Chike E. Okafor

The Oputa panel, an obfuscate panel whose goal is ill-defined, has been vacillating across the country with exaggerated optimism, listening to individuals and groups, their agonies and miseries suffered as a result of bad government and its vampire operatives that illegally seized the mantle of governance. The panel has just concluded its sitting at Enugu, a significant and symbolic city of the Igboland. It was the former capital of the eastern region, the first capital of the defunct and suspended Federal Republic of Biafra, East Central State and the current capital of Enugu State.

Enugu has a lot of symbolism attached to it. It was the city where great sons and daughters of the Igboland began their journey and pyramid climb into the apex of federal governmental structure. Enugu was also the symbol of Igbo resistance to both colonial imperialism and Nigerian government aggression and oppressions. It was the city where returned Igbos who escaped butchery from the jihadist movement of the northern Nigeria were received and sent home to their various domiciles without their properties or savings. It was the city where the victims of Nigerian genocide and ethnic cleansing converged and demanded that a young Oxford educated leader of the region, Col. Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, guide them out of Nigerian misery and deliver them to the promised land of the Federal Republic of Biafra.

Prior to the 1966 event, in 1950s Enugu served as a rallying ground to resist British slave labor. Those who worked at the coal mine, one of the Nigerian major export production at the time paid dearly with their blood when the colonialist defied human decency by publicly executing the coal miners in a broad day light. What was the sin of these coal miners? Demand for a better standard of living, a request that did not involve armed struggle.

Enugu was once a major source of economic wealth to Nigeria. Back then, coal was one of the economic backbones of Nigerian economy. Coal was used in the manufacturing industries, it was used in generation of electricity and also exported to other nations, in return, the colonial administrators and post colonial administrations collected revenue in the form of foreign exchange. In fact, coal from Enugu area was the backbone of Nigerian economy as oil is today in terms of power generation utilized by the factories.

Enugu was chosen as one of the cities where ordinary citizens would give testimony of what was wrong with Nigeria, how the citizens were traumatized and maltreated by their own government and request for reparation for the transgressions against them or the groups. The forum has afforded the titans of who is who among Nigerians an opportunity to stake a claim for being the representatives of the people, however, the convergence of some questionable characters and lack of attendance have raised an eye brow.

It seems that some titanic dead woods, timbers and caliber have ingeniously used the forum to resuscitate themselves from the depth of indecency caused by their past actions towards their people, hoping that the panel would propel them once again to the top of political ladder. This author is particularly concerned with the "no good" morons of the Igboland who once wielded tremendous political and economic power at the state and federal levels, but did not do a thing for their people. They squandered the opportunity to help advance or improve the standard of living of their people. While they were in office, they were more concerned with enriching themselves than helping the masses. They built a defense mechanism, a gigantic wall around them that kept them away from their people. They would pocket the money allocated or appropriated, depending on the type of government at the time, for their people. When election approaches, they would lavish their largesse on the people through scrupulous and organized feasts.

Some times, these noisome Nigerians would deposit their loots in a fraudulent foundation bank account such as John Doe foundation for the blind. In most cases, the benefactors and officers of these foundations are the crooks and their families. The blind are the Nigerians, in this case, the Igbos who were tricked into the voting crooks into office. The blinds are people who argued that it would be better for these corrupt citizens of Nigeria to invest their loots in Nigeria, rather than stashing them overseas. So one would ask, when does Nigerian law sanction kleptomania?

For too long, the Igbos have been dealt with bad cards and there is no question in any bodies’ mind that the Igbos have been shortchanged. Subsequent Nigerian governments, including the present administration, which did not appoint an Igbo Service Chief, have wronged them. However, Igbo politicians seems to be the worst offenders and degrades of Igbo people. They seem to be the most malodorous pussycats of Nigerian fusty politics. However, before delving into this issue, it is pertinent to discuss the repression of the Igbos by other Nigerian ethnic groups that do not like to see the Igbos excel in the country called Nigeria.

It is a shame that the Oputa Panel concluded its sitting at Enugu without inviting those who soiled their hands with the Igbo blood because their actions directly or indirectly, contributed to the massacre of innocent people from 1966 to 1970 and beyond. Lets talk about Obasanjo, the current president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Obasanjo was a leader of the dreaded third Nigerian marine commando which wrecked havoc and caused tremendous loss of lives and properties including war crime rapes, torture, and killing of women, infants and children in the Igbo fortress.

Furthermore, Obasanjo was once a military Head of State and commander in chief of the Nigerian armed forces in mid 1970s. During his reign, the federal government did not invest money, or introduce a "Marshall plan" in the Igboland. Nor was an attempt made to show concern for the misery of the Igbos that emerged from the war and lost everything, such as lives, properties, and even dignity at the hands of the national government. Today and in the mind of the Igbos, the Nigerian civil war is still in effect and the Oputa panel, despite its imperfections, would have served as a springboard to ameliorate the Igbo suffering of the mind and restore the Igbo dignity.

While Justice Oputa was busy listening to the Nigerian agonies, Obasanjo sits at the helm of Nigerian political ladder and instead of righting the wrongs of his past deeds; has resorted to preaching the gospel that the Igbos are not patriotic citizens of Nigeria. He has frequently exhibited anger tantrums each time Igbo issues were brought before him, like somebody who harbor secrets and is afraid of being exposed. He has consistently professed his belief in God, yet, he could not bring himself to tell the Igbos that he screwed up and ask for forgiveness.

In fact, it is not sufficient for Obasanjo to stand before the Oputa panel at Lagos and proclaim that he forgave those Abacharites who tormented him and put him in jail. He need to ask the families of those that were butchered during the Nigerian civil war to forgive the Nigerian military actions in the killing, rape, maiming and destruction of properties such as its actions in Asaba and Port Harcourt. That is the way of the Lord, remember that the Bible said; "love thy neighbor as you love thyself." It also admonishes us to ask for forgiveness and to repent so that we may be forgiven. Why Obasanjo does not want to practice the teaching of the Bible that he professes to guide him beats ones imagination.

The Oputa panel should have invited Generals Yakubu Gowon (rtd.) and Theophilus Danjuma, the ex-head of State and the current Nigerian Defense Minister respectively, to testify on what they knew about the killings of Igbos in the northern Nigeria. They should have been compelled to elaborate on why General Aguiyi Ironsi, a respected and decorated Nigerian army officer of Igbo heritage, was killed in such an inhuman way following the 1966 counter coup by the Northern army officers.

They should have been compelled to answer questions regarding what they knew and did following the collapse of the civilian government of Tafawa Belewa. Some of possible questions would have been - did the killers of northern political elite drag the corpses along the street as if they had won gold medal in the Olympics? Why did they disgrace Aguiyi Ironsi who had no hand in the Nzeogwu coup by dragging him along the street until his death? General Gowon should also account for the massacre of the Igbos in Asaba, now in Delta State.

Furthermore, Mohammed Buhari, the ex military head of state and chairman of the infamous Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) should have been compelled to appear at Enugu to give account of his stewardship of PTF monetary disbursements. He should have been forced to reveal the formula under which PTF practiced apartheid against the Igbo states by allocating less than one percent of funds to the whole region.

The Igbos and Nigeria at large allowed this golden opportunity to slip through their fingers. Although, some have argued that it is about time that Nigeria allows the sleeping dog rest. But, how could that happen? For Nigeria to move forward, all the aggrieved and disrespected citizens of Nigeria must be recognized. The perpetrators and purveyors of apartheid and injustice on innocent Nigerian citizens must confess and show remorse for their actions. Once they show remorse, the offended must accept such apology, afterwards, attain closure of the burning animosity internalized over the years.

For instance, during the Oputa sitting at Lagos, the Yorubas brought out the issue of Dele Giwa, Abiola and his wife and the maltreatment of their clan during the military tyranny. It is a shame that the so-called Igbo leaders developed cold feet and were unable to bring out the atrocities committed against the Igbos. Instead, they were busy running around looking for handouts from these apostles of death that does not want to see anything good from Igboland. In fact, the only Igbo elder that made an impetuous presentation other than the Ohaneze’s reparation proposal before the said panel was C. C. Onoh, which made headlines in the Nigerian press.

The history of Danjuma and the relationship with the Igbos are an open secret. Danjuma does not like the Igbos and ironically the so-called Igbo senators who were supposed to represent their constituencies voted in unison to confirm him as a Nigerian Defense Minister in the current political dispensation. The present crop of Igbo leaders have no self esteem or respect for themselves or for their people. If these self-crowned cowards do not respect their people, how would the Igbos expect others to respect them?

Politics is supposed to be a service to ones constituency. A politician delivers the bacon, in return, earn the support of the constituents. In the Nigerian politics, a politician is not responsible or responsive to the electorate. He or she buys the votes and, once in office, owes no allegiance to anyone but their pockets. During the parade before the Oputa panel at Enugu, the people expected their leaders to address the issues dearest to them. They expected speeches from their leaders to hold the air, to move the mountains, to cause havoc and inspire. They also expected their speeches to open up the minds of the oppressed for the possibility of forgiveness in the event that those at the helm of office at the time ask to be forgiven. Such powerful speeches would have up lifted the Igbo condition and expose the Nigerian hypocrisy so that the world would hear and see the nature of injustice perpetuated against the Igbos over the decades.

The Igbo politicians seem to be the worst political practitioners in the country. It is hard to point out a single amenity of significant value established by these self-serving politicians. As a matter of fact, all the amenities in the Igboland today were the handiwork of Nnamdi Azikiwe, Michael Okpara and other notables of the pre Nigerian civil war era. For instance, the University of Nigeria at Nsukka, a suburb of Enugu and perhaps, the Harvard University of Nigeria, was the brainchild of Nnamdi Azikiwe.

Could one imagine what would have happen if the University of Nigeria at Nsukka were built today? Ask Ukpabi Asika, the former puppet Administrator of the East Central State during the Gowon regime who helped to destroy the institute of public learning during his reign. Asika did not achieve anything during his reign and those who made strides towards achievement ended up embezzling billions of money appropriated for such project. So the answer to the question is: University of Nigerian at Nsukka would have been an uncompleted project like a school building at Christ the King College, the stadium, and secretariat, all at Onitsha.

The Igbos should shun those Igbo charlatan leaders that have nothing to offer them in the form of leadership. The Igbos has always presumed that they are the smartest people on earth, yet, they have consistently made bad decisions in the choice of leadership. They have failed to distinguish the filth, ugly and bad from the clean, honest and good. The Igbos deserve better representation and it is about time that the impostors parading themselves as Igbo leaders should be voted out of office come 2003.

Politicians from other parts of the country appear to be more productive than Igbo politicians. What we have witnessed in the Igboland of late is excessive and senseless acrimony, recycling of dead woods and selfish political leaders that care only for their pockets. The Igbos needs a serious soul search and sanitation. The time has come for them to open their eyes otherwise; they would become the laughing stock of Nigeria.

Finally, the Enugu parades before Oputa panel has ended and there were no sights of a long line of Igbo representatives competing to make the case for the prosecution of the Igbo people. There was no sign of angry Igbo representatives pounding on the table, asking the nation to apologize for prosecuting the Igbos. We did not see those who committed atrocities against the Igbos voluntarily appear before the panel and apologize to them for participating in the greatest Nigerian genocide of 20^th century. From the tone of Justice Oputa’s summation of the Enugu parade, he seemed disappointed that the Igbo elected leaders were absent. Those who showed up did not adequately demonstrate any need or urgency in their presentation. They did not show a sign of anger, frustration and a general sense of betrayal by a nation which they labored so hard to build, serve and preserve, until the outbreak of the Nigerian civil war.

Shame on those who prey on the vulnerable and defenseless for as Nnamdi Azikiwe once said, "no conditions is permanent". Although the Oputa’s panel was wish fulfillment grandiloquence on the part of the Nigerian government, yet, it offered a great avenue for the so-called Igbo leaders to argue the case for the Igbos and they failed.