Erasmus Uche Ikedilo
 Published
October 8th, 2008
The degree of marginalisation of the Igbos in particular and
perhaps a few other south minority tribes has now risen to
such a crucial point that president Yar'Adua's immediate
intervention is the only panacea that could stop a potential
explosion of the situation. Mr. President, I am writing and
directing this article to you and for your consumption on my
assumption that you do not still appreciate the seriousness
and gravity of this problem despite the outrage of
legislators from the southeast zone and later followed by
the Peter Obi led Southeast zone governors visit to Aso rock
for the same purpose. We Igbos in the diaspora (USA) now
join our brothers and sisters at home in appealing to you
Mr. President to redress this issue before it endangers your
peaceful administration.
Nigeria is enjoying relative peace today because Yorubas
enjoy much more than their fair share of the national cake
at the detriment of their southeast counterparts. Ex-president
Olusegun Obasanjo carefully flooded all positions vis-a-vis
heads of government ministries and parastatals, military
chiefs,advisers/special advisers, and heads of foreign
missions etc. with his kinsmen. And this administration is
now attempting to strike a balance between the Obasanjo
Overwhelmingly Yoruba appointees and it?s own choices from
the northern states. Although the appointment of Paul
Dike(Delta Igbo maybe) as the chief of defence staff,
retention of Prof Chukwuma Soludo as central bank governor
and a handful other meritorious appointments of Igbo
sons/daughters are very much appreciated, they still do not
in anyway compensate for the huge gap created by Chief
Obasanjo?s display of wicked tribalism in the distribution
of amenities and appointments.. In order to quickly
appreciate this obvious injustice and most unfair exclusion
of an indispensable major tribe, igbo from important
national menu, Mr President, just devote one day to watching
a full bulletin of NTA news international or/and News
nationwide, and at the end of it you?ll be full of
appologies to a people whose illustrious son and first
president of Nigeria Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe whose wisdom,
unrelenting struggle, vision and compromise with compatriots
and other regional leaders enhanced the independence of our
great nation without bloodshed. At that early period of our
nationhood, Dr Azikiwe had the wherewithal to entrust the
country?s assets and resources into the tight grips of his
people the Igbos but he did not because of his belief in
democracy, rule of law, one Nigeria and above all equality
of all Nigerians. The other two leaders Chief Obafemi
Awolowo and Sir Ahmadu Bello the saduana of Sokoto on the
other hand were strong advocates of tribalism and
regionalism respectively. Why then must the Igbos be so
humiliated having sacrificed their opportunity of playing a
first fiddle through Zik's unprecedented compromise and
accomodation for other ethnic groups..
Any attempt to answer this question with the Easterners?
declaration of independence and secession from Nigeria that
triggered a war, will fail for the following reasons. (1)
Why are other ethnic groups that were part of the Biafran
experiment such as the Efiks/Ibibios, Kalabaris,Ijaws,Ogonis
in short the other four non Igbo states of former Eastern
Nigeria not faced with the same music if they are Igbos
patners in crime. (2) One may recall for the benefits of
those whose memories are either too short or are failing and
for those who were either not born or toddlers in the
sixties, that the remote cause of that war. is traceable
back to Chief Awolowo?s treasonable abortive coup attempt
with his fellow Yoruba members of Action Group party (AG) to
overthrow the constitutionally elected government of the
then prime minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. When the
rule of law applied and Chief Awolowo and his collaborators
were dumped into jail, intra-party struggles for party
leadership started amongst AG leaders in the West who were
not in jail because they were not party to the coup plot.
The then Premier of the West and new leader of the party
Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola soon disagreed with Chief
Awolowo who still wanted to control the party from within
the confines of the jailroom. AG now split into two with
Awolowo?s supporters led by Alhaji Dauda S. Adegbenro.
Akintola led his faction to form the Nigerian National
Democratic Party(NNDP). From that point Yorubas in general
split between Ijebu/Ogun block and Osun/Oyo block.
Uncontrolled violence,both day and night arson and murder of
politicians and innocent men and women became the order of
the day in Western Nigeria. These two warring political
parties AG and NNDP went into alliances with the two parties
in coalition that formed the federal government. While the
NNDP allied with the senior patner of the coalition, Nothern
Peoples Congress, NPC to come up with Nigeria National
Alliance(NNA), AG allied with the junior patner of the
coalition National Convention of Nigerian Citizens NCNC to
form United Progressive Grand Alliance(UPGA). It was the
continued escalation of this anarchious situation in the
west and the unwillingness and inability of the federal
government to intervene because of vested interests of the
coalition patners that attracted Major C.K. Nzeogwu-led
first military coup which by virtue of his respect and
regards for seniority in the command and strong persuation/appeal
by Col Nwawo, his mentor and military role model major
Nzeogwu still reluctantly surrendered power/governance to
the most senior officer of the armed forces Major General J
T U Aguiyi-Ironsi who turned around to arrest the young
major. Though the change to military rule immediately
quelled all violence in the west, it on the other hand
commenced nocturnal/secret meetings and conspiracy in the
north where it was generally believed that it was an Igbo
coup. Northern leaders, military and civilians alike in
addition to carrying out a mutiny in the armed forces
perpetrated pogrom on Igbo civilians resident in the north
in retaliation to what they tagged ?Igbo coup? because major
Nzeogwu was Igbo from delta state. Reacting to this horrible
experience, eastern region under military governor Lt Col
Ojukwu announced the independence and secession of the East
as republic of Biafra. Shortly after the then Nigeria
military head of state Lt Col Yakubu Gowon assaulted Biafra.
That was the start of the thirty months war. Therefore Mr
president, Chief Awolowo and the Yorubas who enjoy most of
this country?s goodies today have always being the bane of
this nation?s progress. Whereas they monopolize all
positions big and small in the entire west/Yoruba area, they
still compete quite favourably for top positions in Federal
govt-owned companies, institutions,corporate firms etc.
located in otherstates of Nigeria including Abuja.There are
no good federal roads, no industries and federal
institutions in the southeast states are the least equipped
and mostly headed by Yorubas. Why should Yorubas and
Hausas/Northerners and not Niger-deltans and oil-producing
states indigenes be appointed chief executives in the oil
industry/sector of our country. Any leader who is blind or
slow at recognizing the dangers inherent in the
marginalisation of a section of his country is doomed for
catastrophic end. Dr Babatunde Ehonsi of the Ford
foundation,USA said it all during his NTA ?One on One?
programme with Bayo Adewusi
If gunmen in two tiny states of Rivers and Bayelsa are
capable of harassing and destabilizing things to a point of
concern, what if more areas of the nation open up another
theatre of national unrest? While addressing the Niger-Delta
problem, give serious attention to this big omission in your
seven point agenda. Gen. Yakubu Gowon who fought the war
that keeps Nigeria one today was not crazy when at the end
of that bloody war he instead of isolating the Biafrans put
in place the 3Rs programmes of Reintegration,Rehabilitation
and Reconstruction having declared the result of the war as
No Victor, No Vanquished. He even in response to a military
governor?s request to know why he Gowon funded the East
Central State(Igbo State) more than his own state that
equally suffered devastations of war said that Nigeria can
not do without the Igbos and that was why he fought so hard
to get them back into Nigeria. God bless Yakubu Gowon.
Having said this much from the diaspora to support the
earlier protests by our concerned governors, legislators
from the five states and caution by the Biafran leader
himself Chief Emeka Ojukwu,Mr President Yar?Adua it is high
time you addressed this problem so that your administration
will enjoy the goodwill of all. Sir, now that the ball is in
your court,endeavour to play it in a manner that will
attract the loudest ovation from all not some of your
spectators. If we agree that time waits for nobody and
remember that Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe wisely reminded Mr Ukpabi
Asika that No condition is permanent in life, then now is
the time to use your good offices to put smiles on all and
not some Nigerians. A word is enough for the wise and God
bless Nigeria.
Erasmus Uche Ikedilo
Maryland, USA
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