ energetic! It’s all simply symptomatic of our loathing for longer-term strategic planning and deep affinity for nzogbu-nzogbu politicking. Let me just say that preparation is the mother of manifestation prior to moving on in order not to digress from the theme of this article.
It has become imperative that a sovereign conclave of selected prominent politicians, traditional rulers, religious leaders, intelligentsia and captains of commerce and industry – not exceeding 120 i.e. 20 per each state and the Diaspora – be summoned to crystallize a short-, medium- and long-term road map for the South-East since Ohaneze has abysmally failed in this direction. The short-term objectives should be strictly limited to low-hanging juicy, ripe fruits Ndigbo can harvest within a period on 6-24 months.
The short-term aims should, among other things, include how to further our group interests by collaborating with the ruling party – a Plan B if our man doesn’t win the election, and how to revamp and strengthen our world-renowned apprenticeship practice to meet the two-fold objectives of providing employment for our male teens and ensuring an unbroken cycle of stellar micro- and macro-entrepreneurs.
At the same time, being acutely aware that just one government policy can endanger the prospects and fortunes of millions of Igbo business practitioners, the conferees must determine how to encourage a sizeable number of Igbo male teens to pursue their educational endeavour up to the highest possible level. No brilliant student should ever be confronted with the prospects of dropping out of school on account of impoverishment.
One of the medium-term goals could be how to become a united, dominant regional political power that isn’t easily and readily exploited by political parties whose centres of influence are external. We can use the South-West as an illustration. At the return to civilian rule in 1999, the dominant party was the Alliance for Democracy (AD) that was homebred by the Afenifere (the equivalent of our Ohaneze). When the party split post-2003 governorship elections, the major faction led by then - Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu rebranded the AD as the Action Congress (AC) and later as the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) as part of the recovery and rehabilitation process.
But in the South-East, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) became the political Cyclops while the ‘indigenous’ party – the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) – became relegated to the background. Unlike in the South-West, the Ohaneze couldn’t play any prominent role in midwifing a home-grown political party and it has since been a case of “To your tents O Ndigbo!” As at today, even the APC has overtaken APGA in the scheme of things in the South-East and but for the efforts of successive governors of Anambra and its indigenes, APGA would’ve long become as extinct as the dodo.
The failure to be part and parcel of mainstream politics didn’t stop the South-West from being the most educated and developed geopolitical zone in Nigeria. As incredible and preposterous as it may seem to ignorant sections of the South-East, truth’s that quite unlike the Yoruba who became adept at remaining in the Opposition over a very long period of time, the short span between 2015 and today is the first time Ndigbo would find themselves on the wrong side of the political leadership fence.
And although it’s a trite saying that a man pressed to answer the call of nature doesn’t fear the danger of the evil forest, the crucial question remains whether Ndigbo can, and would, be resilient and patient enough to serve out what’s bound to be a tortuous period of lengthy apprenticeship in opposition, mindful of the fact that as Roman writer of mimes Publilius Syrus averred, there is no fruit which is not bitter before it is ripe.
In the final analysis, Ndigbo need to rediscover that solid bond of brotherhood that the defunct Ibo State Union proudly engendered in the breasts of all people of Igbo extraction. It was the kind of genuine “Be Your Brother’s Keeper” that, for instance, made a trader from Abakiliki who went to Kano to be a welcome guest of an Ngwa man in Sabon Gari. I’m quite aware that this would be a very difficult goal to accomplish with all the antagonism and mutual distrust that have attended the creation of states but it is a task the conferees must accomplish.
Charity must begin at home because “united we stand and divided we fall.” In one of my essays, I narrated how American-Jews were just as stigmatised and racially abused as African-Americans. I equally referenced the fact that until the mid-1970s Jews and middle-class Blacks harmoniously resided in Brooklyn – a borough of New York City – in a 50-50 ratio. But Jewish leaders quickly became very displeased and dissatisfied with the state-sponsored discrimination. They weren’t just contented with whining and abusing Caucasian Americans in the print and electronic media.
Rather, the World Jewish Congress – the umbrella organisation of all Jewish groups – organised several meetings to which representatives of Jewish associations and eminent individuals met to crystallize the kind of road map I’m requesting Igbo leadership to replicate. And not only were Jewish residents in inner cities financially empowered to move to more ambient newly developed suburbs, but strategic planning equally made it possible for Jewish-Americans that account for less than 10 percent of the American population to practically hold American financial and political systems in a vice-like grip.
The experiences and attitudinal trajectories of Ndigbo and Jews are eerily similar in many respects. Ndigbo are famous for their business savvy just like the Jews, and are equally as widely dispersed. Ndigbo account for the second largest population – next only to the indigenous populations – in the nooks and crannies of Nigeria. This ought to be a very valuable statistics to a visionary Igbo political leadership. Constantly threatening to secede is a very myopic way to react to our frustration of being politically left out in the cold.
Ndigbo are famous for trade and commerce and Nigeria represents a huge market that’s second to none. Ndigbo can dramatically headline their influence in the Nigerian polity if only we can borrow a leaf from the Jewish copybook in America. We can be guaranteed that the rest of Nigeria would be literally crawling to us on their knees if our elected leaders can focus on transforming the South-East into a version of Dubai – and we can if the will is there!
· Concluded
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