Jonathan vs Ironsi who was more simple? |
Between President Goodluck Jonathan and late General J.T,U. Aguiyi-Ironsi, it is becoming increasingly difficult to say with certainty who was the most simple minded. Both men had these following attributes in common. They made every effort to appease the North. They surrounded themselves with frienemies (enemies pretending to be friends), who stabbed them on the back. They failed to do the needful for their people when they had the opportunity. Both accidentally came into power, which they never anticipated. Ironsi became Nigeria's president at the failure of of Nzeogwu's revolution, while Jonathan came to power at the death of his boss Umar Yar'Adua. Indeed, the two individuals were delusional or at best overconfident. Ironsi banked on his 'invisibility', while Jonathan relied heavily on his 'Goodluck'. And in all they both wanted One Nigeria.
However in the end the North betrayed them and stabbed them really hard. Ironsi paid with his life for his foolishness, Jonathan paid with his defeat. Ultimately, their people were the ultimate casualties. With the assassination of Ironsi followed the assassination of almost every Igbo army officer in the then Nigerian army and consequent massacre of hundreds of thousands of the Igbos in the north and the west, culminating in the Biafran-Nigerian War that led to the deaths of over 4 million Biafrans.
Although too early to tell the full repercussions of Jonathan's defeat, one can confidently bet that resources of the Niger Delta which they have been clamouring for more control will be wrenched out of their hands - in entirety. The abandonment of the region and massive exploitation of the abounding resources will resume with the devouring vigour of the Northern oligarchs. Oil blocks will be redistrisbuted next year between the Hausa-Fulani and their Yoruba minion. The people of the region will be pushed to the brink of Nigerian politics and never again will they be allowed to rise to a level they could mistakenly become the president of Nigeria.
They Igbos have suffered this for decades due to the foolishness of Ironsi. They Ijaws and other Niger Delta people are in queue to taste the bitter pill of the North.
The 2015 presidential election came with many lessons. One is that despite the pretense Nigeria is clearly divided among ethnic interests. Number two lesson is that no matter what a Biafran (Igbo, Ijaw, Efik, Ibibio, Urhobo, Itsekri, etc ) does to please the North, they will never trust, support or love you. Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Aguyi Ironsi and Jonathan tried it and got slammed back to their butts. Ironsi could be forgiven for not learning from the mistakes of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, but Jonathan had no reason not to have learnt the mistakes of Ironsi or those of Zik, who wanted One Nigeria to his detriment. Despite various calls he remained adamant. He had the opportunity to restructure Nigeria to reflect its ethnic diversity, but he decided to convene a shambolic national conference, with a clause that stipulated that the unity of Nigeria should not be discussed.
The stark reality of situation in Nigeria is that Biafrans are slaves in Nigeria. Hopefully, the results of the election will help it sink in. The alliance of the west and the north will always defeat Biafrans in any election in Nigeria. The implication of this is grave considering the nepotic type of politics played in Nigeria. Biafrans can only become full born if they free themselves from the Nigerian quagmire. Nigeria as it stands now belongs to Hausa-Fulani and their Yoruba lackeys. This is the time to restrategise.
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