Today, the mood is understandably sober and pensive as memories of the Biafran war fills our hearts and we remember with sobriety and gratitude, the millions of our people who were either gunned down, slaughtered or starved to death in our war of survival and self determination. There is no family in Igboland that didn't lose someone. Some families were wiped out completely from the face of the earth.
We remember the post war economic policy that deliberately and systematically impoverished our people. After insisting that every person from these parts who had a bank account will be entitled to only 20 Pounds, no matter how much you had in the bank, the then Federal Government quickly introduced the Indigenization Decree under which top notch economic assets were sold. The idea was clearly to ensure that our people were so impecunious that none of us would be in any position to afford any of the assets.
Our people have had a rough deal in this country indeed. How we have managed to pull through even in the face of such monumental injustice defies belief.
We are a great people indeed.
Ironically, despite all the injustice, we have shown more commitment to a United Nigeria than any other group. The two Nigerian leaders we have produced were deeply committed to our unity. Zik and Ironsi.
When Awolowo built a university, he named it the University of Ife. The logo of the university was clearly pan Yoruba. Then, Awo was the Premier of the Western Region. Ahmadu Bello, as Premier of the North built his and left no one in doubt that it was pro Hausa Fulani.
Zik, as Premier of the East built his and named it the University of Nigeria! It's logo was clearly pan Nigerian.
While his colleague Premiers pursued regional interests, Zik wanted a United Nigeria.
Ironsi never believed in regionalism. As the first General of the Nigerian Army, groomed by the British, he was defiant about One Nigeria. His Unification Decree which sought to bring the entire country under one command was resisted by his own colleagues. He was eventually murdered in cold blood. A General and Head of State!
He wasnt Corrupt. He didn't steal. His only offense was that he wanted a United Nigeria.
The closest we have had about the Presidency since after these two was Goodluck Jonathan. Though an Ijaw, our people adopted him. We loved him. We still do. Love could be blind, you know.
He was also nicknamed Azikiwe. Like Zik, he was more interested in pan Nigerian concerns. He abandoned his own area and was busy pumping funds to other areas.
This has been the lot of our people. It's as intriguing as it is worrisome.
Today, Igbos are everywhere in this country, owning properties and businesses. There is hardly anywhere in this country where you won't find Igbos owning sprawling landed property. Even in the Boko Haram infested areas, Igbos are there.
In Aba where I was born and where I live, you will never find any building owned by an Hausa man. Never! I think Yorubas own a few. In the entire Aba town, there is only one mosque. In Kano, there are over 10,000 churches built by our people!
I lived in Lagos for close to a decade and I saw first hand, a rat race to own properties by our people. In every part of Lagos, Igbos own properties. I dare say that Igbos are the largest property owners in Lagos. 70% of the markets in Lagos are filled with Igbos.
I was almost caught up in that madness in my days in Lagos. You won't sleep at night because you are thinking of how to raise money to pay for a piece of land in Lagos and build a house. Millions o!
One day, I came to my senses. I was jolted to the reality of my folly. My house in Aba was still uncompleted and here I was in Lagos almost having high blood pressure over the quest to answer a Lagos Landlord.
I am the Ururuaja!
Of course, I did the needful.
I hear it's the same for Kano. It's the same for Kaduna. I also saw this first hand some years ago.
This is the reason why any kind of riots affect us the most. While the Hausa man in Aba will simply roll his mat, pack a few things and jump into any available Kano bound lorry, the Igboman will not even know where to start. He owns too many things. If he manages to escape and come home, he will realize that he has no house to live in. He didn't build any.
It is indeed very ironical.
If only we can repatriate 30% of what we own outside and bring them back home, our story will change.
Aba, Onitsha, Enugu, Owerri, Awka, Abakaliki, Orlu, Mbaise, Umuahia, etc are all great towns with huge potentials for growth. But we abandon them preferring to go and invest outside.
Imagine what will happen to us if every Igbo business man decides to have a branch of his business in Igboland.
I laugh when some of our people use the current Biafran agitation to judge who is Igbo and who is not. I call it a brand of ideological idiocy. I see someone who lives abroad and hasn't come home in the past 10 years telling me that I am not Igbo because I ask some pertinent questions.
As we remember today, those millions of our people whose lives were cut short, let us reflect deeply...
LET US THINK HOME!
That is the best strategy towards true self determination.
Ururuaja writes from Umule.
Please Share:
Kindly drop a comment. The comment box is below
No comments:
Post a Comment
YES