By now, I am sure my readers have read the very disparaging
comments against former President Goodluck Jonathan which were credited to the
leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
So pedestrian are those comments that I will not repeat them
here. You can Google them on your own if you have not read them but I will not
stain my writing space by republishing them.
Ndi’Igbo needs friends and support. No one can win in life
if they walks solo. Ecclesiastes 4:11 says
‘if two lie together, then they have
heat: but how can one be warm alone?’
It was for lack of friends that Ndi’Igbo were defeated
between 1967-1970. Is history about to repeat itself? You do not alienate the
few friends you have and expect to attract more friends.
This is the advantage the North has over Ndi’Igbo. They know
their friends. If with all Jonathan did for Ndi’Igbo someone can dismiss him
with the wave of the hand so casually and accuse him of doing nothing for
Ndi’Igbo and Ndi’Igbo would applaud such a person instead of calling him to
order, then do not expect those who are watching Ndi’Igbo acquiesce to this
mistreatment of Jonathan to do anything for Ndi’Igbo when or if they get into
power.
If Jonathan can be so treated, then who is sacrosanct?
There are those who have said Jonathan lost the 2015
elections because his fondness for Ndi’Igbo alienated him from other sections
of Nigeria. Today, people who hold such opinions are laughing at Jonathan.
The fact that not even one prominent leader amongst Ndi’Igbo
has stood up to condemn the hate speech against Jonathan is telling.
This is a man who was the first person since the end of the
civil war to make Ndi’Igbo Secretary to the Government of the Federation and
Chief of Army Staff. For 41 years before Jonathan, not one Ndi’Igbo came near
such position.
Alas, none of the many Ndi’Igbo who benefited from
appointments under Jonathan could stand up to defend him against those very
mean words from Nnamdi Kanu.
What a lesson to anyone who may be planning to toe the path
of Jonathan! What a lesson.
My advice to you and the Igbo race, go and learn diplomacy.
It will help you more than physical strength and academic intelligence.
Only a month ago, In my widely published article ‘Hegemony:
What the Igbo can learn from Yoruba and Fulani about power‘, I advised
Ndi’Igbo, saying that the Igbo often mistake discretion for weakness.
Nnamdi Kanu proves my point! Calling Dr. Goodluck Jonathan
weak is just a manifestation of what I wrote about.
Nnamdi Kanu needs to understand something about leadership.
Leadership is a platform that gives
you the opportunity to increase your
influence or reduce it until it is eliminated.
Upon his release, public sympathy for him increased his
influence. The successful sit at home further increased it. However, his
utterances since then have been steadily reducing his influence.
I know Chief Femi Fani-Kayode very well. He will soon hear
the things Nnamdi Kanu said about the Yorubas. He has already heard about the
things Nnamdi Kanu said about Jonathan. It will not be very long before Nnamdi
Kanu loses one of his most valiant non Igbo supporter. Apparently, what the
Nigerian government couldn’t do to Nnamdi Kanu, Nnamdi Kanu is using his own
mouth to do to himself!
Why does this keep reoccurring? Anytime I read or hear about
Madiba Nelson Mandela, I have bittersweet memories. Why? Because we could have
had our own Mandela in another Nnamdi!
Nnamdi Azikiwe was at one time known all over Africa as Zik
of Africa. It was a thing of pride and joy to pre-independent Nigeria. Everyone
was proud of Zik including Northerners. This is a fact.
But the story ended tragically. No matter what may have
happened to him through his political choices and alliances, it was a very
great disappointment that a man who reached the peak of his political career as
Zik of Africa ended up allowing himself to be known as the Owelle of Onitsha,
not even of Nigeria, or Igboland or even Anambra, but of Onitsha.
The new Nnamdi ought to learn from this tragedy. When he was
released, believe it or not, he was hailed and celebrated far beyond the
borders of Igboland.
On social media, every Wale, Dakolo and Nosa sang his
praises. He was Nnamdi Kanu, the hero of the oppressed.
But the more he talked, the more the Wales had a rethink and
shrunk away from him, leaving only the Dakolos and Nosas.
Then he talked some more and both the Dakolos and the Nosas
felt unwelcome and beat a hasty retreat.
Today, it is only Chukwuma and Ikechukwu that are singing
his praises.
Nnamdi Kanu was created by President Muhammadu Buhari
because before he was arrested, I had heard nothing about him. Absolutely
nothing.
But just like President Buhari has squandered whatever
goodwill he had left by choosing to give his national Sallah message to
Nigerians in a sectional language, so too has Nnamdi Kanu wasted away the
considerable adulation he had outside Igboland by his Igbo supremacy tendencies.
I hope with Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB does not end up with a case of
me and Ndi’Igbo against Nigeria, me and Abia state against Ndi’Igbo, me and
Isiama Afara against Abia state and finally, me and my father’s house against
Isiama Afara. From what we are seeing, the omens are not encouraging at all!
Shaka Momodu, an editor with ThisDay newspapers, taught me a
lesson 26 years ago. We both had a mutual friend who turned out to be something
of a nasty piece of work.
When I discovered this, I quite naturally withdrew from this
person and although almost all our other
friends badmouthed this individual,
Shaka would not.
One day, I asked Shaka why he refrained from talking down
this man. Shaka’s response was telling and has stuck with me for decades
He said Reno, one day I had nowhere to sleep and ……..allowed
me sleep in his room for that day. I cannot find it in me to fight someone who
accommodated me even if it was for just one day.
From that day till the day I die, and even when I am in
God’s kingdom after death, I will respect Shaka Momodu for having such sterling
principles. I can only wish that Nnamdi Kanu had such high principles.
Ndi’Igbo should remember the proverb: If you want to walk
fast, walk alone.
But if you want to walk far, walk with friends.
And now let me address the issue of President Muhammadu
Buhari’s unwise decision to address the nation in a sectional language.
In a country whose official language is English, President
Muhammadu Buhari broadcasts his Sallah message in Hausa! Would Trump (whose
origin is German) address America in German?
So what about all those Nigerians who can’t speak Hausa?
Ideally, the President should have spoken in English first, then if he feels
like it, he may also speak in Hausa.
The way he has now spoken only in Hausa makes it seem as if
he is only concerned with those who gave him 97% of the votes while those who
have him 5% can take a hike!
How would the rest of the country have felt if President
Olusegun Obasanjo had released a Christmas broadcast to Nigerians in Yoruba of
if President Goodluck Jonathan has done so in Ogbia?
How can a NATIONAL leader address Nigerians in a SECTIONAL
language? Nigeria has never had a leader as divisive as Buhari! There is no
difference between President Buhari and Nnamdi Kanu.
President Buhari is the President of all Nigeria. He is not
the President of only those who can speak Hausa! This is an outrage! President
Yar’adua also spoke to the BBC News by phone. He is Fulani, like President
Buhari. Yet he spoke in English because he was President of all of us!
At this stage, permit time to digress and say something
about a loss I suffered.
Eight years ago I cried as if I had lost my own brother. You
gave me so much joy from my childhood to now. I thank God for giving the world
the opportunity to benefit from your creative genius, Michael Jackson! You were
the most consistently brilliant music star the world ever knew. Your dedication
to your craft was matchless. You outshone Elvis, The Beatles, and even in death
you continue to outshine contemporary stars. I love you Michael. Rest in the
bosom of The Lord!
Reno’s Nuggets:
If you knew how quickly your boss will replace you if you
die, you will pay more attention to your family rather than your job. How many
burials have you been to? Do you ever see the dead man’s boss there? Yet most
men slave away at their work and prioritize it over their family who will be
the one to bury them, mourn over them and carry on their legacies. Remember,
your company has its own name, but your children bear your own name forever. Be
wise. You are replaceable at work. You are irreplaceable to your family. Don’t
work for your salary. Work for your family #RenosNuggets
Reno Omokri is a Christian TV talk show host and founder of
the Mind of Christ Christian Center and the Helen and Bemigho Sanctuary for
orphans. He is the author of the worldwide amazon bestseller Facts Versus
Fiction: The True Story of the Jonathan Years: Chibok, 2015 and Other
Conspiracies and three books, Shunpiking: No Shortcuts to God, Why Jesus Wept
and Apples of Gold: A Book of Godly Wisdom.
Credit: Reno Omokri
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