Nigerians, just like when Bill Clinton told the Americans during one of his election campaigns that it was the economy, I am also now telling Nigerians that it is a class war period.

Our sufferings and frustrations are not because we belong to any section of the country or because we are Igbos as the hapless Nnamdi Kanu and his ilk would have us believe it is simply because we remain the grass under the feet of a collection of elephants in a continous struggle for power both political and economic.

Our low level of education and enlightenment continue to put us in positions of servitude to be used and misused by the elites whose membership cut across ethnic lines and are kept together by their collective greed.

The Marxists pushed this position in the 70s and we refused to see it. I have been mulling these thoughts and have decided to expand on it as I now have incontrovertible evidence that our oppressors do not take their decisions based on the integrity or otherwise of the people they claim to represent but are driven by the urge for the primitive and continuous accumulation of power and wealth.

My people, I watched this documentary on Nigeria and it was very clear that the civil war, several coups and economic bastardization that we have faced since we gained independence have been direct consequences of this struggle. Let me illustrate, I have always wondered why Fela the Late genius hated with a passion the Military especially Obasanjo and Yar’dua. The link is very clear, his mother was part of the independence push in the 50s. She attended most of the talks both in UK and in Nigeria. She fought gallantly and even dethroned a sitting Oba in the wake of her powerful incursions into politics. But immediately we gained independence she went into obscurity, cheated out of the fruits of her struggle culminating in her final humiliation by the OBJ junta. This was Felas grouse, how can his mother be so treated by these ‘vagabonds’ after all she had done for this country..

So what did he do, he fell back on the masses, taking advantage of their illiteracy and a need for release as a result of their massive poverty and suffering to rail against another section of the elitist club with which he was a major member by reason of his bourgeois birth. He wore the pants, smoked the weed all in his bid to show that he belonged to the masses. He succeeded to an extent but in death, his people came for him and took him away from the masses. They rewarded his family with political appointments, immortalization of his family name and all sort. Even today the Lagos state Government has given up although on lease as I hear a major part of our national historical monument – the Lagos Prison for his family to manage and maintain through his eldest daughter who is in a relationship with a talented Architect.

People, please open your eyes to the games of our masters. Another illustration is that of MKO Abiola, the purported winner of the June 12 Elections. He always regaled us with stories of his poverty, his poor upbringing and all. He did all these to curry the support of the masses in his fight against his colleagues as he struggled for power. He was not poor even in his youth, he was educated by Felas father in a school meant for elites and their children. Obasanjo attended the same school, (hope you are seeing the link) sent abroad to study and came back to join the Lagos University Teaching hospital from where he moved to some multi national and still as a very young man bought his first company. 

As a bonafide member of the elitist club, his colleagues in the military gave him all sorts of contracts making him one of the richest Nigerians of all time. During this time, he made very shallow contributions to the welfare of the masses. Making gratitious donations which were in no way compared to the massive wealth he had amassed through his prostituting with the military membership of the elitist club. All these was to hoodwink us and make us believe that he was a trusted ally.

But all his charade was blown open when he was bluntly told by his colleagues that the Presidency was not ‘for sale’. However in his stubbornness he continued, relying on the bridge he had built between himself and the people to deliver the Presidency. This failed him for he underestimated the power of his cabal of wolves, his ambitions were frustrated by the military junta and he jumped to the masses for help like they always do, but we had been thoroughly weakened by his activities and that of his cohorts in the elitist movement and he invariably lost his life.

The linkages are very strong. The same people and their children have been ruling us both politically and economically. They only jump at ethnic and tribal colorations when they loose out in their intra class struggle. Falling back on the poor people to fight for them, claiming to have been cheated because they belong to a certain tribe but conveniently forgetting to state clearly that they were just poor strategist in a club the majority of us will never belong.

Let’s look at Ojukwu the leader of the Biafran Secessionist movement. His father was at the time the richest Nigerian. Ojukwu lived a life of privilege and attended the best schools. His education gave him a little advantage over the other members who were firmly divided into three class subdivisions within the elitist movement- the political, economic and military. Ojukwu played in all the spheres and did not understand why he should be subjugated to Gowon who played in only one space and was not as educated. The progrom in the North and the continued massacre of the igbos gave him the firm vehicle and platform to carry out what to me and some scholars was a purely egoistic Crusade which led to the killing of over 2m Nigerians. After the war, what did we hear, ‘no victor no vanquished’, Ojukwu had run away with his famous Mercedes Benz to live a life of luxury in exile. This kind of camaraderie was a slap on the face of all those who had lost their lives, suffered untold suffering and saw their destinies thwarted but what would you expect after a fight between ‘two brothers’?

The competition between the elites led to massive recruitments on all sides. The North carried out their Northernization policy, using the famed Barewa College as a bastion for recruitment into the civil service and the military school in Zaria for recruitment into the military. The west embarked on theirs too sending their scions out to the UK on scholarships mostly to study Law. That is why you hear of people like Fani Kayode being a third generation Cambridge educated lawyer. The Easterners also had theirs with what was then called the Argonauts, this was the Azikiwe led young Igbo Turks who were mostly educated and trained in the U.S steeped in the radicalism of the civil rights movements. Today you will see their children and descendants still holding forte.

People like Bola Tinubu, El Rufai, Buba Marwa, Dasuki, Femi Otedola, Aliko Dangote, Keem Bello Osagie, Udo Udoma are all direct descendants and beneficiaries of the bastion of elitist control. 

How do these elitists perpetuate themselves in power? Its Simple. Education and in some cases marriage. They have identified very early the importance of education hence the continuos push for their children and chosen ones to get the very best in education and tutelage. They go to the very best schools in the world and get the kind of exposure that common people’s children will never get. In the olden days it was through scholarships opened to party members children and wards, today its making sure recruitment into choice jobs was strictly based on the level and quality of education preferably overseas degrees. Tell me how will a Shomolu man’s son no matter how brilliant compete?

They have also perfected the art of intra class marriage. They marry themselves ensuring continuity and spreading of bloodlines although firmly within the elitist circle. Any attempt to marry out of this class is rebuffed and frustrated until the usurper packs his bags and runs away.

Clear illustration, look at the Management of Forte Oil and the pedigree of its Chairman you will see what we are saying. From the Group Managing Director to the Chief Financial Officer are children with strong pedigree that can be traced back two generations. They also parade very strong educational qualifications and tremendous exposure. So how will someone who went to Makoko Comprehensive and graduated from our ASUU strike bedeviled institutions compete favorably with these people. So you see, it’s a class war my people.

Otedola himself comes from a strong pedigree that could be traced to the Awoist free education and scholarship platforms of the old western region. His father being one of the wealthiest people in the land emerged as the first ‘sleeping’ Governor of Lagos State and eventually today Femi is one of the wealthiest black men in the world. He is also perpetuating the elitist lineage by sending his own kids to the very best schools in the world, recruiting only the very best that his money can afford from a very shallow pool of labour and effectively limiting the rest of us no matter where we come from Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo or Ibibio to the servitude that remains our fate.

For Now that it’s rosy, we are not hearing that he is enjoying all of these because he is a Yoruba man o. By the time, he experiences a small hiccup, maybe a little intra class struggle he would fall back on his people and scream for war that these Hausa people want to take his firm because he is Yoruba.

This is where Nnamdi Kanu is getting it all wrong. The igbos are not suffering because they are Igbos, they are suffering because of their position in the societal hierarchy which decides who stays where no matter where you come from. Why do you think the South Eastern Governors will never support his position? it’s because it may cause an imbalance of power and a restriction to resources. The Igbo elites will always look at Nnamdi Kanu as an orphan and treat him as such.

People, we are all suffering. Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Igbira, Ijaw. A poor man is a poor man. The same sickness in Onitsha is the same sickness in Kano. Have you seen the poverty in the North? Have you been to Makoko in Lagos? Have you been to the slums of Aba? We are fighting like fools because we do not know who the enemy is. 

Biafra will not put food on the tables of the poor disenfranchised Igbo man, Biafra will not give him infrastructure, send his children to school or even give him a voice. The issue can never be Biafra, the issue is elitist suppression and full control of the levers of the economy emasculating the masses throughout Nigeria.

If you doubt me, let us allow Biafra go and you will immediately see the permutation replay itself with the rebirth of these same elitist people creating a new hierarchy and entrenching the same issues that led to the creation of Biafra. Another Ilustration, IBBs rash of new states did not solve the issues but indeed created a new set of minorities still suffering from lack. I was a minority in the old Cross River State and still remain. Minority in the new Akwa Ibom State with my grandfathers house still not joined to the National grid. So what are we talking about.

The solution is education. We must break the walls of illiteracy by liberalizing education. Let’s enlighten everybody so that we all can at least see issues in its true form instead of its present coloration along ethnic and tribal lines.

It is a class war and the sooner we realize this the closer we will get to the Uluru.

.

I write with a heavy heart as a result of what is going on under your leadership regarding the Biafra agitation and the leader of the IPOB (Indigenous people of Biafra), Mr. Nnamdi Kanu.

Let me first say that I, as an Igbo person, supported your election and campaign passionately for it on social media, but I am now on neutral grounds, because of the way you are handling the cry for Biafra though I will always support any good strides you are making for the people of Nigeria.

Some of the reasons I supported you are: 

1. Your wife said during a pre-election interview that you promised to lead by listening to the concerns of the people and doing what the people want.

2. As a former soldier in the United States Army, I knew that the discipline you have as a retired general of Nigeria Army is what is needed to clean up the corruption that has long retarded the progress of Nigeria.

However, during your interview in the USA, I believe at the State Department after your election you were asked a question about how you would handle the Niger Delta on amnesty and women issues, your answer was that and I quote, “constituents that gave me 97 percent votes cannot, in all honesty, be treated equally with constituents that gave me 5 percent.”

Both videos of your wife promise of your leadership and your admission of prejudicial treatment of people who did not vote for you is there on Youtube for anyone and the whole world to see.

Mr. President, the problem with this whole situation is that with the way you are currently treating the IPOB matter means that your wife has lied about you wanting to lead by listening and leading according to the needs of the people.

Moreover, I, as your initial supporter, was very bewildered and embarrassed when I saw that video where you admitted that you would lead by preferential treatment of those who voted you into office. Those who voted you into office are majorly from your region, the north, as well as the Southwestern region.

Igbos were the ones that only gave you 5 percent vote because they did not trust that you would lead with integrity. And guess what you are doing now! You are proving them right. You are showing that their fears were valid. Mr. President, leadership requires that you must be fair to all and sundry no matter how you feel about them. You cannot lead with a vindictive spirit to get back at those who didn’t want you to win.

Just look at President Barak Obama for example. Barack Obama has and still suffer from a severe opposition of a great number of Americans who don’t like him, but guess what, he still leads everyone with equal and fair treatment.

A leader that is temperamental enough to vilify a group of people because they did not vote for him is not yet a leader. A seasoned leader overcomes all negative emotions that tempts him to mistreat any section of people under his leadership. Otherwise, it is a dictatorship and not democracy.

Also, remember that many Igbos and Yorubas, who did not want you to become the President, accused you of being a dictator, and I have to say that you are proving them right for holding Nnamdi Kanu hostage.

I must mention that I am not for or against Biafra. I am for peace and fairness for all. If it were within my power, I would lead my people, the Igbos, to focus on what they are good at and leave Politics to those who want it so bad. On the other hand, I have seen that my people are very unhappy in Nigeria and feel grossly marginalized.

And since they have been bold enough to start a protest, they need to be heard and not ignored or shoved aside. 

They are human beings with feelings, values, and aspirations no matter how inconsequential anyone might see them.

So in that case, I support that there should be a referendum and due process to make a country of their own. Now there is a possibility that we may not get all the required vote to amend the Nigeria constitution; but in that case, we would have seen that due process was given and anyone that fights it would be called a trouble maker.

Right now, the trouble maker is the leader that have imprisoned the leader of a group that wants to move on to a better world for themselves. YOU are the trouble maker, Mr. President! You can stop all this by releasing him and demanding for him to go through the right process.

I have written partially on this in the past and to your attention as well hoping that your social media crew would bring it to your attention, but I have not seen any meaningful or positive action taken towards this case. Some people have advised me that if the Igbos really want to secede, they would not have to go through you and others have educated me as well that all that is needed is for the IPOB to forward a motion for Referendum through the Nigeria National Assembly.

You might wonder why then am I writing to you if we knew what steps to take. I am writing to you because you are the President of a country in turmoil who has the power to quell the disaster that is brewing under you. The solution to put a stop to the agitation for Biafra is in your hands. All you have to do is take a leadership step by releasing Mr. Nnamdi Kanu and advising him and the group to begin the process of Referendum. If the motion holds, good, if the motion fails, then you have done your job as the President.

May I please remind you that the British, the Russians and the UN have wisely made suggestions for the immediate release of Nnamdi Kanu and for Nigeria to allow a Referendum to go through, but with all due respect, it all seems to have fallen on deaf ears. The only response I have seen from your office is a statement that NO GROUP WILL BE ALLOWED TO TEAR NIGERIA APART. Mr. President that is not a responsible statement in the midst of what is going on.

Nigeria has never really been one. There is a deeply ingrained spirit of tribalism in Nigeria that has infected the political and economic fabrics of the nation of which is one of the biggest reasons driving the Biafra agitation. Igbos feel totally marginalized and rightfully so.

This situation is like a bad marriage where one partner is very unhappy and keeps wanting out of the relationship, and the other partner refuses to corperate because the relationship benefits them more.

Your energy will be better served fighting Boko Haram rather than fighting IPOB agitation that has a simple solution. And I must say that how you are handling this situation makes it look like all of a sudden Mr. Kanu has become more dangerous than Boko Haram that is still killing people actively in Nigeria when Mr. Kanu has not killed one person. When people protest for a cause, it is the responsibility of the leaders to address the issues surrounding that cause, not imprison the individuals.

The cry for Biafra did not start today. It has been going on for ages that also led to the massacre of over one million Igbos around 1967. I am not a good student of history, so I will not pretend to go into it. But I am sure you know what I am talking about.

I implore you to please listen to right conscience and make the judgment that will bring positive resolution to this case and prevent lives from being wasted over a civil war. You have the power to do this by the simple step I have mentioned above. Once again, let me say it again.

Release Mr. Nnamdi Kanu and instruct him and his group to go through the right channel through Nigeria National Assembly to put forward the motion for a referendum. Though you are old, you still have a young family that will live on after you. What legacy do you want to leave?

Written by Ij Onuigbo

Christmas looks so different these days from what it was when I was growing up. It is so different it is almost unrecognizable. In this same country, in the 70s, Christmas was a season of celebration, but also of spiritual upliftment, joy abundant, hope, reaffirmation of faith in the certainty of Salvation, and the ritual of that which begins, and that which ends, as a New Year beckoned. We were brought up on a steady diet of Sunday School lessons, and so Christmas and Easter were very much a part of our growing up. We always looked forward to Christmas with excitement. It was that time of the year when we all wanted to act one role or the other in the re-enactment of the drama of Nativity.

The preparation for this drama, which was usually staged during Christmas service, to the sound of melodious songs and priestly excitement, was the high point on Christmas Day of the celebration of Christ The Lord. Weeks earlier, the church organized Christmas Carols. If you made the special choir, you felt as if you had won a lottery. Everyone was a songster of sorts, belting out Christmas Carols in both English and the local language. Parents singing. Children singing. Everyone dancing. The feel-good mood was so intense.

You could run into people on the streets and the standard greeting, be they Muslims or Christians, was “Merry Christmas!” The official church Carol team went from one church member’s home to another to deliver the good tidings of the season and to announce the coming birth of the Saviour. Christmas strengthened our sense of community, and our Christianity and faith as well.

It was also that time of the year for the reinforcement of family values. People whom you had not seen for the whole year travelled home from their stations to be part of Christmas. You got the chance to meet cousins, make new friends, and sing till you almost went hoarse. I wasn’t much of a singer or drummer- my friends used to laugh each time I missed a note or a beat and we would spend weeks afterwards mimicking each other. In short, Christmas was real fun. But it was relatively a simple, inexpensive celebration, year after year. Our parents did not have to borrow, or go bankrupt, or agonize, for Christmas to be meaningful.

We got one or two new clothes and shoes: those were the usual Christmas gifts. On Christmas day, after church, lunch didn’t have to be anything extra-ordinary: it was no more than rice and chicken. In those days, chicken was a special delicacy, reserved for Sundays, or special occasions like birthdays or Christmas, very much unlike now that every child acquires the taste for tasty chicken from the womb! On Boxing Day, we either visited friends or stayed home, and played with firecrackers and bangers on the streets. Those children who could not afford bangers were not left out. They improvised with local devices made by blacksmiths. That contraption produced even better effect.

Our Muslim friends usually joined us, but they always teased us. In those days, Muslims and Christians celebrated religious festivals together, without any hang-ups about the difference in faith. Virtually every family had Muslim and Christian branches. Give it to Muslims, however, their own seasons were usually more elaborately and colourfully celebrated. They slaughtered rams during the Eid el-Kabir and were generous, handing out gifts of fried meat to family friends and acquaintances. During that festival also known as Ileya, the major Muslim festival, you could acquire a whole bucket-load of meat to sustain the family soup pot for weeks, without being a Muslim and without buying a ram.

Christians were not known to be that generous. Every Christian family was governed by rules of restraint. And so, Christmas restricted themselves to the killing of chicken or turkey; some families did not even bother to slaughter anything at all, and they did not violate any religious code, and in any case, Christians didn’t feel obliged to share meat with neighbours. The effect was that Muslim relations and friends had this funny song, which was a friendly way of accusing Christians of being stingy. “Ko s’ina dida nbe; Ko s’ina dida nbe, K’olorun ko so wa d’amodun o, ko s’ina dida nbe”.

The truth is that nobody took offence, nobody considered the songs derisory, instead the teasing by Muslims attracted shared laughter. Even if there was no meat to share among the entire neighbourhood, there was more than enough fun to go round as many Muslim children joined us to shoot the bangers and make lots of noise. Many of them in fact knew the Christmas songs; they also joined us to stage in our own neighbourhood then, what was called the Christmas masque, or in Yoruba: “Mebo”.

The Mebo was a simple enactment, a blend of the secular, the profane and the religious, drawing its elements from a syncretic base. The Masque or Mebo was dressed like a Masquerade: his face was not supposed to be seen. He was the main attraction, backed by drummers and singers: we used pots and pans and maybe our mouths as drums. The masque danced and led the songs:
“Iya Kaa’le o
Wa dagba wa darugbo
Baba Ka’ale o
Wa dagba wa darugbo
Mebo yo robo
E ba mi wa so mi soro
Mebo O yo robo o
E ba mi wa so mi soro.

There is nothing Christianly about this type of song, but for us, growing up, we celebrated Christmas in the neighbourhood, mixing elements of all the religions and all the available modes. Even children of Egungun worshippers joined the Christmas celebration. And so we could start with Mebo yo robo, and shift to “We wish you a Merry Xmas…Good tidings we bring…

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing…

E lu agogo E lu agogo,

E lu agogo o Olugbala de o, e lu agogo…Keresimesi, Keresimesi, …”

followed by other songs in Yoruba, which connected well with the community and did not attract any objections. We went from one house to the other and some people would give the Mebo money, which we shared thereafter and used to buy more bangers and firecrackers. We went round night after night until Christmas Eve.

Our parents did not discourage us, knowing that it was all in the spirit of the season. They also did not have to worry about anyone getting kidnapped, or getting into any form of danger. It was a different Nigeria in those days.

Those were the days of innocence when children were brought up to shun any form of ostentation and conspicuous consumption. It was the season of joy and contentment. Just as we celebrated Christmas in the town, there was also as much excitement in the villages. The prospect of a New Year, a week after, always made the season special.

But Christmas today is different. It has become a commercial enterprise for many families and investors, with little or no emphasis on the spiritual dimension. I don’t hear too many children going from house to house even in the same old town where I grew up, singing Christmas Carols. This new generation does not know Mebo. But they know Santa in Naija on their phones and similar animations. In our time, we talked about Father Christmas; today’s children refer to him as Santa Claus. There is no sense of community anymore, only a sense of rising expenses and religious isolationism.

Many churches cannot even organize house-to-house Carols. Parents are reluctant to let their children go out to any stranger’s house, be they Christians or whoever. They don’t want their children kidnapped; they don’t want their daughters to be raped. Some of the churches have no buses, or they cannot even afford to buy fuel at N130 per litre. If anybody shows up at anybody’s door, singing Christmas Carols, these days, the door is likely to remain shut. The times are truly different. You can never know who the visitors are: they could be a band of armed robbers, dancing their way to your doorstep, to gain entrance and inflict harm.

I don’t see the excitement of old anymore. Many average families cannot even afford to travel home for Christmas. The cost is too high. The city of Lagos used to look deserted close to Christmas, because virtually all the non-Lagosians would have returned to their villages to celebrate Christmas and New Year with their kith and kin. This year, Lagos traffic is still as busy as ever. People are staying back. Even the more privileged families also don’t want to go to the village.

They are afraid of being mobbed by all kinds of relatives looking for help. It is easier to tell people you did not see their text messages, or the account numbers they sent, even when you have not announced that you have surplus money to give away, but to go to the village and see them face-to-face, could be quite an ordeal. I have listened to various tales of harassment, reported by persons who have had to tolerate that cousin who has just taken a third wife, who wants to be supported to maintain the woman, or that in-law who wants to buy a motorcycle and his body language is like if he doesn’t get the support he wants, he’d be tempted to recall his daughter!

I really haven’t heard those peals of laughter that used to be the main feature of Christmas anymore. What I see is the sheer anxiety on people’s faces. Christmas has become so expensive. Many parents are practically panicking! The children of today are not interested in Christmas rice and chicken: that stopped being a special delicacy a long time ago.

They want expensive gifts. And there are many capitalists cashing in on the taste of today’s children, to provide a variety of services and items that dig holes in a parent’s pockets. One parent remarked that he really does not know what to do. His salary has not been paid. His children would like to experience Christmas. His wife wants a special gift. His children look like they don’t want their Christmas to be “inconclusive.” But in January, he will also have to pay their school fees for the new term.

On top of it all, our society today is more divided than it was even after the civil war. Our laughter is shorter; our hopes are slimmer. We will celebrate Christmas all the same because we are a people of faith and hope..…Well, “don’t worry, be happy!” Merry Christmas.