IGBO LEADERSHIP

At this point, I need to address the issue of the often seriously misunderstood topic of Igbo Leadership.

This is triggered by the disrespectful & condescending tweet by @AbdulMahmud01 that the Igbo have traders but not leaders.

#IgboLeadership

A THREAD

https://twitter.com/AbdulMahmud01/status/1149785445624098816

I'll forgive @AbdulMahmud01 with whom I often interact on Twitter & who I have tremendous respect for his advocacy for human & civil rights in Nigeria.

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I will also like to state that he's not alone in this misunderstanding. So many Igbo sons & daughters are equally guilty of this unfortunate & ill informed understanding of Igbo world view about Political Leadership.

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As a matter of fact, confrontation on the same subject matter with an angry misguided Igbo youth about 2 decades ago made me to ask questions & pay attention.

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BIBLE:

1 Samuel 8:19 - But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us.
20 - Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

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Ndịgbo are republican democrats by social political philosophy & organization.

The Igbo nation is not one homogeneous entity with a very powerful Emperor & Sovereign.

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The Igbo nation is rather a collection of fully independent communities with shared ancestry.

Igbo leadership is community based. Igbo leadership is a collective of all adults. This is a truly unique system that most modern democracies are trying to mimic.

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ENTER NIGERIA
The confusion or misunderstanding about Igbo leadership is in context of the political geographic space called Nigeria.

Most other sub nations in Nigeria traditionally run a top-down political system as opposed to the bottom-up system of Ndigbo.

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Some Igbo people have grown frustrated to perceived disadvantages they have suffered in Nigeria and do fantasize about a one strong, big, united Igbo behemoth that can stand up and even have an upper hand in the mad scramble for the "national cake".

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At this point let's acknowledge a fact.

Despite the many negative experiences & disadvantages the Igbo have suffered in this Nigerian Enterprise, the Igbo is the most successful ethnic group in Nigeria going by all available human indices.

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Why?
The simple logical answer is because of who we are & the unique form of socio-political organisation we run.

Our communities are independent, small & manageable. This makes our communities nimble, competitive & progressive.

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Once we have a working system, level playing ground, justice, equity & fair play, the average Igbo person does not give a hoot about who is exercising power.

The importance of a President of Igbo stock in Nigeria is just the symbolism of "Okem Efuna".

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ARE NDIGBO UNITED?
Unfortunately, the perception of Igbo Unity means some sort of the collapse of the Igbo Communities into one entity with a single identifiable top-down command structure.

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This is not even entirely strange phenomenon to the Igbo experience. It's usually a temporary contraption to address specific pan Igbo issues.

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The first time pan Igbo unity occurred in history will be the formation of IGBO UNION championed by Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. This group helped to tilt Ndigbo towards National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC).

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That was Ndigbo uniting by choice under one political umbrella to demand for independence & self governance from the British.

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The second was when the Igbo united under Odumegwu Ojukwu who declared the Sovereign State of #Biafra to address the existential challenges of Ndigbo in Nigeria.

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The third one is still gaining traction. That is the Igbo uniting behind Mazi Nnamdi Kanu for the rebirth of Biafra in response to the current INJUSTICES in Nigeria.

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The fourth one is how Buhari & APC are totally rejected by Ndigbo which makes Buhari to constantly bemoans the less than 5% votes he received in the South East.

This phenomenon is a result of our Igbo collective leadership in action.

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Where there's no leadership, there would not have been a unity of purpose and action.

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People who would have had us in disunity, seeing such an amazing expression of our collective leadership & seeking to punish us for daring, are now claiming that we lack political sophistication by placing all our eggs in one basket.

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In essence, anyone looking for Igbo leadership will find it in all Igbo Communities, in Igbo Town Unions or Associations back in our towns & villages or in the diaspora towns where we have sufficient numbers to start a meeting.

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The tripod of Igbo leadership in the community level is JUSTICE, EQUITY & SERVICE. Check out the different Chairmen or Presidents of our Town Unions & you'll see individuals of solid financial standings, wisdom & good repute.

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The reason is simple. Most often, the community will raise funds to execute community projects. Individuals that will be able to contribute their fair share & will not be associated with embezzling community funds are always prevailed to be at the helm of affairs.
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One other interesting aspect is that all Igbo adults are equal stake holders in political leadership of our communities. That is why Igbo villages & communities cannot be compared with villages in any other part of Nigeria in terms of physical & human progress.

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Now coming back to pan Igbo leadership in the Nigerian political space, we can do better.

We must however not lose fact that Ohanaeze Ndigbo is far healthier today in comparison to other apex pan ethnic organizations like Afenifere & Arewa Consultative Forum.

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While Afenifere & ACF are gasping for breath & have lost much relevance due to power tussle and internal challenges in Yorubaland & Arewa land, Ohanaeze Ndigbo remains our apex voice though we disagree with them often.

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The people who end up as our elected politicians do so under the Nigerian context. Many can never win elections for offices in our communities because we know them. We push them to Nigeria. They are not much different from other politicians all over Nigeria.

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Remember the nPDP & their betrayal of Goodluck Jonathan? How many Ndigbo were part of the nPDP?

By the way don't tell me that they joined #APC then to serve their people. Most are back in PDP today. What changed?

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The fact is that under the corrupt & coercive influence of Buhari, the worst of the Nigerian politicians Igbo & not will continue to manifest. Those whose primary purpose of joining politics is personal ambition & aggrandizement will always reveal themselves.

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So who cares about Ike Ekweremadu, Dave Umahi, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Ifeanyi Okowa, Emeka Ihedioha, Willy Obiano & any other Igbo stock trying to dine with the devil?

They shall surely be consumed by the devil at the dinner table. It's just a matter of time.

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My own is to stay true to self and principles by advocating for Justice & Good governance.

God forbid that I should lend my voice, resources & effort in support any form of idiocy.

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IGBO & POLITICS
The Igbo identify themselves with their villages & communities. That is their inheritance. That is where their hearts lay. That is the political space they will die for. That is their own.

Nke m bụ nke m, nke anyị bụ nke anyị.

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Transition from community based mindset to a marriage of (community and Igbo nation) mindset is a major socio-cultural engagement.

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There needs to be clarity in definition of its goals & deliberate pursuit such goals. Structures will need to be put in place to run, monitor & promote.

Aka melụ azụ o ji welụ gbaa nkịlịkọ (The hand caused the smoked fish to be round in shape.)

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Thank God that a number of young people are asking questions, coming together to advocate for issues important to us.

At this point I want to acknowledge the efforts of the @julietkego and others

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Social, Cultural & Political transformations cannot be achieved by mere wishes, expression of anger & hauling insults to "the leaders". The fact is that we the people, ụmụ Igbo are the joint leaders & equal stakeholders.

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Finally, I have lost hope in Nigeria. That is why I support #Biafra or at the barest minimum a restructured Nigeria as a first step.

Igbo ụnụ ga-adị ooo!
Birikwa nụ ooo!

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