by Chinyere Akataobi

The 1914 Amalgamation of the northern and Southern protectorate can be likened to a forced marriage consummated between individuals who were never lovers, individuals who never did any form of courtship and individuals who were never attracted to each other.

Ndi Igbo were forced to be part of this sham of a marriage and from the onset, it was always going to be a loveless one.

A bloody 3-year war was fought in which hunger and devastation marked the landscape of a people who evidently would have become an unstoppable nation. Forty years on and the problems that gave legitimacy to her earlier secession are still present till today.

While we blame the British and the other individuals in this marriage called Nigeria I dare say that majority of our current problems are self-inflicted.

We once basked and gloried in the intelligence and industry of leaders in the era of the M.I Okpara’s, Mbonu Ojike, Nnamdi Azikiwe and co.

One would wonder if they went to their graves with the staff of quality leadership.

We are in the sorry era of the Authur Eze’s, Rochas Okorocha’s, Orji Uzor Kalu’s and Mbadinuju’s.

Today we are stuck with charlatans who once disguised themselves as saviours.

Indeed we left the era of Igbo leaders who genuinely loved Ndi’igbo for scattered- brained evil geniuses who have masked their hatred for their own people with deceptive smiles and charm.

For those who have a trace of intelligence and love, they have chosen to be self-styled bridge-builders who daily wash themselves in the stream of political correctness all for the sake of patronage by the powers in the north.

How can we negotiate a better deal for ourselves if we have leaders bereft of ideas other than the ideas of how to line their pockets and multiply their wealth.

Like Esau they steadily sell our rights for a pot of distasteful porridge.

They sit daily in their rooms clicking glasses and vibrating with cheerful laughter at the fate that has befallen Nnamdi Kanu.

A man that has done no wrong but challenge the existing order in the most lawful way known to mankind.

Nothing has been heard from our so-called leaders, condemnation of the highhandedness of the current president is far from their lips as they would rather go to town, dancing naked in the market square screaming mad praises of anyone who occupies the rock to the high heavens.

They have chosen to remain quiet about the Fulani herdsmen ravaging farms from Enugu to Abia.

The federal south-eastern roads are deadly death-traps and it is not their business, IPOB members have been massacred in their thousands, it is still not their business.

Their business is solidarity and courtesy visits, photo-ops and continuous back-slapping among themselves about the financial killings they’ve made.

During the war, the people of the south-east knew what fate was in store for them if they won or lost the war.

Our socio-political future as a people in this nation has never looked as uncertain as it looks now.

In a nation where her selfish leaders are doing everything they can to keep Ndi Igbo down, there should be a shift, a positive shift in the way we think and the beliefs we hold dear.

We need new leaders, leaders who dream the dreams we dream, leaders who see the vision we see, leaders who genuinely feel the pain we feel.

We need men and women who are sorrowful about the current state of the entire region, we need men and women who have the Biafran spirit and the goals the spirit seeks to achieve.

We need new men who believe strongly in their hearts that Nigeria is negotiable and will go to the table of negotiation and come back to us with the best deal possible.

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Op–ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija