2015 Election: Ndigbo And The Right To Peace

By NDUBUEZE ONYEKA

Just some few weeks to go into the general elections proper, the heat is on. The campaigns are gradually coming to an end. The five Eastern States which today form the nucleus of Ndigbo will be actively participating in the voting exercise. There is need to guarantee your peace. You have your rights to peace as enshrined in the constitution; rights to peaceful living as a corollary to right to life.

As politics and campaigns in both electronic and print media reach feverish pitch, there is palpable fear in the land about how the elections will go and what will be the outcome. In today’s ‘do or die’ elections where candidates want to win at all cost, how do we guarantee the peace of Ndigbo in particular and Nigeria in general?

Some questions need to be answered as we prepare to vote in a couple of weeks to come: How do we guarantee peace for Ndigbo? What role should each and every Ndigbo play to guarantee peace during and after elections? What are the expectations of Ndigbo from the leadership of the two major political parties? Should any individual’s selfish interest tear us apart as people such that the peace of Ndigbo should be disturbed this time round? Does any politician

with his or her selfish interest worth the death of any Igbo person in this election?

How do we organize our youths to participate in elections not as thugs to any politician but to respect and keep themselves as a people who know their history very well and would not like history to repeat itself again and say ‘never to be used’ by any person to cause trouble and disrupt the peace of our community knowing that be it at Federal or state level, politicians are simply selfish and are only contesting for their personal aggrandizement and not for any common good?

From the questions above, Ndigbo should now understand that we are hated by very many other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria- be it Hausa or be it Yoruba; they have never liked us. Even in these elections that are around the corner, the facts are there. Even the closest brothers we have and who were with us in the then Eastern region- Efik, Ibibio, Ikwere and today, the Niger Delta. None believes that we are one with them.

From Mr. President to the governors of these nationalities, how have they treated Ndigbo? What have we gained by being part of them up till now? What will warrant the death of any Igbo person in the name of politics?

As some oil thieves and criminals that call themselves Ex-Militants that are today spitting fire and brimstone promising war if Jonathan is not returned in 2015 general election, I expect Igbo leaders of thought to condemn this in totality. We should not forget in a hurry the role all these ethnic nationalities played during the civil war in which we lost everything we had as a people.

From the second questions on what role Ndigbo should play to guarantee peace in 2015 elections, parents should advice their youths that are used by politicians to cause trouble to eschew troubles and foster peace. The belly politics that our politicians play should be discouraged.

I ask a simple question: How much can N10,000 or N5,000 and even as little as N1,000 do for a family in the Nigeria of today? How much can a quarter bag of rice that is being given to communities by politicians go to solving their problems permanently?

 ‘Stomach infrastructure’ is not the way-forward for us as a people. That is why ‘’belly politics’’ or ‘’stomach infrastructure’’ has been a useless tool that politicians have used to keep Nigerians forever low so that they can continually eat and feed fat on our common patrimony. Going forward, I advise that for peace in 2015 elections, parents should monitor the activities of their wards and make sure politicians do not use them against public peace for sake of N5, 000 or N10, 000 which can barely solve their problems

Let Ohaneze Ndigbo articulate and present to leading political parties and their presidential flag bearers as well as state flag bearers, our needs and demands which must be met before we give them our votes. This is the only way to remain relevant. But allowing our rank and file to be dismembered by money bags such that every person is fighting for his or her selfish interest will lead to violence and non-peaceful election among us –Ndigbo.

They have used us a lot before. Let us refuse to be used this time by anybody, be him presidential aspirant or governorship aspirant or their hirelings. Enough is enough!