By Aik Amaechi
Once again I am forced to pick my pen to write on the combative issue of Biafra in view of the precarious slide it is taking. So much belligerents have arisen drawing their swords for or against the continued agitation. For me I believe that the agitation is genuine but I curse the way it is being pursued.
If there is anything like marginalisation of Ndi Igbo, I am part of the generation that can vehemently proclaim that it has experienced it.
As a toddler in 1970, immediately after the war, I always joined my elder ones to watch the federal troops make circus as they matched round Umuahia, my hometown.
The sound of their heavy boots as they hit the ground raising dusts not only crushed any living thing under but our souls.
Singing songs laced with”nyamiri ubanka” were like daggers piercing through our hearts, a mock reminder that Biafra has been crushed. It died prematurely.
Seeking for admission in the 80s through JAMB and realising that the quota system hampered many of us admissions even when we passed to the advantage of another ethnic group was a horrendous experience.
Graduating, after going through the horrors of the quota system in gaining admission where excellence was thrown into the doldrums and working into unemployment, again because you were from a certain ethnic nationality was catastrophic.
To sum it, many of us live in diaspora today because the country was partial and made it difficult for us to eke a living because we are Ndi Igbo.
With this etched in our minds every “onye Igbo” is a Biafran and anxious to achieve this dream. The thought of it being achieved to stop this “nonsense” is an elixir that pumps our adrenalin non – stop.
But how do we go about it without loosing millions of lives like we did in the first attempt is the question agitating discerning minds.
This brings me to the issue of IPOB and MASSOB in pursuing our objective.
The incarceration and release of the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu may have done us a lot of good if we can harness the lessons learnt very well. The lesson is that achieving Biafra calls for the contribution of all especially the Igbo elite who must veto it and pursue it vigorously. We need the politicians, academics, professionals and businessmen to achieve our aim. All must be embraced and none should be jettisoned.
There should be a well worked out structure on how to go about it accommodating the inputs of all. For now, I call on all groups agitating for this course to retreat for more thorough review instead of sending out our “excited” youths to be hunted down by trigger- happy policemen or soldiers. The militant approach is not the best way. The heroes should need us alive to make them heroes.
. Amaechi lives in London, United Kingdom