By Chinedu Ohanukachukwu
Here’re refresher preambles: “Ndigbo are an egalitarian race with republican world view, keen in repudiating imposition and its attendant impunity.
“By egalitarianism, Igbo welcome equal rights of the individuals as in ‘live and let live’, egbe bere ugo bere way. Igbo encourage concerted community efforts in human capacity building, community development with the spirit of brotherhood, good neighborliness predicated on Onye aghala nwanne ya philosophy of be your brother’s keeper.
“By republicanism, Ndigbo have an age-long tradition of converging at the village, community square or town halls to deliberate, Onye kwuo uche ya/uche onye adighi ya njo way, over collective progress agenda, existential issues cum challenges with the view of proffering solutions going forward.
“Igbo view leadership decisions as that of collective responsibilities even as we’re wont to trusting our mandate to the most altruistic representatives.
It’s therefore not gain saying that Nigeria’s prevailing dire distress situation is not unconnected to some conspiratorial rejection of Igbo altruistic leadership. Hence, national institutions are made weak with systems operating in trust, truth and social justice deficit to the chagrin of the saner world…
“August, as the month that ushers in new yam festival, has become special for hosting of general meetings of Ndigbo.
The month popularized for the convergence of her citizens, home and abroad, to review set agenda progress and development from the previous meetings’ resolutions; consolidating existing projects, initiating new ones, tackle emerging issues, hold election of village/town unions officers, organize age-grade ceremonies (Iwa akwa/Iwa iji) and award chieftaincy titles to worthy, illustrious individuals.
“August offers an auspicious time for Igbo-wu-Igbo, home and in diaspora, to really think home, to make special efforts and plans to return back to base, to strategize over the reoccurring existential exclusion and threats in the community, national/international schemes of her corporate existence… It’s an optimum time to take a critical look at our culture, tradition and history as a people treacherously schemed out of our fair share of the national cake we awesomely contributed to its baking… We must take heed to George Orwell’s warning: ‘The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history/culture’ (SE/A/11/8/23/Pg 6).
From the Orwellian’s point of view therefore, you can imagine how desperately dangerous the yakking off of history as a subject from our school curriculum was…
Follow up on matters arising from resolutions implemention embraced Socratic saying: “Man know thy self. Unexamined life is not worth living”. Hence the call for rethink, review, reassess and interrogation of the stated agenda, resolutions’ execution, progress reports with addendum as highlighted inter alia: “Road network in Ala Igbo is in deplorable condition after 24 years of unbroken democracy run, and our political representatives have largely not lived up to expectations on dividends delivery therefrom. And federal government’s studied near-neglect of development in Igboland aren’t helping matters” (SE/A/18/8/23/Pg 7).
Furthermore, we should watch our “Republican sagacity, loquaciousness and flagrant show off of our goods of merchandise and real estate properties which have succeeded in attracting envy and hatred from hostile hosts. Since from most of the instigated upheavals cum cataclysm, killings, maiming, looting and sundry destructions were visited on Ndigbo and their investments as results… Some heady swaggering with no recourse to culture/tradition imbued humility have succeeded, inadvertently, to attract an endangered species status to Igbo in Nigeria and elsewhere…
“There’s no point hitting head on the wall or lending one’s head to the oppressors to use in breaking coconut, as the donor would not be available to partake in its consumption. Time is up for preaching rethink cum return home to invest/develop Ala Igbo and all that Aku ruo ulo stuff to the ubiquitous Igbo. Ezi Nwa-afor Igbo must have grasped the unfolding gloomy trends and proactively automated his/her business concerns, and then move to operate its corporate headquarters from country homes adopting a modified Nnewi model…” (SE/S/1/9/23/Pg 6).
Uche odikwa? Nti eji anu ihe adighi ahaka nti enyi (elephant’s ear). Obuso onye ara ga-asi oweghi ihe ya ga-agwa onye ji mma aga ya n’azu ruo mgbe ya ga acho isi ya acho. Who did this Okuru akwu n’isi onu spell to this generation??
“Even those Igbo born after the previous pogrom must have had first hand harrowing experience of the Omegbu butere ogu and now realized that Ogbuh ma-ama agbako mkwu mana ya na ya abruo nwanne. Maka ije nwa-okuko enweghi mgbe oji adi egbe mma. Umuafor Igbo kwesiri iji ire guo eze onu. Bia tugharia ukwu-egwu, shigharia ma lobata Ala Igbo, ma were Igboness Chukwu Okike jiri gozie ma choo anyi mma, were ya dozie ma hazie ebekanyi; maka onye ajuru-aju adighi aju onwe ya…” (SE/A/11/8/23/Pg 6).
Agreed. It’s not easy to relocate to homeland just like that. But here, strategic withdrawal is advocated. So that in the eventuality of the push becoming a shove, one must have created a soft landing for one self. Ka madu gharakwa ibu onye refuru ji (refugee) na nke ikpeazu a… Osisi ekwesigi igwunye madu n’anya ugburo abua.
Maka agadi-nwanyi da-adah ugburo abua, oguo ihe obu n’ukpa/nkata onu.
Next, is the safety guarantee of the returnees and their investments. Well, the most valuable investment is the one invested on self. Then, followed by that invested on others as in human capacity building.
Now, consider what a greater good, a hefty N1.2 Billion invested in importing drugs that got impounded as fake on arrival or the N1.7 Billion invested in building state-of-art-palace only to be clamped on by the host authorities that tagged it territorial invasion, could do in developing potentials of the investors’ youths instead. Such huge amount of resources invested at home front could doubly guaranteed esteem safety of the investors and the Aku ruo ulo investments going forward.
(To be concluded)
