The needless war of IPOB versus Ohaneze

A significant culture and strategy war is unfolding in Igboland with consequences and ramifications that would last for decades and influence behaviours. The battle for control of the narrative and approach of Ndigbo in the binary between Nigeria and Biafra sees the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) at one end and the sociocultural group Ohaneze Ndigbo at the other.
The character of the conflict manifested again Saturday, March 31 as IPOB issued one more of their statements. As several platforms reported it, IPOB threatened bloodshed and abused the Ohaneze team for daring to conceive of an Igbo Summit that would not endorse the IPOB position. The language was stentorian, crude and offensive.
Speaking for IPOB, Emma Powerful, stated, “We are well aware of the nocturnal meetings between Chief Nnia Nwodo and a certain Brigadier General affiliated to the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu. The same people Ohaneze Ndigbo and South East governors ran to and convinced to launch Operation Python Dance II, are the same people Nnia Nwodo and his Ohaneze Ndigbo are running to now for security during the proposed Igbo summit. If Ohaneze leaders like, let them surround the venue with armoured tanks and soldiers, but one thing that is certain is that the summit will not hold unless Nnia Nwodo and his collaborators will be prepared to kill us all on that particular day. Nnia Nwodo and his collaborators are at liberty to call a summit to sensitise and educate our people for the upcoming referendum, but not to talk about restructuring to remain in Nigeria.”
It is possible to plead youthful exuberance for the boisterous language of IPOB but what does it say about Igbo culture? When did it become standard practice in Igboland for young people to spit into the faces of their elders over a disagreement? And to do so threatening their families? What manner of the group is this that denies others the right to canvass a different path in the acclaimed republican Igbo society? When did IPOB become the sole determinant of choices in Igboland? Did they hear of Egbe belu, ugo belu as the Igbo worldview?
There is increasingly in Igboland and its quest for self-actualisation a tendency to demonise anyone or group that does not tread the nzogbu nzogbu or Boy’s O ye approach. That approach says let us fight now even with bare hands, stones and cudgels. It is young, tough-sounding but suicidal. As far as I know, Igbo culture frowns at suicide!
One strand of this is to build a narrative of cowardice against Ohanaeze and its leader John Nnia Nwodo. Another is to create a dichotomy and hate between the young and old. There is a need for the Igbo to sit together and rationally agree on their goals within or outside Nigeria, what is desirable and what is feasible. We have to decide on time frames and, most importantly, in a strategic direction.
The Igbo stand in a peculiar position in Nigeria. They are ubiquitous, accounting for the next most abundant demographic outside the indigenes in whatever location across the country. You can find the Igbo in all places pan-Nigeria.
This geographical dispersal imposes on Igbo groups the urgency of an approach that prioritises inclusiveness, rationality and pragmatism. No rabble-rousing. Noise does not win wars, and in the games nations play, you need more quivers in your arrow than braggadocio.
Efforts at creating a dichotomy and hate between the young and old in Igboland should stop now. It would stultify our development. It is akin to the needless but undeclared warfare between educated Igbos and the merchant class or between professionals and the marketers in Nollywood. Persons with formal western education look down on the merchants with limited formal training. These moneybags also look down on the certificated but financially-challenged types. The result is mutual antagonism, rather than collaboration for progress. See how Igbo Nolly is now playing second fiddle to our competitors though we ran out of the starting line first in the video film era with Living in Bondage and the other films that established Nollywood and made it a phenomenon for all Africans and the Black Diaspora. Since the return to the Big Screen, they have produced more worthy films. They were first to go on DSTV platform with a channel.
The nzogbu nzogbu approach is limited. It is a paradigm that we should change in the age of intense competition within our geographical space. We can pursue self-determination, whether as part of the existing structure or in creating a new one, with subtlety. One group is doing so, gaining concessions with a mix of legal skulduggery, diplomacy and all the tools in the box of national struggles except warfare and jingoism. They do not broadcast their desire for independence loudly, even as the informed know that if the whistle sounds today, they will unfurl all the paraphernalia of statehood.
As it were, all other groups and ethnicities in Nigeria have a position on restructuring. Their youths collaborate with their elders. They do not disparage their fathers and grandfathers. It is uncultured conduct and does not represent Igboness. Why should the Igbo not meet to discuss restructuring?
Elders everywhere bring a more nuanced understanding of the terrain. They know the buttons to press and relationships on which to lean. The young have energy and passion. The combination has always worked for groups and societies. We should come together rather than this My-Mercedes-is-bigger-than-yours approach. Togetherness will deliver better results.

Chido Nwakanma