Nigeria: A Cattle Colony

A MESSAGE FOR DIASPORA NIGERIANS

My people,

I come to you first as a Nigeria and second as the chairman of World Igbo Congress, Professor Anthony Ejiofor. I bring you greetings. May it be well with you! I come to you with a heavy burden in my heart … the burden placed there by the circumstances of our people in our home land Nigeria. World Igbo Congress has always hoped that the Nigerian state could still be salvaged irrespective of the relentless assault on our nearly 60-year old democracy. That’s why we have lent our voice to restructuring in the hope that it will help us redress the wrong that has been audaciously meted against so many nationalities in the union since inception. We had hoped that the handlers of the country will see some sense and reason to bring the over 400 ethnic nationalities to the table to ensure equity and fair play. Alas, we have hoped against hope. Nigeria has continued to tether on the brink due to self-inflicted missteps. It looks absolutely clear that the handlers of Nigeria have another unspoken agenda which they are promoting so viciously. It was Boko Haram, Now, it is Fulani herdsmen and the cattle colony ruse. Now it is the rapid development of the Fulani North (All projects worth anything are being located in the Fulani North). Now, it is the daring and reckless threat after threat by Fulani jihadist in the guise of Arewa Youth and Fulani Association. Guess what! The government of the land acquiesces and is comfortable with that. Indeed, the government appears to be in cahoots with the rampaging, gun-toting Fulani herdsmen. That is ominous, my people. The proverbial SOMETHING BIGGER THAN THE CRICKET HAS COME INTO ITS SUBTERRANEAN DOMAIN. Where should we go? Should we look to the apocryphal account of Peter’s “Quo vadis?” Oh no, we have nowhere to run to. We must defend our land, our generations, and our heritage. We cannot do this in splinters. Our people say that IGWE BU IKE (There is power in Numbers).

We must come together and deliver ourselves. Now is the time to get our acts together. We must start by burying all intra and inter group hatchets. We must begin by casting away the inter-group distrusts and suspicions. We must begin by laying a platform for trust. What we face is bigger than any one group. We now have time to work synergistically.

To engender this cohesion, we call on the leadership of all Diaspora Nigerian Organizations to, please call 615 830 2078 or write to [email protected] or visit the blog post