Anambra State-born human rights lawyer and lead counsel to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has stated that the Igbo people have suffered marginalisation in Nigeria, but argued that such grievances cannot legitimise the destruction of their people, communities and property.
Ejiofor made the assertion in his latest piece titled, “MIDWEEK MUSINGS: IT IS TOO LATE IN THE DAY TO DENY THE OBVIOUS: WHEN A PEOPLE’S LAND IS DESECRATED WITH BLOOD, THE VENGEANCE OF HISTORY CANNOT BE LAUGHED AWAY.”
In the piece, he acknowledged that the Igbo people have suffered grave historical, political and economic marginalisation within the Nigerian federation, noting that the reality of such marginalisation cannot honestly be wished away.
However, he maintained that legitimate grievances cannot constitute a licence for self-destruction.
“We cannot cure marginalisation by committing suicide. We cannot secure the future of our children by burning the bridge upon which those children must eventually walk.
“We cannot demand justice from others while becoming unjust to ourselves. And we certainly cannot build a nation, region or people upon the ashes of innocent lives.”he said.
According to him, those who have orchestrated, facilitated or celebrated bloodshed, violence, killings, kidnappings, intimidation and other grave atrocities in Alaigbo cannot simply wash their hands in the waters of propaganda and proclaim themselves innocent.
Ejiofor disclosed that he recently hosted some of his media friends, all of Igbo extraction, for what he described as a candid and unusually frank conversation.
“I had the privilege of hosting a few of my media friends, all of Igbo extraction, for a candid and unusually frank conversation. It was one of those rare occasions when men deliberately put aside the comfort of familiar narratives and subjected our collective assumptions, prejudices, misconceptions and emotional attachments to the cold light of reason.
“We spoke truth to one another.
“We interrogated a number of deeply misconceived impressions and the dangerous emotional attachments which, for far too long, have constituted some of the greatest impediments to the advancement of our people.” he added.
He said he was particularly struck by what he described as the uncomfortable reality that some educated Igbo elites remain so captive to ethnic sentiment that they inadvertently rationalise, excuse or promote destructive tendencies simply because such tendencies are presented in the language of ethnic emancipation.
“That, in my respectful view, is not patriotism. It is intellectual bondage.
“And there is perhaps no greater tragedy than when education liberates a man from ignorance, but sentiment subsequently chains him to folly.” Ejiofor said.
Ejiofor said the conversation was a genuine heart-to-heart engagement in which they examined a number of misconceptions, misplaced beliefs and circumstances that had continued to make the people susceptible to manipulation.
He added that he left the engagement encouraged by the belief that he had been able to reach some minds which, in turn, could help correct dangerous impressions circulating within society.
However, he said that shortly after the meeting, he went online to catch up with the day’s trending stories and was deeply troubled by what he encountered.
“I read statements from persons whom I had hitherto considered sufficiently educated and discerning to appreciate the enormous consequences of every word they publish. Yet, once again, I witnessed the familiar spectacle of people attempting to rewrite realities that have left bloodstains upon the conscience of our land.” he added.
He said there are moments in the life of a people when silence becomes complicity, sentiment becomes self-deception, and misplaced loyalty becomes an accomplice to the very destruction it claims to resist.
According to Ejiofor, Nigerian courts are courts of law, while international courts and tribunals, where their jurisdiction properly arises, are equally bound by law.
He stressed that evidence, rather than propaganda, sentiment, social-media theatrics or ethnic sentimentality, must ultimately determine guilt or innocence.
Invoking a traditional maxim, he said:
“When the masquerade dances in the marketplace, it must be prepared to answer the questions of the villagers.”
Ejiofor also recalled the alarms raised, condemnations issued and cries of anguish that reverberated across Igbo communities when a bounty was publicly placed on his head by Simon Ekpa, whom he described as a now self-proclaimed “content creator,” and persons associated with his campaign of violent criminality.
He expressed disappointment that some people who proudly identify as Igbo, including members of the legal profession, now publicly praise or celebrate individuals whose activities, according to him, have been associated with bloodshed, violence and devastation in the homeland.
“Today, I watch with profound amazement and disappointment as some persons who proudly identify as Igbo, including some members of the legal profession, publicly praise or celebrate persons whose activities have been associated with grave bloodshed, violence and devastation in our homeland.
“Apparently, in this strange theatre of selective morality, a man can be associated with bloodshed and still be canonised by social media, provided he has the right ethnic vocabulary and the right number of admirers.” the human rights lawyer said.
He cautioned against defending wrongdoing merely because the perpetrator speaks the same language or belongs to the same ethnic group.
“He who dances upon the grave of another should remember that the earth beneath his feet is the same earth that will eventually receive him.
“I do not pray for anybody’s destruction. I do not ask that evil be repaid with evil. My prayer is simply that every man who knowingly participated in, encouraged, financed, celebrated or otherwise enabled evil will one day confront the full moral, legal and historical consequences of his choices. For whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.” he added.
Ejiofor urged the people to stop defending what is wrong simply because the perpetrator speaks their language, warning that history does not forget.
He said:
“Let nobody imagine that history has gone to sleep.
“The land remembers. The victims remember. History remembers.
“And when the dust of propaganda finally settles, only truth will remain standing.”
He concluded by praying for healing, restoration and wisdom for the people, while calling for a clear distinction between a genuine struggle for justice and those who exploit legitimate grievances to promote violence.
“May God heal our land, restore the dignity of our people, comfort the bereaved, and grant us the wisdom to distinguish genuine struggle for justice from the dangerous merchants of death who exploit our legitimate grievances for their own ends.”
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