Since Ken Okomma posed his
question, WHY ARE YORUBAS AFRAID OF BIAFRA? a few weeks ago, I have been
analyzing that issue from a number of perspectives. Most importantly I
patiently awaited the response of my Yoruba friends to enable me compare and
contrast with my own personal observations and my own reading of the
conclusions drawn by Okomma himself.
The real question that should be on the minds of anyone keen on
honestly building up our polity and/or resolving issues along the many gaping
faultlines, is this. ARE YORUBAS REALLY AFRAID OF BIAFRA? I do not think so.
Many of our Yoruba compatriots actually believed the much publicised assertion
by Dr Femi Aribisala that NIGERIA CANNOT SURVIVE WITHOUT THE IGBO, long before
he brought this opinion into the public domain. While he is obviously not
alone, it is worthy of note that this opinion is neither necessarily true nor
inevitable. Economically the South-West should be able to survive, and even
thrive with or without Ndigbo. Most other observers are smart enough to come to
their own independent conclusions.
The average Yoruba elite stands toe to toe with his Igbo
colleague and is not exactly scared of competition. The true stories of Dr Eni
Njoku, etc, when retold, only helps to muddy up the waters some more. We can
however overcome all that baggage. Even with decades long institutionalized
disadvantages in the aftermath of the Nigeria-Biafra War, Ndigbo trudged along,
asking for no favours but demanding only a level playing field. We have the
example of Dr Alex Ekwueme recently telling the story of his experiences in his
own words.
For Ndigbo to advance or
keep advancing, you do not need to take anything away from the Yoruba. Most
enlightened Yoruba know this. However the rabblerousers would want us to
believe otherwise, that it must be a zero sum relationship. Aribisala’s warning
in this regard is quite clear. Writer Chuks Iloegbunam has equally addressed this
fallacy.
It is important to note that the vile and uncouth elements, who
spew venom whenever Biafra and/or restructuring is mentioned, constitute but a
very tiny minority of the important voices in Yorubaland. The tragedy however
is that these few individuals reside full time on the social media platforms,
fully occupy them, and create the impression that the Igbo and Yoruba, contrary
to all visible indicators, are engaged in an all out war and are at each
other’s throats. Nothing could be further from the truth.
It is exactly because of such characters, and the similarly
worded response from the justifiably angry Igbo youth of identical pedigree,
that Dr Femi Aribisala wrote again a few months ago calling for a truce. He
didn’t need to appeal to the majority of the elite. They know better. What is
lacking is their readiness to get into the fray and routinely and frequently
come public with their convictions.
Some anti-Biafra commentators often couch their opposition by advising Igbo
youth and agitators to follow socalled official procedures. Which procedures,
I ask? In a country(?) that has no constitution that we can call our own?
President Buhari has gone out of his way to announce in far away New York that
he would never allow a referendum on the Biafra demand. The man is so limited
that he does not realise that the matter is not exactly up to him. The country
is going over a cliff and he is busy clutching at non-issues such as his
personal likes and dislikes. That’s part of the problem. How I wish our
president has both the intellect and temperament to follow the latest
contribution to the Biafran debate by world renowned constitutional lawyer Prof
Ben Nwabueze.
The persistent systemic dysfunction and distrust makes even
talking to ourselves extremely difficult. That is why people offer opinions on
the social media, under the cloak of anonymity. Many like me will never give an
opinion that we will not be ready to defend, modify or clarify in public among
peers, over beer or whatever. That is why my name is signed on every opinion
that I express. Operating in that mode, I can hardly be expected to offer
gratuitous insult to anyone, no matter how much I disagree with them.
Perception is part of reality. Most of those who have weighed
in on Ben Okomma’s article have mostly avoided dealing with his main question.
If Biafra is such a bad and unviable proposition, and one is not gaining an
unfair advantage from the current arrangement, why does a Yoruba person, (Note
that I didn’t say most or typical-o!), find it irresistible to play the devil’s
advocate on that issue. One writer confessed that the furthest east he has ever
been in present day Nigeria, is Warri. That still did not prevent him from
propounding a solid understanding of the geopolitics and economics of Eastern
Nigeria. For him Biafra just cannot work. It is this very overt passion on
display that is bothering Okomma. He just can’t get it. Neither can I.
Then again, it is quite
possible that the fear of a potential downturn in economic prospects in
Yorubaland, especially Lagos, without the leavening vibrancy of Igbo
participation, is scaring the living daylights out of some segments of Yoruba
society. The leading lights of Yorubaland cannot claim to be unaware of this
potential, and the current faulty sentiments at the lower rungs of Yoruba
society. They fully understand the available tools and methodologies for
stopping the rush to the brink, even if a peaceful split turns out to be
inevitable.
It is now a cliche that Ndigbo are being blackmailed, by those who should know
better, into dropping their demand for equity and fairness in the affairs of
the Nigeria. Whereas equity is not another name for Biafra, sworn enemies of
Ndigbo are giving the impression that they are inextricably bound like two
sides of a coin. They are making Nnamdi Kanu’s case for him by insisting on
making no accommodation whatsoever for Ndigbo demands. Truly, nobody knows how
this whole matter is going to pan out. However, we should all commit to
peaceful outcomes, no matter what that outcome is. It does Nigeria no good to
spend our time and intellect building case files for the International Criminal
Court at The Hague. Buhari had better watch out.
Among other things, Ayodele Adeyemi wrote, “A citizen of
Biafra will be an illegal alien in Lagos that may not be allowed to own
property or do business until his papers are perfected; all previous property
and businesses may be reviewed and/or revoked.” Excuse me! On which planet does
this youngman live?
Ayodele Adeyemi easily gives himself away as an arch opponent of the Biafran
dream while valiantly striving to dismiss that notion in subsequent rejoinders.
It is doubtful if he succeeded in his effort to feign indifference. It is even
surprising that he would endeavour to alter the public perception of his
position and motives. Why bother? As I will soon elaborate, such a venture as
the agitation for Biafra, or Kurdistan for that matter, can never get the
support of everybody. Serious minded analysts have fulsomely berated the US and
it’s allies for stubbornly hanging onto the concept of a united Iraq at a time
the Kurds are exercising all the recognized powers and duties of a sovereign
nation. So it is with Biafra.
Ayodele got it wrong when he wrote that to mention Biafra to an
Igbo man was equivalent to mentioning the Holocaust, a kind of raw nerve I
presume. I believe that that was not his intention. Semantic error and all
that. The truth is that Biafra, to all Ndigbo, is like the biblical promised
land. Not yet realised.
If Moses had waited for all children of Israel to agree intoto
with his leadership, they would still be wandering in the Sinai Desert to this
very day. It is on record(?) that a good many of his contemporaries actively
undermined him. Comparing that with the experience of Uwazurike or Kanu, one
can easily observe once again that nothing is new under the sun. So much for
opponents of the Biafran project insisting that ONLY when every Igboman or
woman is on board, will they take the agitation serious. Or perhaps when Gov
Aminu Masari of Katsina state says that it is ok. Did the Pharaoh ever concede
until his hands were forced?
One other point is that most of those who set out from Egypt
never made it alive to The Promised Land. Not even Moses himself. Their
children did. I point this out to show how unimportant it is if Nnamdi Kanu
gets to raise the Biafran flag or gets sworn in as its head of state.
Again when the people of Israel were later taken into captivity
to Babylon, their children born in captivity kept hope alive. They found their
way back home when the time was ripe. That their parents died and were buried
in foreign land did not deter them.
I am not a biblical scholar, but the parallels were too good for
me to ignore.
In conclusion, each and every Yoruba elite will have to decide
for himself/herself if indeed the independence of Biafra portends a disaster
worth averting.The irrational fear expressed by the likes of Ayodele would
imply that Biafrans would be trooping home also with our many daughters who are
currently happily esconsced in their husbands’ homes in Yorubaland. It will
never come to that. Trust me.
