Ojukwu told me Igbo youths won’t accept oppression – Uko

In this interview, the founder of Igbo Youths Movement (IYM), Evang. Elliot Ugochukwu-Uko, whose organisation recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, explains the roots cause of Biafran agitation and the solution to Nigerian socio-political problems. Associate Editor Sam Egburonu, reports

 

THE 20th anniversary of your organisation, the Igbo Youths Movement (IYM), held last month, was quite interesting. When you formed this organisation two decades ago, did you set out to inspire Igbo youths to fight against perceived injustice?

The IYM was founded and established by God Almighty for a particular purpose. God has been directing the affairs of the IYM since 1999. What started out as a youth organisation, earlier designed to promote Igbo language and spread good behaviour amongst Igbo youths, through distribution of a leaflet titled “Igbo code of conduct,” gradually began to accommodate questions from umuigbo at the end of each seminar on the precarious Igbo condition in Nigeria.

Slowly, IYM began to enlarge the discussion from the importance of education and other issues, to the need for Nigeria to give Ndigbo justice.

Gradually, our resource persons at every seminar drifted into the pathetic political situation of Ndigbo in Nigeria. That is how IYM began to fight for justice for Ndigbo.

IYM suddenly became the defender of Ndigbo over the years.

The purpose of the organisation metamorphosed from promotion of Igbo language to fight for education, to promotion of Igbo code of conduct and now to fearless defence of the rights of Ndigbo. IYM metamorphosed into the authentic and trusted voice of the oppressed and voiceless Ndigbo. Because the Igbo elite can meander their way to survive in Nigeria, they do not care about the plight of the downtrodden; IYM therefore became the trusted voice of the masses of Ndigbo overtime. That’s what happened.

Nobody seemed to care about the younger generation of Ndigbo. So, I took up the gauntlet. My target was purely the younger generation; to prepare them for the task ahead.

I travelled all over the country, preaching to Igbo youths to organise themselves and fight for their rights. I told them nobody would fight for them if they don’t fight for their rights. I showed them glaring instances of clear oppression and subjugation of Ndigbo in Nigeria. I moved from school to school, compiled details of brazen suppression of our rights and denial of our dues as part of Nigeria. It was only a matter of time before they woke up from slumber. I was fortunate respected elders honoured my invitation to speak to the youths at every of my seminars. We had questions and answers sessions. It was those questions and answers sessions that opened my eyes to the depth of the frustration of the Igbo younger generation. I became alarmed.

Dim Odimegwu Ojukwu, who generously and kindly attended dozens of my IYM seminars, confided in me that he wasn’t shocked at the bitterness in the hearts of Ndigbo younger generation. He told me that he knew the younger generation of Ndigbo will be very angry at the treatment they are receiving from Nigeria. He said the rest of Nigeria do not care about the frustration of Igbo youths because Nigeria is busy still celebrating the defeat of Biafra. He said the younger generation of Ndigbo will not accept the suppression of Ndigbo much longer. He knew that something was bound to give.

He posited that the envy and fear of Ndigbo was largely responsible for the conspiracy to hold Ndigbo down perpetually, by denying them their rights.

So, by the late 1980s, I had known that the younger generation of Ndigbo will reject and resist the position of servitude designed for Ndigbo by the victors of the civil war. I happened to know this, not because I am a very smart person, no no no. I found out simply because I organised seminars for Igbo youths and during question and answer sessions, young Igbo men would lament that they are tired of Nigeria and wished for a separate state where they would be treated like human beings.

The student in Owerri, at my event at the Rosy Arts Theatre, would say the same thing the traders at Aba told us. The traders at Idumotta or Alaba Market Lagos would say the same thing the civil servants in Enugu told us and these people do not know each other.

The Nigerian state was clearly deceived by the “desperate hustling” of  the Igbo elite club, who are so desperate for anything, that they are willing to execute a contract through subletting, even crawling from office to office licking boots for crumbs. Nigeria’s leadership erroneously concluded that Ndigbo have finally accepted the humiliating position they designed for them as their proper place in Nigeria forever. Accordingly, the humiliation of Ndigbo became a state policy.

They forgot that Igbo elite represented only one percent of Ndigbo. They also forgot that Igbo are so republican in nature that every Igbo reacts according to how the shoe pinches him and the Igbo are never controlled by the announcement from one emir somewhere.

The trauma of the war created two different classes of Ndigbo: One, those who are willing to accept the continuous humiliation of Ndigbo and those who are willing to do anything to restore their lost dignity.

This fact sadly remains lost on the Nigerian state, which regrettably believes that force and intimidation will subdue the angry Igbo younger generation to accept the continuous humiliation Ndigbo have been facing since 1970.

Is that why MASSOB and IPOB are agitating for Biafra? What is the way out?

Count your teeth with your tongue. I have repeatedly screamed the way out for decades. I have been screaming long before Ralph established MASSOB. If I had joined my friends and classmates to hustle for political accommodation in Nigeria, I would not have known the shocking discovery I found out during the question and answer sessions during IYM seminars for Igbo youths. If my friends parading as successful politicians had found time to organise seminars for Igbo youths like I did in the 1980s and 1990s, they too would have discovered the degree of anger burning in the hearts of Ndigbo younger generation. They also would have known that even their personal aides and otinkpus are not happy with Nigeria. They would have known that the only people happy with Nigeria are those benefiting from the misery in the land. They would have known that this agitation was inevitable. It was bound to happen. Nigeria was bound to come to this.

I asked for the way out …

I would only be repeating myself. 25 years ago, Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, my leader, asked Bob Onyema to bring me to Villaska Lodge, Ikoyi, for a meeting. At that time, I was leading a coalition of Ndigbo youth groups in Lagos. What came out from that very important gathering of very important leaders was actually packaged for the General Abacha Constitutional Conference of 1994/1995. That is what some people at that time called Afenifere agenda, simply because the great Senator Abraham Adesanya-led NADECO amplified it at that time. I am yet to see any superior argument till date.

Nigerians have no better choice. Nigeria is not working. There are reports of past conferences, many sections are bitter and angry with the current structure, some even want out of Nigeria.

The system that worked from the mid-1950s to mid-1960 gave everyone a sense of belonging. You see the people lying to themselves, that they can hold Nigeria together under this unitary structure are the problem. Why they choose to deceive themselves beats me. Nigeria cannot grow under this military constitution. If the political structure is not reconstructed to true federalism by devolving powers to the federating units, Nigeria will die. Going back to the 1963 Republican Constitution is the way out.

Former minister, Prof Chinedu Nebo, said recently that Igbo political leaders are responsible for the woes of Ndigbo. Do you agree with him?

Prof Nebo is a highly respected intellectual and leader of men. It depends on what context he spoke. Everybody knows the Igbo political leadership has not done well. Just look at the zone. No seaport, no airport, no rail services, no motorable road, that’s not all, no clear political direction.

Some people said 2023 should be granted to the Southeast to produce Nigeria’s president. What are your views on this?

Everybody agrees Ndigbo have been ill-treated since 1970. Nzeogwu, Adegboyega, Ifeajuna and co didn’t conspire with the thousands of Igbo men, women and children slaughtered in the well organised  three-wave pogrom of 30th May-3rd June, 29th July-3rd August and 29th September-3rd October 1966, that triggered the loss of faith that led to the Aburi, Ghana summit, that led to the declaration of Biafra. Regrettably, cost of the very bloody war that cost Nigeria Bakasi Peninsular, control of our oil resources and stable economic and political growth ever since, has been borne by Ndigbo alone. Envy and fear of Ndigbo unwittingly established an anti-Igbo political culture that seems to suit everyone just fine. Nigeria did not know when to apply the brakes on the punishment meted out to Ndigbo over the years.

Denying Ndigbo their dues and rights over January 1966 coup and the attendant civil war does not make sense really. As I said elsewhere, the younger generation of Ndigbo will never accept to be part of Nigeria where they won’t have a say.

The two major political parties agreeing to zone the presidency to the Southeast for the 2023 presidential elections won’t be a bad idea, but I am yet to see any sign that the two big parties are seriously considering that. Moreover, the political thinking trending in all the political engine rooms doesn’t support that line of thought now.

There’s a possibility though, that those deliberately flying this kite, are hoping to use it to blackmail Ndigbo in the hope that Igbo political class will swallow the bait, jump into the fray in droves, quarrel amongst themselves, thereby giving the anti- Igbo forces the opportunity to blame Ndigbo for their inability to put their house in order. All those are possibilities and permutations. An Igbo man as president of Nigeria would serve as a soothing balm and a unifying gambit to heal the land, but that still won’t solve Nigeria’s structural problems. There’s no alternative to the necessary political structural changes needed to save Nigeria; changes like power devolution and whittling of central government’s powers. Handing the presidency to any section of the country, whilst this unitary structure remains, simply amounts to a Greek gift. Yes giving an Igboman opportunity to govern Nigeria for a season is alright, but restructuring our polity in order to save Nigeria is more important.

Do Igbo youths believe in Igbo president of Nigeria?

Igbo youths are not excited about Nigeria. It’s worrisome, but it is true. They see the Nigerian state as a huge joke, at best as an insincere, unfriendly establishment, out to hurt and harm them.

The Igbo has been so badly treated in Nigeria that they seem to have lost interest in Nigeria. Maybe offering the Igbo the presidency might rekindle their interest in Nigerian elections, I doubt. I know their soul and spirit is long gone. They believe Nigeria hates them. It’s sad, but that is the situation.

Who’s to blame for this resentment?

Everybody is guilty. We need to try and bring back their soul by giving everyone a sense of belonging. We can do this through power devolution; restructuring of the polity. There’s no other way. I’ve been intensely dealing with Igbo youths for decades now and I can tell you this; they will never be part of Nigeria, where they will have no say. Never!