DIRECTOR AND TERRORIST

I remember the first day I came across a Youtube video of a certain Nnamdi Kanu sometime last year and just before the march towards the 2015 elections gathered momentum. I in fact watched two videos, the first an interview by Rudolf Okonkwo and the second interview done by two individuals.

A certain Terry Paulson from the second interview is supposed to be an American psychologist who finished from a theological seminary. The elderly man must have been overly awed by the mixture of jargon and fiction which Nnamdi Kanu spewed from his jaws; he seemed to believe the story about the Igbo race being Zion and that the Muslim North of Nigeria was poised to annihilate the Lord’s chosen tribe in poor Nigeria.

Nnamdi Kanu from both interviews (and from just about every broadcast he has made since then) thrash-talked Nigeria and called the nation diverse derogatory names; he also did not hold back from lampooning Igbo leaders and the governors at that time for several offences he judged and sentenced them for. The man’s red blood cells are coated with lies and one wonders how such an individual can enjoy such followership and be allowed to roam across oceans cap in hand and spreading his hepatitis. He has completely turned history on its head and calls God in the same sentence as AK47s.

My first real exposure to literature containing images of the Biafran civil war was in the 1990s as a secondary school student. We learnt about “Panku” in social studies but there was not one mention of Ojukwu. Children grew up knowing who was good or bad mainly from whatever their parents told them; it was not difficult therefore to know getting married to someone from one region or another was not a topic for discussion.

The history of Nigeria has been regrettably mutilated by opportunists like Nnamdi Kanu and just about everyone else who pushes for ethnic or religious supremacy. Nnamdi has told “mugus” like Paulson that his people who dominate key markets in Nigeria live in cages from where they are periodically slaughtered. He made so much noise in 2014 when Goodluck Jonathan was still the president vowing to liberate his people or die trying. His mode now is to equate President Buhari to Boko Haram and seek for endorsement with hardware support from successful Igbo people in diaspora. He was at the Igbo World Congress a few weeks ago where he continued his rants and openly demanded for weaponry. He said such comedic statements about triangles, the blood moon and how the whole of Europe was awaiting the end of the world which would be heralded by the rise of Biafra.

Who even listens to and claps for such demented talk? I truly blame those who must have paid his airfare to California just to massage their ego and fulfil their dreams. He duly got very sensible responses from some of those in attendance and they clearly did not seem interested in kamikazes and Chuck Norris stunts in 2015. It is indeed tragic that supposedly educated individuals would justify this kind of agitation under the guise of supporting the right of the Igbos to self-determination. How can any sane individual justify religious supremacy and violence in 2015 because of events that happened about 50 years ago?

It is important that we get our history right and not deliberately complicate it to deride any ethnic group or to misinform those who do not know. The summary of the 1967-1970 civil war is that it was avoidable and both parties were at fault for exacerbating an already tense atmosphere following the coups and pogroms of 1966; yes those things happened and should not be denied. Nigeria has failed every tribe within her boundary and beyond; blaming one another for our “royal rumble” is counterproductive.

I have already written before on how and why Biafra is a myth and will not happen. Igbos in Kaduna, Langtang, Ekiti, Gombe, Akwanga and across international borders and oceans were not forcefully taken to these places with hands and feet shackled. Many of these individuals are technically not Biafrans but Nigerians, Canadians, Europeans or Asians.  The others patrolling Nigerian embassies across the globe have opted to dwell in the past taking their children along with them.

Scotland had very legitimate reasons to pull out of Great Britain and the move definitely moved Prime Minister Cameron to deliver an emotional address to encourage Scotland to remain in the union. There was a referendum late last year and the move to pull out was defeated. Scots are spread across the Great Britain and Europe but those who were allowed to vote were only those citizens resident in Scotland. There was no room for those outside to sway the votes since they were already established where they were. A successful breakout from the union would have meant that Scotland had to start afresh and their kin losing access to the privileges they had in common with the remainder GB states. It would have been very rough economically and the people chose common sense instead of allowing those killed in conflicts with England centuries before to determine their fate.

I have told the story before of a Biafran war veteran turned university lecturer whom I met on a short bumpy flight from Jos to Kaduna in July. We discussed throughout the journey and he told me of the many young and brilliant men like himself at the start of that war lost before their prime. He told me of his lost and unpublished memoirs which he compiled when he was at the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. He had wanted to write an account of the civil war from the perspective of a non-officer which would have been indeed different from the valor and grandeur delivered in the published records of other principal actors and Biafran officers. His parting shot to me was that those agitating for violence now have no clue about what kind of volcano they are playing with. He definitely did not endorse any such rancor but it did not mean that he did not wish for complete liberation for his people. He did not fail to mention to me that his best friend was a Yoruba man.

I must commend every life-loving and sane individual who has condemned the threats and insults from Kanu and his acolytes (those who endorse Kanu cut across tribes). Those who are bloodthirsty must be cautioned by their leaders and parents. Enyimba of Aba played a game against Warri Wolves at the Aba township stadium over the weekend. That game was watched by a capacity crowd; this tells me that the people of that region do in fact care about the simple things of life. Such things are what should be promoted as well as good governance; providing the essentials of life for all and sundry. The incumbent government should not be seen as the enemy but should be given sufficient time to chart a course for the nation’s restoration while the citizenry advise and monitor the leaders to fully carry out their service to the people.

Biafra was meant to be a breakaway of the Old Eastern region in 1967; that arrangement collapsed as early as 1968 and what was left defended Uli until Philip Efiong announced that Biafra ceased to exist in January 1970. Some present day South-South indigenes are fighting for a separate nation which they call Lower Niger; the confusion which opportunists are causing in Nigeria will only be settled if every tribe put their hands to the pump. The religious leaders in the Southeast need to also help in correcting the obviously detrimental gospel of supremacy being dished out in that part of the country.