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Abubakar Mamman Ngulde: The Igbos will never rule Nigeria again



Nigeria is a multi cultural society made up of over 300 ethnic groups spread across the entire landmass. The Igbo people constitute the third main ethic groupings and are found mainly in the south eastern part of Nigeria. They constitute about 18% of the Nigerian population which amounts to about 30 million people according to a recent estimate (CIA 2012 World Factbook). The Igbo unlike the other two major ethnic groupings in Nigeria have traditionally been loosely fragmented politically. There had never been any centralized system of government but each settlement had always existed largely independent of those surrounding it in small units constituted mainly of lineages, clans and villages. There were variations in culture such as dialects, attire, art styles and religious practices amongst such villages and this is still noticed even today.

The Igbo are virtually the most popular set of Nigerians and perhaps the most travelled of them. There is hardly any part of Nigeria no matter its remoteness you don’t find an Igbo man. The Igbo man can travel as far away from his home as possible as long as he can find business opportunity. It is often joked that the Igbo can be found everywhere in the world as long as a black man can survive there. It is therefore not an exaggeration to say that for every five African men you find in Diaspora, one is Igbo. This is not unconnected to the fact that the Igbo man finds it easy to acclimatize to new environments much faster than most Nigerians do. This perhaps must be the reason why the Igbo are the most popular ethic group outside of Nigeria. Don’t be surprised if people in the Diaspora continue to wrongfully consider them the largest tribe in Nigeria; who wouldn’t when they are the most visible. The Igbo have always been known for their ingenuity. You hardly find any group in the whole of the African continent more creative and more industrious. Hardly would you ever find an Igbo man idle. He is always involved in one money-making venture or another. That perhaps is as a result of the norm in Igbo land which usually frowns at the laziness. Everyman was expected to fend for himself for dependency in Igbo land was abhorred unlike what is obtainable in other cultures. A typical Igbo man would therefore do virtually anything to make money because his life, dignity and respect within his community largely depended on it. Compared to other parts of Nigeria, the Igbos can be considered to be fairly educated with even the first full-fledged Nigerian university, University of Nigeria, Nsukka located within their territory.

Politically, in the run off to the struggle for Nigerian independence, the Igbo have been known to have played key roles in the struggle and the subsequent gaining of independence. Prominent Igbo men like Sir Herbert Macaulay, Sir Nnamdi Azikiwe and Sir Festus Okotie-Eboh had been critical to birth of the movement for independence and had fought diligently for the success of the struggle. This perhaps is the reason why the first Nigerian chosen to head the colonial government and subsequently to lead Nigeria to its independence had been an Igbo. The Igbo have always been vocal and visible in virtually all important government arms including the military, police, civil service and administration in the pre-independence era. Why then has their status diminished so much to such a disheartening level within a very short span of time? Of the 52 years Nigeria has existed as a country, they have only had the opportunity to rule twice for a period of only 10 years. What does this portray for the image of the Igbo? Is he not capable of leading the country despite his seeming ingenuity in commerce and industry or is he not strong enough to struggle along with other Nigerians towards achieving the virtually elusive dream of every Igbo man to have a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction or perhaps could it be that the average Nigerian is yet to forgive the Igbo for the events of the 1970s civil war?

The Igbo man has generally been his own enemy. While people of other regions had managed to unite behind their candidate of choice in virtually all elections that had been held, the Igbo had always failed to do so. There was never a time in the history of Nigeria the Igbo emphatically agreed on a candidate of their choice neither have they been able to produce a candidate acceptable to the whole nation in the form of MKO Abiola, Obasanjo and the likes. When in 1979, the northerners rallied behind the President Shehu Shagari and his NPN, the party recorded overwhelming victory in the polls. An alliance of the North and West produced MKO Abiola’s outstanding victory, a feat repeated in 1999 when President Obasanjo was elected.

In all these elections however, the Igbo failed to present a formidable candidate who could break ethnic barriers Nigerian politics has always known for neither were they able to enter into alliance with other regions of the country like others have been doing. Theirs has always been talks and threats of violence every electioneering year. Right from the first republic when the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) held sway in the North and the Action Group (AG) had the West completely under its arms, the East never had a strong Igbo National Party. Theirs were parties engulfed in one crisis or another and even up till today, this trend is visible in the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and the splinter party, the People’s Progressive Party (PPA). Despite the parties having strong followership amongst the masses, they have always failed to maintain its membership with its elected members always decamping to other parties especially the PDP immediately after elections are won. It has always been the tradition of the Igbo to agitate for an Igbo President but none of their sons has ever been serious enough to run a formidable campaign. The closest they ever got was when Alex Ekwueme contested the PDP primaries in 2003. Even that attempt clearly outlined the disunity amongst the Igbo leaders. It was said that PDP governors of Igbo extraction openly campaigned against their own son even at the convention in Jos.

It is therefore this disunity that has always prevented the Igbo from making any serious attempt at the number one sit and if care is not taken, this problem might linger on for a long time to come. It is not out of place to say that the average Nigerian from other regions is yet to forget the events of the Civil war. Most people are of the view that the Igbo still harbour the inert desire of breaking up the country and allowing them the presidency might provide that elusive opportunity. Speaking to an average Yoruba man on the street will reveal that he trust the Hausa man better and will most likely enter into alliance much more readily than he will with an Igbo. The Igbo themselves have not helped matters. With groups such as MASSOB still agitating for secession at a time others are working towards unity, the fears exercised by others becomes quiet glaring. Another militating factor is the Igbo man’s seemingly intolerance of rule by other tribes.

In the words of the Late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello he described the Igbo as too dominating. He went on to describe that “if you employ an Igbo man as a labourer, he will like to take over as foreman within a short while”. With such inherent mindset, it is not surprising other Nigerians continue to regard them with suspicion. Another inherent characteristic of the Igbo that so often prevents other Nigerians from trusting them is their inert desire for wealth acquisition irrespective of the means. This quality other Nigerians view as unbecoming of a leader whom is expected to sacrifice for the nation. The presidency with all its grandeur and limitless power some fear might end up being used for self enrichment at a larger scale than that we are already battling with. They therefore tend not only to deny the Igbo the chance but also try to prevent them from holding key financial positions. It is of note that majority of Nigerians being held in prisons abroad for one financial crime or another are of Igbo extraction and this adds to the stereotype already being presented about the Igbo man’s criminal mindset. Another important factor is the Igbo man’s none forgiving nature.

Many are of the view that the Igbo having been denied the presidency for long and having suffered unimaginable pains from events of the civil war will go out on a massive revenge mission once they are given the opportunity. Some others believe the fear is more towards the execution of the secession agenda already started long time ago. The Igbo have always been the proponents of breaking up the country and some think once they get the chance, they will carry out their threat to the later. It therefore became imperative or “so they think” on proponents of “one Nigeria” to prevent the Igbo from ever ascending the presidency. With their regional leaders always failing to agree on matters of collective interest, they have always been left lagging behind in terms of government policies and projects. That of course has always had negative effects on development in the region. Even the so called Ohaneaze-Ndiigbo Cultural Organization has not been able to foster the unity desired within the Igbo community and has been engaged itself in one imbroglio or another over the years.

What is the way forward for the Igbo? With the happenings we continue to witness and with the apparent lack of credible and acceptable leadership for the Igbo, it will take a lot more than a miracle for an Igbo to become the President of Nigeria anytime soon. Analysing all potential Igbo presidential candidates political party-wise indicate that there has not been yet any Igbo man that has seriously shown interest and willpower to win national support. With most parties showing signs of aligning behind the north as it bids for power to return back to its region, it requires a lot of doing for any southern candidate especially of Igbo extraction to counter the already mounting pressure. For the Igbo to be able to achieve that, they must be able to set aside this time around all political differences and present one strong candidacy that can give the north a run for its money taking into consideration the possibility of the Yoruba backing a northern candidate instead of their own and which, judging from the body language of Yoruba leaders such as President Obasanjo and Bola Tinubu, is almost a near possibility.

The Igbo must be able to achieve this near impossible feat within a span of one year if their dream of an Igbo Presidency in 2015 is to be achieved; a Herculean task if the reality is to be said. Who then should the Igbo present as their choice? Presently, an Igbo leader acceptable to the whole of Ndigbo still remains a mirage. When in 2010, northern leaders like IBB, Aliyu Gusau and the likes perceived by many to be selfish agreed to step down for Atiku Abubakar in the run off towards the PDP Presidential primaries at the instance of the ACF, the umbrella association of the northerners, one begins to imagine who among the Igbo strongmen will agree to do the same? Is it Gov. Peter Obi or Gov. Rochas Okorocha whom are already engaged in the battle for the soul of the APGA or Victor Umeh who is still fighting for his party’s chairmanship sit? The Igbo must move beyond the traditional summits and meetings they have always been known for in the past and act. It has never yielded the desired result in the past neither will it now. They must solidly unite behind a formidable candidate irrespective of party affiliation if their dream is ever to be achieved. If the Yoruba could deliver President Goodluck Jonathan of PDP in 2011 despite having their own party’s candidate as a result of alliance with the South South , I see no reason why the Igbos cannot do the same but until then; the Igbo will never rule Nigeria again.

Interact with Abubakar Sadiq on @sadiquemamman


Femi Fani-Kayode: A beast called Isa Pantami







Now that his friends and supporters are attempting to justify and rationalise what he has said and done, I am free to speak my mind about Pantami and this short contribution serves only as the first shot. More will come later.


And there is so much more that he has said and done, including his allgeged participation in a frightful event in Bauchi state a few years ago which allegedly resulted in the tragic death of a young Christian student and which I will write about at a later stage.

Simply put, the Minister is a hater of Christians and non-Muslims. He is a religious bigot, an ethnic supremacist, an unrepentant jihadist, a lover of bloodshed, carnage and terror and a psychopathic and clearly insane induvidual who may well have been responsible for the slaughter of many innocent Christians over the years as a consequence of his inflammatory rhetoric and reckless actions.







Building bridges across religious, regional and ethnic lines and seeking to establish the peace between hitherto hostile groups and warring factions in our country does not include tolerating the presecence of or fellowship with those who seek to kill our people, wipe out our Christian faith, destroy our values and norms and change our way of life.


















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Emmanuel Onwubiko: Chad’s Idriss Deby lived, died by the ‘sword’



The strongman of Chad, Nigeria’s neighbour from the war torn North East of Nigeria, Idriss Déby has reportedly been killed in the battlefield whereby he reportedly led his fighters to challenge the rebels that were staging uprising and threatening to overrun the capital of N’Djamena.

He was said to have been injured in a battle to flush out the rebels that infiltrated Chad from their base in lawless Libya.

Initially, I doubted the story that he was actually injured by the rebels in the war fronts. But after a reflection I think now that there’s an element of believability in the scenarios surrounding the killing of the Chad’s strongman.

It will be recalled that not long ago, this same man led his troops to invade the lake chad hideouts of boko haram terrorists and flushed them out massively just as the soldiers led by the veteran military strongman who came into office in 1990 from a rebellion and has manipulated the electoral process of Chad and spent 30 years in office, recorded huge success. The Chad’s strongman then demonstrated to President Muhammadu Buhari how a leader should lead from the fronts. May be because of this feat, a lot of youngsters in Nigeria are now saying that Idriss Déby is a hero. Far from the truth. He practiced tyranny and never allowed real democracy to thrive in his nation. France can actually be said to be the major defender of his dictatorship and with the offensive action of the military sion after the strongman died by taking over government, France seems to be in support.

This writer is not one of those who think that the dead Chadian President died a hero.

I believe that because the President of Chad as he then was did not learn from history and this is why history has just repeated itself and his nation has just started another round of military dictatorship now to be headed by his son who is a serving four star General in the Army of Chad- General Mahamat Idriss Deby has been named his replacementin what is clearly a military overthrow of the democratic process even if it was never really a good democracy but half a democracy is better than a military dictatorship.

The military which announced his death from injuries sustained from battles, disrespected the outcome of an election which purportedly virtually returned the late President to power after he manipulated the rules just so he can extend his tenure in office.

If an election was held and the results announced and then the winner suddenly dies, what is the next best thing to do? Is the next best thing to do not to swear in the running mate of the winning party? Why should the military dissolve parliament and annul the election which the late strongman won as claimed by the electoral commission? Which law authorised the military to unilaterally dissolve Cabinet put in place by the people who ordinarily are the owners of the sovereignty of Chad?

This scenario shows the World that the man who has just been killed Mr Idriss Déby left a legacy of tyranny and brutality.

Even this ill fated election was held under a tensed atmosphere because the leading opposition leader was eliminated from the process. So Idriss Déby came in by the gun and has just gone back to his creator by the gun.

He is not a hero but someone who missed the historical opportunity to build his nation and unify all the factions and exiles who were forced out of the Country. He held the Country by the jugular and he expected that his going to battle on Saturday would also result in a walk over and had even arranged a victory rally to celebrate his sham victory. He never survived to celebrate this manipulated and choreographed electoral victory.

But the rebels have dealt him a grave blow.

Sadly, Chad has gone from bad to worst.

The thing to note is that since independence many years back, Chad has always been in constant wars. It has been from one war to the other. It seems the killing by the World’s powers of the then Libyan strongman Muammar al-Qaddafi helped to stabilised the Idriss Déby’s charade of a government.

The below are narratives from Encyclopedia Britannica on the continuous state of wars in Chad and these synopsis tells us that Idriss Déby made no effort to end these vicious circles of wars. The late President had the opportunity of his life time to rework his nation and bring all the divided segments together. But as someone produced out of chaos, he remained in chaos and has been swept off by chaos. This is indeed a trinity of chaos in Chad and it is not about to get better with the new soldiers on board who took office ilegally. The truth is that Chad has endured and perdured in conflicts. Below are historical accounts by historical writers who documented these details in the Enclopedia Britannica as stated above.

The historians recalled that a large measure of autonomy was conceded under the constitutional law of 1957, when the first territorial government was formed by Gabriel Lisette, a West Indian who had become the leader of the Chad Progressive Party (PPT). An autonomous republic within the French Community was proclaimed in November 1958, and complete independence in the restructured community was attained on Aug. 11, 1960. The country’s stability was endangered by tensions between the Black and often Christian populations of the more economically progressive southwest and the conservative, Muslim, nonblack leadership of the old feudal states of the north, and its problems were further complicated by Libyan involvement.

Lisette was removed by an associate more acceptable to some of the opposition, N’Garta (François) Tombalbaye, a southern trade union leader, who became the first president of the republic. In March 1961 Tombalbaye achieved a fusion of the PPT with the principal opposition party, the National African Party (PNA), to form a new Union for the Progress of Chad. An alleged conspiracy by Muslim elements, however, led in 1963 to the dissolution of the National Assembly, a brief state of emergency, and the arrest of the leading ministers formerly associated with the PNA. Only government candidates ran in the new elections in December 1963, ushering in the one-party state. The below are the trajectories of war as documented by the writers of Enclopedia Britannica.

The authors said that in the mid-1960s two guerrilla movements emerged. The Front for the National Liberation of Chad (Frolinat) was established in 1966 and operated primarily in the north from its headquarters at the southern Libyan oasis of Al-Kufrah, while the smaller Chad National Front (FNT) operated in the east-central region. Both groups aimed at the overthrow of the existing government, the reduction of French influence in Chad, and closer association with the Arab states of North Africa. Heavy fighting occurred in 1969 and 1970, and French military forces were brought in to suppress the revolts.
The historians wrote too that by the end of the 1970s, civil war had become not so much a conflict between Chad’s Muslim northern region and the Black southern region as a struggle between northern political factions. Libyan troops were brought in at Pres. Goukouni Oueddei’s request in December 1980 and were withdrawn, again at his request, in November 1981. In a reverse movement the Armed Forces of the North (FAN) of Hissène Habré, which had retreated into Sudan in December 1980, reoccupied all the important towns in eastern Chad in November 1981. Peacekeeping forces of the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union) withdrew in 1982, and Habré formed a new government in October of the same year. Simultaneously, an opposition government under the leadership of Goukouni was established, with Libyan military support, at Bardaï in the north. After heavy fighting in 1983–84 Habré’s FAN prevailed, aided by French troops. France withdrew its troops in 1984 but Libya refused to do so. Libya launched incursions deeper into Chad in 1986, and they were turned back by government forces with help from France and the United States.
In early 1987 Habré’s forces recovered the territory in northern Chad that had been under Libyan control and for a few weeks reoccupied Aozou. When this oasis was retaken by Muammar al-Qaddafi’s Libyan forces, Habré retaliated by raiding Maaten es Sarra, which is well inside Libya. A truce was called in September 1987.

However the man who has just died staged a rebellion which unseated the aforementioned administrationwm which had arrested him over charges of coup plot but for which he escaped from detention. Deby was of the Bidayat clan of the Zaghawa ethnic group. He took over power by leading a rebellion against President Hissène Habré in December 1990 and survived various rebellions and coup plots. Interestingly, President Idriss Déby Itno, then went on to rule Chad for 30 years with considerable brutality and human rights abuses, just as he again manipulated the electoral process and was railroaded and was re-elected for a sixth term with 79.32 percent of the vote, according to official results released Monday shortly after the army said it had defeated a rebellion launched on election day April 11 and killed “more than 300 enemies.

The turnout allegedly was 64.81 percent for the election, which the outgoing head of state won unsurprisingly in the first round, said the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (Ceni), Kodi Mahamat Bam, in releasing the official “provisional” figures. The Supreme Court still has to approve them after considering possible appeals.

Déby’s former and last prime minister, Albert Pahimi Padacké, came second with 10.32% of the votes cast. The first woman to run in a presidential election, Lydie Beassemda, came third with 3.16% of the vote.
Nine candidates were officially running against Mr. Déby, but three had announced their withdrawal and called for a boycott of the election, citing the violent repression of all the “peaceful marches” organized in recent months to demand “change of power. The Supreme Court, however, kept their names on the ballot.

From all of the above accounts from those who should know, I’m convinced beyond any reasonable doubts that Idriss Déby died as a brutal dictator who ironically got power through the barrels of the guns and has paid the Supreme price through the barrels of the guns. The lesson here is that power is transient and man is a mortal being. Because of the mortality which is the nature of man, people in power must have the mind of leaving behind glorious legacies that they would be remembered for many years after they are gone.

Idriss Déby will be remembered as a warlord who died tragically in a needless war to retain power by all means.

* EMMANUEL ONWUBIKO is head of the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA and [email protected], www.thenigerianinsidernews.con, [email protected]

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