By Uche Nwosu
The story of Nigeria is the story of a woman gasping for breath, pantomiming for help, but those she is beckoning for assistance are naively hounding for unapt chores. I used to wonder what type of education the present crop of political leaders at the helm of affairs at the federal level acquired. Those of them that claim to be degree holders and those that are called Professors behave like illiterates.
Actually, if they are what they claim to be, then there should have been a better way of handling many issues including the current agitations in the Southeast. The administration lacks a sense of modesty and tactics laced with internationally espoused approach to governance. The current brute force and bravado of malevolence being meted out to the Southeast and its people, while giving cover to the real enemies of Nigeria, the terrorists of the North (nicknamed bandits) can only be likened to the Biblical Pharaoh who chased the children of Israelites until he perished in the Red Sea.
“Now it was told the King of Egypt that the people had fled and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants were turned against the people and they said: Why have we done this that we have let Israel go from serving us? So he made ready his chariots and took his people with him…and he pursued the children of Israel…
“And Moses said to the people ‘do not be afraid, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see them again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace…
“And the Angel of God who went before the camp of Israel moved and went behind them and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left hand.
“And the Egyptians pursued them and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots and horsemen. Now it came to pass in the morning watch, that Lord looked down upon the army of Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, He troubled the army of the Egyptians…
“And Moses stretched out his hands over the sea and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea…
“Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen and all the army and of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained…But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
“So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
“Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt, so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses”. Exodus 14 verse 5-31
Victory of the Lord is the greatest victory. The armies of Nigeria (i.e. all security forces) may attack Igbo land, but Ndigbo shall not bow; victory shall definitely come. Who says the God of the Israelites is not the God of Ndigbo? Who can defeat the Lord? Who can fight against the Lord and gain victory? Is the Lord not the same yesterday, today and tomorrow? Who can battle with the Lord…who, who, who?
Countless number of Igbo youths is being massacred on daily basis by the armies populated mainly by the children of the bond woman and they think it will be well with them. Can brute force kill an ideology? If a select group of Igbo youths is advocating for the rectification of some fundamental issues in the polity, would Hitler-like clampdown be the solution? The Holocaust i.e. Shoah during the World War 11 in Germany did not exterminate the Jews, even though the genocide claimed six million of them. Indeed, the Nazi rule produced the best in the Jews and today the State of Israel is virile, powerful and economically and militarily stable.
What America could not achieve in Afghanistan with all their lethal weapons is being experimented in a country whose economy is dying by the day while its military is struggling to confront ordinary bandits. The United States went to war with its lethal weapons in Afghanistan and after 20 years executing the miry jaunt, scampered out of the impoverished nation with its tails behind its hinds. Refuse to negotiate and get yourself immersed in the battle of Armageddon.
President Umaru Musa Yar’dua and President Goodluck Jonathan in their wisdom negotiated with the Niger Delta militants thus given way to the present peace the once troubled region is enjoying today. What should be done in the case of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) is an unconditional negotiation. If the federal government has better position with facts and figures as to what IPOB members are positing, it should get it on. Nigeria needs help and unconditional negotiation is it!
Regrettably, the Buhari’s government believes in the jackboot approach to solving civil problems that concern the South, particularly the Southeast. An issue that ought to be trashed out Letter by letter, word by word, sentence by sentence between the civil populace and the government is oftentimes militarised, thus railroading Nigeria to the pathway of militarism. There is hardly a difference between a civilian rule and military regime in today’s Nigeria. Do they think they will win the battle against IPOB with the present level of brute force and uninformed gangsterism? Time will tell.
Uche Nwosu is a two time Shell Petroleum PLC award winner in the year 2000;
He won the Shell Award on Investigative Journalism and Environmental Cleanliness.
