<\/p>\n
Given the unfolding events in our country I believe that this is the time
\nfor deep introspection and sobre reflection.<\/p>\n
I am not a member of IPOB, I have never attended any IPOB meeting and
\nneither am I Igbo. I am however deeply concerned about what is going on in
\nour country, what the Igbos are being subjected to and what I consider to
\nbe the greatest assault on the human rights and civil liberties of the
\nNigerian people since the military left power in 1999.<\/p>\n
A violation of the constitutional right of freedom of association and
\nfreedom of speech affects not just those that have been targetted but each
\nand every one of us.<\/p>\n
An act of injustice against one is an act of injustice against all. What
\naffects the part also affects the whole. If you beat my neighbours child
\nit is as good as beating mine and consequently I have a duty to defend
\nthat child.<\/p>\n
That is the essence of humanity and chivalry: to speak up for those that
\nare being persecuted, to defend the defenceless, to fight for those that
\nare too weak to fight for themselves and to be the voice of the voiceless.<\/p>\n
We must cultivate the discipline and courage to defend the right of others
\nto be different and to think differently from us and to express contrary
\nviews.<\/p>\n
We may not all agree with the style, language and objectives of IPOB but
\nwe surely have a duty before God and the law to defend, uphold and affirm
\ntheir right to express themselves in any way that they deem fit providing
\nthey do not threaten or hurt others whilst doing so.<\/p>\n
This is the\u00a0 very essence, foundation and indeed cornerstone of freedom
\nand democracy and if we allow the government to take that away from us and
\nto get away with what they are doing without a stiff challenge we are
\nfinished as a people.<\/p>\n
It is IPOB today but tomorrow it could be OPC, Ijaw Youth Council,
\nOhaneze, Afenifere, Middle Belt Forum, Arewa Youths, Arewa Consultative
\nForum, Northern Elders Forum or indeed anyone else.<\/p>\n
I have never heard of a “terrorist” organisation that has not killed or
\nthreatened to kill anyone and that has totally rejected the idea of
\nviolence and an armed struggle.<\/p>\n
I have never heard of a “terrorist” organisation whose only aspiration is
\nto have a referendum to determine whether or not their people should or
\nshould not remain in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
I have never heard of a “terrorist” organisation whose only objective is
\nthe peaceful and lawful exercise of the right of self-determination.<\/p>\n
I have never heard of a “terrorist” organisation whose only crime is to
\ntake objection to the stripping away of their historical and cultural
\nidentity and to speak out against the willful marginalisation and mass
\nmurder of their people.<\/p>\n
I have never heard of a “terrorist” organisation who believe in passive
\nand non-violent resistance and who consistently emphasise the importance
\nof peaceful opposition.<\/p>\n
Saying that IPOB is a terrorist organisation is like saying that Mother
\nTheresa is the Marquis De Sade. It is like saying that an angel from
\nheaven is a demon from hell. It is like saying that Little Red Riding Hood
\nis the hungry and ravenous wolf.<\/p>\n
It is like saying that Snowhite is Jack the Ripper.\u00a0 It is like saying
\nthat Florence Nightingale is Aleister Crowley. It is like saying that the
\nApostle Paul is Anton La Vey.
\nIt is like saying that John the Baptist is Atilla the Hun. It is like
\nsaying that Desmond Tutu is Ghengis Khan. It is like saying that John Knox
\nis Adolf Hitler.<\/p>\n
It is like saying that Martin Luther King is Osama Bin Ladin. It is like
\nsaying that Nelson Mandela is Ali Al Baghdadi. It is like saying that
\nMahatma Ghandi is Abubakar Shekau.<\/p>\n
It is like saying that Amnesty International are the Fulani Herdsmen. It
\nis like saying that Medecine Sans Frontier is Boko Haram. It is like
\nsaying that Human Rights Watch is ISIS.<\/p>\n
It is like saying that the white dove of love and peace is the savage,
\ncruel, blood-crazed and cadavar-eating vulture from the seventh circle of
\nhell.<\/p>\n
It is like saying that ice is fire. It is like saying that a believer is
\nan infidel. It is like saying that a peaceful preacher is a violent
\nblasphemer.<\/p>\n
Such a designation and categorisation is unhelpful, inappropiate and
\nunfair. It is a damning and specious lie that has been put out by a
\nFederal Government that is paranoid, weak, bereft of ideas and scared of
\nit’s own shadow.<\/p>\n
It is a desperate attempt to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it. It
\nis childish nonsense and it does not make sense.<\/p>\n
Finally came the most absurd allegation of all: that IPOB is being funded
\nby “treasury looters”, “disgruntled” and “destabilising” elements “in the
\nopposition” and by France.<\/p>\n
Some assertions are so insane and asinine that they ought not to be
\ndignified with a response and this is one of them.<\/p>\n
I urge IPOB to go to court and have the order that has designated them as
\na terrorist organisation set aside.<\/p>\n
I also urge President Muhammadu Buhari and his Minister of Information,
\nAlhaji Lai Mohammed, to remember that when they exercised their right of
\nfreedom of speech three years ago and openly defended Boko Haram by saying
\nrespectively that “an attack on Boko Haram is an attack on the north” and
\nthat it was “unconstitutional” and “unlawful” to ban them no-one
\nthreatened them with arrest because the government of that day had the
\nprescence of mind to recognise the fact that the right to express one’s
\nopinion, no matter how reprehensible that opinion may be, is enshrined in
\nthe constitution.<\/p>\n
The Federal Government should take a queue from that and stop trying to
\nmanufacture a crisis where there is none or kill a fly with a
\nsledgehammer.<\/p>\n
They should also consider declaring the Fulani militants and herdsmen, who
\nhave been described by the International Terror Index as the “fourth most
\ndeadly terrorist organisation in the world” and who have killed more
\ninnocent Nigerians than any other terrorist organisation in the last two
\nyears, as the malevolent, vicious, murderous and bona fide cowards and
\nterrorists that they are.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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