NIGERIA AND ITS POLITICIANS ARE A CONFUSED LOT - LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTONOMY:
Local Government autonomy is perverse; and shows that Nigerians and its legislators do not even understand what a Federation is supposed to be. Nigerians want to devolve powers to the Federating units, the same time they want to remove federating units' powers over local government and return them to the centre.
Local government, in all federations worldwide, is federating units matter and ought not appear in a federal Constitution. Their place, like in the 1960/63 Constitution, is in the federating units' Constitutions.
To grant LGAs autonomy is to place their control under the President at the centre who can, like President Obasanjo did with Prof. Iwu's INEC in 2003, manipulate the election of all Councillors and Chairmen of all the local governments in the federation; thus returning Nigeria to full-scale blaring unitary state; thus promoting fascism, demagoguery and what have you.
"Knowledge will forever triumph over ignorance;; but it looks like in Nigeria, the reverse is the case.
"Those who seek to govern must first seek knowledge." James Madison.
May God help us.
Emeka Onyesoh
Monday, July 31, 2017
NIGERIA AND ITS POLITICIANS ARE A CONFUSED LOT - LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTONOMY:
Local Government autonomy is perverse; and shows that Nigerians and its legislators do not even understand what a Federation is supposed to be. Nigerians want to devolve powers to the Federating units, the same time they want to remove federating units' powers over local government and return them to the centre.
Local government, in all federations worldwide, is federating units matter and ought not appear in a federal Constitution. Their place, like in the 1960/63 Constitution, is in the federating units' Constitutions.
To grant LGAs autonomy is to place their control under the President at the centre who can, like President Obasanjo did with Prof. Iwu's INEC in 2003, manipulate the election of all Councillors and Chairmen of all the local governments in the federation; thus returning Nigeria to full-scale blaring unitary state; thus promoting fascism, demagoguery and what have you.
"Knowledge will forever triumph over ignorance;; but it looks like in Nigeria, the reverse is the case.
"Those who seek to govern must first seek knowledge." James Madison.
May God help us.
Emeka Onyesoh
Local Government autonomy is perverse; and shows that Nigerians and its legislators do not even understand what a Federation is supposed to be. Nigerians want to devolve powers to the Federating units, the same time they want to remove federating units' powers over local government and return them to the centre.
Local government, in all federations worldwide, is federating units matter and ought not appear in a federal Constitution. Their place, like in the 1960/63 Constitution, is in the federating units' Constitutions.
To grant LGAs autonomy is to place their control under the President at the centre who can, like President Obasanjo did with Prof. Iwu's INEC in 2003, manipulate the election of all Councillors and Chairmen of all the local governments in the federation; thus returning Nigeria to full-scale blaring unitary state; thus promoting fascism, demagoguery and what have you.
"Knowledge will forever triumph over ignorance;; but it looks like in Nigeria, the reverse is the case.
"Those who seek to govern must first seek knowledge." James Madison.
May God help us.
Emeka Onyesoh
NIGERIA AND ITS POLITICIANS ARE A CONFUSED LOT - LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTONOMY:
Local Government autonomy is perverse; and shows that Nigerians and its legislators do not even understand what a Federation is supposed to be. Nigerians want to devolve powers to the Federating units, the same time they want to remove federating units' powers over local government and return them to the centre.
Local government, in all federations worldwide, is federating units matter and ought not appear in a federal Constitution. Their place, like in the 1960/63 Constitution, is in the federating units' Constitutions.
To grant LGAs autonomy is to place their control under the President at the centre who can, like President Obasanjo did with Prof. Iwu's INEC in 2003, manipulate the election of all Councillors and Chairmen of all the local governments in the federation; thus returning Nigeria to full-scale blaring unitary state; thus promoting fascism, demagoguery and what have you.
"Knowledge will forever triumph over ignorance;; but it looks like in Nigeria, the reverse is the case.
"Those who seek to govern must first seek knowledge." James Madison.
May God help us.
Emeka Onyesoh
Local Government autonomy is perverse; and shows that Nigerians and its legislators do not even understand what a Federation is supposed to be. Nigerians want to devolve powers to the Federating units, the same time they want to remove federating units' powers over local government and return them to the centre.
Local government, in all federations worldwide, is federating units matter and ought not appear in a federal Constitution. Their place, like in the 1960/63 Constitution, is in the federating units' Constitutions.
To grant LGAs autonomy is to place their control under the President at the centre who can, like President Obasanjo did with Prof. Iwu's INEC in 2003, manipulate the election of all Councillors and Chairmen of all the local governments in the federation; thus returning Nigeria to full-scale blaring unitary state; thus promoting fascism, demagoguery and what have you.
"Knowledge will forever triumph over ignorance;; but it looks like in Nigeria, the reverse is the case.
"Those who seek to govern must first seek knowledge." James Madison.
May God help us.
Emeka Onyesoh
Saturday, July 29, 2017
IPOB STORMS ABAKALIKI, DARES SECURITY AGENCIES AND THREATENS TO SHUT DOWN ABAKALIKI FOR THREE DAYS!!!
I am an admirer of IPOB but I believe IPOB is going beyond the necessary; and as an elder whose first child was born 1975, I must speak out. Handlers of IPOB leader must advise him to protect and preserve Igbo youths' lives. We are and endangered lot in Nigeria.
Yes. As I have said before "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."(Thomas Jefferson).
But 290 Igbo youths so far massacred and 370 mortally wounded, with hundreds in undisclosed solitary detention by the Security Agencies, is enough for now. Our intellectuals must be allowed to elevate the agitation to national and international diplomacy, publicity and litigation. That is where the struggle is now, particularly with the National Assembly disapproving the formula of SE Governors, Ohanaeze leadership and the selected Leaders of Thought, which is based on RESTRUCTURING, rejected by NASS.
That the Security Agencies did not massacre our youths in Ebonyi on Tuesday, 25th July, 2017 is probably for two reasons:
1. The Lion of Aso Rock is humbled by illness and confined in faraway England; and the Ag. President is a Prof. Of Law and very lijely does not wish to expose himself to life imprisonment when he looses his immunity, after office, like Taylor of Liberia and Hissen Habre of Chad.
Shooting unarmed demonstrators is in national and international Law, Crime against Humanity;
2. The Chief of Army Staff, the Police IG, DSS and other 11 offenders were last week served processes of a suit in Washington DC filed by legal guardians of 9 IPOB victims of extra-judicial murder and one torture survivor, who are claiming hundreds of millions of US Dollars in a U S Court under Alien Tort Claims Act and Alien Victims Protection Act, both of USA.
The effect of 2 above might be limited, since THE LION of Aso Rock and his Security Agencies still rampaged and killed despite FG having paid 8 Billion Naira for Zaki Biam killings; N15.5 Billion for Odi slaughter and is owing N99 Billion awarded by the Federal High Court Asaba and confirmed by a London Court, for the massacre of over 3,000 at Gbaramatu, near Warri in Delta State.
Igbo's seem to lack the courage to sue the Federal Government. Igbo NGOs in USA and Nigeria seem to have broken that barrier with the Washington DC suit.
IPOB MUST THEREFORE BE ADVISED TO MINIMIZE CONFRONTATION WITH SECURITY AGENCIES AND SAVE THE LIVES OF IGBO YOUTHS..
LET ME ALSO REMIND IPOB THAT THREATENING TO SHUT DOWN EBONYI, WHERE THERE IS AN EXTANT GOVERNMENT, IS NOT PACIFIST. IF IPOB WISHES TO BE CONTINUED TO BE SEEN AS PACIFIST, IT MUST AVOID SUCH THREATS. PACIFISM ATTRACTS NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SYMPATHY. AND NDIGBO NEED A LOT OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SYMPATHY TO LIBERATE THEMSELVES FROM PRESENT ENSLAVEMENT.
Okpala Eze na NRI Emeka Onyesoh.
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
AGITATION FOR RESTRUCTURING BEFORE AGITATION FOR THE RIGHT TO SELF DETERMINATION IS LIKE PUTTING THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE
The monster Nigeria is fighting is as grotesquely strange as the apartheid regime in South Africa. Both are based on extremism of values and engaged in defending special privileges conferred on them by enslaving Ordinances branded Constitutions. In South Africa its monster of discrimination was created by the 1961 and the 1983 Constitutions; whereas in Nigeria it is the 1999 Constitution, howsoever amended, under the overriding influence of Sharia Law. But the oligarchy is indeed in very many hidden respects, worse than Afrikaans because the oligarchs are Jihadists before whom others are dispensable chattels. Examples: The brutality on Biafra 1966 to date, Late Dr. Ken Saro Wiwa and Alhaji MKO Abiola of Blessed Memory.
There are two major ways of fighting oppressive regimes:
A. First is WAR which I personally reject because it is primitive and for four other reasons.
1. I am a Prince of a kingship institution dating back to AD 950 (NRI) which has custody of Igbo customs and tradition; but has never gone to any war in its over 1,000 year history . That is part of why it is scarcely known except by historians of Igbo history & tradition. Disputes are invariably resolved by divination. So the culture I was born into is abhors violence of at kind.
2. On the order side of the divide, are the Jihadists to whom war is the gateway to paradise. Should they die in the venture, all earthly pleasures they could not afford and/or missed on earth are made up for them in paradise. Consequently, they place no value on lives and would kill at the snap of a finger,; which is in contradistinction to the high premium placed on lives by my people and the civilized world.
3. In this 21st Century only people who are inherently war-mongers and demagogues rely on war as a peace formula . The Jihadists of Nigeria who know no other conflict resolution mechanism, other than violence, have conveniently misled Nigerians to regard, otherwise peaceful agitation for rights guaranteed by national and international laws, as declaration of war, whereas what they mean is threat of genocide against unarmed agitators for liberation from an asphyxiating circumstance they find themselves in Nigeria. As a consequence, and unfortunately for Nigeria, core issues troubling the country, are swept under the carpet whilst scrambling to forestall an undeclared war atmosphere deceptively foisted on the nation to divert attention. That is typical Jihad of Deception at work! The misfortune in this exercise is that Nigerians do not even understand what the Jihadist mean when they threaten war with their quit notice. Their Quit notice,stripped of all diversionary gab, is a mere warning that they will resume the genocide began in 1966; but tuned down to sporadic killings of Igbos since 1970 till date, into, once again a general massacre perhaps worse than in September/October 1966 and war-time genocide.
Furthermore they have also successfully manipulated Nigeria to bother with what is now branded "hate speeches" without any thought to the hate killings and other atrocities which generate the hatred from which hate speeches emanate. Indiscriminate killing of a people with no consequence to the killer, naturally generates hatred of victims family/friends and clan for the killer. And the oligarchy does not want to hear how much the killers are hated for the Cattle herdsmen menace, other wanton killings and abduction, forced conversion, rape and marriage of under-aged Christian girls! No one loves a killer or molester but they probably wish to be loved for these atrocities!
Remember Alhaji Usman Faruk in the 2014 Conference who bandied about a very strange thesis on sovereignty:
"Sovereignty is never won on a conference table; it is won in the battle field."
NOT TRUE, in present post Cold War world.
After all since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, over 25 nations have attained sovereignty without fighting. It is only fundamentalist demagogues who must fight to settle or separate in a failed Union which exists only to serve their selfish interests.
And 4. Only uncivilized people go to war on issues that can be resolved on the conference table by negotiation. War is destructive, nonsensical and futile. General Dwight Eisenhower, five-star US Army General, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe which defeated Germany in World War II, first Commander of NATO and 34th President of US, 1953-196, summarized the futility of war in his now famous War quote:
"I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can; only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity."
War, as a peace mechanism is reserved only for people in early animal stage of human development - the prehistoric man. And that is where all Nigerians threatening war to keep the tottering Federation of Nigeria are; or shall I say, threatening 'Genocide' since they control all the coercive forces of State, whilst the agitators for Liberty are unarmed?
B. The alternative to war in fighting oppressive regimes is therefore PACIFIST AGITATION FOR INDEPENDENCE, accompanied with litigation, publicity and diplomacy - national and international. Well organized agitation for independence compels meaningful restructuring as was the case in Scotland, Quebec etc.
UK for example had no legal framework (Constitutional provision) for the Scottish vote (referendum) but because they are civilized people, the British government had to introduce an Order-in- Council ((Law) to allow the Scottish vote to enable the Scots to determine by themselves to stay or not, in UK. UK underwent very fundamental restructuring to keep the Scots. Scots are only 8% of UK as against the English, over 73%. No quit notice was issued to the Scots for agitating because the English are lawful. Neither was there any threat of Genocide on the Scot, as AREWA now threatens the Igbos.
Quebec province of Canada has voted twice (1980 & 1995) to leave or stay in Canada. To influence Quebec rejection of independence, Canada in 1969 made the French language of Quebec province (25% of Canada), a parallel official language of Canada with English, spoken by the rest of Canada - 75%. In 1982, after the 1980 vote, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms were enshrined in the Canadian Constitution to essentially protect minority rights including Quebecers' culture from Roman Catholicism as against Protestantism of the rest of Canada (75%).
Furthermore, over 12 of 23 Prime Ministers of Canada have been Quebecers. In addition, lots of powers were devolved to all the provinces of Canada.
Unfortunately South East, South West, South south, and Middle Belt leaders have met, which is a positive development. But the negative is a wrong approach by foreswearing to the oneness of Nigeria before extracting any assurances of fundamental restructuring of the polity from the arrogant oligarchy. In the circumstance, it might be necessary to put oneself in the position of the oligarchy.
The question is worth asking: "Having reassured the oligarchy of the nonsensical indivisibility of Nigeria, what will motivate them to let go of their suzerainty over Nigeria, given their vice grip of the polity?" Certainly none!
After all, they are in Nigeria for what they get - easy access to the sea, the control of oil blocks and revenue from crude petroleum sales, and the ready market for their agricultural products. Yes Oh! That is the only reason the oneness of Nigeria is so important to them. And it is natural that they will persevere to keep the privileges that vice grip gives them.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King during the Civil Rights agitation in US, reminded his fellow oppressed Black leaders that privileged groups would hardly let go of group privileges; and therefore advised that the civil right struggle must remain pacifist and the agitators must be ready to persevere long term. In making that assertion Dr. King did not factor into the equation the demagoguery of Islamic fundamentalists. Islamists normally would fight to death and are never ready to concede any position unless they are forced to do so.
There are however pacifist ways long-drawn agitation can weaken their resistance and compel them to come to the table and negotiate. It requires research, introspection, patience and perseverance .
Mandela taught : " An oppressive system cannot be reformed. It must be cast away."
The first lesson is that rights agitators must identify the 1999 Constitution is an enslavement Ordinance for that is what it is. Having done that all must accept that no amount of amendment will reform and give it any humane face. It must therefore be discarded and replaced with a reformed 1963 Constitution with much more autonomy for the federating units on RESOURCES and SECURITY. Afenifere has got it right when it insists that Nigeria must return to a modified version of the only Constitution freely given to Nigeria by Nigerians - the 1963 Constitution. Legalistic cynics will tell you that an extant Constitution cannot be set aside; but we all witnessed South African apartheid 1984 Constitution succeeded by first the interim 1993 Constitution and ultimately the present 1996 Constitution.
Therefore without agitation for separation by the South and the Middle Belt and a pledge to the unity of Nigeria the groups have forsworn any change to the status quo. "Quod approbo non reprobo" is a legal maxim which means "that which I approve, I cannot disapprove. In other words one cannot accept and reject (approbate and reprobate) at the same time."
Therefore in such circumstances where the South and Middle Belt have apparently rejected agitation for self determination, all that the oligarchy would need do is to appear to have "generously" conceded some meaningless tinkering with the existing Enslavement Ordinance; and the party goes on. They have done it before. Nigerians being people with very short fuse for resistance would brand any one who rejects the tokens offered, a trouble maker,the party goes on. In malleability Nigerians have broken world records. We saw the NADECO resistance fizzle out after a few incoherent tokens were offered in 1998/99.
Albert Einstein cannot be wrong when he postulated: "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is insanity."
Already the Oligarchy has foresworn that their cattle have citizen rights to range all over Nigeria; and that anyone who wants restructuring should go to the NASS where their spurious majority would throw out such request without even the courtesy of a first reading. Also the Attorney General of the Federation has presented President Buhari's , 'no restructuring' view on the issue.
James Madison, a founding father of USA, one of the drafters of US Constitution and later, 4th President of USA, had advised:
" Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."
It is important to understand the mindset of people who wish to make Nigeria a cattle republic, contrary to world's best practices of ranching. And a people who are courageous enough to want to denigrate the faith of close to 60% of the population (Christianity) in the nation's school syllabus and supplant it with their own faith as the nation's only religion, despite the provisions of the extant Constitution, however so defective, to ensure the secularity of the state, need to be understood and related to, with extreme caution.
I also believe that it is important to heed Mahatma Gandhi's liberation counsel:
"The moment the slave resolves that he will no longer be a slave, his fetters fall. He frees himself and shows the way to others. Freedom and slavery are mental states."
The first order of freedom for the enslaved people of Nigeria therefore is to openly admit that all Nigerians are indeed, by virtue of the 1999 Constitution, enslaved by the oligarchy. Every Southerner and Middle Belter must be taught that the present legal framework has enslaved all; and the race to Liberty should be a concerted effort by all who understand the enslavement. Extensive publicity must be given to this effort, locally and internationally, because it is an unhidden truth that we are all enslaved, but the typical skeptic is reluctant to admit it.
Agitation for separation by all former allies of the oligarchy in the very uncivil war (1967-70), would rattle and soften the them. Oppressors are like thieves. If you catch and expose them, they get intimidated like a thief who, on being accosted, would instantly drop the stolen item and deny he ever intended to steal it. The exposure of acts of enslavement by former allies, will compel meaningful restructuring, whose modalities would be dictated by the agitating parties. That way meaningful restructuring can be accomplished.
Not to agitate for self determination and merely demand restructuring, is like putting the cart before the horse. The result - No motion, no movement. This is like acting the oligarchy's script.
Mahatma Gandhi, during the Indian struggle for independence from colonial Britain seemed to have foreseen this playing the slave-master's game when he warned his fellow compatriots in the Indian independence struggle with one of his famous slavery quotes:
"When a slave begins to take pride in his fetters and hugs them like precious ornaments, the triumph of the slave-owner is complete."
Let me advice: Expect no meaningful drive from Southeast leaders who have seen hell since 1966-70 they were defeated by Nigeria till date. The elders have seen so much humiliation from Nigeria and now face rebellion from South youths to having allowed the humiliation of the Igbo to fester into such bad ulcer.
South East youths are justifiably very angry against Igbo elders and Nigeria. Why?
(1). Because they outperform all Nigerian zones in entrance exams to Unity Schools with130-139 entry points, as against 2 points only for some other states in the North;
(2) In WAEC, two states in the South East alternate 1st and 2nd positions among all the states of the Federation plus FCT, and all SE states come in the first ten, whereas Northern states bring up the rear in the last fifteen; and
(3) In UTME (JAMB) states in the SE enter the highest number of candidates, excel in scores but get the least of University admissions. In 2016, for example, Imo state entered 104,383 candidates far in excess of 98,028 candidates entered by 8 Northern States plus Abuja.
Yet in recruitment and promotions by the Federal Government, the South-East and other Southern states who outperform meritoriously in academics, get the least in numbers recruited and promoted.
Northwest and Northeast, generally succeed in getting recruited and or admitted/promoted more than four/five times candidates from these more academically performing states of the South and Southeast in particular. The SE youths cannot find any rationale for what they consider as strange in what they are told is their own country and therefore want out.
The Directorate of State Security recent recruitment saga, where the Northwest got 165 slots of cadets with 51 to Katsina, whereas the whole the five States of the South East got a mere 44 and South South got 42 is mere reflection of what goes on in most Federal government ministries and extra ministerial department. The FCT is an exclusive preserve of the North but funded from resources from the East.
Bigotry, wanton slaughter of people of other ethnic groups, cattle Fulani militancy, abduction of under-aged girls, their forced conversion to Islam, rape and marriage and other such crimes against, humanity derive from attitude and mindset and it is wondered how restructuring, howsoever meaningfully done, can change a people's deviant attitude.
May God have Mercy on the helpless in this Slave Camp, Nigeria.
PRINCE CHUKWUEMEKA ONYESOH
24th July, 2017.
emekaonyesoh.blogspot.com.ng
The monster Nigeria is fighting is as grotesquely strange as the apartheid regime in South Africa. Both are based on extremism of values and engaged in defending special privileges conferred on them by enslaving Ordinances branded Constitutions. In South Africa its monster of discrimination was created by the 1961 and the 1983 Constitutions; whereas in Nigeria it is the 1999 Constitution, howsoever amended, under the overriding influence of Sharia Law. But the oligarchy is indeed in very many hidden respects, worse than Afrikaans because the oligarchs are Jihadists before whom others are dispensable chattels. Examples: The brutality on Biafra 1966 to date, Late Dr. Ken Saro Wiwa and Alhaji MKO Abiola of Blessed Memory.
There are two major ways of fighting oppressive regimes:
A. First is WAR which I personally reject because it is primitive and for four other reasons.
1. I am a Prince of a kingship institution dating back to AD 950 (NRI) which has custody of Igbo customs and tradition; but has never gone to any war in its over 1,000 year history . That is part of why it is scarcely known except by historians of Igbo history & tradition. Disputes are invariably resolved by divination. So the culture I was born into is abhors violence of at kind.
2. On the order side of the divide, are the Jihadists to whom war is the gateway to paradise. Should they die in the venture, all earthly pleasures they could not afford and/or missed on earth are made up for them in paradise. Consequently, they place no value on lives and would kill at the snap of a finger,; which is in contradistinction to the high premium placed on lives by my people and the civilized world.
3. In this 21st Century only people who are inherently war-mongers and demagogues rely on war as a peace formula . The Jihadists of Nigeria who know no other conflict resolution mechanism, other than violence, have conveniently misled Nigerians to regard, otherwise peaceful agitation for rights guaranteed by national and international laws, as declaration of war, whereas what they mean is threat of genocide against unarmed agitators for liberation from an asphyxiating circumstance they find themselves in Nigeria. As a consequence, and unfortunately for Nigeria, core issues troubling the country, are swept under the carpet whilst scrambling to forestall an undeclared war atmosphere deceptively foisted on the nation to divert attention. That is typical Jihad of Deception at work! The misfortune in this exercise is that Nigerians do not even understand what the Jihadist mean when they threaten war with their quit notice. Their Quit notice,stripped of all diversionary gab, is a mere warning that they will resume the genocide began in 1966; but tuned down to sporadic killings of Igbos since 1970 till date, into, once again a general massacre perhaps worse than in September/October 1966 and war-time genocide.
Furthermore they have also successfully manipulated Nigeria to bother with what is now branded "hate speeches" without any thought to the hate killings and other atrocities which generate the hatred from which hate speeches emanate. Indiscriminate killing of a people with no consequence to the killer, naturally generates hatred of victims family/friends and clan for the killer. And the oligarchy does not want to hear how much the killers are hated for the Cattle herdsmen menace, other wanton killings and abduction, forced conversion, rape and marriage of under-aged Christian girls! No one loves a killer or molester but they probably wish to be loved for these atrocities!
Remember Alhaji Usman Faruk in the 2014 Conference who bandied about a very strange thesis on sovereignty:
"Sovereignty is never won on a conference table; it is won in the battle field."
NOT TRUE, in present post Cold War world.
After all since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, over 25 nations have attained sovereignty without fighting. It is only fundamentalist demagogues who must fight to settle or separate in a failed Union which exists only to serve their selfish interests.
And 4. Only uncivilized people go to war on issues that can be resolved on the conference table by negotiation. War is destructive, nonsensical and futile. General Dwight Eisenhower, five-star US Army General, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe which defeated Germany in World War II, first Commander of NATO and 34th President of US, 1953-196, summarized the futility of war in his now famous War quote:
"I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can; only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity."
War, as a peace mechanism is reserved only for people in early animal stage of human development - the prehistoric man. And that is where all Nigerians threatening war to keep the tottering Federation of Nigeria are; or shall I say, threatening 'Genocide' since they control all the coercive forces of State, whilst the agitators for Liberty are unarmed?
B. The alternative to war in fighting oppressive regimes is therefore PACIFIST AGITATION FOR INDEPENDENCE, accompanied with litigation, publicity and diplomacy - national and international. Well organized agitation for independence compels meaningful restructuring as was the case in Scotland, Quebec etc.
UK for example had no legal framework (Constitutional provision) for the Scottish vote (referendum) but because they are civilized people, the British government had to introduce an Order-in- Council ((Law) to allow the Scottish vote to enable the Scots to determine by themselves to stay or not, in UK. UK underwent very fundamental restructuring to keep the Scots. Scots are only 8% of UK as against the English, over 73%. No quit notice was issued to the Scots for agitating because the English are lawful. Neither was there any threat of Genocide on the Scot, as AREWA now threatens the Igbos.
Quebec province of Canada has voted twice (1980 & 1995) to leave or stay in Canada. To influence Quebec rejection of independence, Canada in 1969 made the French language of Quebec province (25% of Canada), a parallel official language of Canada with English, spoken by the rest of Canada - 75%. In 1982, after the 1980 vote, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms were enshrined in the Canadian Constitution to essentially protect minority rights including Quebecers' culture from Roman Catholicism as against Protestantism of the rest of Canada (75%).
Furthermore, over 12 of 23 Prime Ministers of Canada have been Quebecers. In addition, lots of powers were devolved to all the provinces of Canada.
Unfortunately South East, South West, South south, and Middle Belt leaders have met, which is a positive development. But the negative is a wrong approach by foreswearing to the oneness of Nigeria before extracting any assurances of fundamental restructuring of the polity from the arrogant oligarchy. In the circumstance, it might be necessary to put oneself in the position of the oligarchy.
The question is worth asking: "Having reassured the oligarchy of the nonsensical indivisibility of Nigeria, what will motivate them to let go of their suzerainty over Nigeria, given their vice grip of the polity?" Certainly none!
After all, they are in Nigeria for what they get - easy access to the sea, the control of oil blocks and revenue from crude petroleum sales, and the ready market for their agricultural products. Yes Oh! That is the only reason the oneness of Nigeria is so important to them. And it is natural that they will persevere to keep the privileges that vice grip gives them.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King during the Civil Rights agitation in US, reminded his fellow oppressed Black leaders that privileged groups would hardly let go of group privileges; and therefore advised that the civil right struggle must remain pacifist and the agitators must be ready to persevere long term. In making that assertion Dr. King did not factor into the equation the demagoguery of Islamic fundamentalists. Islamists normally would fight to death and are never ready to concede any position unless they are forced to do so.
There are however pacifist ways long-drawn agitation can weaken their resistance and compel them to come to the table and negotiate. It requires research, introspection, patience and perseverance .
Mandela taught : " An oppressive system cannot be reformed. It must be cast away."
The first lesson is that rights agitators must identify the 1999 Constitution is an enslavement Ordinance for that is what it is. Having done that all must accept that no amount of amendment will reform and give it any humane face. It must therefore be discarded and replaced with a reformed 1963 Constitution with much more autonomy for the federating units on RESOURCES and SECURITY. Afenifere has got it right when it insists that Nigeria must return to a modified version of the only Constitution freely given to Nigeria by Nigerians - the 1963 Constitution. Legalistic cynics will tell you that an extant Constitution cannot be set aside; but we all witnessed South African apartheid 1984 Constitution succeeded by first the interim 1993 Constitution and ultimately the present 1996 Constitution.
Therefore without agitation for separation by the South and the Middle Belt and a pledge to the unity of Nigeria the groups have forsworn any change to the status quo. "Quod approbo non reprobo" is a legal maxim which means "that which I approve, I cannot disapprove. In other words one cannot accept and reject (approbate and reprobate) at the same time."
Therefore in such circumstances where the South and Middle Belt have apparently rejected agitation for self determination, all that the oligarchy would need do is to appear to have "generously" conceded some meaningless tinkering with the existing Enslavement Ordinance; and the party goes on. They have done it before. Nigerians being people with very short fuse for resistance would brand any one who rejects the tokens offered, a trouble maker,the party goes on. In malleability Nigerians have broken world records. We saw the NADECO resistance fizzle out after a few incoherent tokens were offered in 1998/99.
Albert Einstein cannot be wrong when he postulated: "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is insanity."
Already the Oligarchy has foresworn that their cattle have citizen rights to range all over Nigeria; and that anyone who wants restructuring should go to the NASS where their spurious majority would throw out such request without even the courtesy of a first reading. Also the Attorney General of the Federation has presented President Buhari's , 'no restructuring' view on the issue.
James Madison, a founding father of USA, one of the drafters of US Constitution and later, 4th President of USA, had advised:
" Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."
It is important to understand the mindset of people who wish to make Nigeria a cattle republic, contrary to world's best practices of ranching. And a people who are courageous enough to want to denigrate the faith of close to 60% of the population (Christianity) in the nation's school syllabus and supplant it with their own faith as the nation's only religion, despite the provisions of the extant Constitution, however so defective, to ensure the secularity of the state, need to be understood and related to, with extreme caution.
I also believe that it is important to heed Mahatma Gandhi's liberation counsel:
"The moment the slave resolves that he will no longer be a slave, his fetters fall. He frees himself and shows the way to others. Freedom and slavery are mental states."
The first order of freedom for the enslaved people of Nigeria therefore is to openly admit that all Nigerians are indeed, by virtue of the 1999 Constitution, enslaved by the oligarchy. Every Southerner and Middle Belter must be taught that the present legal framework has enslaved all; and the race to Liberty should be a concerted effort by all who understand the enslavement. Extensive publicity must be given to this effort, locally and internationally, because it is an unhidden truth that we are all enslaved, but the typical skeptic is reluctant to admit it.
Agitation for separation by all former allies of the oligarchy in the very uncivil war (1967-70), would rattle and soften the them. Oppressors are like thieves. If you catch and expose them, they get intimidated like a thief who, on being accosted, would instantly drop the stolen item and deny he ever intended to steal it. The exposure of acts of enslavement by former allies, will compel meaningful restructuring, whose modalities would be dictated by the agitating parties. That way meaningful restructuring can be accomplished.
Not to agitate for self determination and merely demand restructuring, is like putting the cart before the horse. The result - No motion, no movement. This is like acting the oligarchy's script.
Mahatma Gandhi, during the Indian struggle for independence from colonial Britain seemed to have foreseen this playing the slave-master's game when he warned his fellow compatriots in the Indian independence struggle with one of his famous slavery quotes:
"When a slave begins to take pride in his fetters and hugs them like precious ornaments, the triumph of the slave-owner is complete."
Let me advice: Expect no meaningful drive from Southeast leaders who have seen hell since 1966-70 they were defeated by Nigeria till date. The elders have seen so much humiliation from Nigeria and now face rebellion from South youths to having allowed the humiliation of the Igbo to fester into such bad ulcer.
South East youths are justifiably very angry against Igbo elders and Nigeria. Why?
(1). Because they outperform all Nigerian zones in entrance exams to Unity Schools with130-139 entry points, as against 2 points only for some other states in the North;
(2) In WAEC, two states in the South East alternate 1st and 2nd positions among all the states of the Federation plus FCT, and all SE states come in the first ten, whereas Northern states bring up the rear in the last fifteen; and
(3) In UTME (JAMB) states in the SE enter the highest number of candidates, excel in scores but get the least of University admissions. In 2016, for example, Imo state entered 104,383 candidates far in excess of 98,028 candidates entered by 8 Northern States plus Abuja.
Yet in recruitment and promotions by the Federal Government, the South-East and other Southern states who outperform meritoriously in academics, get the least in numbers recruited and promoted.
Northwest and Northeast, generally succeed in getting recruited and or admitted/promoted more than four/five times candidates from these more academically performing states of the South and Southeast in particular. The SE youths cannot find any rationale for what they consider as strange in what they are told is their own country and therefore want out.
The Directorate of State Security recent recruitment saga, where the Northwest got 165 slots of cadets with 51 to Katsina, whereas the whole the five States of the South East got a mere 44 and South South got 42 is mere reflection of what goes on in most Federal government ministries and extra ministerial department. The FCT is an exclusive preserve of the North but funded from resources from the East.
Bigotry, wanton slaughter of people of other ethnic groups, cattle Fulani militancy, abduction of under-aged girls, their forced conversion to Islam, rape and marriage and other such crimes against, humanity derive from attitude and mindset and it is wondered how restructuring, howsoever meaningfully done, can change a people's deviant attitude.
May God have Mercy on the helpless in this Slave Camp, Nigeria.
PRINCE CHUKWUEMEKA ONYESOH
24th July, 2017.
emekaonyesoh.blogspot.com.ng
THE FUTILITY OF THREATENED BOYCOTT OF ANAMBRA GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION
THE FUTILITY OF THREATENED BOYCOTT OF ANAMBRA GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION
I will like IPOB Leaders to enlighten me on this "No Anambra Gubernatorial Election" threat.
Suppose Anambra people accept IPOB no election threat, which I very much doubt, (Anambra people, my people, being politically very savvy) and any of the minor parties nominates a Fulani herdsman at Amansee, Awka and on election day only herdsmen come out and voted for him and he wins; or he is returned unopposed, and gets sworn in. What will IPOB do or tell Anambra people who would have been shortchanged into having a Fulani herdsman, probably an Islamic militant as Governor of Anambra State?
2. Does IPOB have an Army or Police to stop Anambra election?
3. "Threat" per se is a violent act and not pacifist. As non-violent rights agitators it is therefore only within the competence of IPOB to order its members not to participate in the election and not do anything other thing, including carrying out the present threat, to stop the election. That would amount to challenging the governments of the day which according to national and international laws exercise sovereignty over Anambra state today.
3. "The tree of liberty shall be watered with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Yes; but 290 killed, 320 incapacitated is enough for now. Time
to move to the next level excluding grandstanding and street matches.
4. Nigeria must by national and international Law approve Biafra's independence for it to be meaningful. I hope IPOB is aware of the truth of this in International Law.
5. IPOB should therefore at this stage be making friends and winning sympathies in the South and Middle Belt of Nigeria; and reaching out internationally for sympathy and understanding. This, I am informed, is being quietly done by some very advanced groups. Any act of violence by IPOB is bound to upset these diplomatic advances.
6. IPOB must device ways and means of ensuring that all people elected as Governors, Assembly men, Representatives and Senators from the Southeast are IPOB supporters. That is the way to referendum and independence. That is how Scotland and Quebec got their independence votes. And that is how Catalonia might get its vote. We do not need to invent the wheel.
7. Scarcely would a country or UN call for referendum because an NGO demanded it. The people's elected representatives are usually required to demand the independence vote, otherwise called referendum.
8. Time for polished, civilised and diplomatic language is now, if we are to make any progress.
9. "Hubris Syndrome" which ruined the leadership of the 1st attempt at the Republic of Biafra, must be avoided at all cost, particularly now it is a democratic dispensation, unlike in the 1967 -70 effort.
10. Grandstanding and threats that cannot be backed up, would lead to nowhere. It did not lead us anywhere 1967 - 1970.
I conclude this brief with a quote from James Madison, a founding father of USA, one of the drafters of US Constitution and later, 4th President of USA:
" Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."
Emeka Onyesoh,
Okpala Eze na Nri.
25th July, 2017
I will like IPOB Leaders to enlighten me on this "No Anambra Gubernatorial Election" threat.
Suppose Anambra people accept IPOB no election threat, which I very much doubt, (Anambra people, my people, being politically very savvy) and any of the minor parties nominates a Fulani herdsman at Amansee, Awka and on election day only herdsmen come out and voted for him and he wins; or he is returned unopposed, and gets sworn in. What will IPOB do or tell Anambra people who would have been shortchanged into having a Fulani herdsman, probably an Islamic militant as Governor of Anambra State?
2. Does IPOB have an Army or Police to stop Anambra election?
3. "Threat" per se is a violent act and not pacifist. As non-violent rights agitators it is therefore only within the competence of IPOB to order its members not to participate in the election and not do anything other thing, including carrying out the present threat, to stop the election. That would amount to challenging the governments of the day which according to national and international laws exercise sovereignty over Anambra state today.
3. "The tree of liberty shall be watered with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Yes; but 290 killed, 320 incapacitated is enough for now. Time
to move to the next level excluding grandstanding and street matches.
4. Nigeria must by national and international Law approve Biafra's independence for it to be meaningful. I hope IPOB is aware of the truth of this in International Law.
5. IPOB should therefore at this stage be making friends and winning sympathies in the South and Middle Belt of Nigeria; and reaching out internationally for sympathy and understanding. This, I am informed, is being quietly done by some very advanced groups. Any act of violence by IPOB is bound to upset these diplomatic advances.
6. IPOB must device ways and means of ensuring that all people elected as Governors, Assembly men, Representatives and Senators from the Southeast are IPOB supporters. That is the way to referendum and independence. That is how Scotland and Quebec got their independence votes. And that is how Catalonia might get its vote. We do not need to invent the wheel.
7. Scarcely would a country or UN call for referendum because an NGO demanded it. The people's elected representatives are usually required to demand the independence vote, otherwise called referendum.
8. Time for polished, civilised and diplomatic language is now, if we are to make any progress.
9. "Hubris Syndrome" which ruined the leadership of the 1st attempt at the Republic of Biafra, must be avoided at all cost, particularly now it is a democratic dispensation, unlike in the 1967 -70 effort.
10. Grandstanding and threats that cannot be backed up, would lead to nowhere. It did not lead us anywhere 1967 - 1970.
I conclude this brief with a quote from James Madison, a founding father of USA, one of the drafters of US Constitution and later, 4th President of USA:
" Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."
Emeka Onyesoh,
Okpala Eze na Nri.
25th July, 2017
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