OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT GOODLUCK
JONATHAN: NDI IGBO PROTEST THE KILLING OF OUR BRETHREN IN NORTHERN NIGERIA
OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT AND
COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, DR
GOODLUCK AZIKIWE EBELE JONATHAN, GCON
DEAR MR PRESIDENT,
NDI IGBO WOKE UP ON THE MORNING OF
20TH MARCH, 2013 TO HEAR THE NEWS OF THE BOMBING OF SABON GARI BUS STATION IN
KANO AND THE RESULTING DEATH OF OVER 75 IGBO INDIGENES AND GLUTTING BY FIRE, OF
THREE LUXURY BUSES AND OTHER PROPERTY BELONGING TO IGBOS. SABON GARI HAS BEEN
THE MAIN IGBO RESIDENTIAL AND BUSINESS AREA IN KANO SINCE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR.
A BOMB TARGETTED AT ANY PART OF SABON GARI IS TARGETTED AT NDI IGBO IN THE
MAIN!
NEWSPAPER REPORTS MAKE IT CLEAR THAT
NEITHER THE GOVERNOR OF KANO STATE, NOR ANY NORTHERN LEADER HAS COMMISERATED
DIRECTLY WITH THE IGBO COMMUNITY IN KANO, NOR WITH IGBO COMMUNITIES NATIONWIDE.
ON THE CONTRARY, THE KANO STATE GOVERNOR, WHEN VISITED BY YOUR DELEGATES LED BY
THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF INTERIOR, MADE A STATEMENT CLAIMING THAT THE
MAJORITY OF THE VICTIMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE “NATIVES OF THE AREA, AND FOLLOED IT
UPO BY RELESASING AN OBVIOUSLY CONCOCTED ALL NORTHERERS LIST OF CASUALIES.
NEEDLESS TO SAY, THESE ACTS ARE CALCULATED TO DIVERT WHATEVER COMPENSATION THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MIGHT WISH TO OFFER TO THE FAMILY OF VICTIMS, AWAY FROM THE
ACTUAL VICTIMS TOWARDS HIS OWN KANO INDIGENES, AND BY SO DOING DEPRIVE THE
FAMILIES OF THE IGBOS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES, LIMBS, LIVELIHOOD AND PROPERTY IN
THE EXPLOTION OF THEIR DUE COMPENSATON. IT IS ON RECORD THAT NDI IGBO LEADERS
IN KANO STATE HAD EARLIER ALERTED THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT THROUGH THE BROADCAST
OF SENATOR UCHE CHUKWUMERIJE AT THE SENATE SITTING ON THURSDAY, 21ST MARCH,
2013, THAT ANY COMPENSATION MEANT FOR THE VICTIMS SHOULD BE GIVEN THROUGH THE
IGBO COMMUNITY LEADERS IN KANO AND NOT THROUGH THE KANO STATE GOVERNMENT.
YOUR EXCELLENCY, MAY WE BRING TO YOUR
NOTICE THE UNDENIABLE FACT THAT THIS IS ONE BOMBING TOO MANY!!! THIS ATTACK AT
THE SABON GARI BUS STATION IS A DIRECT ATTACK ON NDI IGBO AS AN ETHNIC
NATIONALITY WITHIN NIGERIA. BEFORE NOW, BOKO HARAM, WHOSE NAME INDICATES
OPPOSITION TO THE WESTERN ESTABLISHMENT IN THE MUSLIM NORTH, HAD ONLY ATTACKED
WESTERN-ORIENTED ESTABLISHMENTS SUCH AS CHRISTIAN CHURCHES, SOMETIMES VENTING
THEIR ANGER AT THEIR OWN LEADERS FOR SUSTAINING POVERTY IN THR REGION. BUT NOW,
THROUGH THE UNFORTUNATE SABON GARI EPISODE, THE FOCUS HAS CLEARLY SHIFTED
TOWARDS NDI IGBO. WE THE PEOPLE OF IGBO LAND WANT TO KNOW WHY THIS IS
HAPPENING. NDI IGBO ARE ASKING THE LEADERS OF THE NORTH AND THE SPONSORS OF
BOKO HARAM, WHY ARE WE NOW BEING SELECTED AS TARGETS FOR YOUR BOMBING? WHAT
HAVE WE DONE TO YOU, OUR NORTHERN FELLOW CITIZENS OF NIGERIA? WHY DO YOU LOOK
ON, WHILE NDI IGBO ARE BEING BURNT ALIVE? DID WE COMMIT ANY CRIME IN RETURNING
BACK TO NIGERIA “TO KEEP NIGERIA ONE”? TELL US JUST ONE CRIME THAT WE HAVE
COMMITTED AGAINST THE NORTH OR ITS ESTABLISHEMENTS AS A PEOPLE TO WARRANT
BECOMING BOKO HARAM TARGETS?
YOUR EXCELENCY, IT IS A TRAVESTY THAT
BARELY ONE DAY AFTER THE NEWS OF THIS HORRIFIC BOMBING HIT THE HEADLINES, THE
FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, HIS EXCELLENCY, GENERAL
YAKUBU GOWON (RTD) IS QUOTED AS RELISHING HIS SENSELESS MASSACRE OF IGBO WOMEN
AND CHILDREN IN THE NIGERIAN CIVIL WAR BEFORE THE INTENATIONAL COMMUNITY. AT A
TIME NDI IGBO ARE MOURNING THEIR DEAD MASSACRED AGAIN IN THE NORTH, RATHER THAN
EXHIBIT STATESMANSHIP BY CONDEMNING THE BOMBING, GENERAL YAKUBU GOWON IS QUOTED
AS HAVING MADE A MOST INFLAMMATORY, SENSELESS, UNDIPLOMATIC, MALICIOUS AND
DANGEROUSLY-TIMED STATEMENT ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR. IT IS HORRIFIC THAT YAKUBU
GOWON SHOULD USE THE PLATFORM OF PRAYERS TO GOD, TO GLORIFY THE VIOLENT DEATHS
OF OVER 3.5 MILLION IGBOS, MOST OF THEM HELPLESS WOMEN AND CHILDREN STARVED TO
DEATH BY GOWON’S REFUSAL TO ALLOW FOOD, RELIEF MATERIALS AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES
INTO BIAFRA THROUGH HIS AIR, LAND AND SEA BLOCKADES OF INTERNATIONAL AID
AGENCIES, WITH THE STATEMENT THAT HE WAS FIGHTING “REBELS”!!!!! WERE THE OVER
ONE MILLION CHILDREN THAT DIED OF KWASHIOKOR IN GOWON’S WAR, REBELS?
FOR THE FORMER HEAD OF STATE TO HAVE
SPOKEN THIS WAY, HOT ON THE HEELS OF THE BOMBING OF NDI IGBO IN SABON GARI,
KANO, SAYS JUST ONE THING: GOWON IS NOT YET DONE WITH THE ETHNIC CLEANSING THAT
HE ORDERED IN 1966 AGAINST THE IGBO RACE, WHICH ACTUALLY LED TO THE CIVIL WAR.
THAT GOWON CAN SPEAK LIKE THIS AT 80 YEARS OF AGE, MAKES IT CLEAR TO ALL THAT
THE GREATEST MISFORTUNE THAT BEFELL NIGERIA, WAS HAVING A 32 YEAR OLD YAKUBU
GOWON AS HEAD OF STATE AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF!! NIGERIA IS STILL TOTTERING FROM
THE BLUTLUST OF THE GOWON ADMINISTRATION. NOR WILL ANYONE FORGET IN A HURRY
THAT MONUMENTAL CURRUPTION IN NIGERIA BEGAN WITH GOWON’S POPULAR STATEMENT,
“NIGERIA HAS TOO MUCH MONEY, BUT WE DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT”.
YOUR EXCELLENCY, AS THE FATHER OF OUR
GREAT NATION, WE CALL ON YOU TO CALL GENERAL YAKUBU GOWON TO ORDER. PLEASE
ADVISE HIM, TO STOP SPEAKING ILL OF THE DEAD BY USING THE WORD “REBEL” TO
DESCRIBE CITIZENS THAT YOU, MR PRESIDENT, IN YOUR BID TO HEAL THE WOUNDS THAT
GOWON DID NOT CARE TO ADDRESS, HAD GIVEN THE NATION’S HIGHEST HONOURS.
NDI IGBO ARE NOW FULLY AWARE THAT WE
ARE BEING TARGETTED FOR EXTINCTION ONCE MORE SO AS TO REDUCE OUR POPULATION OR
TO INTIMIDATE US FROM VOTING FOR YOUR EXCELLENCY AGAIN AS WE DID IN THE 2011
ELECTION. IT IS HARD TO UNDERSTAND HOW OUR NORTHERN BROTHERS CANNOT APPRECIATE
THE UNDENIABLE FACT THAT GIVEN OUR LARGE NUMBERS IN ALL STATES OF THE
FEDERATION, THEY ARE BETTER OFF WORKING WITH US THAN AGAINST US. IT IS ON
RECORD THAT IN THE 2011 ELECTION, NO SINGLE NORTHERN CANDIDATE PAIRED WITH AN
IGBO IN THE RACE FOR ASO ROCK! WHERE THEN IS GOWON’S “NATIONAL UNITY”, FOR
WHICH HE BROUGHT ABOUT THE NEAR EXTINCTION OF AN ENTIRE TRIBE. NDI IGBO HAVE
BEEN EXCLUDED FROM PRODUCING A PRESIDENT 43 YEARS AFTER THE WAR ENDED WITH
GOWON’S DECEPTIVE SLOGAN OF “NO VICTOR NO VANGUISHED”. OUR NORTHERN BROTHERS
ARE RUNNINC AMOC BECAUSE THEY MISSED THE PRESIDENTIAL SLOT IN 2011. THEY CAN
THEN PUT THEMSELVES IN OUR SHOES, AND REALIZE THAT INJUSTICE IS NEVER AN OPTION
FOR THE ATTAINMENT OF NATIONAL UNITY, AND THAT HE WHO SEEKS EQUITY BEFORE GOD
OR MEN, MUST DO SO WITH CLEAN HANDS.
YOUR EXCELLENCY, SIR, NDI IGBO AT HOME
AND NDI IGBO WORLDWIDE ARE LOOKING UPON YOU AS THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF AND THE
FATHER OF THE NATION TO DEFEND OUR LIVES AND PROPERTY NATIONWIDE WITH THE STATE
MACHINERY AT YOUR DISPOSAL. MAY WE THROUGH THIS MEDIUM APPEAL TO NORTHERN
LEADERS AND THE SPONSORS OF BOKO HARAM, TO NO LONGER TARGET IGBO LIVES AND
PROPERTY IN THEIR ATTACKS. NDI IGBO WORLDWIDE ARE DEEPLY GRIEVED BY THESE
MASSACRES OF OUR PEOPLE IN THE NORTH! IT OPENS OLD WOUNDS! AS HIS MAJESTY
ALHAJI ADO BAYERO, THE EMIR OF KANO AND THE NIGERIAN LABOUR CONGRESS (NLC) HAVE
WISELY WARNED, THIS KANO BOMBING IS AIMED AT “CAUSING ANOTHER CIVIL WAR”. AN
IGBO ADAGE SAYS, “ONLY A LOG OF WOOD WILL STAND AND DO NOTHING WHEN ATTACKED”. NDI
IGBO WILL NOT RUN FOR ANYONE ANYMORE. RATHER, THEY WILL VIGOROUSLY DEFEND THEIR
LIVES AND PROPERTY WHEREVER THEY ARE DOMICILED, UNLESS YOUR EXCELLENCY COMES TO
OUR AID BY MAKING THE NATION MORE SECURE FOR EVERYONE.
YOUR EXCELLENCY, MAY WE USE THIS OPPORTUNITY
TO ESPECIALLY INFORM YOU AND THROUGH YOU, THE USA PRESIDENT BARACK OMABA, THAT
NDI IGBO ARE OUTRAGED BY THE STATEMENT CREDITED TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, YOLA, DR MARGEE ENSIGN IN SUPPORT OF THE
ABOVE-MENTIONED INCENDIARY STATEMENTS MADE BY GENERAL YAKUBU GOWON IN HER
UNIVERSITY PREMISES AT A TIME LIKE THIS WHEN THE SABON GARI BOMBING TARGETTED
AT NDI IGBO IS INDUCING QUESTIONS OF THE SECURITY OF IGBO LIFE AND PROPERTY IN
A “UNITED” NIGERIA. DR MARGEE ENSIGN NOT ONLY SUPPORTED GOWON’S CAUSTIC
STATEMENTS, BUT COMPARED HIM TO PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN OF USA AND ADVISED
NIGERIAN LEADERS “TO BUILD ON THE FOUNDATION OF GOWON”, A MAN WHO ORDERED THE
STARVING OF MILLIONS OF HELPLESS WOMEN AND CHILDREN THROUGH AIR, LAND AND SEA
BLOCKADES FOR THIRTY MONTHS. NDI IGBO AT HOME JOIN OUR VOICES WITH THOSE OF THE
MIGRANT IGBO MILLIONS WHO ARE CITIZENS OF USA, AND THE 85 PERCENT OF THE
AFRICAN AMERICANS POPULATION, WHO ARE OF IGBO EXTRACTION TO CALL ON PRESIDENT
BARACK OBAMA AND THE USA CONGRESS TO CALL DR MARGEE ENSIGN TO ORDER, BECAUSE
HER STATEMENT HAS TERRIBLE CONNOTATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS WHEN EVERYTHING IS
CONSIDERED.
SIGNNED:
PROFESSOR CATHERINE OBIANUJU ACHOLONU
(ADA IGBO EJI EJEMBA)
(FORMER SPECIAL ADVISOR TO A NIGERIAN
PRESIDENT)
POLITICAL SPOKESPERSON OGANIRU FRONT
OF NIGERIA (OFN)
POLITICAL SPOKESPERSON IGBOVILLE
WORLDWIDE.
