Date Published: 12/23/09

Igboland: we cannot surrender to kidnappers By Joe Igbokwe

Civil wars, religious or ethnic crisis always leaves behind terrible scars that hunt humanity for a longtime to come. Before the civil war, nobody knew anything about armed robbery until after the Nigeria-Biafra civil war between 1967 and 1970. It was after the civil war that armed robbery entered our political lexicon and today we live with it. Kidnapping entered into our lexicon after the almost 10 year armed struggle for resource control in the Niger Delta. What we thought started like a joke in the Delta region has spread to other regions in Nigeria, with South East as the worst flash points.

As I write this the socio-political economy of the South East is going to ruins. Every Christmas, millions of our people from other parts of Nigeria and diaspora travel home and several billions of naira circulate in the South East before the rampage of kidnappers. Since this year, bandits have taken over forcing big importers in Nnewi and Aba axis to look for safer grounds. Some big men and women residing outside Igboland who still have aged parents at home have moved them away and kissed bye bye to Igboland.
They have been watching developments since this year and saw how aged people, including children and even wives of prominent citizens were taken away and huge amount paid for their freedom. In their very eyes politics and kidnapping fused together to cause havoc in Igboland with no end in sight. This Christmas, many prominent sons and daughters are staying away from Igboland. The culture of traveling to the land of the rising sun to celebrate the Xmas and the New Year with kiths and kins has been ruined. What began like a huge joke has turned into a big crisis in Igboland, leaving our towns and villages desolate.

But must we surrender Igboland to criminals? If you are pursued out of your fatherland what is left? How do we explain this? My people will tell you that only a tree stands in the face of the woodman’s axe, but is it justifiable to allow few criminals to chase us out from the lands of our birth? God forbid! It is unthinkable. This Xmas I am going home and nobody can stop me. Elders tell me that if out of annoyance you drop your cap for a madman he will use it forever. While we tell the Federal Governments in the South East governments to rise up to the occasion, I urge men of courage to stand up to this challenge of our times. It is either will retrieve Igboland from them or we surrender to them. I subscribe to the former.

Please go home if you want to and do not use kidnappers as an excuse. We can never let them have it. Igboland is too precious to be left for bandits and kidnappers. This is a war they can never win Ife bialu abia ga ana ana (whatever comes must surely go in the fullness of time.)