OPINION: Branding Ndigbo as terrorists

VICTIMHOOD is attractive if you are in love with coveting and lapping up sympathy. But ultimately sympathy in our clime and at a time the state is the perpetrator of evil is of no consequence. It’s of no use either. If you want evidence of how near useless evoking sympathy is, ask the Igbo of Nigeria what their experiences have been like in the 54 years since the Nigeria-Biafra war.

In spite of their more than half of a century experiences, the default mode of some undiscerning Igbo is to lay claim to victimhood in Nigeria’s politics, corporations, security services and elsewhere that the Nigerian state plays a significant role. Are the Igbo wrong in their feeling of deliberate exclusion from critical sectors of the society? No. Are they overdramatizing the situation? Probably, yes.

But in spite of the rest of this country, Ndigbo must realize that Nigeria fought to compel them to remain an integral part of the so-called one Nigeria. So we are here, warts and all. Yes, there are hurdles and obstacles strewn on the path of full acceptance of the Igbo citizenship of Nigeria but there should be no thought of going back or backing out of ‘one Nigeria’. The Igbo should bear in mind that among the so-called major nations within the country, they are the only authentic Nigerians. In other words, if any nation should want out of Nigeria, it should be the others not the Igbo. We will deal with this matter, as provocative as it sounds to indigenes of other nations in Nigeria, soon.

Usually I have issues with some politicians and members of the ruling elite from outside who have a habit of prescribing what is good for Ndigbo. But there are exceptions. Last year or so, the former governor of Jigawa state, Sule Lamido, said something profoundly interesting and instructive about the Igbo. What he said was really a reminder for a people who appear to be forgetful of their circumstances at critical times. He said that of all the nations in Nigeria, the Igbo should be the last in advocating for the balkanization of the country. His thesis, which resonates though it can be punctured, was that the adventurous nature of the Igbo and their migratory tendency conduce for a larger space for them to realize their full potentials. He appeared to suggest that even if the whole of the West Africa sub region were to be one country, the canvas could still not be enough for Ndigbo to express their love for freedom, entrepreneurship, investments in other places and nation- building. It may not count for much ultimately but the Igbo should in spite of their exuberance and flamboyance or indeed because of them, learn how to assure and reassure their host communities in Nigeria and elsewhere that domination is not in their DNA.

Indeed some indigenes of Nigeria who primarily belong to other nations within this country may not be enamoured by the grit and the gut of a typical Igbo person, but they are not our enemies. The Nigerian state is. In January 1966 there was a military coup. A civil war which subsequently turned bloody broke out. Depending on who you ask, between 1-3 million Biafrans were reportedly killed. That’s not the issue because the claim about loss of lives can be disputed. But what follows here cannot, in good conscience, be rebutted. We appreciate the saying that history is written by the victors. So in the quest to justify levying of war on the defunct Eastern region and the pogrom on Igbo in parts of the country which preceded the war, the Nigerian state skewed the narrative to pin the blame on Ndigbo. Till this day, the narrative by the victors that the 1966 coup was entirely inspired and executed by the Igbo members of the armed forces of Nigeria had stuck, notwithstanding that it was a lie. In the years since after the war in January 1970, the tale that Ndigbo are aggressive and domineering has been perpetuated. The story has been that the Igbo should be feared and two of the many ways to contain them are exclusion and subjugation. That plot partly explained the hurried promulgation and implementation of the Indigenization Decree immediately after the war that pauperized Ndigbo. Other Nigerians inherited multinational corporations on a platter. Then the state encouraged the assets of the Igbo in parts of the country to be expropriated after branding them as ‘abandoned properties’. Families were ruined.

Now another trend is emerging in this fourth republic. It is more vicious. But the Igbo are yet to take notice. Deliberately and steadily, the Nigerian state is framing Ndigbo as terrorists. Personnel may change at the top of the Nigerian political pile but the plot remains the same. Sambo Dasuki was national security adviser. He was in jail for most of Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year disastrous and ruinous rule. He was not diligently prosecuted and was not convicted. Dasuki was accused of everything under the sun including gun running and money laundering but was never charged with terrorism.

Immediate past chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC] Abdulrasheed Bawa was also in jail until recently. I do not readily recall his being charged with any offence. But I know for certain that the state has not tagged him with terrorism. Yoruba nationalist agitator Sunday Igboho is about town a free man after his freak encounter with agents of the state in neighbouring Benin Republic, an encounter that was suspected to have been orchestrated by the Nigerian state. I do not know if he has terrorism charge on his neck. Now turn to the Igbo. The state accused Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra [IPOB], of many crimes including terrorism. He was having his day in court when state security agents invaded his home in Umuahia. He escaped and fled abroad. The state trailed him and then adopted the tactic of a rogue state- extraordinary rendition- to return him to Nigeria. To the Nigerian state Nnamdi Kanu is Igbo and so a terrorist. Use an individual to profile a nation. The stuff that ignites a genocide. Immediate past governor of the central bank of Nigeria [CBN], Godwin Ifeanyichukwu Emefiele was hounded by agents of the Nigerian secret police on terrorism allegations while he was in office. Later he was sacked, arrested and detained. While in the custody of the same secret police, the accusation of terrorism against him disappeared. He is out of prison on bail. His middle name, Ifeanyichukwu’ must be feeling like a millstone for sounding Igbo.

Nine months ago, one so-called eze Ndigbo of Ajao Estate in Lagos state was arrested. Fredrick Nwajiagu had said in a viral video that he would invite members of IPOB to Lagos to help protect Igbo property. Igbo lives, limbs and livelihood had been under siege on account of the elections of February and March, 2023. Nwajiagu has remained in jail since April 1.

The charges preferred against him by Lagos state government include ‘attempt to do acts of terrorism; attempt to finance an act of terrorism; participation in terrorism; preparation to commit an act of terrorism; [and] meeting to support a proscribed entity’. If there’s no other agenda, where else in a sane world would a state prefer such frivolous and provocative charges against a citizen in the name of fighting terrorism? Nwajiagu fits the profile- he is Igbo so let’s by association tar the Igbo nation by charging him with terrorism. The Nigerian state, at the national and subnational levels, has basically two agendas- criminalize free speech by the Igbo and then brand the Igbo nation as a haven for breeding terrorists. The state is emboldened because they succeeded with the narrative of January 1966 military coup as an Igbo affair. The Igbo and all people of goodwill should be sensitive to the wiles of the Nigerian state otherwise the Igbo will be candidates for another round of genocide. And this could be sooner than we can imagine.

AUTHOR: Ugo Onuoha

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Articles published in our Graffiti section are strictly the opinion of the writers and do not represent the views of Ripples Nigeria or its editorial stand.

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