What Will it Take to Rectify Nigeria? Igboman in Aso Rock

By

Michael Okoye

[WARRI, NIGERIA]

mackoye@yahoo.co.uk

Nigeria as a country has come a long way. On the first of October we shall celebrate our 42^nd independence anniversary. The question we have repeatedly refused to answer is whether we have anything to celebrate. A nation moves forward only when she decides to tell herself the simple truth about the way forward.

Good leaders have always eluded Nigeria for the past 42 years. The people we consider as leaders are the ones that can bend the rules to suit our selfish desires. People that should under normal circumstances be behind bars. Leadership is not about exercising crude power and forcing some barbaric ideas down on a free people. Leadership is not success at coup plotting or stealing government money.

Nigeria’s greatest problem from independence to date has a lot to do with the inability of the fledging illiterate electorates to elect a credible, educated, honest and focused candidate to manage the affairs of the nation. With the exception of the Right Honorable Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (who incidentally was only a ceremonial President), all other Presidents, and Heads of State of Nigeria to date were / are simply non-graduates.” A nation’s place in the world is defined by a matrix of factors, which are reflected in two dimensions-how the nation sees itself and how others see it. The nation’s image of itself emerges from the shared dreams and visions of the leadership and the citizenry and may involve some myth making. Its perception by others, however, will include their evaluation of that nation in the power calculus of the international order. If we are the Giant of Africa, we should not only project that image but there would be ingredients in that projection that will enforce recognition and compliance by other states”

From pre-independence to post-independence Nigeria, the Ibo man consistently suffered from one form of Economic, Political and Social marginalization to another. The Ibo man had consistently continued to trudge on, recording series of successes from one field of human endeavor to another. Its only in the field of politics that he had performed woefully. This is due to  series of factors, including the Nigerian factor (The Zero sum game)

“In zero sum games, one man’s win is another man’s loss. One man’s victory is another man’s marginalization. If I win, you must lose. If you win ,I will lose. Therefore, I must win .I must not allow you to win, if not, I will lose. A vicious circle emerges and self-propagates ad infinitum, ad nauseam. Shortly after the  Events of January 15^th,1966, the zero sum syndrome began to creep deeper and deeper into the mentality of Nigerians, initially in trickles, peaking to a flood post-Murtala Mohammed. Barbaric as the questions sounded, they were asked without qualms, why was it that Zik, Okpara, and Osadebe were not also killed? Why was it that only one Eastern officer was killed, why not more, so as to prove the impartiality of the coup d’ e’tat (Probably to reflect the Federal Character of the then nascent military dictatorship)? Therefore to satisfy the minimum requirements of zero sum games that Nigerians habitually play, an orgy of self-justifying ethnic cleansing was unleashed in May, June and July 1966 and beyond.”

The Ibo man had seen it all, they have come a long way. An average Ibo man a  pioneer, a  natural born leader,

a pacesetter, a go-getter, a visionary and very charismatic. As early as two years after independence, an American news reporter described Nigeria as “ A COUNTRY WERE THE BEST IS IMPOSSIBLE AND THE WORST CAN NEVER HAPPEN”. But today the worst had long happened ( the civil war ) and the best is simply the IBO MAN. The records are there glaring for the doubting Thomases to see. There is no known recorded great achievement Nigeria can be remembered for, both at home and abroad, without an Ibo man’s

involvement.

I will run the records from the pre-independence era to date .They are virtually first in everything and I guess you know what first mean – THE BEST.

• When independence fever was sweeping throughout the whole so called third world countries; Africa in particular; many countries fought bitter wars to gain independence from their evil colonial masters. Nigerians, led by Rt. Honorable Dr. Nnamdi  Azikiwe; an Ibo man; won her independence without firing a single shot.

• First Nigerian vice-chancellor ,University college Ibadan, Prof. Kenneth Onwuka Dike – An Ibo man.

• First Indigenous Governor-General ,First senate President, First President Federal Republic of Nigeria, Rt. Honorable Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe – An Ibo man.

• First Nigerian ADC to the Governor-General, First five star Major-General Nigerian Army, First Nigerian Soldier to command a United Nations Peace keeping force in Congo), First Nigeria military Head of State (not by coup) – General Aguiyi Ironsi (An Ibo man.)

• First graduate in Nigerian Army – Colonel Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (an Ibo man ).

• He conducted the best ,the freest, and the fairest election in Nigeria’s History. He is Prof. Humphrey  Nwosu (An Ibo man).

• The First black man and the first individual to win GORDON BELL PRICE in computer science – Dr .Philip Emeagwali ( an Ibo man).

• The first Black man to become a DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF ENGINEERING in American – Prof. Barth. Nnaji (An Ibo man). I guess you know how old America is.

• The first African country to win Gold medal in soccer in an Olympic festival, led by three worthy Ibo sons-Commodore Emeka Omeruah, the NFA Chairman then, Chief Jim Nwobodo, the minister of sports then and KANU NWANKWO, the team captain in 1996.

• First student and first black man to set a world record at the university of London, as the best post-graduate student in the 120 years of the existence of the University.

• The first Nigerian DIGITAL TV station was established by Chief Michael Ajegbu – An Ibo Man.

• The first Nigerian to be beatified by the POPE when the whole world saw nothing good in that country called Nigeria. Blessed Michael Cyprian Iwene Tansi gave us hope in the dark days of Abacha’s rein in 1998 – An Ibo man.

• The first black man ,the first and last Nigerian to become the commonwealth secretary General – Chief Emeka Anyaoku (An Ibo man).

• The first made in Nigeria computer with international certification including MICROSOFT, and the first computer in the whole wide world with a NAIRA SIGN on its keyboard. Zinox computer pioneered by Mr. Leo Stan Ekeh (An Ibo man).

• THE FIRST PRIVATE E-MAIL ADDRESS ON THE INTERNET and acclaimed father of the internet by CNN. Dr. Philip Emeagwali  (www.emeagwali.com) – (An Ibo man’s ingenuity that drives worlds economic powers) and so many others.

When the white world were churning out books depicting Africa as a Dark continent, as people living on trees, people without history, a legend was born, who gave light to the so called DARK CONTINENT. One of the greatest men of the 20^th century, Albert Schweitzer-Philosopher, Theologian, Musician, Medical missionary-failed completely to see the most obvious facts about Africa, and so went ahead to say: “ The African is indeed my brother, but my junior brother”. His brother in crime ;Joseph Conrad; who happened to be the first writer to grace the cover of Time Magazine called an African, “THE HUMAN ANIMAL”. What it took to balance the equation was “THINGS FALL APART”; a literature book  written by Prof. CHINUE ACHEBE, who gave hope to the hopeless and showed the light the white criminals refused to see.

The imperatives of an Ibo man becoming the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria come 2003 are both alarming and interesting.

1. First of all, the Ibo man would set a standard in Governance, unprecedented in the history of governance not only in Nigeria, but in the whole so called THIRD WORLD.

2. Secondly, the high standard an Ibo man would set in only one term in office would put unimaginable shame to the faces of the military/political cartel of the North and the tribal war lords of the southwest.

3. Thirdly, more than 40years  of misery on the faces Nigerians would be wiped clean in only four years of high quality/focused leadership a President of Ibo extraction would exhibit.

4. Finally, Nigeria would never be the same again because healthy competition would be the order of the day, in every sector of the Nations Economy. Competition brings out the best in people and this is what makes America thick.

Each occupant of Nigeria’s seat of power is like a match stick .It only takes intelligence, humility, ingenuity and courage to light the more than 120 million candles waiting to see the light. What it takes to light the candles is simply good leadership.

Rt. Honorable Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe  led the group that fought for Nigeria’s  independence from foreign colonial rule. Because he was an Ibo man, he was denied the Prime minister position. Dr. Alex Ekwueme led the group of eminent Nigerians in G34,that fought for Nigeria’s independence from local colonial rule and they succeeded ,but because he was an Ibo man, he was the denied the Presidency. Both men light the candles for a very short time because the agents of darkness never allowed the candles to burn. They instead preferred to be in the dark with men like TAFAWA BAKEWA, OLUSEGUN OBASANJO etc. Have we seen the light at last.

the answer is no.

It’s time we tell ourselves the simple truth. The answer is DR. ALEX. EKWUEME. He  is the match stick that can light up the whole

Country for us all to enjoy.

By  Michael Okoye

Warri, Delta state.