IGBO POLITICIANS:
INEPT, VISIONLESS, OR BOTH?
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One thing that cannot credibly be said of the Igbo of Nigeria is that they are an ungifted race. In fact if there is anything the world seems to know too well about the Igbo of black Africa, it is that they are among the most gifted people in the world. From the 18th century ex-Igbo slave, Olaudah Equiano, who became the originator and father of worldwide black literature, to the educated legendary herb doctor and military leader of Haiti, Toussaint L'Ouverture, who rivaled Napoleon, [he was believed to have had some Igbo ancestry], to Chinua Achebe, the most widely read black person since the second half of the 20th century, and to Philip Emeagwali the computer genius who set the computer world aglow and carved a niche for himself and for his nation in the cyber revolution of the late 20th century, the Igbo have always distinguished themselves as among the most resourceful people the human race has ever known.

But one skill the Igbo nation appears to comprehensively lack is that of politics. Ndi-Igbo are about the most unskilled politicians the world can ever get. It can simply be asserted that every average Igbo person is a bad politician. Since 1914 when Lord Lugard abrogated the traditional Igbo republicanism and imposed his mischievous indirect rule system in the infamous amalgamation that gave birth to the stillborn nation of Nigeria, the Igbo have remained political non-starters. Every political season sees them advertising their political naïveté to the delight of their competitors from the other parts of Nigeria. The Igbo have remained political juveniles the Hausa-Fulani oligarchy relishes to manipulate and the powerful Yoruba elite love to dribble around the whole Nigerian terraces. At the end of the day the Igbo have remained in essence a feathery political factor in the Nigerian equation.

When Nnamdi Azikiwe in the second republic described Ndi-Igbo as the bride of Nigerian politics, he was in fact stating the true position of the Igbo nation in the contemporary Nigerian politics. The Igbo have remained not just a bride in Nigerian politics but a primitive African bride who is "bought" with monetary dowry, brought home to a strange compound, given a little space to fulfill the basic requirement of nature, namely, to increase and multiply, and forced to lie low and be dominated forever after by her husband. The Igbo nation is a classic dominated bride of an African village.

Though Ndi-Igbo have produced charismatic personalities like Nnamdi Azikiwe, Mbonu Ojike, Michael Okpara, Kingsley Mbadiwe, to mention but a few, who did accomplish quite a lot in the politics of the nation especially at independence, the real history of the Igbo nation is littered with pretender politicians who were at every juncture of their careers out-maneuvered and outsmarted by their more accomplished counterparts from the other parts of Nigeria. Even the most charismatic Igbo politician tends to reveal at one point or the other that he/she does not understand the elementary principle of party politics.

Igbo politicians are in perpetual confusion about the difference between political philosophy and partisan politics. Political philosophy is sublime, unreal and a mental exercise. It is pure and it is the indulgence of the wealthy, the elite and the retired. It is a very easy enterprise. All that is needed is for one to sit down in an armchair and dream of how things ought to be. But how often does ought become is? That is the question! However, partisan politics is down and dirty. It is rugged and frustrating. It requires skills, brains and energy. It is the indulgence of the skillful and those who wish to effect some real changes in the lives of the populace.

Political philosophy will theorize about how things ought to be while a politician will decide how things must be. A political philosopher is one who envisions the whole while a politician is one who decides the actual implementation of the parts. A political philosopher builds castles in the air while a politician builds castles in his/her constituency. Political philosophy thinks that the ideal is the real while a politician believes that the real is the deal. Political philosophy is in the last analysis philosophy. Its domain is the universal, the theoretical and the principles. But real politics is in essence concerned with the nitty-gritty of things. It is divisive and ugly. Its domain is the concrete needs of the people. And its passion is to use whatever means available to try to fulfill those needs. It was the great American legislator-speaker, Tipper O'neal, who described every politics as local. But for the Igbo leadership politics is an enterprise that inhabits the platonic world of ideas. Ndi-Igbo are great generators of political ideas, jargons, in fact great political philosophers but very miserable politicians and terrible executors of political goals.

Without venturing into unnecessary revisionism, which in fact we are ill equipped to accomplish in this essay, let us briefly review the miserable history of some prominent Igbo personalities in Nigerian politics. Of course the best place to begin is with Nnamdi Azikiwe, the doyen of Nigerian politics, the vanguard and hero of Nigerian independence and in fact the sole guarantor of Nigeria's continued unity. He was the one African most well placed to have espoused the power of local politics some thirty-plus years before the renowned American legislator. But he appeared not to have been a person given to learning from such situations.

It was 1954. As a youthful and energetic successor to the visionary Herbert Macauley, Azikiwe was on the verge of leading his NCNC to a monumental victory in the parliamentary election in the western region. His party had captured about four seats more than the party of the favored son of the soil, Awolowo's Action Group. Azikiwe was waiting in the wings to be declared the premier of Western Nigeria. The master political tactician, Obafemi Awolowo knew inside out the power of local politics. He had still one more trump card to play against his nemesis Nnamdi Azikiwe. Pronto, he shouted Omo Oduduwa. And immediately four members of the Zik's party cross-carpeted to AG thereby giving Awo the premiership of the West. Azikiwe, the prime mover of the opposition against colonialism was cast into a political cliffhanger. The devastating sabotage of the cross-carpeting former NCNC western parliamentarians had left him in a lurch. The AG had hung him out to dry. And that was the classic politics of the western political wizard of oz, Awo. It would be only a matter of time before Zik would either wither in the vine or become platform-less and irrelevant in the struggle for Nigeria's independence, the Awo group had hoped and prayed. Sensing the machination of the Awo camp the headhunting Zikists in Enugu invited Zik home and through a very ugly political conspiracy edged out the Efik strong man (Eyo Eta?) from the premiership stead to make way for Zik to become the premier of Eastern Nigeria so as to have a platform in order to continue his leadership of the independence struggle. That began the political resurrection for Zik who had until then not known that real politics was in fact local. On the other hand, that ugly political coup in Enugu destroyed the natural political alliance among the ethnic groups of the East.

One would have thought that that near political death experience would teach Azikiwe the lessons of the importance of a true political base in Igbo land and the power of local politics. But it did not appear to have worked. On the eve of Nigeria's independence, Zik compromisingly ceded the executive role to the core North if only to keep the North from seceding from Nigeria preferring instead to play a ceremonial second fiddle in the victory lap of the battle of Nigeria's independence, which he had won almost single-handedly. But Awo the master politician would have none of that. He was quite far ahead of his time. He understood long before anybody else in Nigeria that the politics of the nascent republic would be that of winner-take-all. Rather than lead his people to the anonymity of compromises he preferred to lung into an active opposition using threat and intimidation to press for his people's rights. And it worked. In the end Azikiwe who continuously struck a note of compromise lost decisively for his people and Awo who fought every inch of the way with a virulent belligerency won massively for his people. That was largely the beginning of the Yoruba ascendancy in Nigerian politics.

Then came the coup of 1966. Igbo officers in the army outnumbered everybody else. It was only expected that the bloody coup of that year would have a sizeable Igbo representation in its rank and file. And in fact, the military coup was led by some junior Igbo officers like Nzeogwu and his cohorts. But ironically, the putsch itself was quelled by some Igbo officers also, and the man who eventually emerged to lead the subsequent military government that took over from the deposed democratic government was an Igbo general, John Thomas Aguiyi Ironsi. But what was his principal political vision for Nigeria? Aguiyi Ironsi decreed a unitary government into being for Nigeria in flagrant disregard of the prevailing constitution and customs of the independent Nigeria thereby annulling the gains of regional empowerment achieved by the Awolowo opposition in the west and the industry of Michael Okpara in the East. When Ironsi himself was eliminated by the coup of Murtala Muhammed and Danjuma six months after, the Northern coup plotters inherited a unitary behemoth of a nation whose regional parts had had their backbones broken by an Igbo man, Aguiyi Ironsi. With that commenced the interminable period of Igbo repression by the North that we continue to suffer till this day.

With Aguiyi Ironsi and many promising young Igbo officers dead in the second coup of 1966, the Igbo nation became like a flock of sheep lost in the desert. They became the hunted lot in the whole of Nigeria. They were massacred all over Nigeria for sins they had not committed. There was never an Igbo secret summit in which it was decided that some Hausa and Yoruba leaders would be killed in a military coup and Igbo leaders spared. The unfortunate coup of January 1966 was all a military decision by a few vengeful officers some of whom happened to be Igbo. Yet the Igbo people nationwide were being scapegoated and made to pay the ultimate price for belonging to the wrong race at that time. The Igbo scampered for reorganization and resistance to no avail. The hope of a last-stand resistance was reposed in the young officer who had been appointed by Aguiyi Ironsi to serve as the military governor of the then Eastern Nigeria, Lt Col. Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. Hopes were high. Ojukwu was very charismatic and courageous. Unlike Aguiyi Ironsi, he would never ever let the Igbo down. Every Igbo sounded more than confident in the capabilities of the young military governor of the East.

Ojukwu had everything he needed to succeed. He had the executive power, the commanding voice and the backing of all Igbo. He had an Oxford education. Apart from some overly well-educated Igbo people like the world-class historian, Kenneth Dike, Ojukwu was one of the best-educated Igbo at that time. He studied world history, which gave him a unique insight into every political civilization in human history. He knew inside out the histories of successful war campaigns. He was the man most suited to lead the Igbo at that point in time. There was no Nigerian especially those around the government in Lagos at that time who could match up with him in anything. He was the master, the visionary and the Napoleon of the Igbo race. He was just too much for everybody. He exuded such confidence that everybody felt safe under his leadership. Ojukwu was the awe-emitting tiger whose wagging tail would send the lamb-like Gowon scampering for cover. So we thought and sang. He had it all. And he showed his prowess early enough by reducing the inexperienced Yakubu Gowon into a brooding spectator at the summit in Aburi, Ghana. The whole Igbo world went wild agog for his accomplishments at the Aburi summit. There were hymns composed in his name and T-shirts made in his honor. He was the man every Igbo wanted to be like. Ojukwu was God-sent. Anybody who opposed him was considered allied to the devil. And anybody he accused as a saboteur faced instant justice. His word was in fact divine among the Igbo.

But what was his first political move? Immediately he became aware of the burden history had placed on his shoulders he began seeking an alliance with the elite of the west calculating that a massive uprising in that area would break the backbone of the murderous Northern cabal that had captured the government in Lagos. To give teeth to his vision Ojukwu promptly courted and finally ordered the release from jail of the master political tactician himself, Obafemi Awolowo as a bargaining chip. As is widely believed, Ojukwu banked on the disdain of Awolowo for the North that had imprisoned him as well as his longing for an Oduduwa republic in his efforts to achieve his mission of winning autonomy for the east without having to fire a shot. But the wizard of the west, Awolowo, knew something which Ojukwu and the rest of the politically naive Igbo did not then know. In politics, there is no permanent friend and there is no permanent enemy. Awolowo, basking in his new air of freedom, became the real bride of the powers in Lagos and in Enugu. Gowon promised him heaven and earth if only he would stand by him and crush the whole East and the arrogant Igbo race. And stand by him he did. Ojukwu, despite his Oxford education and the massive home support, which he enjoyed, coupled with unending array of advisers that constantly milled around him, was double-crossed and taken to the cleaners by Awolowo. That was the beginning of the Biafran defeat.

Now fully entrenched in the government in Lagos as the vice chairman of the governing council of the military junta and the finance minister of the oil-rich nation of Nigeria, a plum job he had been dreaming of since independence, Awolowo plotted how to emasculate the adventurous Igbo politically and economically for as long as it would take. His first opportunity came immediately after the war. The victorious Nigerian nation had embarked on an orgy of jubilation over their decisive victory against the rebel nation of Biafra. The official position sold to the world was that there was no victor, neither was there any vanquished. But the master tactician of the west had his game plan worked out long before Uli Airport was overrun by the Nigerian forces under the command of Lt. Col. Obasanjo. He froze monetary and material assets belonging to the Igbo business class, politicians and civil servants. He ordered that every Igbo be paid twenty pounds from all their massive savings in Nigerian banks. And almost immediately he embarked on the nationalization of multi-national companies knowing full well that the Igbo whose economic emasculation he had procured would never be able to buy any single shares of those companies. And since the Hausas were yet to wake from their politico-economic slumber, majority of those companies went straight to Awo's kinsmen and women in the west. That was the genesis of the western domination of Nigerian economy. But give it to Awo. He played a very smart politics. He was a genius who understood the primary locus of all politics to be the home front.

With the economic front firmly in the hands of the west the Igbo were banished to street hawking and shoe-making. The Igbo were exactly where Awo had wanted them immediately after the war. He had successfully secured the boardrooms of all economic powerhouses for his people and left the Igbo to vend on the streets of Lagos. However we must give credit to the Igbo. Thirty years of street hawking did procure to them the control of Alaba, Ochanja and Ariaria markets. But it has not and will never be able to secure them a space in the board rooms of the plum companies of Nigeria neither will it offer them a decent seat in the board meetings of the privatizing NITEL, NEPA and NNPC. Those are places that are procurable only through sound politics, which the Igbo as a race are totally incapable of playing.

However after capturing the biggest prize of any nation, namely, the economy, Awo was not done with his politico-economic wizardry. He convinced the ever-manipulatable Yakubu Gowon to ban some specific merchandise that would naturally either enrich the Igbo merchants or were in demand by the common folks of Igbo land. First was the ban on scotfish. There was no doubt that the Igbo from origin saw scotfish as a delicacy they enjoyed as a people. Despite being imported from far away Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden and Denmark, scotfish had become entrenched in Igbo culture having become an indispensable delicacy of oil-bean salad, soup and even desserts. Many Igbo became wealthy merchants by trading on scotfish. During the war, the Irish missionaries knowing the Igbo people quite well made sure that this delicacy for the kwashiorkor-ravaged Igbo people was readily available. But immediately the war was over, Gowon and Awolowo described this common dried fish as unfit for consumption by what they described as civilized people of Nigeria and therefore banned it. But this reason was totally flawed and a bare-face lied sold to the rest of the world. Nearly every Igbo knew that there were other reasons to the ban of scotfish in Igbo land. First and foremost was the vengeful desire to hit the war-losers of Biafra where it hurt the most, that is, deprive them of what they craved for the most. And that was typical of the type of war-campaign allegedly favored by Awo all through the civil war. He was widely believed among the Igbo to be one of the major architects of the campaign of starvation as a military strategy against the Igbo. To his credit, Awo consistently denied this allegation all through his life. However, until he died many Igbo held him and still hold him responsible for the massive starvation the Nigerian nation inflicted on the breakaway republic of Biafra during the civil war. The second reason for the ban of scotfish in Igbo land was to improve the demand for the expensive Hausa-Fulani beef among the Igbo. Subsequent to the ban, the nomads of Hausa-Fulani made brisk businesses in the East quadrupling the prices of their beef thereby exerting some unfair war-booty from the defeated people of Biafra.

The second ban Awo and Gowon enacted in tandem and rigorously enforced was that of second hand articles of clothing that had been in high demand among the Igbo even before the war. But the use of this merchandize had become critical and almost redemptive in the post-war universal poverty among the Igbo. But Gowon on the advice of Awolowo described the importation of such articles of clothing as an affront to Nigeria. He went ahead and banned them altogether. But the perceptive Igbo people knew that there were other motives to that ban. Besides finding a way to continue hurting the defeated people of Biafra, Awo had in fact a far better economic reason to press for the complete ban on second-hand clothing. Having secured all the viable textile industries in Nigeria for the west, Awo and Gowon wanted to make sure that their products did not have any competition from overseas in the name of second hand clothing. So they found a way to give second-hand clothing a bad name so as to ban it. They had to close the gap created by the influx of used clothing to Nigeria firmly so that every Igbo would have to adjust to using Nigerian prints thereby enriching the corporate behemoths of the west and the north.

Now let us fast-forward to the present. Of recent another Yoruba politician who is desperately trying to appropriate the larger-than-life image of Awolowo in the west is trying to enforce another ban on specific merchandise, which many Igbo consider directed at them and their well-being. President Olusegun Obasanjo is advocating a ban on fairly used cars, refrigerators and other household appliances that are more than five years old. His reasons include that the "environmentally conscious Nigeria" should not be made the dumping grounds" for rejected western goods. This reasoning appears innocent if not for the numerous underlying facts of the matter. It is well-known fact that the business of importing used cars into the country rests with many Igbo traders whose power is only limited to some of the open markets in Lagos and the other major cities of Nigeria. A unilateral ban on these goods harms them and their business badly. It is also clear knowledge that the final end of these goods, namely, the consumers, are those whose incomes are not enough to enable them buy them anew from the companies that import new ones, which are of course dominated by the corporate big wigs of the west and the north. This scenario compels the question, who is benefiting from the advocated ban on used cars? Surely it is not the poor traders in Alaba market, neither is it the poor masses who see used cars in general as a saving grace. But why is Obasanjo insistent on doing this even after this glaring scenario? Obviously he has a political motive. His reasoning that Nigeria should not be made a dumping ground is stark boloney and in fact dishonest. Used vehicles and appliances are not per se environmental hazards. They are marketed freely all over the world even in the most environmentally conscious countries like Japan. Classic old cars are a status symbol in America. They are not banned rather imported for status. The cities of America are filled with cars that are more than five decades old. Their owners proudly drive them around to show the depth of their antique collections. Where does Obasanjo get the idea that a car that is older than five years has become a junk? On what does he base such a technical decision? Does it mean that if I had my current car in Nigeria, which is more than twice the age of the cars allowable into Nigeria, or wished to take it home with me, I would not be able to do so? I think Obasanjo and his advisers are being disingenuous in their argument against the importation of tokumbo cars that are beyond five years old. Our reading of the situation is that the president of Nigeria is trying to hide something. He is a man desperately trying to reclaim the platform of Awolowo in the west. Awo made a career disenfranchising the Igbo business class. Obasanjo knows that such is a clear path to fame in the west. Our reading suggests that he is banning tokumbo vehicles and appliances for two main reasons. First, Obasanjo is a permanent member of the post-war cabal that believes that Ndi-Igbo must be kept economically in check as long as Nigeria lives. For the people of this clique whatever business they see is benefiting the Igbo business class, they must find a way to stifle it. That has been the familiar rhyme and rhythm since the end of the civil war more than thirty years ago. Second, Obasanjo seems eager to promote the indigenous car assembly plants, a business dominated by his economically empowered kinsmen of the west. For the benefit of this group, he would rather confine Ndi-Igbo to their traditional menial business of trading on used spare parts at Alaba market. But once they try to rear their heads to pose a challenge to the conglomerates of PAN, SCOA, GMC, etc., as they have been doing through the importation of used cars, then they must be stifled and forced back to their original location in Ariaria market. That seems exactly what is happening in the politics of banning the importation of used cars into Nigeria.

But the million-dollar question is, what are the so-called Igbo politicians doing about all these unfair bannings of Igbo-oriented merchandise? In any politically astute community, such rightening of the wrongs of a repressive era would be the natural place to start the political rehabilitation of a people. The Igbo being politically naïve and unaccomplished are finding it hard even in a free political atmosphere to reverse some of the most obnoxious orders leveled against them by a very immoral establishment. In the second republic we had what could be called an array of prominent Igbo politicians in the government of Shehu Shagari. Alex Ekwueme was the vice president and Edwin Ume-Ezeoke was the speaker of the House of Representatives. In the present democratic administration of Obasanjo, the Igbo have people that are masquerading as prominent politicians, the Anyim's, Okadigbo's, Nzeribe's, Enwerem's, Nwobodo's and the very many others. Why is it that these people cannot even secure the lifting of the ban on such minor items as imported used clothing, which is used all over the world to provide some lift to the poor. Why can't they put legislation in place revoking such an unfair ban or go to court to challenge their validity? Fairly used clothing is available today in the American market despite the country's astronomical wealth and technological prowess. They abound in most thrifts shops and even in open markets and some rummage/garage sales. Such materials usually provide a lifeline to the poor masses that cannot afford expensive fabrics. Second hand articles of clothing cannot per se constitute an item of shame to any responsible nation. The argument of Awolowo and Gowon was absolutely ridiculous. Why can't such cheap fabrics be made available to our poor masses who are searching for any thing at all to cover their bodies?

What about the ban on scotfish? I was in Nigeria recently and I could not see any bit of scotfish anywhere in the east where people are still pining for it. But in America scotfish is all over the place. Why is this the case? Americans do not eat dried scotfish which is a delicacy in Igbo land. Yet there is scotfish all over America for the sake of the few Nigerians that are in America. If the American government can allow this merchandise to be imported into their country what reasons has Nigeria where it is seriously in demand to continue maintaining the ban on this commodity? The argument that was once allegedly put forward by Awolowo that the eating of scotfish was unbecoming of any nation is hopelessly hollow and completely absurd. The Norwegians eat scotfish even though not necessarily in its dried form. But what is the difference between a dried scotfish and a fresh one? Why is it that a fresh scotfish is a sign of dignity while a dried one is a sign of poverty and shame? What is the difference between a dried scotfish and any other dried fish that abounds in supermarkets across the world? I am not sure that Awo in all his vaunted wisdom made such an insensitive remark about scotfish which he knew to be senseless and groundless. The ban on scotfish in Nigeria is absolutely baseless and unsustainable. If we had any responsible politicians in Igbo land in the last thirty years this ban would have long become history. There is absolutely no reason to maintain this ban, which was the product of a political vendetta carried out by Awolowo and Gowon against the defeated Biafrans.

The next battle that could have worth our while if the Igbo were good politicians is this present ban on Tokumbo vehicles that is being pursued by the Obasanjo administration. The whole situation smacks of a terrible unfairness both for the poor traders of the Nigerian markets and for those who would never be able to buy new cars. Somebody should stand up for such people. Used cars imported from Europe have been a saving grace for the Nigerian economy and the common person's psyche. To allow a government to stifle it for purely parochial reasons should be resisted to the last. If the Igbo knew that politics was all about defending your home turf, they would have picked up a very big fight to defend the petty Igbo traders of Alaba market who are making some profits importing used vehicles into Nigeria. They are obviously the targets of this irrational ban on used oversea vehicles and appliances. But the Igbo nation is not gifted with good politicians. For that we should brace up for many more bans of our essential merchandises. I believe that if this ban on Tokumbo vehicles and appliances were allowed to stand, we must expect from the Obasanjo administration or any other administration in the nearest future a ban on such important Igbo economic and cultural products as kola nut, etc. It is absolutely ridiculous that these bans are being allowed to stand unchallenged. To be able to secure a reprieve from these irrational bans should be the very least the naïve Igbo politicians in Abuja should achieve for their people.

On his part, President Obasanjo should be able to shed his post-war vengeful attitude. The war is long over. The North and the West won. They have claimed their booty by taking a permanent control over every segment of the Nigerian nation. The Igbo lost. We know that too well. But the poor masses and the struggling traders of Nigeria especially of Igbo land should be allowed to reap a little reward of peace in Nigeria. Punishing them with wartime measures like frustrating their businesses is absolutely unnecessary. Obasanjo can afford to cut that out of his psyche. The war is over. The Igbo is not planning another war. So give them a break!

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[ January 25, 2002: Message edited by: chima njoku ]

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Olusegun Obasanjo is advocating a ban on fairly used cars, refrigerators and other household appliances that are more than five years old. His reasons include that the "environmentally conscious Nigeria" should not be made the dumping grounds" for rejected western goods. This reasoning appears innocent if not for the numerous underlying facts of the matter. It is well-known fact that the business of importing used cars into the country rests with many Igbo traders whose power is only limited to some of the open markets in Lagos and the other major cities of Nigeria. A unilateral ban on these goods harms them and their business badly. It is also clear knowledge that the final end of these goods, namely, the consumers, are those whose incomes are not enough to enable them buy them anew from the companies that import new ones, which are of course dominated by the corporate big wigs of the west and the north. This scenario compels the question, who is benefiting from the advocated ban on used cars? Surely it is not the poor traders in Alaba market, neither is it the poor masses who see used cars in general as a saving grace. But why is Obasanjo insistent on doing this even after this glaring scenario? Obviously he has a political motive. His reasoning that Nigeria should not be made a dumping ground is stark boloney and in fact dishonest. Used vehicles and appliances are not per se environmental hazards. They are marketed freely all over the world even in the most environmentally conscious countries like Japan. Classic old cars are a status symbol in America. They are not banned rather imported for status. The cities of America are filled with cars that are more than five decades old. Their owners proudly drive them around to show the depth of their antique collections. Where does Obasanjo get the idea that a car that is older than five years has become a junk? On what does he base such a technical decision? Does it mean that if I had my current car in Nigeria, which is more than twice the age of the cars allowable into Nigeria, or wished to take it home with me, I would not be able to do so? I think Obasanjo and his advisers are being disingenuous in their argument against the importation of tokumbo cars that are beyond five years old. Our reading of the situation is that the president of Nigeria is trying to hide something. He is a man desperately trying to reclaim the platform of Awolowo in the west. Awo made a career disenfranchising the Igbo business class. Obasanjo knows that such is a clear path to fame in the west. Our reading suggests that he is banning tokumbo vehicles and appliances for two main reasons. First, Obasanjo is a permanent member of the post-war cabal that believes that Ndi-Igbo must be kept economically in check as long as Nigeria lives. For the people of this clique whatever business they see is benefiting the Igbo business class, they must find a way to stifle it. That has been the familiar rhyme and rhythm since the end of the civil war more than thirty years ago. Second, Obasanjo seems eager to promote the indigenous car assembly plants, a business dominated by his economically empowered kinsmen of the west. For the benefit of this group, he would rather confine Ndi-Igbo to their traditional menial business of trading on used spare parts at Alaba market. But once they try to rear their heads to pose a challenge to the conglomerates of PAN, SCOA, GMC, etc., as they have been doing through the importation of used cars, then they must be stifled and forced back to their original location in Ariaria market. That seems exactly what is happening in the politics of banning the importation of used cars into Nigeria.
But the million-dollar question is, what are the so-called Igbo politicians doing about all these unfair bannings of Igbo-oriented merchandise? In any politically astute community, such rightening of the wrongs of a repressive era would be the natural place to start the political rehabilitation of a people. The Igbo being politically naïve and unaccomplished are finding it hard even in a free political atmosphere to reverse some of the most obnoxious orders leveled against them by a very immoral establishment. In the second republic we had what could be called an array of prominent Igbo politicians in the government of Shehu Shagari. Alex Ekwueme was the vice president and Edwin Ume-Ezeoke was the speaker of the House of Representatives. In the present democratic administration of Obasanjo, the Igbo have people that are masquerading as prominent politicians, the Anyim's, Okadigbo's, Nzeribe's, Enwerem's, Nwobodo's and the very many others. Why is it that these people cannot even secure the lifting of the ban on such minor items as imported used clothing, which is used all over the world to provide some lift to the poor. Why can't they put legislation in place revoking such an unfair ban or go to court to challenge their validity? Fairly used clothing is available today in the American market despite the country's astronomical wealth and technological prowess. They abound in most thrifts shops and even in open markets and some rummage/garage sales. Such materials usually provide a lifeline to the poor masses that cannot afford expensive fabrics. Second hand articles of clothing cannot per se constitute an item of shame to any responsible nation. The argument of Awolowo and Gowon was absolutely ridiculous. Why can't such cheap fabrics be made available to our poor masses who are searching for any thing at all to cover their bodies?

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WORRIED by the possible implications the proposed ban on imported vehicles and refrigerators above five years would have on their business, the Igbo have said they will resist any move to implement the decision.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) had after an exhaustive deliberation on the report and recommendations of the Presidential Panel on Port Decongestion taken the decision that "as from January 1, 2002, all imported used buses, cars and motorcycles should be within the approved quota for the year and should not be more than five years old."

The FEC, in a sprinted defence of its decision said: "There are abundant statistics to show that the importation of very old vehicles has increased the rate of accidents on our roads due to mechanical faults."

Also, many of the vehicles were said by the FEC, to be "death traps, some of which had been declared as scraps before they are dumped in Nigeria."

But the Igbo under the aegis of Igbo Peoples Movement have vehemently condemned the decision saying: "All Igbo across the country and in diaspora will rise against the ban on the importation of fairly used vehicles and refrigerators if the Federal Government carries out the economic oppression against Ndigbo."

The planned resistance is sequel to a decision reached at the end of an extra-ordinary executive council meeting of the group in Lagos.

In his address, the group's president, Chief Uche Njoku alleged that the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration has "mapped out a clear agenda against the Igbo race despite the contributions of Ndigbo to his government and nation building."

He said: "When we said that Obasanjo was anti-Igbo, people who did not know his military antecedents defended him, but he had never hidden this through his actions and utterances against the Igbo."

Already, speaker, House of Representatives, Alhaji Umar Na'Abba in a response to President Obasanjo, expressed concern over "the impact and the ripple effects of such a policy on the generality of our compatriots and the Nigerian economy."

According to him, since the decision was made public, his office has been inundated with complaints and representations from the public, including a large number of the House members.

He argued that second hand cars have provided all classes of Nigerians cheaper and yet effective means of transportation.

"Given the present wage level in both the public and private sectors, 'tokunbo vehicles are the only means of private ownership of vehicles for a larger number of the citizenry," he asserted.

Reviewing the reason of "safety of lives of Nigerians" adduced to by President Obasanjo as the underlining factor behind the planned ban, the IPM president questioned Obasanjo's preference for the ban instead of addressing the embarrassing issue of insecurity of lives and property which has brought the country back to the anarchic era of the military regime.

The Igbo Peoples Movement, according to Chief Njoku, has mapped out a number of strategies to fight back the Federal Government which include intensive mass protest rallies across the country, a call for the withdrawal of Igbo political office holders as well as a campaign for the impeachment of President Obasanjo on grounds of economic sabotage against the country.

They however, noted that so much come to government as revenue from the imported vehicles and refrigerators.

The IPM president said: "If you check the volume of vehicles and refrigerators that are imported into this country, then you can estimate the huge revenue earned by the government which Obasanjo wants to deny the country of on concocted reasons of safety of lives and environment."

The position of IPM, it was learnt, bears from the fact that Igbo occupy a vast majority interest in the business of importation of tokunbo vehicles and refrigerators and "it is an economic oppression against a self-made people of Igbo extraction which has unbearable consequences on the Igbo population.

Chief Uche Njoku expressed surprise that President Obasanjo has failed to recognise the role of public opinion in a democratic society but warned that; "any leader who ignores public opinion does that at his own peril because the voice of the people is the voice of God."

---

Like I have said before, we have to continue this struggle, an d we will never give up, not until everyone of us is dead.
In short, the time for solace, and patience, and negotiation with the neo nazis of Nigeria, is long since past... we have no interest in bargaining with them about our freedom, or about their policies, what we are facing up to is our liberation from these beasts who have done every imaginable misdeed towards us all designed to not only hold us down, out of sheer jealousy, but also to target us as a nation for extinction.

Now they are burning down stalls in markets in Asaba, and Umuahia. Today it is in abuja, they say they are targeting illegal stalls, but methinks it is igbo stalls being burnt down.

What does a people do when they are faced with these outrageous acts, not once or twice, but with a bigotry and hatred which is continuous in its action and daily dished out?
I really see this as a fight for the survival of the igbo man. We hate no one, but we have been forced into this defensive posture, just as the jews before us and now we need to respond. The trouble is that this response must be like the aggravating factors, it must be continuous. and likewise daily.

We must continue to organize our youtths of the south east and the south south as a militia fully prepared to safeguard its peoples through vigiliateeism and fighting for resource control and human rights activists.
We must continue to isolate those elements of our societies who are trying to sell us to the devil and making deals with the devil.

Like the traders fought back, fight back!! When the fat buffoon of Abuja bans cars, that are in old, in a country, where 90 % of the population drive cars older than five years old. FIGHT BACK!!!

Organise yourselves into youth groups, afterall, if 80% of us are unemployed, then go volunteer into the service for your people, do this constructively.
All armed robbers should lay down their arms, stop targeting innocent civilians, organize yourselves into militias which serve freedom and the law, make your people proud like the Bakassi boys who have now become the legendary Robin Hoods of the east.

Evil men like Obasanjo and Abacha make no legends, they will be quickly forgotten like bad king John. But you youths of today you must take this call seriously, a call to action. A call to a life dedicated to the service of your people and to justice, to protesting and guarding your communities.

We need your heroic efforts and vision! For you must take the place of the old and corrupt and jaded who have sold us to the devil..

Hmmm...

Police fire on rioters in Nigeria
January 25, 2002 Posted: 1:46 PM EST (1846 GMT)

ABUJA, Nigeria (Reuters) -- Nigerian police fired tear gas and live ammunition Friday to quell rioting around the main market of the capital Abuja that left several people wounded, witnesses said.

Several traders and some police officers were wounded in the unrest, which erupted when city officials moved to demolish what they said were illegal structures near Wuse market.

"Vehicles were overturned and several buildings in the area were stoned and their glass windows smashed," a witness said.

Police reinforcements were rushed to the market in the central district of the capital before the situation was brought under control.

There was no immediate police comment on the unrest.

Nigeria has been bloodied by the worst surge of political and religious violence in 30 years, but the inland capital had so far been spared.

In recent months tension has been building in Abuja as authorities try to dislodge street vendors and squatters in shantytowns mushrooming around the city, which was built as Nigeria's capital just over 20 years ago.

Copyright 2002 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Nigerian traders fight with police

Market stalls have been destroyed by Abuja police

By Mannir Dan Ali in Abuja
The Nigerian capital, Abuja was brought to a standstill as riot police battled with market traders on Friday.

Several traders and police were injured, two of them seriously.

Trouble began when thousands of traders at Abuja's main market, Wuse, when police started to demolish their stalls early Friday morning.

Smoke from burning barricades set by the traders could be seen up miles away.

Many cars had their windscreen smashed and at least two vehicles were burnt down.

Stalls demolished

The order to demolish the stalls had been given by the government in their effort to destroy what the authorities say are "illegally constructed stalls".

Obasanjo has banned structures outside the Abuja city planning

The traders claim that the police operation which they say began at dawn on Friday "is just a ploy to take over their part of the market and allocate stalls to government cronies".

They began throwing stones at the police early in the morning when they arrived to see their stalls destroyed and their goods being carted away.

The angry traders at the market told me that they could not understand why the government could decide to demolish their makeshift stalls and take away their goods without informing them.

But a spokesman of the Ministry of Federal Capital Territory, Nosike Ogbuenyi says the government has given the traders enough notice, through public notices and radio announcements.

Mr Ogonyi said that the authorities will continue with the demolition exercise, despite the protests from the traders.

It appears that it is this anger which spilt into the streets, bringing the whole area around the market to a standstill.

Banks, offices and homes around the market quickly shut and the city residents caught in the riots areas continued to bear the brunt of police teargas.

Motorists made quick detours to avoid the troubled zone where traffic light have been vandalised, creating traffic jams in other parts of the Nigeria's capital.

Street anarchy

The riots spread to a volatile part of Abuja called Berger Junction, where police battled to clear youths manning barricades.

The Abuja police spokesman, Nandau Gomwalk told me that two of their men were taken to hospital after sustaining serious injuries but gave no figures for other people who were involved in the riot.

There were anarchic scenes with youths robbing passers-by who were caught up in the riot.

I saw a young woman on a motorcycle being dispossessed of her bag at one of the barricades.

All this was happening in broad daylight, just a few kilometres from the heart of the Nigerian government in an area called the 3 Arms Zone.

Mr Gomwalk said 43 people have been arrested and 23 government vehicles have been destroyed.

The current demolition of "illegal structures" follows the pledge of President Olusegun Obasanjo to ensure that nothing distorts the Abuja city master plan.
WATCH/LISTEN

ON THIS STORY

The BBC's Haruna Bahago in Abuja
"Everything is red, charcoal red"

See also:

03 Dec 01 | Business
Nigeria 'fuelled' by black economy
11 Dec 01 | Africa
Fire destroys Nigerian market
19 Jul 00 | Africa
Fuelling Nigeria's fires
06 Sep 00 | Africa
Riots follow Nairobi market blaze
15 Dec 00 | Africa
Nairobi fire ravages shops
Internet links:

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