Since after the Nigeria-Biafra war which ended in 1970 with “No Victor No Vanquished,” the Igbo man of Nigeria has been struggling to have himself asserted (deservedly) in Nigeria national scheme of things. The war itself being as a result of malfeasance principally against the Igbo.
Wikipedia says: “The 1966 anti-Igbo pogrom was a series of massacres committed against Igbo people and other people of southern Nigerian origin living in northern Nigeria starting in May 1966 and reaching a peak after 29 September 1966. Between 8,000 and 30,000 Igbos and easterners have been estimated to have been killed. A further 1 million Igbos fled the Northern Region into the East. In response to the killings some northerners were massacred in Port Harcourt and other eastern cities. These events led to the secession of the eastern Nigerian region and the declaration of the Republic of Biafra, which ultimately led to the Nigeria-Biafra war.”
The Igbo man of today has over the years being burdened by myriad of problems. He is confronted with the problems of political marginalization especially under the present political dispensation, unimaginable poverty and deprivation, as well as lack, just to mention a few.
As a result of the aforementioned, the desire for self determination and
freedom has ever remained rekindled and burning in the Igbo man, fuelled by the uncooperative tendencies of some of the elites (especially politicians) of Igbo extraction.
To have this imbalance corrected has been uppermost in the mind of the Igbo man and he is not giving up on it.
May 30 being a day that occupies a very important spot in the history of the Igbo, is being pushed to be recognized as “a day of remembrance” of the millions that died during the pogrom and the civil war.
In an effort to make the Igbo more united and bonded, a pre civil war body known as “the Igbo State Union” had instituted an Igbo Day celebrated by the Igbo around the world. However, this Union was proscribed immediately after the war by military.
It is important that the Igbo see themselves as one if the aspiration for real progress and integration are to be achieved.
No group should engage in making sensational and inflammatory statements, or promote violence which are not in self defense.
In 2020 up to May 2021 all the 5 states in the South East were in the news but in the negative aspect of it as violent attacks, kidnap, murder, robbery and arson were (and are being) perpetrated mostly by those described as “unidentified gunmen.” These could partly be attributable to Government insensitivity to the plight of the people.
More can be achieved as a region, if all the governors, elected and political office holders, professionals, various youth bodies must present a common front.
The Governors should borrow a leaf from the Governors of the Southwest who over the years cooperated with the Afenifere, Oodua People’s Congress OPC, and other group in the region to push for a national day of recognition which they eventually achieved, as June 12 is today a day. Before this, states in the south west declared June 12 a public holiday.
The apex Igbo socio cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo should really bond as one with a united front and let all other cleavage and splinter groups cue behind them for greater attainment. To reinforce this, the Governors of the South East States should consider adopting May 30 a public holiday for the states in the region in the first instance.
