Silence is a Betrayal of Truth and Justice
For those of you who believe that Nigeria, with its current constitution, still has a future — who, after having read this piece, may question my credentials as a way of dismissing it, let me state the obvious before I proceed.
I was not born in Nigeria, and I am not a politician. I cannot even pretend to have all the facts. Nonetheless, it is my right to speak up because I’m still a Nigerian, and I care as a member of her Diaspora community.
There are many of us around the world. Some of us are renowned academics and lawyers, bus drivers, successful athletes, road sweepers, MPs, actors and writers, nurses, teachers, door attendants — the list goes on, and we all have the right to speak up. Indeed, if the people of Nigeria matter to us, we must speak up now before it is too late.
We should speak up from our countries of abode, for the men, women and children who will bear the brunt of the suffering if this current spate of violence, escalating across Nigeria, eventually engulfs the entire nation.
We should speak up because every voice matters and every life is sacred. Be you Hausa, Fulani, Igala, Igbo, Yoruba, Ijaw; every ethnic group deserves a fair constitution that makes them equal partners of the nation. If not for ourselves or in recognition of the political entity known as Nigeria, then we should speak up in memory of those who have already perished since independence, due to the Nigerian Condition.
We should do so to ensure their sacrifice was not in vain. We should do so because no one can hold down the lid of a boiling pot indefinitely. The marginalised will not tolerate their suffering forever. Therefore, it goes without saying that at some point tomorrow, many more lives will be lost if we carry on in the same trajectory of injustice.
I was not born during Biafra, but then again, one does not have to experience war first-hand to appreciate the calamity it brings.
“The reason why you don’t put your hand in the fire is not because of fear; it is because you know that you’ll get burned. You don’t need fear to avoid unnecessary danger — just a minimum of intelligence and common sense.”
Those are the words of Eckhart Tolle, and he is right. But if you are still feeling sceptical, then talk to someone who has been severely burnt. Look at the pain on their face and at the devastation the fire has caused in their life. Listen to the stories of other survivors. All these things will help you appreciate the dangers of fire — war is no different.
Nigeria gained its independence over 60 years ago, yet questions about its future persist. Individuals have excelled, particularly outside its borders. Yet, collectively, despite all of the country’s natural resources and talent, it has underperformed. Our leaders have failed to foster genuine, lasting unity and progress. Now, many of us fear another war is brewing. The country seems to be fast approaching another precipice, but this time though, we may find ourselves at a point of no return.
As dire as the situation may already be, with all the daily killings, maiming and kidnappings, the worst atrocities associated with full-scale conflicts have not yet begun. However, if leaders from every corner of the country do not come together soon to find long-term solutions that reflect the will and the needs of their people, a second war may be inevitable.
Some of you might think I am an alarmist. Some of you might be asking yourselves right now: how many states in the South can defend their people effectively against bandits, let alone against the entire Nigerian army? Well, how many Igbos had guns at the start of the Biafran war? How did Uli airport handle the second-highest number of flights in Africa next to Johannesburg? The truth is, war, hardship, and the need to survive focuses the mind in unpredictable ways, so no one should underestimate their enemy.
The threat is real! Instead of promoting what Nigerians can achieve working together, successive governments have used the divide-and-rule playbook to exaggerate our differences as a way of retaining power. Despite numerous intermarriages since independence, years of misrule by corrupt governments who have, by and large, been the common enemy of the masses irrespective of ethnicity, Nigerians are now more ethnically conscious than they were in 1967. As a result, the battle lines this time, should there be a war, will not be as clear-cut as they were in the 60s.
We have over 250 ethnic groups and an estimated population of 200 million-plus. Combine those factors with increasing poverty, religious extremism, militant agitations, and a burgeoning list of independent militia taking the law into their own hands to protect lives; a second war could lead to an African catastrophe of unimaginable scale. If 200 million Nigerians go on the rampage, how could the current situation in Chad and neighbouring countries not be affected? The Sahel will burn, not under the heat of the sun, but due to the sheer number of militant groups on the ground, ready to set the region ablaze. Let’s not forget as well how porous the borders between these countries are.
So, to those of you clamouring for separation, who too hold the late Biafran leader dear to your hearts, I say simply say this: Ezeigbo preferred dialogue over violence. It was why he prepared so meticulously for the talks at Aburi.
Still, many of your grievances are valid. Without justice, there can never be lasting peace and progress in any nation. That is why in the South-South, South West, and Middle Belt, people who once thought they were free are suddenly waking up to find themselves in chains, and they do not like it.
“Biafra of the mind” is no longer just an Igbo phenomenon. An increasing number of tired and frustrated Nigerians are now calling for constitutional restructuring — at all cost. That, in effect, might mean a breakup of the country is now their de facto option; and it ought to be.
Restructuring is probably preferable for most Nigerians. But if the government’s uncompromising stance continues, breaking up should not be unthinkable. Furthermore, those agitating by peaceful means for either should not be held responsible for the turmoil in the country. The conquered cannot be deemed warmongers until they take up arms. And even then, who amongst us would describe African heroes who opposed European colonialism as warmongers or troublemakers? Similarly, one part of the country cannot continue monopolising power without expecting resistance. It cannot refuse to work in good faith with other ethnic groups to find an equitable constitutional solution that all regard acceptable, and at the same time, portray itself as peace-loving.
As a young Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu once put it: “For unity to be meaningful, it has to be creative, not the unity of Jonah in the whale but the unity of holy matrimony. The first can only lead to defecation, the second to procreation.”
Slow-walking any eventuality — in this case, the restructuring of the constitution or the separation of Nigeria, is no solution. Legal debates based on intellectual dishonesty and designed to throw up unnecessary hurdles will not solve the issue. Nor will the bribing or intimidation of individuals; or the jailing or killing of others. That will amount to carefully tossing a live grenade ahead of us on the road, hoping it will not explode any time soon.
Therefore, all well-meaning Nigerians abroad who believe in fairness and equal rights must speak up now for those back home. We should support, no more and no less than these two options — restructuring the constitution or planning for peaceful separation through dialogue.
If the entire South, Middle Belt and Northerners who advocate the need for change speak with one voice, and we, the diaspora community, echo their sentiments and demands to governments in our countries of residence, history may not repeat itself.
