ANAMBRA'S SECURITY WOES

At no point in recent times has the prospect of travelling to the southeast of Nigeria in December been more fraught with danger as that of 2024. The level of insecurity had hit a more worrisome level, especially in Anambra State, unlike in the past when it was just limited to spillovers from Imo state to border areas like Ihiala, and the simmering embers in Anambra South. As the yuletide drew near, a member of the Anambra State House Of Assembly was kidnapped. Priests, reverend sisters, and many others also found themselves hostages in the camps of these men of the underworld. To this day, nothing has been heard from some of the them, a few found killed like the banker that was kidnapped in Onitsha, even after ransom was paid, while those like the reverend sisters managed to regain their freedom.

It is difficult to understand why the level of insecurity in Anambra State recorded a significant spike in relation to its neighbouring southeast States, moreso as most Anambrarians were gearing to go home for the yuletide. The abduction of clergy became norm so much so, that it necessitated fiery outbursts from a popular southeastern Catholic priest, popularly called 'Ebube Muonso", that was not taken lightly by the media aides of Governor Chukwuma Soludo, who felt he could've exhausted the private channels to the governor, rather than going public. Even if the priest's approach was considered an impropriety, it nonetheless couldn't be said to be an exercise in futility, as within days of it, the governor outlined plans to address the rising level of insecurity in the state.

It is only left to conjecture if the plan was already in the works, or it was ignited or given impetus by the reverend father's utterances. The time in between when the governor outlined his plan, to the implementation date however left people wondering whether it meant kidnapping activities could continue till the deadline. Meanwhile, social media continued to be awash with videos and audios of matters of insecurity, especially voice notes and videos of and from survivors. It soon started to become clear, even to those who felt that the insecurity in the southeast was perpetrated by external forces, that it was actually by actors closer to home, and that the criminals could just be one of their own. Indeed, in some of the whatsapp voice notes, except for those abducted in Enugu by suspected fulani herdsmen, the cases in Anambra is alleged to be masterminded by Igbo people. Indeed, a few of the survivors were let go after being dispossessed of their personal effects, because some of the abductors could not fathom shedding the blood of a kinsman.

The experiences of the survivors suggests that kidnapping isn't only for ransom, but also for organ harvesting, especially for those who couldn't meet up with the ransom demanded. Indeed, one of the survivors revealed that some of the youngsters thought to be engaged in cybercrime and internet fraud, have ditched that to serve as agents for these kidnap syndicate, either by providing information, or engaging in kidnapping themselves, in exchange for helfty financial rewards immediately, or after their victim's ransom had been paid. If this be so, then the current proliferation of most villages in Anambra State of Internet fraudsters known as "yahoo boys", foretell danger in the sense that the status quo will not only persist, but will escalate exponentially.

Sadly this is happening in the same period Lagos clubs and fun spots recorded a staggering revenue from "I Just Got Back", IJGB Nigerian funseekers from the diaspora, and the reason for that isn't far fetched. "Detty December", happened in Lagos because it is devoid of the kind of insecurity that's plaguing the rest of Nigeria. Wealthy Igbo people in Lagos who marked the season with the latest in advanced auto technology dared not take same to the east, except with extra private and state security apparatus, for which they required convoys of stern looking, gun totting men, some of whom have also come under fire when daredevil men of the underworld deemed their principal a person of interest. Some Igbo elite desirous of seeing the homeland, simply ditched their luxury brand for simple, sometimes beat-up cars that's trusted to move from point A to B, in tandem with their intention to keep a low profile, and ward off prying eyes. In the end, Lagos gained where the rest of Nigeria lost.

To be fair, the southeast did not just lie down to allow itself be raped by the monster of insecurity. Most villages and towns raised security committees, with their subsequent vigilante groups, to complement the efforts of state government vigilante groups, and other security apparati like Ebubeagu in Imo state and Agunaechemba recently launched in Anambra State amongst others. 

Sadly, these groups are handicapped by the lack of adequate weaponry to match what these non state armed actors bring to the table, therefore just like the state police, they are usually on the defensive. Their efforts have been limited largely to dismantling drug dens, and arresting petty thieves, that they post on social media in what many are beginning to see as content creation on the parts of either the head of the vigilante groups, or in collaboration with members of the groups. And this, while the main protagonists of insecurity remain without any sign of a decline in their activities, including the rising cases of cult related killings like the recent one in the Nibo area of Awka, as well as those by groups seeking a secession of the Southeast from Nigeria, who imposed and enforce a sit-at-home order every Monday, and any other day of their chosen in the southeast, with Igbo blood shed routinely to make examples of those who are considered to have disobeyed their orders.

These days there's hardly any difference between a wrong place or right place, as well as wrong time or right time, as one can only pray and hope that one be not on the roads on the day it is famished. Even if you travel by air, you still have to commute from the airport to your home, and the home is even where many victims have had to be unfortunately abducted, including the wife of a former commissioner of police, who was abducted right in front of her house in Ogun State. The police may have considered the act a slap on their face, that they deployed technology and manpower to rescue her within days of her kidnap, while dispatching two of her abductors to their graves. Two others were captured later with some of the ransom money recovered. A success story in the southwest, that one wished will be replicated in the southeast and other parts of Nigeria.

If information from the security agencies are anything to go by, the efforts by the military are beginning to pay off in the Northeast and Northwest, though the same cannot be said about Benue State in the North-Central, where fulani herdsmen continue to ravage communities at will, with their activities affecting the neighbouring state of Enugu in the Southeast. Governor Peter Mbah is known to be a man of few words but with visible efforts in the aspect of security, electing to fight the scourge using technology. I could see it in the serene atmosphere of Enugu 

compared to the tension you'd find across the border in Awka, Anambra State when I visited last December. Hopefully, all that's been put in place to ensure better security in Anambra will yield fruit, especially as the state's guber and assembly elections draw near, with its potential to escalate security situations, for political reasons.

'kovich 

BAMISE AND LAGOS' SECURITY WOES

 It was painful to follow the story of AYANWOLE BAMISE on twitter by @Mercy_McQuin these past few days when she was missing, and then hours following the discovery of her body, with some reports stating that some of her body parts were missing. The discovery of her body was quickly filled with that of the arrest of the driver, whose account sounds very ridiculous to me, even though there's always a place for the benefit of doubt. What is core is that in Lagos presently, security is at its lowest ebb, and the fact that the most frequent mode has been the transport system is the most distressing, as the perpetrators of crime by this means will always find cannon fodder. 

Gone are the days when one read about such issues, or heard of it in news bulletins, but we are now starting to know people that have been affected directly. One of our admin staff at work replaces his phone annually, sometimes twice a year, because its either stolen, lost or mugged in the bus, tricycle or while walking. The last time was atop a motorbike taxi, where he got ridden to an uncompleted building and dispossessed of all he had on him. We allowed a female staff to come in an hour later than every other person in the morning because she was also mugged in a bus, and dispossessed as well. Most recently, a female colleague was relieved of her iPhone and told to alight from the minibus popularly called kórópe in Lagos, as the driver said he wasn't going in her direction anymore. A well known trick between criminally minded bus drivers and their conductors, these days. I'm very sure you will have your own experiences, personal, or of people close to you, but I hope not, the kind in this Bamise's sad situation.

Some people commenting online were wondering how the BRT Buses hitherto considered to be safe turned out to have such a horrific story come to be about it, but I remember that some time ago, it was reported that some passengers inside a BRT bus were robbed at gunpoint. So the potential, apart from the actuality has always been there. Sadly, these crimes now happen at any time of the day, unlike when it was thought to be at the extreme times of day, for which I stopped leaving home every morning until I see the first glimmer of light, and limited my late night outings to only when necessary. Like my colleague who was recently at the receiving end of their activities, many Lagosians have opted to getting their own cars, despite the heavy traffic occasioned by the number of vehicles on very few motorable roads in Lagos, owing to the security situation, over and above any other reason one may site.

Bamise 

boarded the BRT bus outside of the park, from Chevron Bus Stop in Ajah, for her destination in Oshodi, at just around 7pm in the evening. How late was that? She did suspect that something was amiss when the driver had the light of the bus off the whole time she was there, and called her friend on WhatsApp, exchanging voice notes and videos with her, to apprise her of developments till she couldn't anymore. It doesn't appear that the driver remembered that when he was giving the interview that's online now,

 

where he mentioned nothing of the likes, even though like Bamise had revealed in her voice note, that three men and a woman later joined them, and that he, at gunpoint followed their instructions to divert from the course of the journey, to Carter Bridge, where he said he thought they didn't go with her because he saw her struggling with the men while holding on to a pole in the bus, and they alighted before he zoomed off . He conveniently forgot to say anything about turning off the light in the bus, even before he picked the so called passengers that he alleged were the killers of Bamise.

He witnessed all these, according to him but failed to go to any police station to report, so that even the so called ordinarily unempathic and unsympathetic Nigerian police can do the little they can, or in the least, even raise awareness about the situation, but rather he drove the bus to the terminal and parked it there as he would on a good day, then disappeared, until he was apprehended yesterday. I can point to no action of his that suggests that he's innocent of the the crime, but what do I know. I can only hope that the arm of the law catches up with the perpetrators of this crime, which I hate to think may be futile considering the levity with which the case had been treated, and would have remained so, had the late Bamise not had people who consistently and relentlessly pursued her matter, to the best of their ability online, and on ground, enough to get the attention of the authorities and to keep them in their toes.

A few weeks back I called up family in the North to ask how they were doing, and how concerned I was about their safety, and one of them actually laughed telling me that they always have me in their prayers because of the kind of things they hear happening in Lagos leaving them scared for me. I couldn't even counter the thought because after thinking about it, I observed the truism in their concern. Sadly, this is the reality of our time, that people in the North, with all the Boko Haram, ISWAP, kidnappers, marauding herdsmen, bandits, and the likes, think Lagos more unsafe than their locations.

The role twitter has been playing in Nigeria, in solving crime must be emphasised at this point, unfortunately until recently the government felt it trite to have that platform suspended, leaving me wondering how many other crimes occurred within that period of suspension that got swept under the carpet because there was no where to make the subject or topic of missing persons trend. It is often said that crime thrives when the punishment is less than the incentive, which is unfortunately where Nigeria is presently. The Nigerian Police, and other government agencies, especially those tasked with overseeing the environment simply evacuate dead bodies lying on the street without asking salient and germaine questions, like they are the disposal arm (cleaners) of killers and murderers, including ritualists, after harvesting the organs they need from the dead.

The rise of ritual killings in recent times is testament to the decadence in our society. A society that lays emphasis only on riches and wealth, where the wealthy have a say, and the poor foolish, to the detriment of morality and justice. Even children don't want to grow anymore before having and talking about money. Money, and wealth for which no question is asked, just get it. All of the motivational speaking geared towards one aim, money. Sadly, the wealthy can't tell you how they made it, and you can't see or follow their rise in life or business, the way you can track the wealth of the likes of Bill Gates, Elon Musk and the likes. People just wake up one morning, and they are rich, and when you ask they say "Na God", while flaunting the wealth at any given opportunity. So, when boys are told they have to bring this or that part of a human, or even a whole human being for sacrifice to be wealthy, they don't think twice or take a day to think about it before jumping on the so called opportunity.

But our society is what it is, and we must still go around in search of daily bread, attend functions and the likes, visit family, so what to do? Safety precautions have become more than a necessity for now, as that person you haven't seen before (or the one you know even), around you could just be planning to harm you, hence it has become pertinent that we make that a subject of discussion daily, as those whom the government has saddled with the responsibility to protect us seem to be shirking that responsibility. It is sad to note that Bamise took most of the measures she could possibly have, in fact had it not been that she did all that she, maybe she'd have become a mere statistic in the growing number of missing persons, and unclaimed bodies in morgues allover Lagos today. We shouldn't be discouraged though, teaching not just girls, but everyone safety tips, including videos, music and movies about it (rather than more of the ritual and gangster movies) should be paramount, and will go a long way in helping us reduce these sad incidences, while the police should for once be more proactive in combating crime and criminality, with a justice system that must be seen and perceived to be doing, and not perverting the cause of justice.

'kovich

PICTURE CREDIT:
- https://guardian.ng

AS 2023 DRAWS NIGH

2023 is around the corner, and it isn't unusual and unexpected that permutations as to who would emerge as presidential candidates of the major political parties in Nigeria is gearing up. In fact, preparations for who would succeed President Muhammadu Buhari started ín 2019, after he was sworn in for a second term. There are some people who think it started a few months after he won elections in his first term, and it became apparent that not much would be achieved in terms of building up Nigeria as a nation under him. 

After the 2015 Presidential Elections, where the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), an amalgam of four opposition parties, managed an upset, the first of its kind in Nigeria, in an alliance majorly between the core Northern region that Buhari always aced, or garnered assuring numbers from, and the Southwest where former Governor Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu held sway; it looked almost certain that the North will return the favour by backing Tinubu for the presidency in 2023. 

Events thereafter has shown that that assertion may not entirely be true, as no sooner had Buhari gained power, than Tinubu was relegated to the background by what was later to be known as the "cabal", comprising of Buhari's kitchen cabinet, made up of close relatives and allies, all either from his immediate locality of birth, or from the north. He didn't seem to have cast his net that so wide, either during his military career, that propelled him to the position of Head Of State, or his political career during the many times he vied for the presidency, in the way he made his choice of those who would be close to him on the basis of trust, especially gained from working with such persons for years, in the past. 

Before his reelection however, he appeared to favour the mending of fences with Tinubu and once again the tape as with the first term was replayed after he regained power, as most of Tinubu's men in government and in the party were either shoved out or rendered redundant or quiet. When the Vice President 'Yemi Osinbajo (a Tinubu ally), instilled hope and shone as a bright light in the many absences of Buhari while the latter travelled abroad to cater to his health, he soon became relegated (from the first term, till date), such that subsequently power was henceforth not transmitted to him whenever his principal was away. Recently though, there's been some noise around the candidacy of Osinbajo with certain groups making it seem like he has the blessing of Buhari to succeed him. President Buhari in a recent and rare interview with the press did allude to the fact that he has a preferred candidate, but would rather not say for now, for the safety of the person. It would appear that Tinubu must've decided it most timely to appear at this stage with his visit to the Presidential villa yesterday. 

He emerged from that meeting with the president to intimate the press that he just informed the latter of his intention to run for the presidency next year, as part of his consultations before making his official declaration. This will be seen in many quarters as him getting ahead of the news, and ending conjectures surrounding his intentions that have gained ground over the years. It can also be viewed as a form of soft reminder to the incumbent of a gentleman agreement that may have existed in the past before Tinubu threw in his political capital to support and propel the former to power, in case he was beginning to forget, or finding it convenient not to remember that such a thing ever existed, even though there might not be evidence whatsoever to substantiate the claim. 

In the midst of these is what the opposition People's Democratic Party is doing. The discordant tune from there though not as loud as in the APC now where everyone is suspiciously eyeing each other, is just as much significant. Southeast politicians who feel they've always kept faith with the party are unhappy with their northern counterparts who feel that fielding a northerner as their presidential candidate in 2023 is the only way the PDP can regain power at the centre, as they seem to be saying that there's no way northerners would overlook (and pass on the chance of producing a president of Northern extraction yet again) a northern candidate, even if from the PDP for a southerner (if the APC opts to go south), and have power removed from the north for another eight years. Elements in the APC who do not want a Tinubu pocketing Nigeria the way he's done with Lagos will be the ones he will have to battle not just for his political future, but for that of any one he might decide to support should odds become stacked against his ambition, and he decides to yield, especially as those opposed to his candidacy are beginning to chance on his age, and possibly health status as their reasons. 

The day is still young though and only time can reveal what lies in stock for everyone one of us. The undeniable fact is that whoever takes over Nigeria in 2023 will have his work cut out for him. A significant event that made many yearn for 2023 was Buhari's seeming helplessness to the activities of Fulani herdsmen, his kinsmen, whom it appears seized on the opportunity that the president was of their tribe, and that most of those at the helm of affairs of the security and intelligence agencies were also of their tribe (at the time), and might be sympathetic to their cause, carried out acts of killings and brigandage with impunity, focusing initially on the North-Central region, Benue State particularly before spreading their nets further afield to other adjoining states in the South, in what was later to be officially termed farmer-herder clashes, even though most of those termed farmers (including women and children) were butchered while they slept at night. 

With the spate of killings and the increasing level of insecurity across the country, many States have adopted something akin to state police by setting up security agencies officially to assist the security agencies with the work of policing their states, and unofficially to nip the activities of marauding herdsmen and criminal gangs operating in their name, in the bud. These groups are especially active in the southwest, as Amotekun, while they are less visible in the Southeast as Ebubeagu, and in places like Benue State they are called Forest Guards. There's no gsinsaying the fact that under the Buhari administration, the security situation has worsened, but unlike many bad situations that have good aftermath, it has also led to the equipping of nigeria's military with hardware that in the future, under proper leadership could be put to the good use of defending the nation's sovereignty and integrity. 

The economy of Nigeria has never been this badly hit in recent times, with the currency battered and hardly competing with its foreign counterparts, alongside mounting debt portfolio that may have been suretied with Nigeria's abundant oil and gas deposits, which is also been threatened with the world gradually and steadily opting for greener alternatives, meaning that those hydrocarbon deposits may not be able to bail us out later. Sadly, the government that promised to diversify, seemed to focus majorly on one thing, and one thing alone, since coming to power, seeking for oil, and it's exploration thereof in the North, to give it bragging rights over the Niger Delta, to stop the latter from holding the country, and northern rulers to the jugular. In the recent interview President Buhari granted, he responded to the issue of the dwindling economic fortunes of Nigeria by saying he'd always asked Nigerians to return to the farm, and one commentator retorted that if agriculture was so important to the president how is it that it is to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, and not that of Agriculture and Water Resources that he thought to expend his energy as Minister, which he runs alongside his job as president. The paradox of it all is that the farms are also the places that have become one of the most insecure places to be in today's Nigeria. 

Diehard supporters of President Buhari point to the infrastructural strides he's made, but close their eyes to the cost, not in Naira and Kobo, or Dollars and Yuan, but in what was mortgaged to secure the loans thereof. One time the legislature sought to know the terms and conditions associated with the loans obtained from the Chinese to upgrade Nigeria's rail network, Transport minister, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi responded by saying that digging into the matter will discourage the Chinese lenders from further and future financial and technical support, and after a few more wrangling they (legislators) let the matter rest. Is this how a country is, and should be run? Another issue related to this is how political, sectional and primordial considerations determine the siting of infrastructure over need, and commercial viability. 

These are just a few of the strings Nigeria is trying to balance on, that those in power have set us on, away from terra firma, that anyone wishing to takeover must career us from. Sadly, by the nature alone, of those putting themselves forward, or those suspected to be nursing the ambition, especially in the big parties, there's no sign of change (for the better) in the horizon. There are better and younger people available, even in the so called big parties, they will, and some have already indicated interest to run, but unfortunately Nigeria is structured in such a way as to not allow its best to be put out for elective positions, and in the few occasions, those taught to be idealists make it into power, they are soon corrupted by the perks of their position, and end up turning up worse than the politicians we hoped they'd outperform. Our only consolation is that life must go on regardless, and because no matter how wicked, heartless, and anti-people a government's policy(-ies) might turn out to be, there will always be that one or two things that regime will do to move the country forward. It is those little things that I look forward to, while hoping that the number of such increases with time along with the changes that time enables, because as for individuals in power, in Nigeria, they are usually more, of the same. 

'kovich

 

SOUTHEAST NIGERIA'S UNKNOWN GUNMEN

The #EndSARS protest last year and it's aftermath was a message to the people and government in Southeastern Nigeria that things cannot remain the same anymore. Sadly, while the Governor in Lagos moved beyond just paying lip service to working on recommendations from the panel set up to probe the activities of SARS as well as paying compensation to victims and families of victims, those set up in the Southeast and the South-South regions where no more than spectacles and theatres of the absurd, where impediments upon impediments were placed in the way of petitioners, all in the name of requirements and processes, which led to no end. Eventually the whole process, like the charade it was fashioned out to become, fizzled out. The lot of them unceremoniously, without the submission of any paper to the governors to act upon, even if it was just for the show of it.


The fact that nothing was done by the Southeastern governors to address the issues relating to police brutality and Extrajudicial Killings of young men especially, after the protests, with the names of some policemen suspected to have indulged in human rights violations mentioned, with the hope that their activities will be investigated, and thereafter prosecuted, only to find the same people walking the streets free, which is akin to rubbing insults on the raw wounds of the victims, their relatives and others this affected. When some youths decided to take up arms against the state, it was no surprise that they started with the checkpoints dotting the landscape of Southeastern Nigeria at a time when there was relative peace, and the people and their representative 👉🏽 CHECKPOINTS IN NIGERIA'S SOUTHEAST had at one time or the other spoken up about the money-spinning machine that checkpoints on the roads in that region have become for policemen, soldiers, naval ratings, customs men and officers, civil defence, as well as other uniformed security and paramilitary personnel. From there, these men now referred to as Unknown Gunmen, (a media creation, following denials by IPOB, of responsibility for the rampant destruction of lives and property by the former), expanded their operations to include police stations, correctional facilities, and other security outposts.


The insecurity in Imo State, is of a different dimension in that it appears to have political undertone, so much so that while the governor raised alarm to highlight the peculiar nature of the insecurity in his state, especially the political dimension to it, he stopped short of placing responsibility solely at the feet of his political opponents belonging to the opposition party, seeing as he is battling opposition within the rank and file of his own party as well. It was in Imo State that the erstwhile I.G. of Police, pronounced the Eastern Security Network (the armed wing of IPOB), ESN responsible for the insecurity there, off the cuff, without as much as investigating the matter, only to find that he'd been relieved of his position, while the words were hardly out of his mouth, though that was hardly as a consequence of his misguided utterance (in this particular case) than it was that his removal was overdo, and therefore predetermined for that day, unbeknownst to him.


The ESN claim their mandate is to rid Igboland of murderous fulani herdsmen, and have continually denied involvement in other activities at variance with their stated objective, but it appears the security agencies couldn't be bothered with distinctions as they rained all of their coercive might on anything aimed and poised against them in the Southeast, amidst allegations of human rights abuses against innocent citizens from Southeastern Nigeria. It didn't help that a meeting held by the hierarchy of Nigeria's military to discuss the security situation in the South East and the tackling of same, to restore peace and normalcy in the region had no one from the region present, because of the lopsided appointments especially in the security sector of Nigeria, that's been the hallmark of this administration. The tone of the president in statements credited to him, as well as in his new found love for interviews, haven't allayed the fears of Igbos that the present intifada in the Southeast by the military does not have the blessings of their principal, and Commander-in-Chief.


The video that went viral, of some residents in some town in the Southeast, hailing armed men, appeared to me very disturbing. Even the non-discerning could tell that it wouldn't be long before these Unknown Gunmen will turn their arms on the people, after successfully dismantling checkpoints in the east. I wondered then, of their intentions didn't go beyond sacking those checkpoints to relieve the people of that region of a major burden only, or was it really intended to provide a safe haven for them to continue to carry out nefarious and criminal activities, without let or hindrance. Today the activities of UGM is now looking more like a guns for hire situation, with business people, politicians (latest of which was the decapitation of a security guard to a member of the national assembly from Imo State, after the UGM met his absence), and just the everyday person, bearing the brunt. It seems that many are using the opportunity this security crisis created to settle scores, while lives are also being lost as part of collateral damage, as UGM seem to be employed to right perceived injustices and/or to perpetrate one looks to be the norm, rather than the exception these days, such that threats from one person to annihilate another are no longer taken as jokes or mere threats anymore these days.


In the midst of all these madness, "Bakassi Boys", who held sway in the early days of the return to civil rule in 1999, notable for their extrajudicial killings of those suspected of armed robbery and the likes; staged a return with a parade somewhere in Awka a few days back, in the full glare of residence, firing gunshots at random, with loud music in the background, with no police or other government security apparati anywhere in sight. 

This time around, they claim they have come to continue in the same light, and also to battle cultists whose activities in Anambra State have 

grown worrisome in recent times. Only time will tell if they will cross paths with UGM, if they considered the latter's activities to be at cross purposes to theirs. I shudder to imagine what such a scenario will look like. 

Sadly, when the security agents descend, the arrests they carry out are arbitrary, with those who eventually managed to get released claiming they only did so, after parting with huge sums of money. Many others are said to not have been so lucky, especially in the period when judiciary workers were on strike, and none of those arrested were charged to court, and couldn't be bailed. When a truck fell into a ditch in Onitsha, with the contents (bullets) of it's container got spilt on the road, with residents moving beyond shock and bewilderment to picking them, the security agencies should have known that many more like that would've passed through successfully and without incidence, hence should've been more proactive, rather than the reactions we have now, that's resulted into the arrest of innocents, after the UGM have had a field day to themselves, and yet continue to wreak havoc in the region.


Another unfortunate angle to all these, is the attack and torching of offices of the electoral agency, INEC in the region, with elections in just a few months in Anambra, and in 2023 nationwide. It now appears like there's a plan to disenfranchise the people from exercising their franchise, and precluding them from determining who will lead them at several levels of government and governance, and through whom dividends of democracy can be passed down to the grassroots. Unfortunately, as regards dividends of democracy, the Southeast region has fared badly, with so much left to be desired, at all levels, and from all levels of government. If truth be told, it is the lack of government presence in the Southeast, that can be fingered as one of the reasons driving the agitation for secession, that personalities like Nnamdi Kanu are latching on to promote their agenda.


It is doubtful though that things will change should Biafra be handed the Igbo on a platter, because the leaders will either be today's slave masters, or new ones, who will be same as the old. Just look at the audacity with which Nnamdi Kanu issues orders to anyone listening to his rants (as most times that is what his words come through as), and you wonder how Biafra under that sort of person could be. The fact that people stayed back at home, after his so called "order", in honour of lost and dead loved ones during the civil war, doesn't necessary mean they support IPOB's ideals, many did in the spirit of "Ozoemena", while others could've just because of the atmosphere of insecurity in the east, and the fear that the government forces could be battling UGM and/or IPOB/ESN on the day, and innocents could be caught in the crossfire. Either way, Igbos could definitely do without the threats, from Nnamdi Kanu and his followers prior to May 30.


If Igbo people can be truthful about some things, even the much revered Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, in some of his statements appeared not to leave much room for compromise or considerations for an alternative path to pursue things, and how that could have negatively affected the fortunes of Biafra, in those heady days, is not difficult to imagine. How are we sure that even if the referendum that's being sought by IPOB and other secessionist groups are granted, the results won't go against their wishes? Especially, when you consider that Igbo though insular in the way their locale is set, especially post civil war, but international in outlook, would want to be boxed in, for which President Muhammadu Buhari in an unscripted response in a recent interview described Igboland as a "dot in a circle" (which Igbo youths are currently running with, as you'd take up a name defiantly, just to spite those who thought to diminish you by it).

The truth is, if the utopia the Igbo dream of cannot be perceived today in the slightest, it will not be realised wholesale in Biafra tomorrow. Any change Igbos desire, must begin today and must be required and demanded of the leaders/rulers today by the people, against waiting until Biafra comes. For now, the Igbo must learn to negotiate to their advantage, within the present framework, beyond merely getting political power at the centre, but unto other items that will make life and the conduct of their business and enterprise flourish, and easier to manage. That the Igbo are disadvantaged today, doesn't mean they will remain so tomorrow, for only if the Igbo exist, will they live to see a government tomorrow that will be less discriminatory, either led by an Igbo son, or not.


'kovich