By Onumajuru Onyekachi MacSantos (Abia Writers)
Edited by Ifeoma Okeke
An Igbo proverb says, "If someone has nothing to tell a pretty lady, he or she will make a careless utterance of “Go and take your bath". The demonic structure of Nigeria gradually and systematically fine-tunes Igbos as classless citizens and perfect enslaved people to the country some gullible Igbos shamefully claimed to be part of. No tribe is more one Nigerinist than some Igbos who lack a sense of history. Ndigbo work day and night to fix an unworkable contraption called Nigeria. Yet, they are not recognized in the scheme of things. Any move Ndigbo make to weld Nigeria together always fascinates and shames those Igbo one Nigerianists, especially the political class.
Let me take you down memory lane; on January 15th 1966, Nigerian soldiers planned an unsuccessful coup that took the lives of corrupt leaders. The so-called South-South, Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba soldiers masterminded the coup. After political and media abaradataba, they tagged the coup a #Igbo coup with global media back up of British and other sister western media giants to make it look real, which triggered Biafra 1967 to 1970 genocide where Biafra lost more than five (5) million souls, majority of whom are women and children. The world documented it as an Igbo coup and swept it under the carpet. No organization or recognized body held Britain or Nigeria accountable for such a bloody genocide that lasted for three years and shakes Africa till today.
How about yesterday's #endSARS in the year 2020 that started in Lagos and later spread to every State in Nigeria where uncountable Igbo youths were mown down? The former Rivers State governor took the contract of massacring Igbo youths in his state. Political hoodlums and security agents were dragging Igbos out of their houses/shops, killing and setting their properties on fire both in Lagos and Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.
The latest one still fresh in our memories is the 2023 presidential election. Anywhere Igbos voted their choices in non-Igbo states, they received the reward of unprovoked and senseless slaughtering, including setting their properties ablaze as usual. Nigeria's government and European/American election observers called it the most peaceful election in humanity despite the violence meted out to Ndigbo in the northern and western states. They pretended as if nothing happened because the Igbos were killed. After all, animals are more valuable than Igbos in Nigeria.
Another calculated danger alert is still around the corner; from history and previous experiences, Nigeria's devilish format remains the same. The planned wave of the moment is the protest gradually oozing out from northern and western states. The protest is a trap to rope Igbo youths in and then slaughter and tag them #IPOB. Both local and international media will carry the fake news with fabricated Nigeria security agents' stage-managed acts to back the media propaganda. Nigeria's government needs cosmetic & mirage evidence to jail Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and this protest is the number one target to achieve their goal. Don't forget Nigeria will lobby, bribe and lure some senseless Igbos to bring some unreasonable youths out to join the chorus.
I advise Igbo youths to eschew any form of physical or practical protest in Nigeria. You can protest on social media. We all know that things are generally hard, but our ugly experiences of the Biafra genocide, endSARS, Operation Python Dance (1) and (2) and the cashless policy made us stronger than every tribe in Nigeria. When other tribes die of hunger, we can still make things happen. Have you forgotten that our parents succeeded with just £20, which didn't go around every Igbo man who has money in the bank? Remember, "once beaten twice shy", and a word is enough for the wise."
In Biafra, we stand.
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