"Lagos ‘deports’ 67 persons to Onitsha."
(sun newspaper, 7/24/13)
The Many Nigeria
Now Lagos state has become a Nazi enclave with the Igbos as the target of its newly found Nazi ideology. Lagos state government is now to Igbos what West countries are to Nigerians. In the West, a Nigerian that looks poor is not welcomed in the West. But if this Nigerian is a public official carrying huge amount of stolen public wealth he receives kingly welcome in Europe, in US. With this action Lagos State government says if you're Igbo and looks poor you're not welcomed in Lagos. This is exactly the same discrimination that South African meted against Nigerians sometimes last year that sparked National outraged and forced the Nigerian government to respond accordingly. Lagos state government cannot differentiate or discriminate between the rich and the poor Igbos.
But by this particular single action Lagos state government have unfortunately spoken out the unspoken truth many have deliberately avoided; the truth that we are not one, the truth that one Nigeria is a hoax, a fraud artificially kept as truth by the Niger Delta oil. Every Igbo man living or operating in Lagos take note; you’re welcomed in Lagos as longs as you appeared to be doing economically well. Every Igbo man in Lagos must now understand that his is foreigner in Lagos state and therefore must not keep all his eggs in the Lagos basket. Any Igbo in Lagos and perhaps anywhere outside the Igbo territory must think what would become of his wealth and properties in these states in the event of slightest national discord. It has happened before, the abandoned property project during the Civil war. History has and would continue to be a very important reference tool and those who disregard it surely make the same mistake time and time again.
But by this particular single action Lagos state government have unfortunately spoken out the unspoken truth many have deliberately avoided; the truth that we are not one, the truth that one Nigeria is a hoax, a fraud artificially kept as truth by the Niger Delta oil. Every Igbo man living or operating in Lagos take note; you’re welcomed in Lagos as longs as you appeared to be doing economically well. Every Igbo man in Lagos must now understand that his is foreigner in Lagos state and therefore must not keep all his eggs in the Lagos basket. Any Igbo in Lagos and perhaps anywhere outside the Igbo territory must think what would become of his wealth and properties in these states in the event of slightest national discord. It has happened before, the abandoned property project during the Civil war. History has and would continue to be a very important reference tool and those who disregard it surely make the same mistake time and time again.
However, there is an alternative cause of action albeit a difficult alternative that Igbos can use to confront ill treatment, discrimination and humiliations that they suffer in Nigeria. And that is to defend by any means necessary the artificial one- Nigerianism as long as the project called Nigeria whether in truth or in falsehood continues to emphasize that we are one Nigeria. Igbos must be prepared to either effectively relocate to the East when and if it becomes necessary or they must stand their ground, defend and protect themselves by any means when and if it become necessary to do so. Every part of Nigeria is Nigeria and Igbos, rich and poor like any other group has the constitutional right to live everywhere anywhere within the Nigeria territory.
Great men, nations are neither made from among the timid, the weakling, the peaceable, the pacifist nor from among the awols. Rather great men and nations are made from among the fearless, the courageous and from among those who would stand their ground when ordinary men and nations takes flight. So, as long as the song of one Nigeria mantra is being sang Igbos must prepare selves to defend in Lagos, Kano, north, south, east, and west, this none melodic but empowering song of One Nigeriaism.
Today Nigerians are assigned citizenship or indigene-ship base on tribe, language, and or on the divisive indigenous laws in the states that says an Igbo man born in Kano state is not an indigene of the state just because he or she has an Igbo blood even if he or she neither speaks Igbo nor ever set foot on south east soil. If Kaduna Nzeogwu was correctly seen and identified as a Nigeria first, a north second and may be, may be as an Igbo third, the July 1966 revenge coup, the pogrom that followed culminating to the fratricidal civil of 1967 to 1970 would have been completely averted. QED
In Nigeria today nobody knows the indigene-ship or state citizenship of a Nigeria with Igbo father, Hausa mother and Hausa paternal grandfather and Yoruba paternal great grandfather. The confusion in the citizenship of this individual is because unlike most country in the world where residency and individual volition are the bases for assigning state, regional, provincial citizenship, Nigeria uses tribe, language, and or paternity to assign citizenship. The oddity and absurdity of this Nigeria system is that it fosters divisiveness among the citizenry, it makes a Nigerian a stranger in his or her home country if he or she speaks, and or possesses a genome that is not local or indigenous to his or her place of residence.
Great men, nations are neither made from among the timid, the weakling, the peaceable, the pacifist nor from among the awols. Rather great men and nations are made from among the fearless, the courageous and from among those who would stand their ground when ordinary men and nations takes flight. So, as long as the song of one Nigeria mantra is being sang Igbos must prepare selves to defend in Lagos, Kano, north, south, east, and west, this none melodic but empowering song of One Nigeriaism.
Today Nigerians are assigned citizenship or indigene-ship base on tribe, language, and or on the divisive indigenous laws in the states that says an Igbo man born in Kano state is not an indigene of the state just because he or she has an Igbo blood even if he or she neither speaks Igbo nor ever set foot on south east soil. If Kaduna Nzeogwu was correctly seen and identified as a Nigeria first, a north second and may be, may be as an Igbo third, the July 1966 revenge coup, the pogrom that followed culminating to the fratricidal civil of 1967 to 1970 would have been completely averted. QED
In Nigeria today nobody knows the indigene-ship or state citizenship of a Nigeria with Igbo father, Hausa mother and Hausa paternal grandfather and Yoruba paternal great grandfather. The confusion in the citizenship of this individual is because unlike most country in the world where residency and individual volition are the bases for assigning state, regional, provincial citizenship, Nigeria uses tribe, language, and or paternity to assign citizenship. The oddity and absurdity of this Nigeria system is that it fosters divisiveness among the citizenry, it makes a Nigerian a stranger in his or her home country if he or she speaks, and or possesses a genome that is not local or indigenous to his or her place of residence.
This strict ethnic classification in Nigeria is principally responsible for persistent mistrust, disunity, rivalry, wars, tribal conflicts, and pogrom in the Nigeria society. If every Nigeria living in the north receives and possesses sense of citizen; sees self as a Nigeria first and a north seconds the Boko Haram threat that ordered southerners to leave north would have been senseless and laughable. If every Nigeria living in the north receives and possesses sense of citizenship they would neither yield to tribally charged threats nor indulge in mass exodus to the south for safety. Our leaders have for long encourage these divisions among the citizenry because it is good politics of divide and conquer. I therefore call on the national assembly to seize the opportunity afforded by the ongoing constitutional amendment to address and redefine citizenship appropriately; citizenship that is base on residency and not on tribe, language, paternity or genome.
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