By Charles Okoh
Penultimate weekend, the Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuma Soludo, celebrated his first 365 days in office. To mark the anniversary, he pulled some very important dignitaries to Awka, the state capital. Topmost of the distinguished personalities that graced the occasion, was former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Also present on the occasion were notable Igbo personalities like former governors of the state, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, and Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the last presidential election; Chairman, Council of Elders of Ohanaeze, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, amongst others.
Sadly and largely because of the fallout of the bitter feud arising from the last general elections, the event and the happenings thereof did not generate as much publicity as the comments made by Chief Iwuanyanwu.
For any objective listener with no bias, those comments could have gone with little or no notice, but because of the divisive nature of the last elections, the statement has been taken out of context and proportion to mean that Chief Iwuanyanwu, in calling out those who attacked Ndigbo, intended those comments to disparage the entire Yoruba nation when he warned that Ohanaeze will no longer tolerate attacks on Ndigbo within the nation.
It is sad that even those who should have known better also joined in playing the ethnic card just so they can suit the narrative of a war between the Yoruba and Ndigbo as fallout of the last elections.
Iwuanyanwu had said inter alia, that, “We have x-rayed the events in Lagos. We have resolved that never again can we allow anybody to take the life of any Igbo person. We are going to fight that person. Never again! We are in Nigeria, and we have invested in Nigeria. Our investments are so much. We are not going to take the question of people telling us to go. We are not going anywhere. I want to tell those in Lagos to realise that there is no war between us. Yoruba are with us. They are just political rascals and we are going to handle them…”
In the first place, and without mincing words, Chief Iwuanyanwu’s words were directed at those attacking Ndigbo in Lagos. He also stated that there was no war between both ethnic nationalities. Iwuanyanwu’s warnings were directed at those asking Ndigbo to leave the state. Therefore, can it be taken to mean that all Yoruba people endorsed the unfortunate action or that those who perpetrated it had the mandate of the entire Yoruba nation? Certainly that cannot be, by any stretch of the imagination. So, where are these misgivings coming from?
Rather than attack Iwuanyanwu, the real issue for anybody that means well for this nation would be the urgent need to address the dangerous trend that always rears its ugly head whenever it is election season.
Sadly, these divide and rule tactics are used by the political class in their fight for the wealth of this nation. In all of this, the ordinary Nigerian does not have any place. Yet, it is these same Nigerians who toil day and night to eke out a living for themselves and their families that bear the brunt. They are the ones maimed and whose shops and places of business get burnt.
Chief Iwuanyanwu as a completely detrabilised Nigerian has set up organisations where all tribes were equally represented and where merit was the single criterion for reward. The pioneer managing director of Champion Newspapers Limited, Prince Henry Odukomaiya, is Yoruba and easily one of the most celebrated and cerebral media practitioners and administrators. He has friends and business partners from all over Nigeria. How do we now, because of politics, seek to rubbish such a man who should be celebrated for not just being pro-Nigeria but believing in the unity of this nation?
As a man born in Lagos myself and with friends across ethnic, religious and political affiliations, I was particularly worried given the experiences of the last elections. Who would not be?
How would anybody rationalise the threat to the lives of Nigerians anywhere in the country in the name of politics? Are these ugly trends healthy for the nation or should we begin to address them?
Talking about the Hutu and Tutsi disputes and altercations of several years before it got to its crescendo with the genocide of between April 7 and July 15, 1994, would sound incongruous to some, but one thing that cannot be disputed is that it did not start in 1994 and that it had taken the two major tribes to decide to live together and play down tribe for national cohesion for a lasting peace to be reached.
The lesson here is that whereas we stand to gain nothing as a nation in playing up ethnic sentiments, it would be to the eternal benefit of the nation for us to begin to think nationally while acting locally. What Nigeria needs is a leader who sees the nation as his constituency rather than one that seeks to benefit one tribe over the others.
This singular reason, more than anything else, is behind President Muhammadu Buhari’s abysmal performance in office.
No matter how the politicians may want to tell the story of the last general elections, most people voted out of conviction more than anything else. The people chose who they felt would best meet their ideals as president or governors. However, some politicians, seeing that they stand to lose the elections, started playing up ethnic and religious sentiments.
Meanwhile, in Lagos, while these were going on, some miscreants and elevated motor park touts assumed the role of demi-gods and were openly threatening people who did not share their beliefs. They openly threatened to visit mayhem on supposed non-indigenes who would not vote for their choice of candidates. There was studied silence on the part of the party elite while this was going on and little or nothing was done to rein in these touts to desist from their actions.
And on Election Days, those threats were carried and voters were attacked, INEC officials chased and electoral materials hijacked. Areas considered to be strongholds of opposition were deliberately attacked to weaken those candidates. The political elite, who stand to benefit from the mayhem unleashed on their fellow Nigerians, simply played the ostrich.
What sane society would condone that? Why must the right of any Nigerian be abridged in any part of this nation just to realise the ambition of any individual or individuals? Is that how we will build the egalitarian and prosperous society we desire?
Is this not the same nation where all Nigerians voted for the Abiola/Kingibe ticket in 1993? Is it not the same nation where Obasanjo won election in 1999 across ethnic, religious and regional divides? What then has changed that anybody would insist that except a particular candidate is voted for, those who voted for opposition are considered haters and enemies of the Yoruba?
Those who now bay for the blood of Chief Iwuanyanwu should avail us of any statement by them prior to the election condemning those who threatened, attacked, maimed and destroyed the properties of these people. Not even the explanations by Ohanaeze and Chief Iwuanyanwu that the statements were not directed at the entire Yoruba nation, almost immediately after, would assuage his attackers.
And like Iwuanyanwu said, anybody who threatens any Nigerian anywhere in the country or attacks, kills or chases them away must be a rascal. That is the person that threatens the peace of the nation and not those reacting to unprovoked attacks.
*Okoh is a commentator on public issues
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