MY DAILY PARAGRAPH
While we mourn the death of a young man gruesomely murdered by the security agents following the unfortunate incident that broke out yesterday in Enugu, the bigger sadness and cause of worry is that this might not be the last case.
The victim tomorrow could be me, it could be the person reading this article, it could be someone you and I know.
This is why it calls for solution than blame game, because as ndị Igbo, we are all in the same boat and if it capsizes, everyone of us will drown.
How do we end sit at home and the senseless killings and destruction of properties that come with it? This should be the question that comes to mind, because while yesterday was the first time the security agents killed someone on issues relating to sit at home, it wasn’t the first time innocent people have been butchered because of sit at home by non-state Actors, and won’t be the last if nothing is done.
While the governor of the state in his good intentions has made serious moves to end sit at home, it is increasingly looking like there isn’t much progress, and the death of a young man takes away the value of the tiny progress made.
To win the war against Sit At Home, we must take into consideration, a few factors;
1. Sit At Home became popular in 2017 when IPOB decided to stop protesting publicly but to press down their demands through Civil Disobedience by shutting down the economy of the East. Then sit at home held on days like May 30th and other significant days in Biafra History, including the day Nnamdi Kanu’s dog was killed during an attempt to arrest him in Afaraukwu, his country home.
2. Releasing Nnamdi Kanu will not end sit at home. IPOB has 6 demands and releasing Nnamdi Kanu UNCONDITIONALLY is just one of them. The freedom of Nnamdi Kanu would be a major victory for sit at home and a strong proof of it’s effectiveness, hence the need to use it to press for the remaining 5 demands which includes a Self-conducted Referendum for Biafra.
3. Fighting against IPOB is fighting against Igbo people.
I have had hundreds of face off with IPOB and I can confidently say that 9 in 10 Igbos support IPOB.
According to Fr. Ernest Makata, there are three types of Igbos;
i. Those Against IPOB
ii. The real IPOB
iii. Ndị IPOB but…
The first two are very very very few in number.
Igbos like me who are outrightly against IPOB are very few.
Igbos who are registered IPOB members and follow them religiously are very few. I don’t think they are upto 5,000.
However, the third aspect is where you find 99% of Igbos.
These are the people who support IPOB BUT they don’t like their mode of operation, or they don’t like Simon Ekpa, or they don’t think secession is best for now, or they don’t like the killings, or their own is becoming too much, and all other BUTS.
These people that love IPOB but have one or two reservations about them or their mode of operation are overwhelming in number. Even politicians and government agents are amongst them.
Therefore, while Igbos groan about the negative effects of sit at home, it should be in the best interest of anyone who wants to stop them to realize that Igbos are NOT behind him.
IPOB/ESN/Nnamdi Kanu to ndị Igbo are like a tree in front of an old man’s house that bears rotten fruits. The old man loves the tree because he rests under it’s shades for protection from the Sun and to get cool breeze at night, but uncomfortable with the rotten fruits that fall from it, dirtying his compound and sometimes, Fallon on him.
As long as that tree is alive, it will bear rotten fruits and provide shades.
The old man doesn’t want to cut down the tree, and still doesn’t want the rotten fruits from the tree.
The Igbos are like this old man, and IPOB is like this tree.
A government that ignores the old man’s situation and allows him to be would be seen as insensitive and negligent.
A government that wants to cut down this tree will be brutally attacked by the old man for daring to take away the shades.
This is the dilemma being faced by the new Enugu State Governor, Barr. Peter Mba and the people of Enugu State, which prompted the topic of this article; HOW GOV. PETER MBA CAN WIN THE WAR AGAINST SIT AT HOME.
Kedu ka a ga-esi kwọrọ onye ukwu wara?
In my study of history, I have never seen anyone win a war against his own people. It’s something that cannot happen, has never happened and is probably never going to happen.
The war against Sit At Home then appears to be an indirect war against Igbos, who majority of them fall into the category of “Ndị IPOB But…”
To win the war against Sit At Home, I think what should be done is to look at how one would have solved the Old man’s problem.
If cutting the tree is going to be met by a stiff resistance from the old man, and planting a new tree would take a long time, I believe the way to go is to win over the old man’s support first.
Convince the old man through a good conversation on why the tree needs to go, then provide a temporary shade for him, plant a new tree that can bear good fruits, then cut down the tree.
He will then stay under the temporary shade while waiting for the new tree to grow enough to provide shade.
Juxtapose it with the current situation. Ndị IPOB But… are the old man that needs convincing.
The first step Peter Mba should take is to win over Ndị IPOB But… to his side.
Overshadow the real IPOB by providing for them, that thing they gain from IPOB, which is a voice for ndị Igbo; the promise a hope of a better life.
Let them be in tune with you. Let them count on you as their leader that would always be by their side. Let them hear you take sides with them on matters of national and global importance.
Be that temporary shade they need, so they can approve the cutting down of the evil tree that bears rotten fruits.
For if Ndị IPOB But… Start taking side with the government, the real IPOB/ESN/UGM won’t survive for 2 weeks before they are brought down.
For no matter how bad the effect of sit at home becomes, no Igbo person is going to report an ESN member to the police. No Igbo person is going to assist soldiers to catch Unknown Gunmen enforcing Sit At Home.
And this is why it has remained difficult to fight them. They have the people behind them, and no one in history ever won a war against his own people.
Therefore, I urge Gov. Peter Mba to shift the focus of the war away from sit at home, to winning the people to his side.
Let’s shift the battles from knives and guns, to conversations and debates.
Let’s move away from tough talks to sweet talks.
This is the way to go, that we may not have another corpse on our hands next week.
Chukwu Zoba Anyị
