Igbo Lagosians are derailing Self-determination struggle of the East

Igbo Lagosians have failed Self-determination struggle of the East: Leadership of the newly emergent Igbo Conscience group while addressing a press conference called in Lagos to repudiate IPOB & supporters of pro-Biafra agitators.

There is a cadre of Igbo intellectual, political and business elite who see Lagos as home first before even their very own ancestral hearth in Alaigbo. Their numbers are legion. In fact, it is rare to find an Igbo successful elite who does not have a strong Lagos presence or connection. It is also hard to identify leading Igbo politicians or political operatives today who were not first classified as Igbo Lagosians. 

The way things are in today’s Nigeria, no Igbo resident within Nigeria can meet the threshold for admittance into the elite leadership corps of note unless that person has a well-established Lagos address. There is a very important reason for the existence of this phenomenon. Lagos is a mega city and thus, it should not surprise anyone that greatest number of successful Igbo live, work and do business within the metropolis. But there is more to the fact that Ndiigbo are attracted to the business opportunities in Lagos as the bees are to flowers in full bloom. This piece elucidates these factors and how they have unintentionally made the Igbo Lagosians to constitute the Achilles heel of strategic struggle of the East for self-determination.

History of Igbo Lagosians

Lagos open market in the overcrowded sprawling megacity that boasts of population of up to 20 million or even more

At Independence in 1960, the Yaba Bus Stop was not far from where urbanized and heavily populated Lagos ended. Orthopedic Hospital, Igbobi – along Ikorodu Road – was located way out of town at the time, for example. Ikeja, of course, was in Western Region and most of this suburb was relatively undeveloped. Igbo business folks were clustered around the Tinubu Square and the network of daily markets that dotted Lagos Island. Substantial Igbo presence used to be felt around the Iddo Motor Park corridor in Ebute Metta along the western margin of the Lagos Lagoon, Surulere and Ajegunle. Throughout the 1st Republic, Lagos functioned mostly as an administrative hub and of course, as a deep seaport with wharf facilities located solely in Apapa. For all practical purposes, the typical businessman or company doing business anywhere within Nigeria 50 years ago had the alternative choices of importing and exporting goods through Lagos, Port Harcourt or Warri ports.

Joe Igbokwe the “Efulefu Igbo” suffering from the Manchurian complex

Then came the January 1966 coup that toppled the Federal Government based in Lagos Capital Territory and the 4 semi-autonomous regional governments and in their place, a military ruling council was installed. It was at this juncture that Nigeria, as a nation, hit the skids from which it has not recovered till date. The Civil War was fought mostly in Biafra territory and necessitated the shutting down of the Nigerian Eastern Economic Corridor (NEEC) to all maritime commercial activities in order to enforce total economic blockade which played a decisive role in outcome of the 30-month murderous war. At conclusion of Civil War in 1970, commercial wharf facilities in the East became dilapidated and were in ruins. Then came the now infamous enunciation of the three R’s – Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Reconciliation – by General Gowon as the supposed sociopolitical road map he envisioned for rebuilding post-war Nigeria. The three R’s may have been implemented as pledged, but the implementation was nowhere near the Eastern corridor which was ravaged by war and disuse.

Post-war Oil Boom & Explosive Growth of Lagos

Just like the willpower to implement the Aburi Accord as agreed in Ghana in January 1967 vamoosed before the ink used to sign the deal could dry, General Gowon’s ruling junta soon forgot or simply changed its mind on the three R’s as promised for the war-torn Biafra. With other appended deprivations brought to bear on war survivors, economic recovery east of the Niger River was slow and deliberate. The Igbo business class initially returned back to the nearby seaports of Port Harcourt, Calabar and Warri to reactivate their business activities and sources of livelihood. The shock of the notorious “Abandoned Properties” decree and the resultant seizure of landed properties of Ndiigbo in Port Harcourt and elsewhere confounded the dilemma of the typical Igbo trader.

Then came a thought. If indigenes of the newly created Rivers state would not even permit Igbo people to repossess the landed properties which they had abandoned so as to flee into the hinterland for their lives, the only option left was to simply get out entirely from the East and resettle in the only commercial port city functioning at the time, Lagos. First it was a trickle, then a stampede and in next decade, it was a mass exodus from commercial towns of the East, such as Onitsha, Aba, Enugu and Port Harcourt for Lagos. To accommodate the rapid influx, new settlements began to mushroom through the Lagos metro area and environs. The ensuing oil boom of the early to mid-1970’s triggered additional rural-urban migration from all parts of the country. Lagos was, for obvious reasons, the preferred destination for many village upstarts seeking to partake in the ensuing economic bonanza because that seaport was the sole source of all imported goods with which to rebuild the war-torn country and to feed a rapidly expanding population.

Biafrans respond to 'Uncle Tom' Joe Igbokwe for castigating Biafra and Nnamdi Kanu

Traffic gridlock is daily life experience for Igbo Lagosians, especially those who live in overcrowded parts of the sprawling megacity

Emphasis in national development naturally shifted from the three R’s for war-torn Biafran territory to just trying to cope with the population explosion of Lagos. And as the national coffers were unleashed, the first order of business was decongestion of the overburdened Apapa wharves. Tin Can Island was built out of the swamps recovered from the lagoon and a more robust land transportation infrastructure from the Lagos seaport to the hinterland was built in a hurry. Capacity to handle importation into Lagos was enhanced and so was the increased influx of fortune seekers from the hinterland and the East to the quintessential source of instant wealth. Until the Babangida regime shifted aspects of the central government secretariat to the new Capital Territory, Abuja, Lagos was the epicenter for both political and economic power for all Nigeria. And because of this, Lagos grew even more at what some characterized as alarming rate. Today, the population of Lagos ranges from 15 to as high as 25 million. It’s simply unimaginable that such a megacity should emerge in an import-dependent economy and in sub-Saharan Africa.

Composition of Igbo Lagosians

Some believe that as much as 5 million Igbo reside within the Lagos metropolis. Some assert that as much as 40 – 50% of the megacity are of Igbo ancestry. Whatever the exact figure may be, it is easy to appreciate the fact that Lagos has become home to the largest concentration of Ndiigbo living outside the historical boundaries of Alaigbo today. By far, the aggregate number of Igbo Lagosians exceed the number of Ndiigbo domiciled in Europe or in North America.

But there is a caveat here. The overwhelming majority of Igbo Lagosians belong to the low rung of the socioeconomic ladder; they are mostly petty traders, artisans, laborers and low-level civil servants. But then the top 1 to 2% of Igbo Lagosians could be said to be well-off, either through operation of successful business ventures or through government bureaucratic jobs and organized private sector employment. Even the estimated 1 to 2% can still translate into a huge number if the total population of the megacity is as high as claimed in some quarters. My point is that Igbo Lagosians embody a large pool of the Igbo intellectual and business elite which anyone serious about future welfare of Ndiigbo within Nigeria cannot afford to overlook or deliberately ignore.

Igbo Lagosians & Strategic Interests of Ndiigbo in Today’s Nigeria

It is usual for many to characterize Ndiigbo to be predominantly of the merchant class. Assuming this characterization to be accurate, one would expect the average Igbo should follow the money. That’s exactly what has indeed happened and that’s why Lagos seaport has attracted millions of Ndiigbo to its neighborhood since end of the Civil War. They make ample sums of money doing what they best know how. In order to even make more profits and grow bigger business capacity, most of what is earned in Lagos is reinvested in the same territory. These investments go into real estate development, creation of new businesses and expansion of existing ones. This business conduct is consistent with the Igbo saying: “ebe onye bi ka ona awachi” (one mends the homestead where one resides). The Igbo have become a major economic growth engine for Lagos – not necessarily by informed choice, but out of the need to optimize outcomes on one’s investments.

Nigerian Eastern Economic Corridor (NEEC) abandoned in utter neglect by the Igbo political and business elite corps in preference for Lagos which is hundreds of miles to the west of their ancestral homeland.

The typical Igbo Lagosian is often regarded as an economic success in his ancestral hometown in Alaigbo. He is, therefore, at least expected to elevate the residential accommodation within his parental homestead by building new modern homes and all the associated appurtenances. Such structures go a long way to enhance the Igbo Lagosians’ self-image in their ancestral hometowns and villages. These buildings serve as the so-called country homes which get used only when the owners happen to visit home in the East. So, the Igbo Lagosians’ wealth is divvied up between building befitting personal residential edifices in Alaigbo and reinvestment capital into sundry business ventures in Lagos.

As one would expect, the preponderance of their wealth is retained in Lagos where taxes are routinely paid and new business investments are made in ongoing basis. It is commonplace to see mansions built in remote villages in Alaigbo without any motorable roadways to get to them. Kith and kin of Igbo Lagosians only get to see the evidence of their relatives’ economic success from a distance but are in no position to benefit from such because all the latter’s business investments are committed several hundred miles away to the west in Lagos.

Igbo Lagosians are used to keep Alaigbo undeveloped and disunited

Economic Stagnation in Nigerian Eastern Economy Gateway

For an economy like Nigeria’s where everything – from safety pin to rice – are imported, any part of the country that is deliberately excluded from direct access to deep seaport facilities is destined to face economic hard times. This is exactly the lot of states of the Southeast and Southsouth geopolitical zones. Former seaport facilities of Nigeria’s eastern Atlantic coastline have been re-designated for export of crude oil and liquefied natural gas while all the imports paid for with oil-export earnings are restricted to enter the country only through the Lagos wharves.

Ndiigbo desert their ancestral home turf, which is situated less than 100 miles from Port Harcourt deep seaport at Onne, in order to droves to resettle in faraway Lagos simply because Nigeria’s central government policy has designed it to be so for the past 50 years. And as things look today, there is no end in sight for this very obnoxious and punitive policy aimed at stifling the strategic economic interests of Ndiigbo.

The goose that lays the golden eggs feed only on the crumbs

Lagos slum scene developed on swamp land hastily recovered for human habitation as the population growth looms

The East, despite the fact that it is the proverbial goose that lays the golden eggs for the national economy, has remained a virtual economic desert while its indigenous entrepreneurial class is forced to emigrate to distant destinations elsewhere within the country or overseas in search of greener pastures. The Igbo Lagosians have since become willing pawns in this wicked game of economic brinksmanship against their own people. It is, particularly, saddening to watch some of the dyed-in-the-wool Igbo Lagosians regard Lagos as the best thing to happen to Ndiigbo since sliced bread. Worse still, some of them have become so addicted to their newfound home in Lagos that they would stop at nothing to ensure that all endeavors aimed at reopening the shuttered NEEC are frustrated by all possible means.

Why Igbo Lagosians’ Obsession with Lagos Is Inimical to Igbo Self-determination

There are multiple stratagems being deployed to actualize the restoration of Igbo right to self-determination which has been trounced upon by the minders of Nigeria’s central government since end of the Civil War 50 years ago. The activist youthful elements make up the foot-soldier ranks of the Movement for Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Igbo Youth Movement (IYM) etc while the older and more experienced Igbo professional class tend to favor the pursuit of legal and constitutional means. What remains clear, however, is that all the self-determination activist groups share same end goal. It is also important to note that, because of the people’s penchant to venture far and wide, the Igbo Diaspora population is spread across all continents of the world except Antarctica. Igbo self-determination efforts are, therefore, not restricted to Nigeria. In fact, important outfits are situated in Europe and North America, particularly the United States.

It has become apparent that Igbo Lagosians regard leading protagonists for Igbo self-determination as spoilsports whose agitation to restore the political and economic viability of their Eastern ancestral home turf as a dangerous pastime which has the potential of jeopardizing the lives of Ndiigbo who are domiciled elsewhere around the country, particularly in Lagos.

Perhaps, they are swayed by the intolerant disposition of Nigeria’s central government toward pro-Biafra agitators who are often summarily shot to death for engaging in public demonstrations despite the fact that they are unarmed and do their thing in a peaceful nonviolent manner. In recent times, it is looking as if the elite corps of Igbo Lagosians have retained the specialized services of some in their ranks to engage in open verbal and ideological combat with self-determination protagonists of the East with the goal of extinguishing the entire struggle if they could. In their judgment, maintenance of the status quo means the retention of Lagos seaport as the lone entry point for imported goods into Nigeria. The logic is that the Igbo Lagosian elite class’ privileged status shall endure. Equally important is the possibility that the indigenous inhabitants of Lagos state shall appreciate and thus reward efforts of Igbo Lagosians who contribute, in whatever way they can, to ensure that the NEEC remains shuttered for as long as the eye can see.

Conclusion

Igbo Lagosians are evidently overcome by the Stockholm syndrome where they see it proper to pray for the safety and well being of their own people’s tormentors. Individual self-interest of some elements among Igbo Lagosians is indeed compelling them to engage in acts that end up negating the noble aspirations of their very own kith and kin resident in Alaigbo. A new Lagos-based group that calls itself the Igbo Conscience had, in its members’ infinite wisdom, called a press conference solely to denounce and condemn the youths who are agitating for Biafra because the former believes that overall strategic interests of Ndiigbo are better off within the status quo of today’s Nigeria, for example.

Igbo Lagosians, even though they constitute the largest concentration of the Igbo intellectual, business and political elite corps in today’s world, have failed to demonstrate the needed leadership expected from such a talent pool in the articulation and pursuit of self-determination agenda of the East. A good number of them simply opt to pay lip service to the struggle but would never dare to step forward to champion the cause of their ancestral kith and kin outside the ambit of the status quo which is, unfortunately, entirely configured and rigged against their people’s strategic interests.

Any Igbo interested in addressing the Igbo conundrum in contemporary Nigeria from the perspective of introspection must first confront the liability which Igbo Lagosians have posed and shall continue to pose in the struggle for regional economic and political emancipation of the East. The manpower and material resources which Ndiigbo have sequestered in Lagos and environs must first be freed up and rechanneled if the self-determination quest of the East can be realized anytime soon.

– Dr. Okenwa Nwosu