IPOB, the Nigerian Army, and the Nigerian Government: Things I wish I could tell all sides
Thursday, September 21, 2017
I have not
witnessed war.
(Thankfully)
I have only
heard first-hand harrowing accounts, and watched equally traumatic depictions.
In my
lifetime, I think I may have come close to witnessing war twice. The first was
1993, with the annulment of what is still considered the freest & fairest
elections Nigeria has ever had.
Tensions were so
high, that a lot of us children living in the Western-Nigerian region would freshly
recall being suddenly whisked away right in the middle of classes to the
airports by fearful parents and loaded into overflowing lorries, in a bid to ‘flee’
impending hostilities.
The second
time I think I have come close to witnessing war was last week.
On the one hand
was the Nigerian Government – represented by its Army – rolling in tankers of militia
into the Eastern Region of Nigeria, exciting the already excitable members of the
separatist movement, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), invading private
homes in search of the self-pronounced leader of IPOB, exerting show of force
via its “Operation Python Dance”,
calculated to forcibly quell protests in the region; and the pictures/videos
which garnered international outcry, of captured members of IPOB, being forced
to lay in mud/muddied waters and drink same, while being beaten.
On the other
hand were members of IPOB – occupying the streets of some towns in the Eastern region
of Nigeria in furtherance of their stated desire for a sovereign State of
Biafra; refusing to back-down for the security forces; brazenly clashing with
the security forces, with sticks, stones, and bare-hands; (allegedly) stopping-and-searching
moving vehicles for citizens of other regions, thereby increasing the risk of
reprisals against citizens of the Eastern regions residing in other regions,
and incurring general disdain from all quarters.
In the middle
of all these were the rest of us; some of who believe in the urgent need for a genuine
national discourse culminating into restructuring of the country or (possibly)
a peaceful independence of the separate State of Biafra, but who are not
members of/do not support the activities IPOB; some of who neither believe in
Biafra nor understand the need for secession, but also do not support the
actions of the Nigerian Army against IPOB; some of who neither support Biafra, nor
the Nigerian Army, but are in themselves disenchanted with the present Nigerian
State; some of whom solidly believe the Nigerian Army should crush every
whimper of secession under its might of force; and some of who are totally oblivious
to IPOB or Biafra and/or the activities of the Nigerian army, their very living
preoccupied with finding the next meal, and absence of the luxury of access to
news reports.
There was also
social media. Stoking the embers of war; almost fanning the flame into a raging,
full-scale inferno.
Everybody
became a Writer Reporter. Even persons who had no idea if the shores of
Nigeria were in Asia or North America shared “situation reports” on the ongoing
battles between both sides, most of which “reports” circulated aimed to incite anger,
hate and the already heightened mutual suspicions among the differing people of
the Nigerian populace.
Thankfully,
war was averted.
There is now
some semblance of ‘peace’, which I am wary of, even as I wonder if this storm is merely
gathering the clouds.
There are
things I wish I could say to the main players in this particular episode of national unrest, so as to avoid further conflict: to IPOB, the Nigerian
Army and the Nigerian Government.
IPOB:
1. Every individual is fundamentally blessed with the freedom of association and freedom of liberty. The Universal Declaration on
Human Rights, the African Charter on Peoples and Human Rights, and even the
Nigerian Constitution recognises this. It is understandable therefore if you
desire to exist independently.
2. However the concept of Biafra, both as
an ideology and as a people predated you. Long after you're gone, it will
remain. While you are at liberty to agitate for its actualisation, you are not the
sole face of the struggle. While you speak for a lot of people; you do not speak for
everyone. Be accommodating in letting others from the same region who do not see
eye to eye with the substance and/or mode of your struggle own their views,
without derogatory appellations.
Like ‘efulefu’.
3. Brute force did not work in 1967 –
1970. Violence is not likely to take you far, especially as the world has gone
nuclear. Battles are seldom fought physically anymore. In any case, you do not
have the resources and will not get them. Own your struggle, but change your
tactic. Go intellectual. Get the world to hear your voice – articulately - and
your work will be half done.
Otherwise, your voices will be drowned as mere tantrums. (Eventually)
4. Don’t isolate yourself. You see your
brothers and sisters who share your desire but not your strategy, whom you have
branded “efulefus”? You see the other
Nigerians whom you sometimes deride? You need them. Who do you think would pen
those beautiful letters to the United Nations, convincing them that the boys
drinking mud is no Photoshop magic, if you all go killed? Except you intend to self-destruct,
you need allies.
After all, no person is an Island.
5. Quebec, South Sudan, and the Republic
of Ireland clamoured/have been clamouring for independence for a long time. The
struggle for secession is no walk in the park. It is not beans. You need all
the energy you can get, so do not waste it on fruitless street-fights. Your journey is far.
6. If Mandela had towed the path of hate-speech,
it is not likely he would be widely revered as he is now. While your pain may
push you to heightened emotions, do not succumb to hate-speech. After all, s/he
who comes to equity must come with clean hands.
7. Boycotting elections while agitating
for secession is akin to cutting of your arm, while waiting for treatment of a
festering wound in it. Regardless of your disenchantment with existing
institutions, you will require the machinery of the same institutions to ensure
your voice is heard and your desire comes to fruition eventually. Otherwise,
all of your agitations will be akin to running around in circles - like
headless chickens.
Or rabbits.
The Nigerian Army.
1. Growing up, I heard of your prowess in surrounding countries, and how
you were widely regarded. ECOMOG. Darfur. Even World War 2. While I have seen
you make sacrifices in executing your duties, I have sometimes (sadly) doubted
the veracity of these stories, in view of the prolonged battle with the rag-tag
group of terrorists up North.
2. It is true that you do not have the
liberty to protest (to avoid the risk of being court-martialed for ‘mutiny’) But
I know that just like other Nigerians, governments in governments out have also
failed you, and even placed your life at risk by failing to equip you with
adequate arms to ensure your work is done, properly. Over the years, annual ‘Security
Votes’, have been shrouded in obscurity, increasing the tendency to end up in private
coffers, leaving the rest of us none the better for it.
3. Do you not see that we are all in THIS
together – whatever this is? So that even as you carry out your mandate to protect lives, overzealous and excessive use of force on the ones you have sworn to
protect is no symbol of strength,
4. “But
we are just following orders” is not enough justification for human rights violation,
in the guise of keeping the peace. This same rejoinder has been used, even by
members of the Nazi Army who participated in horrendous crimes against humanity
culminating in the Second World War. Sadly, their commander was not there to
protect them as they each stood trial for crimes against humanity. Remember that
(a) no reign lasts forever (b) humans relish having scape-goats, and (b) Posterity has a loooooong memory.
But what do I know?
The Nigerian Government
1.
Nature abhors vacuum.
That IPOB has gained momentum and became a ‘moving train’ is not a vote of
confidence on its leader. Rather, it is a vote of no confidence on successive
Nigerian governments, who have failed to hearken to the plight of the people of
Eastern Nigeria, and have failed to (genuinely) rehabilitate the region (post
civil-war), ensure wide-spread development and invest hugely in the untapped human
and business resources that it holds.
Look at the bigger picture.
2. Humans often want to be heard, which is
how the IPOB leader became a ‘messiah” of sorts; channelling the inner frustrations
of the people and providing a ‘voice’ to their disenchantment. So that while it
is IPOB of Eastern Nigeria today, tomorrow, it could be a group from Benue State,
protesting the failure of the government to protect their farmlands from the
consistent savagery of cattle herdsmen; or a group from Western Nigeria,
protesting continuous erosion of the educational standards of the public
schools system and the plight of the indigent school-goers; or even a group
from the North protesting periodic ethnic and religious cleansing by supremacists,
unchecked by any form of government action taken against perpetrators over the
years. Or even the whole of Nigerians, protesting against endemic and systemic
corruption.
Listen to the people. And show them you heard.
3.
There is such a thing as emotional
intelligence. And tact. Not everything is ‘fire-fire’.
(Which was how/why the IPOB leader gained undue recognition and was made a living
‘martyr’ in the first place).
Rather than make the citizens “the enemy”, how about approaching the
agitations in the region with civility? For example: roll in caterpillars and construction materials, to commence serious and widespread infrastructural work in various
parts of the region. Create employment schemes. Invest in the
untapped clothes and shoe industry of Aba. And watch whether the ranks of IPOB will
not be broken, and the voices of protesters silenced.
Or do you not know that progress is a greater weapon than aggression?
4. This is not the 1970s. The laws do not
exist as mere decoration. Every person is subject to due process, inclusive of
the government of the day. That a people do not support the government of the
day does not equal an automatic death sentence, or a blanket clamp on their rights
to expression.
That is the beauty and ‘burden’ of democracy, albeit fledgling –
like ours.
5. Rather than command a face-off between
the Army and the citizens, it would have cost less (especially in terms of human
lives) if the government had sought a court order for the arrest of persons it perceives
are causing disorder. The appropriate security agencies – the Nigerian Police –
should have been used to enforce such order, and the Military should only have
been brought in as a last resort, with very stringent orders to concentrate focus
on executing the order, and with the utmost respect for human lives. The
show-down witnessed was (at the very least) needless, and could have been
avoided. The polity was heated, unnecessarily.
6. Lastly, for as long as there is no
genuine national discourse on the events of 1966 -1970, stemming from both
military coups of 1966, to the pogrom in Northern Nigeria, and the thirty-month
long civil war that rocked the core of Nation’s unity, the present conflicts we face will continue to be handed down from generation to generation, and we as a people may never
actually move from square-one. Every other measure taken will be merely dealing
with the symptoms.
We must deal with the root cause via a genuine and frank national discourse,
in order to lay to rest these ghosts of the past which rise from time to time,
and engender hurt and mutual suspicions, which continue to threaten the fabric
of our co-existence as a people.
***
(Is this enough, or too much??)
Paz,
Meg.
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