Graffiti
NDIGBO: Of toddler-governors and a self-acclaimed Supreme Leader
By Samuel Ibemere…
I have laughed ceaselessly since the image for this write-up crept up. All I hoped for when I shared the story idea with our budding creative guy was an illustration of an innocuous assembly of the five South-East governors. I didn’t tell him to put them in diapers, I swear. This was entirely his idea, and I have said to him, ‘Bros, my hand no dey o!
“If FFK dey give you inspiration for drawing, make e end there, bro. I no too trust the guy. Him dey yarn anyhow,” I grudgingly conceded.
Kanu is the new God! He already lays claim to the all-conquering title of Supreme Leader. He swears by the gods of the land that he had been so anointed. His army of die-hard supporters are too fired up to query where and when the installation was done. Members of his dream team are only left to imagination. For all they care, their leader is infallible, and can rule by decrees. He does no wrong even when he soaks his speeches with hate and describes people with divergent opinions as ‘animals’ fit for the ‘zoo’.
The current political dilemma in Igbo land must, therefore, be seen for what it is. It is primarily the outcome of a colossal failure on the part of the establishment across the region to correctly read, predict and preempt the mood of the frustrated teeming youths who are in want of efficient leadership to harness and deploy resources for the greatest good.
The governors of the South- East, past and present, must hide their heads in shame. They must take responsibility for creating the Kanu monster that is threatening the stability of the entire country. Bare-faced looting of meagre state resources, boot-licking, nepotism, mal-administration, criminal neglect of both the young and elderly, enthronement of cronyism and corruption are some of the igniting factors for Kanu’s rise to power.
In Okorocha’s Imo, for instance, the governor shamelessly admits that his wife, Nneoma, oversees activities in three government ministries, including the Amnesty Programme with budgets running into billions of Naira. Elsewhere, it has become common knowledge that his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, is being schemed to succeed his father-in-law, Okorocha, in two years time. Who keeps shut in the face of such abuse of power?
The story out of Umahi’s Ebonyi is even more disturbing. The governor unwittingly tells all and sundry that he has no ideas of what it means to harness the potential of his domain, a State so blessed with agrarian resources. Or, what would you make of a man whose only reason for wanting to opt out of any restructuring or Biafra conversation is because he believes that Ebonyi is too economically disadvantaged to join the fray.
The other salient point that must be noted is that the emergence of a powerful new force in Kanu is a desperate attempt to challenge the status quo that is largely perceived as having seriously marginalized the region and deprived its people of access to power at the centre.
If later day revelations are to be believed, and this has allegedly been reinforced by ailing President Muhammadu Buhari, the sustained northern pursuit of tagging Ndigbo as a group of people never to be trusted with power does more to challenge the hypocritical posturing of a country supposedly founded on equity, fairness and justice.
The Kanu enigma is real but this could evaporate as quickly as it came. The defined path to his Biafra dream looks just as clumsy as it is hazy. I have searched everywhere for the Igbo intelligentsia and still can’t locate them in the horizon. Where is the road map for this journey to nationhood? This whole project seems to be about the Supreme Leader, Chief Priest and Messiah, all rolled up into one individual, Kanu!
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Balarabe musa
July 4, 2017 at 6:20 am
I duff cap for Ripples Nigeria ! Funny images to depict these Eastern governors and to the writer , thanks for not shying away from the truth that the Biafra agitation is just a mirage.
JOHNSON PETER
July 4, 2017 at 6:37 am
Onyiara, you be fool. So I no go reply your folly
yanju omotodun
July 4, 2017 at 6:51 am
Laugh no fit kill me. This Ripples sef, na wa o
JOHNSON PETER
July 4, 2017 at 6:36 am
To hell with the writer of this piece. He is mad because he knows not what he is saying. Biafra is not hazy in any way, it is as clear as a crystal. Kanu enigma will not evaporate because we are good to go.
yanju omotodun
July 4, 2017 at 6:52 am
It’s you that will go to hell. After all the writer is an igbo from his name. He is just telling you people the truth without sentiment. Biafra is not here on earth probably in heaven
O Chriso
July 4, 2017 at 6:58 am
Oga Sam Ibemere, more ink to your pen. Shame to the governors of the South East states. Enjoying themselves, looting and buying properties everywhere. Imagine, a State like Abia owing salaries for 6 months now despite monthly allocations from the centre. What we have is a failed leadership in the South East. This is why the youths of the zone have laid their hope on the Supreme leader, Chief priest and Messiah, Nnamdi Kanu.
Animashaun Ayodeji
July 4, 2017 at 9:10 am
kanu as he is now, is more stronger than the useless governors elected into post by the masses of their states, but they’ve allowed Kanu “overthrown” all of the money while they are just serving as figures heads!
Abeni Adebisi
July 4, 2017 at 9:16 am
We need to get things clear, these governors in diapers are working hand in hand with their senior man, Kanu! They may be pretending to be against Biafra, but na lie!
Anita Kingsley
July 4, 2017 at 9:34 am
What nonsense is this person saying? So many people that have been writing nonsense about our messiah, Kanu who has come to deliver us from the evil called Nigeria will find theirselves to blame by the time Biafra becomes a reality.