“A distinguished political scientist from a ‘minority’ area of the south pronounces some years ago that Nigeria has an IGBO PROBLEM. Every ethnic group is of course something of a problem for Nigeria’s easy achievement of cohesive nationhood. But the learned professor no doubts saw the Igbo as a particular irritant,a special thorn in the flesh of the Nigerian body-politic” _prof. Chinua Achebe.
According to Achebe,despite the presence of all other ethnic groups in Nigeria which nevertheless also or might be a problem,but prejudicialy, the CABALS in Nigeria would ever continue to see the Igbo man as a problem, most especially when the name “Odimegwu” which seems to be synonymous to Nd’Igbo is involved. Their problem? They say that the Igbos are grasping,greedy and clanish. More posing above all apart from been grasping and greedy, the only thing above all things that always kept the CABALS on their toes is the illusive belief that the Igbos would always pursue a pan-Igbotic agenda. for those of us who are abreast with modern Nigerian history would understand that there’s nothing like pan-Igbo solidarity and the Igbos would be best described as fragmentary or acephalous. You can nevertheless have some group of self appointed leaders of Nd’Igbos in the urban cities, but to the generality of the Igbos themselves, it is largely a Joke. If there was anything like cohesive Igbo ambition or pan-Igbo solidarity, it only existed briefly for a unique reason, the Biafran civil war.
It is in the same vein and belief that some blustering patriots like the governor of Kano state, Rabiu Kwankwaso and the CABALS of this country are calling for the head of the chairman of National population commission, (NPC) Mr. Festus Odimegwu. Some columnists and social commentators has written from the angle of the quagmire that is going on at NPC but I want to take it from another point, the point of the IGBO PROBLEM and plausibly, the ODIMEGWU PROBLEM. Because of the prejudice and ethnic bigotry that has beclouded the rationales of the CABALS, they would never see anything good in him,like the biblical saying: “can anything good come out of Nazareth”? Not oblivion of the qualifications of this eminently qualified son of Nd’igbo,but mr.kwankwaso still doubts his credibility in heading the nation’s head count commission and thus calls for his sack and according to Mohammed Haruna, in his Wednesday, August 28,2013 column of the Nation’s Newspaper edition, “if the president wants the country to have a census in three year’s time with any chance of being acceptable at all, he should sack Odimegwu today. If nothing else any man, no matter HOW BRILLIANT,”
It is not surprising that the CABALS are calling for his sack, not just because mr. Festus has stated the obvious in discrediting the Nation’s census but solely, because of the presumed illusive belief of his coming to hatch the “Igbo Agenda”. In Nigeria, the Igbos has been most feared and according to Haruna, “does not deserve any responsible job, not to talk of one as sensitive and important as the headcount of a country as Big as Nigeria” this same habitual cum chronic hatred and jettisoning of the Igbos by the Nigerian CABALS could also be seen by all the media propagandas ultimately aiming at relieving the appointment of the Chief of Army Staff held by an Igbo man, all the media propagandas as it is presently witnessed in the Odimegwu’s case and the unceremonious removal of the boss of Immigration who also happens to be the daughter of Nd’Igbo on a mere accusation of clanishness and nepotism, I still recalls with pain, her removal.
Nigeria is a country that spends huge amount of money in sensitizing its citizenry on the need for patriotism and peaceful co-existence. In a country as badly as Nigeria that seriously needs the real patriots, people with proven attitude towards selfless services should be rewarded and not the other way round. A patriot is a person through his deeds and actions, loves his country with all his strength, might and ready to make any sacrifice for the overall betterment of his country and all its people. A patriot is not a person who says he loves his country nor who recites endlessly of his love for his country! The CABALS in Nigeria could only be caught in the latter analysis of patriotism, this set of people goes on in singing their praises and love for Nigeria, they are the people who spends billions of Naira in advertisement on a need for national unity, yes the CABALS, they are the Real Problems of Nigeria! A patriotic Nigerian would always demand the best for the people, he would be outspoken in condemnation of the societal ills and looks forward in correcting them without giving way for the CABALS. Mr Festus Odimegwu should be appreciated for speaking out against the wishes and aspirations of the CABALS of manipulating the figures of the nations population to suit their heinous and selfish desires. They only derives joys in falsehood which is at the detriment of common Nigerians!
As the tensile on Odimegwu’s ordeal continues, one begins to wonder the crime or the sins that Mr.festus had committed against his adopted nation,that still goes down to one unmistakable point, “The IGBO PROBLEM”. Odimegwu is not the only Nigerian that has raised an eyebrow about the fraudulent census figures of this country in the past, there has been a handful of others who have made such revealing assertions but they were unnoticed and whilst its from an Igbo man,a potential problem of Nigeria, the CABALS never hesitated to call for his head and his immediate sack!
His Crime?: Odimegwu faulted the nation’s census since inception, according to him ”Nigeria has not had a credible census since 1816” well, to an average Nigerian, Odimegwu only stated the obvious but one different thing is that’ this time, it is coming from the census umpire as no one in the head count commission has been able to summon the courage to take the patriotic and giant stride that Mr. Odimegwu has taken because the CABALS has been at the helms of the affairs of the population commission and would not do anything as tragic (as presumably to them) and treasonable as exposing their own ill and fraud! It is a well known fact to the generality of Nigerians that conducting a reliable census has been a massive problem in Nigeria, because of the political interests of the CABALS that is associated to Demographic informations. The Need to get it right is why the head of the Nigerian census boss was almost cut-off in some weeks back, when he revealed that all the past census figures were not accurate and never reflected the actual population of the people.
Surprisingly, in 2006 Nigerian Census, Kano state was allocated with a population figure of about 9.8M, Jigawa 5.6m while Lagos was allocated 9.6m. Doing the simple mathematics of addition, the figures of Kano and Jigawa states will be = 15.5m. How could the population of Kano state would still be more than that of lagos state even after carving out a state out of it? This is not only injustice but an affront to the collective discerning sensibilities of Nigerians! According to the census figure, the population of Old Kano States doubled to cater for Jigawa State while that of Lagos state remains stagnant because no state was carved out of it but one still but wonders how on earth will the population of Kano state still toppled the lagos state population even after a state was carved out of it in 1991. This was reason why the Census Boss was hesitatedly and strenuously queried because he claimed that such allocation does not help for National planning and development. for a country like Nigeria that is in sheer need of patriotic leaders, what Odimegwu could get in return of this patriotic deeds of his was “a query” or probably “a sack” but let it be known to all that he has tried his best by revealing this fraud that is the bane to the country’s development! As my revered Igbo proverb would say: “Ome nwere Chi ekweghi ya, onye utta ata kwala ya” (he who struggles and his Chi(God) says no, let nobody blame him),even if Odimegwu should get sacked today, let it be known to Nigerians that there was a man who once told Nigerians the truths.
During this ongoing nationwide debates on the case of Festus Odimegwu, many northerners has, as since seen the NPC Boss as the enemy of their nation and the CABALS has also taken the undue advantage of their gullibility to whip up ethnic and religious sentiment. By october 2013, Nigeria as an independent nation would have been 53 years old, so I think Nigerians would have grown beyond ethnicity and religion by now. The issue as stake as far as am concerned has gotten nothing to do with either ethnic or religion but it has gotten everything to do with the welfare of all Nigerians irrespective of any ethnic divide,religion or party affliction. When accurate census is taken, the nation’s wealth would be equitably distributed across the board and which in turn brings the much needed regional development. Owning to the south eastern individualistic and self striving nature, we are the least dependent on the government, if there is any region that needs the government attention the most, I think is the northern Nigeria! For blustery patriots and the sacred CABALS in the North who seems to be comfortable with the affairs of things in the north, they will employ every means in their Arsenal to suppress the ultimate truths by writing in the pages of newspapers and calling for the sack of Odimegwu who only said the truths. Its high time the thieves should stop speaking for the north.
Conclusively, I want to thank the leadership of Imo state house of Assembly, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and other comrades who has questioned the rationale behind the query being issued to Mr.Festus Odimegwu for saying the Obvious truths as a patriotic Nigerian,for how long shall Nigeria as a country continue to live in self denial and deceit? The time is now right as we are going to celebrate the Nigerians independence and the its centenary as Nigeria to come and discus our future, I want to add my voice to the millions of voices that has been yearning for a SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE (SNC) as the ultimate measure to curtail the impending bloodshed that awaits Nigeria. As some pundits has described Nigeria as a nation sitting on a keg of gun power waiting to explode. “As Winston Churchill said “History will be kind to him for he intend to write it”. Its time for President Jonathan to write his name in the books of History. It will be an act of heroic in the history of Nigeria if president Goodluck Jonathan initiates the process in which Nigerians to come together and discus the way forward for their continued co-existence as a nation and the implementation of any resolution reached as nothing could be more rewarding as the centenary gift to Nigerians than to come on a round table to chat a way forward, if not for anything, this time that the consciousness of ethno-politics has risen to an astronomical points.
By Ambrose Nwaogwugwu. Ambrose@gloworld.blackberry.com
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