IGBOS NEED A NEW BREED OF THOUGHT LEADERS – CHIMA CHRISTIAN

Truth be told, Nnamdi Kanu’s IPOB once filled an important vacuum. The political leadership of the southeast became so dismal and aloof to the aspirations of their people that another had to take on the charge of championing the Igbo cause.

Nonetheless, IPOB and its sponsors have put the southeast in a vicious dilemma. The programmes of the “freedom” they are pursuing are in and of themselves sharply opposed to the stated objectives.

They have persuaded this generation of Igbos to choose bondage cleverly presented as freedom.

To get us to the promised land, we are compelled to give up our rights. To escape from Fulani herdsmen, we must, without question, enter the prison of unknown gunmen. To break us free from systemic marginalisation, we must wholeheartedly submit ourselves to the reign of terror and mindless destruction.

To achieve singleness of thought, every dissenting voice must be silenced. To promote the “truth” we must not let it be questioned. To question their ”truth” is to become a saboteur. Becoming a “sabo” is a capital offence punishable by the prevailing mood of an always angry mob.

Given this preferred strategy, IPOB cannot thrive where citizens are capable of critical thinking. That is why they intentionally speak to, and in many instances exploit, the feelings and national aspirations of their audience.

They are seemingly breeding zombies whose only contribution to the actualisation of the imaginary land flowing with milk and honey is to lick the boots of confused but very eloquent tyrants.

For previously capturing the hearts of a people famed for their republican nature, IPOB must be given credit for their audacious social re-engineering experiment. The consequences are however intolerable.

No matter how difficult the position of the Igbo is in today’s Nigeria, however dismal the political leadership of the southeast has become, advancement of the Igbo cause is not to be found in the alternative provided by IPOB and its unknown siblings.

If what IPOB has presented to the southeast is their very best, and I think it is, then the prospect is too pathetic to be endured.

Igbos urgently need to avail themselves of a new breed of thought leaders.

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