From
the ranting of the rogue ex-Transport Minister of the Shagari administration,
Umaru Dikko, to the vituperations of hired writers of the Northern
oligarchs, one can easily see a well orchestrated scheme to isolate
and demonize Chief C. Odumegwu Ojukwu as the instigator of everything
that has gone awry in the ongoing political crisis in Nigeria. The
latest antic of Igbo detractors is to unleash open and camouflaged
attacks on Igbo leadership, particularly those that are perceived
as intractable and less susceptible to extraneous influences from
rival power blocks in the North and West.
In one such diatribe by one Mallam Danlami, the obvious Igbo hater
cited “the attitude and utterances of the former rebel leader
convening secret meetings behind closed doors, delivering a thunderous
speech to CAN members just days before the Kaduna crisis, pontificating
reprisal attacks against others and calling for confederacy”
as more than adequate evidence to show that Ikemba Nnewi is poised
to trigger a new wave of upheaval across the nation.
Danlami adduced that “the sudden call for a confederacy by
the Ohaneze would logically make one conclude that the Igbos, under
the leadership of their godfather and mentor, have come to the call”.
The Northern writer concluded his piece by cautioning that “we
may be heading for another eastern succession bid, giving Ojukwu's
attitude and that of some highly placed Igbo leaders like Kalu who
defended the massacre of innocent Nigerians in his state”.
The practice of demonizing Igbo leaders by political rivals of the
North and West recently reached a crescendo when lies and fabrications
were heaped on the President of Nigerian Senate, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo,
with the intent of removing him as the No 3 in the national political
hierarchy. It should be recalled that the anti-Igbo propaganda machine,
created during the Civil War, had mischievously labeled the Biafran
secessionist struggle as Ojukwu’s war. In same vein, the death
of 1.5 million Biafrans, who perished due to wicked policies of
the Lagos junta, was blamed on the former Biafran Head of State.
Blaming the Ikemba Nnewi for the Sharia-instigated riots in Kaduna
and elsewhere by the North is another glaring attempt to distort
the truth and historical facts. The BMP Committee, in consultation
with a broad cross section of Igbo groups worldwide, has resolved
to establish structures that will guarantee that future unwarranted
attacks on respected Igbo leaders will be countered in decisive
and visible manner.
