Boko Haram: Why Igbo should remain in the North by Ohanaeze Secretary-General

Recently, the Governors and stakeholders in Igbo leadership held a security meeting in Enugu.  Can you shed more light on the security meeting as it concerned Ohanaeze Ndigbo? Well, it is not really about the   Ohanaeze Ndigbo  affair as such; it is the police that invited Christians and Muslims to discuss issues. We are told […]

Recently, the Governors and stakeholders in Igbo leadership held a security meeting in Enugu.  Can you shed more light on the security meeting as it concerned Ohanaeze Ndigbo?

Well, it is not really about the   Ohanaeze Ndigbo  affair as such; it is the police that invited Christians and Muslims to discuss issues. We are told that every Divisional Police Officer finds time to have a  meeting  with people  in his zone because we need to talk to ourselves about what is going on to  be able to separate the chaff from the seed.

There seems to be too much rumour-mongering, too many stories and people just cause panic for nothing. Ohanaeze is in constant touch with our people in the north and many of them have no intention of leaving the north because they are living normal lives there.

You know security is not a public issue otherwise, it won’t be security but such meetings are going on. I hear it is an order from the apex authority of the police because people need to talk to themselves particularly when people are intending to get into sectarian war or sectarian struggle; is about people who want to Islamize Nigeria and those who are opposed to it.

And anybody can use it to start something that has not been planned. I think that meeting is to alert everybody that there is no organized thing that will lead this country into sectarian conflict. We already have enough of political conflicts on our hands. It’s simple: Whether it is Boko Haram or whatever it is, there are criminals “trained” and “untrained”, we don’t know, but they look quite sophisticated and it looks as if people have been planning this for quite some time. But we cannot throw it out that it has become now a line of divide; there are elements of suspicion but it is to stop this suspicion that these meetings are being held and I think it is a good thing.

As we are sitting here doing this interview, somebody just called me that Onitsha is burning; that Hausa and Igbo in the Main Market are fighting. Some criminals may have started that trouble and you know what will follow it is looting. So this is the sort of thing we are against; our people should open their eyes wide and know who really the enemy is around. Well, that’s all I can tell you; we meet regularly because in our own zone, it’s now a monthly affair.

Why exactly are you holding the meetings?

I’ve just told you. There’s too much rumour-mongering. There are too many stories. If you take your phone and you read text messages that emanate from people you don’t know; all to create panic and fear among the citizenry. Whatever you say; I personally blame our politicians for what is going on in this country now because they are emphasizing the things that divide us rather than the things that unite us.

You are a Nigerian before you become Christian or Muslim. A lot of things that divide us, people cash in  on them and make them loom large as if they  are alive. All I’m saying is that there is no cause for sectarian conflict. If a Hausa man challenges you, there are law enforcement agents; please, for goodness sake, follow the procedure and complain to the law enforcement agents. Don’t go and gather a crowd and start slaughtering people and before you know it, you have escalated a thing that will now create more trouble. That is the position.

Is there anything Ohanaeze is doing to check this rumour-mongering?

Ohanaeze has issued statements that were put in the press and put on the internet. Some of them I have sent out to our branches and units. All we do is to guide people. We are very clear in what is happening. For example, there were calls for Igbos to leave north; some of us are saying shine your eyes, know when you are in danger and protect yourself but for goodness sake, be law abiding. I don’t think Igbos should leave the north because we are one country in spite of the hiccups that have gone on from year to year which I blame on our politicians, beginning from the military. The military men were not being fair to our country and the thing is burning now. Some of them will fly away because they made money and the majority of Nigerians will be here suffering and I think we must all back our president to make sure there is a transformation.

Nigerians must live the way they were and turn to new understanding. We cannot wait for 200 years before we learn the mistake of America. I hear people discussing on television and they say, well, America is 200 years. But I ask, must we wait for 200 years before we do things right? Can’t we learn from their experiences? So this is the position. Ohanaeze is doing its best to calm Ndigbo.

You may have known that about two weeks ago, the southeastern Governors invited Ndigbo to a meeting; they issued a communiqué and people were angry. Let’s not pretend. I’ve spoken to you about this before. Let’s not pretend. Is reminiscent of what happened just before the civil war.

The word pogrom – when people were slaughtered for no other reason than they are Igbos and many Igbos are beginning to say they are the target. Whenever there is a bomb in the church, they think Igbos are the targets. We are quite angry but before then Ohanaeze had taken this thing and issued a statement saying that enough is enough! And we sent it to Mr. President (Goodluck Jonathan) who also acknowledged it. We made our suggestions and that’s how to get things done in a civilized manner.

What are the suggestions?

Every Nigerian has the right to security and property. That is the basic thing. That is the common covenant we signed with any government. Like Jonathan points out, the difficult thing is that you don’t know who the enemy is. The man you are dipping your hands into the same pot with, like Jesus Christ said, may be the betrayer. But the motive is something else – all they are using people to achieve their political aims and is high time Nigerians resisted that rubbish.

And what other suggestions did you make to the president?

Well, Mr. President; I’m sorry for him; he’s wearing the shoe and he knows where it pinches. He’s doing a lot in his own way. The security advisers should be up and doing because if your security is compromised, then you are in trouble. The issue is that they must go and gather information. And during the meeting we had with the police, I started by saying Nigeria police tells  us “police is your friend”; start now to make yourself more friendly because if you frighten  people they will never give you any information, when they don’t have the confidence in you.

The way some of our police men are handling the ordinary Nigerian; they almost condemn them before they even accuse them; they have to show greater friendliness because they are part of us and they are doing the job for us. If you don’t show friendliness and people see you and run away; how then do you gather your information?

Can we now go into the history of Ohanaeze. What is the meaning of the word Ohanaeze?

It is a combination of three words. OHA-NA-EZE. ‘Oha’ means the ordinary people; the people. ‘Na’ means ‘and’ while ‘Eze’ means ‘King’. So in a nutshell, Ohanaeze means mornachy, royalty and the people. That’s what it means in a simple way.

So in a layman’s definition?

The people and their leaders; that is the association; Ohanaeze is to show that nobody owns Ohanaeze; it’s the people and their leaders. Who owns Ohanaeze? The Igbos worldwide; Ohanaeze Ndigbo. I went to Nnewi the other day and they called Nzuko-Ora-Nnewi; that is the General Assembly of Nnewi people. It is in the same way. This is the General Assembly of all Igbos worldwide the rulers, the kings, the traditional rulers and the ruled. That is what it means.

When was it formed?

Well, I tell you, Ohaneze has a history. Before the civil war in Nigeria, we had what we called Igbo Union. Igbos living all over Nigeria, particularly in the north decided – you see, Igbos are very enterprising in their approach; they are very persevering. So wherever they are, they want development and there is no village you go to in Igboland, and you don’t find a development union of that village; how to improve their community; we recognize that government alone cannot do everything. Many a time, we have to help government.

So the Igbo Union was very strong. A man like Chief Z. C. Obi was the then General President, and many prominent Igbos that lived in the North at that time were members. You know, I don’t know what has gone wrong with us; because the Igbos believed in Nigeria, and they see every part of Nigeria as their home. Unfortunately, not everybody sees it that way. How many Yorubas have come to settle for good in Enugu? And I can tell you that there was a time when the Mayor of Enugu was a Northerner from the present Katsina state and people got along with him. So when did we start going wrong that you see me now first as an Igbo man before you see me as a Nigerian? Definitely, something must be wrong somewhere and that is why I put the blame squarely on the feet of politicians.

So the Igbo Union was a development union of the Igbos. They made money, they trained other people and they think of how to develop their villages. People back home believe that people outside, when they make money, they should use it to develop the communities, and those in the villages want to be part of the money.

So Igbo Union was very strong to the point that they built schools. In fact, in some places, they built hospitals and it was not as if it was only Igbo people who go to such schools; I can tell you, Igbo Union Schools in the North were so strong and so well organised. But what did we see? Again you cannot but blame the military officers who didn’t understand the psyche of our people. The military came and banned Igbo Union. As a result of the ban of Igbo Union, the Igbos were left scattered.

So after the war which ended in 1970, Igbos were moving without direction. And then some people started thinking: let’s get back to that old Igbo Union. Whatever you see now in Ohanaeze, the aims and ideas, or objectives are the same with the former Igbo Union.