LET THE HAWK PERCH, LET THE EAGLE PERCH: Rethinking Igbo conundrum

By Steve Osuji

The Igbo conundrum will make or mar Nigeria… and this may happen in two short years hence. This may sound like an alarmist if not exaggerated position but that prospect has been with us since 1914.Soon after Independence in 1960, this same conundrum led Nigeria to a vicious civil war (1967 – 1970), where millions perished. We seemed to have learned nothing and today, at the verge of another bloodfest,  we remember nothing. 

Truth is that we are a people with no great understanding nor institutional memory  and all we seem to do is blunder from one debacle to another. A barroom chat in Abuja a few days ago brought this phenom in bold relief. Four men, mostly in their middle ages were chatting about the place of Ndigbo in Nigeria. They were apparently of diverse tribes: from south south,  middle belt and up north. “They don’t have capacity to rule Nigeria, ” the most elderly of the foursome opined. The others agreed with him. But he kept reinforcing his assertion with vehemence and even a tinge of bitterness.

He could have been making an incantation to some malevolent gods. “What annoys me the most is that they think they know more than everyone else,” interjected another.”They don’t have capacity,” the older man insists staying: “One day, the Igbo president can just clear Nigeria’s money and run away, they are too greedy.”This conversation dripping with deep-seated prejudice continued ad nauseam on this hateful and disdainful trajectory.

There was no point to inform them that a late former head of State and his family spirted away about $5 billion from the treasury, some of it are still being repatriated till today. Another could not account for $12.2 billion Gulf War oil windfall. Yet another was reported to have move trailer loads of cash out of Aso Rock upon the expiration of his tenure. None of these was Igbo. In fact, Igbo has not ruled Nigeria since after the civil war! Today, 50 years after the end of the Nigeria-Biafra civil war, we seem to be dancing eerily along the pre-civil war boulevard. But this time, there’s a bit of a twist to it.Yes, Ndigbo by themselves,  have largely overcome the trauma of the war.

They are arguably,  the most prosperous and upwardly mobile tribe in the land today despite the untold fatalities and economic losses arising from the war. Beyond this, however, the Nigerian State seemed to have devised an unwritten suppression policy on the Republican tribe of the lower NIger river. Certain public positions and portfolios are kept off limits of the oriental tribe. Fifty years after,  Igbo cannot be president; 50 years after, Igbo cannot be CG of Customs; DG NPA; GMD NNPC, Chairman FIRS, etc.

Through a vicious, state wrought political-economic alchemy, Igbo which was the leading tribe was cut down to a fifth rate status in all spheres of national life. From civil service employment to military intake; federal allocation sharing and all sorts of political gerrymandering. This noxious policy remained active in its latency until President Buhari came around. He yanked off the veneer of equity and fairplay previous leaders had deployed and went gungho.

True, the President was denied Igbo votes in 2015 but he also didn’t do anything to woe them. On the contrary, he did everything both in speech and body language to relegate Igbo. The last straw may be the current tango with Igbo secessionist group, IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) and its mercurial leader,  Nnamdi Kanu.In 2015, President Buhari had insinuated that Ndigbo was deserving only 3% of democracy dividends under his watch having voted by that measure.

This time, he suggested that Igbo are a DOT in a circle meaning that any insurrection from that quarter could be easily crushed. And the ultimate faux pas from our president was a threat to speak to separationist Igbo youths in a language they understand.Outrage has trailed the president’s utterances both at home and abroad causing him to be barred by Twitter.

The Federal Government had promptly retaliated by moving against the social media platform to the chagrin of about 40 million Nigerian users. President Buhari’s speech is generally considered to he genocidal. Genocide and pogrom have been an integral part of Igbo history in Nigeria even way before independence. This is a testament to the Igbo conundrum. The rest of the country would rather beat down, suppress and repress Ndigbo. But this effervescent and much kinetic tribe are irrepressible – that is there nature, that is their DNA. In better organised climes where institutions work, the  best of the lot are pressed to work for the best of all. The much vaunted American Exceptionalism is founded of finding the very best in the land and putting them forward to lead at the helm of affairs. Meritocracy is the soul of great societies.

The Igbo Republican ethos is a fact of  history – a people who are free spirited, libertarian and nurtured on the ideals that all men are born equal. This is opposed to most other tribes with equally rich histories  of feudalism,  monarchy and paternalism. There are bound to be frictions when these strongly divergent tendencies are yoked together. But it is the crucible of these contending cultures, meshed together by strong, visionary leadership that great countries are forged. This is why America is as strong as it is diverse. But the Igbo conundrum in Nigeria is a bazaar of envy, disdain and repressive instincts. For instance,  the main grouse against Gen. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, leading to his betrayal and gruesome murder was that he introduced unitary system of government so as to obviate Igbo dominance in the 1960s. But that unitary system has persisted till this moment with the major beneficiaries resisting all attempts to even tinker with it.

Until the Nigerian power elite understand Igbo and overcome its lingering phobia and mistrust, Nigeria would not cease to totter. Considering that the undergirding lore of Ndigbo is: egbe bere, ugo bere, nke si ibeya ebela, nku kwaa ya (let the hawk perch, let the eagle perch, he that seeks to deny the other his perch, let his wings break).In simple translation, Igbo is about live and let live; Igbo is about expansive life for all; Igbo is about life in abundance … Yes, Igbo is also about all the human vices and frailties  as abound in every human sphere but Igbo in the final analysis,  approximates the very best of humanity.Finally,  Igbo is a huge blessing to a united  Nigerian entity where he is not misunderstood and maligned.