By Tony Adibe
At a 1-Day Southeast Stakeholders’ Summit tagged, “RoadMap To 2023 Elections: PathWay To Victory,”organized by the leadership of the Labour Party (LP) caucus in the southeast zone of Nigeria, the former Chief of Policy and Plans, Nigerian Army, as well as the Nigeria Defence Adviser to the United Nations, Major General Lincoln Ogunewe (Rtd.), as the guest speaker, delivered the key-note address during when he raised several critical questions, which agitated the minds of people on the rising insecurity in the zone.
The well-attended ceremony, which was held recently at the Kobb Event Centre within the premises of the popular ShopRite, Enugu was particularly convened by the Labour Party National Vice Chairman, Southeast Zone, Chief Innocent Okeke in collaboration with the party caucus in the zone.
This piece will probably not go into details of what all the speakers said at the summit but will focus chiefly on the very nagging issues which Maj-Gen Ogunewe touched while giving his public speech that was more of conversational with the audience than the usual Nigerian longish lectures that often end up having members of the audience snoring heavily because such lectures lacked inspiration.
For instance, Maj Gen Ogunewe, who is the Governorship candidate for the Labour Party in forthcoming polls in Imo State, while taking a hard look at insecurity in the southeast, raised key questions on greed among the Igbo elite, why have the five governors in the southeast not given the Igbo a functional and effective Amotekun to checkmate insecurity , as their counterparts in the southwest did?
Why is it that Igbo, unlike in the past, no longer punish people for their ill-gotten wealth? Why is it that the meetings or gatherings of the Igbo leadership in Enugu no longer evoke fear among other Nigerians as was the case in the past, just like the meetings of the northerners in Kaduna and those of the westerners in Ibadan used to evoke among the rest of the citizens?
In this write-up, I am going to allow Maj General Ogunewe’s crucial talk tagged, “Security In The Southeast: The Way Forward” to flow just as he presented it to the audience, who gladly interrupted him with “yes,” “yes” and “no”, “no”, though depending on the questions he put to them.
Major-General Ogunewe said: “I will start by saying that it is an honour and privilege participating in this summit, “RoadMap to 2023 Election: Pathway to Victory” organized by the Labour Party, the southeast caucus.”
“The topic I’ve designed is “Security In The SouthEast – A Way Forward”. I am not here to deliver a lecture as this has been done in several fora and several times but to speak truth into sober reflections and actions. I have no paper to circulate or give because such papers are rarely read or given a thought thereafter. I am, therefore, here to agitate our minds and at the end of our talk, we should interact and look at ways of handling insecurity that is threatening the peace and progress of Igboland and also the 2023 elections.”
“I want to ask: Is the one-day summit enough to discuss the enormous southeast security challenges? Is discussing our security challenges in the open, ok? I just want to agitate our minds and will continue to agitate it throughout the course of my talk.”
“I am happy that this summit is taking place in Enugu, the capital city of Igboland. Enugu used to be the political capital and also the military capital of Eastern Nigeria. Lion Building was the capital and Abakpa Cantonment used to be the military capital of Eastern Nigeria.”
“The late Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was the political leader in Lion Building while late Col David Sunday Ogunewe was the military leader in Abakpa Cantonment. Then any activity that would bring the Igbos together in Enugu evoked serious interest and fear. Then any activity that would bring the then Western Nigeria to Ibadan evoked serious interest and fear. And then anything that would bring then Northern Nigeria to Kaduna also evoked serious interest and fear. This is what I term ‘The Balance of Fear’ that ensured stability and cooperation between the regions then.”
“Today while activities at Ibadan and Kaduna evoked fear and create interest; greater fear than it used to evoke. But today, activities in Enugu would seem not to evoke any fear; at times, it goes unnoticed. I ask why? The answer should be uppermost in our thoughts during this summit and thereafter.”
“The truth is that when you seek love most often than not, love eludes you. But when you are feared, you are loved in sort. When one seeks love, one exhibits servitude but when you evoke fear, you exhibit threat, unity, intelligence, wealth and you are loved… Eastern Nigeria exhibited those qualities and other regions courted our love. Today, Ala-Igbo has become a killing ground and centre for all manner of crimes and intrigues. This is not how we used to be or known as a people.”
“In 1966 during the counter coup, many officers and soldiers and civilians were killed in the North. The Eastern political class and some senior military officers that escaped the mayhem in the north descended on the then Igbo Commanding Officer of the First Battalion, Abakpa, Lt. Col Ogunewe and demanded the retaliatory killing of officers and soldiers of Northern extraction. He vehemently resisted this demand, stating that he would never superintend over the killing of officers and soldiers that he commanded but rather ensure their security and safety. He was called names, but he remained unruffled because he wasn’t trained that way; it was not in his character; it is not in the character of the Igbos to kill anyone living in their midst, what more their kith and kin as it is today. Something has gone wrong, and most be corrected.”
“I say this because in the course of this talk, I will ask some questions and when I ask the questions, you will come and answer them; and then you discover that the problem of insecurity in Igboland will be analysed. So, a lot of things happened that led to the civil war. I cited the above instance not to make my late dad a hero but to highlight the fact that mass killing has not and is not in the DNA of Ndigbo. If it was, all it would have taken was for a three votes mobilization that would have overrun the cantonment in Abakpa.”
“I come around and ask, what is the best definition of security? My layman definition is that security is something you notice, when it is absent, without which nothing functions; security is so absent in Ala-Igbo today that we all live in fear, work in fear and sleep in fear. Let us not deceive ourselves: Do you know that the southeast that was once described in the 1964 Journal of Michigan State University as the fastest growing economy ahead of China, Malaysia is gradually being made desolate by insecurity, and now dwelling in the glory of the past?”
“Today, we have the almighty sit-at-home that is dangling above us like the sword of Damocles that has entrenched criminality and paralysed almost all activities in Ala-Igbo. Why? How and Way Forward? I ask.”
WHY?:
“Listen to me very, very well. Anything I’m saying here also affects me as a person, as Onye Igbo. I ask why? I put it forward…Greed. Greed. Greed. How? I put it this way. Leadership. Leadership. Leadership. Way Forward? I put it – Everybody. Everybody. Everybody. I would have ended my talk here and take questions since I’ve answered the why, the how, and the way forward. But let me agitate our minds further.”
“Why Greed? In the no distant past the Igbo system of life centred on hard work, honesty, support for one another. Criminality and greed were highly condemned by families, communities, and governments, and had consequences. Proceeds from crime and greed were unaccepted in the Igbo society. This put us in check and made us to think Igbo, work Igbo and live Igbo. But greed leads to unhealthy competition and unnecessary fights and destruction of the Igbo value system and governance.”
“Greed led to the monetization of our hearts and conscience. Greed can lead a man to sell his brothers and sisters. Greed can make a man to sell his birthright, betray his brother and even accept to live in a state of insecurity. As long as my interest is protected, the common interest is traded off as we see happening in our midst today. Greed has led many to join the Labour Party because it is seen as the emerging dominant party in the southeast.”
“A Chinese proverb states that fish starts to rot from its head. Head signifies leadership. Where is the Igbo leadership and followership? Have you noticed that we speak with discordant voices on issues that are at the core of Igbo interest? Even in Igbo presidency. Have you noticed that, as if our elected and opinion leaders look outside Ndigbo for direction and guidance.”
“We have a Southeast Governors Forum (SGF). Why have they not given us an Amotekun like their Southwest counterparts? Another situation that should agitate our minds is the gradual erosion of the native leadership through the Town Unions. What concerns governments with the election of Town Unions President Generals? Is it not supposed to be the responsibilities of various communities to elect their President Generals? Do we have functional and effective local government administration that is bringing governance to the people? All these are things that cause insecurity?”
“I have asked all these questions because in the past when there was no interference in community leadership and effective local government administration, governance was seamless, and insecurity was absent.”
Way Forward
“Everybody. Everybody. Everybody. Security is everybody’s business and as such we must all get involved or perish. It is human beings that are causing the mayhem in the southeast. This is not the time of playing games but to rise up and get involved.”
“We must be proactive and not reactive in handling the security challenges in the southeast. How do we get involved? How can we be proactive? I want to get your opinions. Lastly, these questions need answers that may provide a clue in handling the insecurity in our region. These are the questions I want to agitate your minds with: One, is it possible for Igbo sons and daughters to be slaughtered in Igbo land without the connivance of Igbo people? I ask again, is it possible for Igbo sons and daughters to be slaughtered in Igbo land without the connivance of Igbo people?”
There was murmuring from the audience as some answered “yes” while others replied “no.”
“I ask again, is there any mechanism of interacting with the Igbos everywhere both at home and abroad to know their security situation? Do we have that mechanism? Is there any mechanism like that?” Again, the audience replied with a resounding “Noooooooo!”
“Three, is it possible to kill ten northerners in the southeast without a reaction from the northern political elites, which to me, is in order?” The listeners replied in the negative. The fourth question, how many times have the Igbo political elites reacted to the killings of the Igbos in any part of the world?”
The audience yelled “no reactions from them!” Someone then asked whether Lincoln Ogunewe isn’t one of the Igbo political elites, but he just murmured the question to himself! Five, is there anyone here that can tell us the number of Igbo sons and daughters locked up in the cells of security agencies in Igboland?” The audience replied noooooo!
“Whose responsibility is it to identify them? I believe if we answer these questions honestly the problem of insecurity in Igboland will abet. I ask again, whose responsibility is it to take records of happenings going on in Igboland to the community authorities? Is it possible for the Igbo leadership to send a delegation to the President, detailing the facts about the killings in the southeast? Do we have the facts? Do we have the statistics of those that have lost their lives through some of these killings, you know?” The audience murmured again.
“Then this is a critical question: Is it possible for the Igbo nation to identify the unknown gunmen in the southeast? Is it possible? The unknown gunmen are not just working on their own. I believe they must have their sponsors; is it possible to identify their sponsors? Is it possible?” The audience replied in the affirmative, “yes!”
“As a General I know that guns are not bought in Ogbete Market, Enugu but supplied by international criminal gangs operating in Igboland. Is it possible to identify them? Is it possible?” Some of the listeners said yes while some merely murmured! It’s not enough to answer yes. If you know that it possible to identify them, come forward here and let us know.”
“Ladies and gentle men, I have just agitated our minds. I might not have gone to tell you these are the ABCD of checkmating insecurity in the southeast but the questions I have raised, if you look into them critically and follow them up, I am sure we will have a peaceful southeast. Ladies and gentlemen, I believe by the time we answer all these questions, we would have provided an answer to the insecurity problem in this zone.”
“But before I conclude, I want to say in a country where food becomes more expensive than the salary of a worker; two things become cheap. The dignity of a man and the honour of a woman. Where lies the honour of an Igbo man? Where lies the dignity of an Igboman? Where lies the dignity of an Igbo woman? That will stay and be a steppingstone to our future and …. Steppingstones, once they march you, you are dropped. A word is enough for the wise!
Thank you very much. If I spoke well, good. If I have not spoken well, good.”
