BY ORI MARTINS
Again, for some obvious reasons, this is not a very good time to be Igbo in Nigeria, taking into account that Ndigbo were attacked in some parts of Lagos where they went to update their voters cards. However, the most compelling and certainly most vividly intriguing, even contradicting is what can rightly be described as Peter Obi matrix and its profound as well as problematic accompanying Igbo melee.
To be sure, Ndigbo had auspicious beginning whereupon in the march to independence and shortly after, Igbo wards were the governor general /president, president of the senate, army chief, and in line before all this, the speaker of the federal house. So, why are Ndigbo now scampering all over the place as if they no longer pass food particles through their oesophagus?
The answer to the above poser is that the current Igbo no longer have a centralized leadership. They do not regard all of their hierarchical leaders including political, social and cultural elders. They only pay attention to prophesies, predictions and directives from the pulpits of a set called men of God. The Igbo of today do not ask questions, do not consult and do not have respect for elders, leaders and constituted authorities. This is the trouble with Ndigbo right now. Instead, the Igbo congregate around anyone – even one outside the homestead – who can throw money about. And they will tell you that “onye bu igu ka ewu n’eso”.
You can imagine the long list of mistakes Ndigbo have continued to make because of lack of good planning. First, majority of Igbo soldiers, in company of Nigerians, agreed to bring down the First Republic. The worst news on the menu was that the January 1966 coup led by Ndigbo was meant to handover to Awo, a Yoruba. Can you imagine that? Are you aware that on the morning of that coup, there were six Igbo Lt. Colonels, there were 45 Majors in the army and 25 of them were Igbo ( including four of them that had hand in the coup), the GOC was Igbo, the commander of the Second Battalion was Igbo, the Brigade Major was Igbo, the Federal Guards Commander was Igbo, the Staff Officer at Army Headquarters was Igbo – yet, Igbo army officers planned a forceful change of government so as to hand over affairs to a Yoruba! This is how and where the Igbo madness commenced.
The Igbo madness got Nigeria worried and she went out of her way to deal squarely with Ndigbo. Igbo leaders of that period played into their hands by waging a war against Nigeria. Of course, Chinua Achebe said in his small book entitled THE TROUBLE WITH NIGERIA that ” Nigerians will probably achieve consensus on no other matter than their common resentment of the Igbo”. Based on this, Nigerians of other ethnic nationalities took advantage and dealt an everlasting devastating blow on the Igbo in the course of the civil war. Ndigbo, till date have yet to recover from the effects of the war. Mind you, Ojukwu was right in demanding that the right must be done after Ironsi death. But the war was absolutely avoidable! Ojukwu himself said it was tragic.
Mistake number three was made between 1979 and 1983. Zik was already in political retirement. However a disagreement ensued between Waziri Ibrahim who floated NPP and his subordinates led by Paul Unongo. Ibrahim left the party out of frustration to lead a new party he called GNPP. Thus, Unongo and hos group invited Zik and gave him the NPP structure as their leader. You see, the moment NPN picked Alex Ekwueme as it’s running mate, Ndigbo thought it was a good avenue to the presidency and NPP went into alliance with NPN on what K.O. Mbadiwe called “Accord Concordia” . Yet it crashed. Zik and his NPP was crushed in the 1983 elections and another hope was dashed following the 1983 coup.
The current Peter Obi matrix will be better managed if at the end of the day he collapses his structure into PDP. Obi is now as popular as Zik in 1979/83 and Ojukwu in 2003. But the question is: did any of the two men succeed? Before now, South East used to have three parties of APC , PDP and APGA. Now, Obi is making it four with his LP. That is, dividing Igbo votes further. Of all the parties, PDP usually gets about 80 per cent of the votes. Do not make mistakes about it, Obi is trending but he does not possess all the forces needed to win the presidency of Nigeria. He is a good presidential material and he has all what it takes to give Nigeria a good and fresh breath. Yet, he still must to more reach, more tentacles and more weight for him to realize this lofty dream.
Taken together, Obi has proved himself as a man. who can change Nigeria for a better. He should not allow that little banana peel that hit and got Zik off the track for Tafawa Balewa, that knocked Ironsi down for Gowon and in a way chased Ekwueme out for Obasanjo to equally be his albatross. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu knew this, thus he went and sought the hand of retired General Muhammadu Buhari and the merger that gave birth to APC was made possible. In this regard, who is Obi talking with, who is he allying with, what is much talked about Third Force? Or, in all sincerity, can LP alone make Obi the president of Nigeria?
Really, Obi worked closely and harmoniously with PDP while he was in APGA as Anambra State governor and he displayed high level of of maturity, tactfulness and capability. He can replicate such now in a more dignifying, nationalistic and politically rewarding fashion by keeping his doors adjure for PDP. After all, his supporters would still be in PDP if he had not left. The Obi matrix should not be an Igbo melee.
