OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN: NDI IGBO PROTEST THE KILLING OF OUR BRETHREN IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

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.