Igbos: Sophisticated people with lack of Political Prowess. By Ope Babs

If there is any tribe I adore incontrovertibly and without being overtly selective, it is the Igbos. The Igbos are sophisticated, hardworking and business gurus that can thrive on any soil, above and below the seas. Don't mind how hyperbolic I sound, just follow me.

I have had the opportunity of schooling in one of the Federal Universities in the South-South region and I came across a lot of Igbo people as course mates and as church members. Many of them are still my friends up until today. They are very accommodating and brilliant in all sense of societal usefulness. Their culture is very rich that I even choose my favourite worship songs from Igbo language  (Don't ask me but think of it). The few of them I know as friends reason rationally on any bothering issues as they would in terms of business. There are always a lot of wisdom to derive from Igbos' pool of proverbs. You must learn something useful from Igbos unless if you are such an insensitive person.

Why am I being so narrative and full of eulogies about the Igbos you may want to ask? Yes I have my reason and that being the fact that everything that has the positive side must have a negative side. Despite their sophistication and versatility in virtually all spheres of human endeavours, they seem to lack political prowess to pursue their course.

The call to pull out of Nigeria to become a Biafra nation; though not supported by overwhelming population of the Igbos is a 'prematurely possible idea' if only they are politically positioned to pursue their cause. I called. I call it 'prematurely possible idea' because it is a mission possible in the long run if legitimately sought without threats and hate campaigns. Though ideology might not be the same and people don't often seem to see things the same way; but rather than putting all their eggs in the same basket and get attracted to sectional sentiment paradox seems like a bad business forecast or projection. They should rather learn how Yorubas are doing it rather than calling them traitors even though I don't know of any agreements reached with the Yorubas that have been betrayed. May be I need some sort of better enlightenment on that.

It would be good if they can call for a conference to chat a common cause among themselves. I don't know how PDP was able to infiltrate the Igbo land and sent both APGA and PPA into extinction. It remains a misery. Even at that I believe if not for giving in to sectional sentiment and selfish pursuits of some political gladiators in the region, they could still have decided on the pathway to bringing prosperity and progress among the people. PDP infiltrated Alliance for Democracy (AD) and destroyed its goodwill but it took former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to pick up the ruins and rebuild from Advanced Congress for Democrats (ACD) to Action Congress (AC) and later to Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and later through formidable alliance to All Progressive Congress (APC) and the rest is now historical testimony. But what we had in APGA was leadership tussle between Chief Chekwas Okorie and Chief Victor Umeh with series of court cases. Dr Orji Kalu resorted to faith of accepting the demise of PPA the moment his political son and the former Governor of Abia State Chief Theodore Orji defected to PDP. He had no choice following the saying that 'if you cannot beat them you join them' and found himself back shamelessly in the PDP. When he could not get the senatorial ticket, he quickly visited PPA as the last resort which result didn't augur well . That clearly should tell our politicians to seek ideology even if the constitution allows freedom of association rather than chasing the wild goose around the political terrain.

Now back to the main point I am trying to make, the population of the whole south East alone is more than that of Scotland in the United Kingdom. Following the recent EU referendum voting in the UK in which the people voted to leave, Scotland through Scottish National Party (SNP) played a significant role by voting enmass to remain in the EU with 68%; that's common cause. Now, that massive voting that was borne out of common cause pays off as the major decision on the processes to formally leave the European Union lies with Scotland. Not necessarily because they voted massively to remain but because Scotland is an indispensable and integral part of the United Kingdom triggered by the revenue generated by her natural resources. By that voting pattern, Scotland has got the choice of pulling out of the UK through referendum and follow the EU. But UK knows that's a huge risk, hence the resort to let the Scotland come up with some negotiations on how to dismember from the EU. That's why the agitations over neglect of regions never cease to amaze me. We have never imagined whether there has been purposeful leadership or not. The problem is that we have never asked our leaders to account for how the financial resources accruable to our respective states were spent but rather chose to engage in violence with the sordid aim of fighting the government at the centre. It is senseless to destroy things while attracting attention or threaten the peace of the whole nation. It is an archaic way of pressing demands. We are not in the days of David and Goliath. The level of hate campaigns on the social media is appalling. It is so hot that it can lighten up every locality in Nigeria. An average Igbo person don't want to hear an Hausa person talking nor Yoruba and vice versa. A great nation is not built that way. Even if we all choose to go our separate ways, the problems will still remain with us, that's just the fact.

Igbo people being business oriented people can  make a whole lot of difference in the Nigeria political terrain by first coming together to chart a new cause on the basis of genuity of purpose and common interest. Now is the best time to reorganise and reposition the region; not allowing the current events of agitations to steal the show. It is not too late, gains in politics is all about contributory efforts and attendant disposition to common cause. With that you can press demands, even threaten referendum that would send vibrations down the spine of the central government. Every human cause should not be primitively sought but rather being immersed in logical demands through dialogue. The Igbo leaders and those who truly believe in the unity of Nigeria needs to
as a matter of urgency reach out to the radicalised ideologists who are mostly the youths by enlightening them on the retrogressive capabilities of their agitation. It is time to pursue a common cause that sees an Igbo man through to the presidency. Collectively and with discipline that is possible. The unity starts from within before without. My brothers and sisters I greet una!!!