Lest the bottom drops out: Standing up for the MASSOB 53
UGORJI O. UGORJI
Friday, May 27, 2005
"Sheriff John Brown always hated me…every time I plant a seed, he says kill them before they grow…every time the bucket goes to the well, someday the bottom will drop out."
--- Bob Marley
This
is an abridged and modified version of a chapter in a book I am writing
tentatively titled "All my heroes were once called rebels." I have
searched my heart, my soul, and my head thoroughly as I thought about what to
say here and I write this piece conscious of the potential consequences. Let me
cut to the chase - it is time again for men to be counted publicly.
MEETING A BRODA NAMED UWAZURUIKE
In 2000, I heard that a broda named Ralph Uwazuruike was coming to Newark, New Jersey, courtesy of Opara Ndigbo in New Jersey, Igbo-USA. I had read and heard so much about him that I had to go see him. As a student of the civil rights movement in America and as an activist in college, who had championed black causes literally like no contemporary of mine at the College of New Jersey, I had to go see this messenger and hear from him the message he is championing.
The venue was the
Robert Treat Hotel in Newark, and I arrived early, an hour away from Trenton,
early enough to sit in the first row facing the dais. Broda Uwazuruike did show
up in the packed room, along with a young man from Ikwere and a few others.
Against the grain of the Igbo elite who were afraid to be seen with Uwazurike,
Maazi Ugo Uzodike, the then President of Igbo-USA had the gumption to
bring and host the broda in New Jersey. My elder broda, Chief Egwuonwu led
guests in, along with Uzodike. Uwazuruike was unremarkable in the white Igbo
jumpa he wore and the long red cap on his head. His rather diminutive figure
contrasted sharply with the huge impression his name and words had begun to
generate. His resolve and apparent courage was alluring.
To make a long story short, after I listened to my broda speak that day, two thoughts occurred to me: Either, in front of me, stood a suicidal brother with a messiah complex, or in front of me stood the very future of my people, Ndiigbo. What I said at that gathering and the offers I made should have suggested which of the two thoughts I leaned towards. Not only did I pledge and make good on a donation, I also offered to help write and publish free of charge, the story of MASSOB. Why? Because all my life I have tended to take sides with the little guy, my contacts among the powerful notwithstanding. Moreover, my commitment to writing and publishing is such that I believe no story is out-of-bounds.
EVOLVING THOUGHTS
I narrate this story to say that my thoughts about MASSOB have been evolving. My attention to MASSOB stems from the fact that it proclaims to be nonviolent. I adhere to the principle of nonviolence. It was Fredrick Douglas that told us that "there is no progress without struggle." I am also opposed to MASSOB’s stated goal if it means a retreat to a smaller, landlocked geographical space called Biafra and here is why: The sacred and precious blood of Ndiigbo has been shed, often recklessly and without consequence, in every geo-political zone in Nigeria. As such, I make bold to state that I am not prepared, as an Igbo and as a Nigerian to surrender or retreat from any space or any sphere of human endeavor in the entity now called Nigeria. I choose to work toward the epiphany of no more blood shedding, and if any is shed from henceforth, we must make sure that the consequences are such that the perpetrators will see and feel them as "punishment."
However, I am resolutely committed to MASSOB’s right to not only exist but to speak as it wishes, within the confines of the law. When the New Jersey convention of WIC came and went, I penned a brief piece titled "And they stood like men" (see the WIC website at worldigbocongress.org). That piece not only paid tribute to the fallen men and women of my heritage who died so that I might survive, it also pushed WIC to issue a condemnation of the treatment of MASSOB in its communiqué that year. It was not a Biafran veteran or grandfather that got this done.
AND THEN THERE WERE THE MASSOB 53
The Nigerian Police are holding fifty-three (53) football players and spectators; my soul was pained when I read that. Their crime: allegedly playing to win a "Biafran Trophy." As an obedient and committed Board member of WIC, I looked to do my talking in WIC and through WIC. We did meet as a Board and discussed the MASSOB 53. I know that the Secretary General of WIC, my broda Ugo Uzodike, has written and mailed the necessary letters of protest from WIC to the Attorney General of Nigeria, to major politicians in Nigeria, and to Amnesty International as we agreed. I also know that WIC had decided to work with attorneys (Olisa Agbokoba’s chamber) to support the defense of these men and women. I am aware that a press statement has been drafted and will soon be released.
Beyond the letters however, I asked WIC to show that they are serious about their anger by doing two things. (1) Declare the MASSOB 53 as political prisoners of conscience; and (2) Declare the MASSOB 53 as honorary members of the World Igbo Congress. Our constitution, even as amended, allows us to do this. This I argued would take us beyond just throwing dollars and staying away in our comfort zones, it would force us to walk the walk and chew kola nut at the same time. It was at the Houston Convention of WIC, hosted by Chibuzor Onwuchekwa, that attempts were made to prevent Uwazurike from speaking. It took the prodding of Uzodike, Sylvan Odobulu, and Zeribe Ezeanuna to enable the powers that be in WIC to allow him to speak.
WE MUST ASSERT LIBERTY
Here in America, individuals in the South are still free to fly the confederate flag in their houses and on their pickup trucks, as long as they don’t do it on government property or as public officials. Here in America, men and women still talk of an Arian Nation and a Nation of Islam. The government lets them be and talk, as long as they don’t get into violence and other illegal activities. And brodas and systas, separatist propaganda and paraphernalia in of themselves are not treason or illegal. The fact that official Nigeria has remained jittery about the term Biafra is not our problem.
Imagine this: We are commended for speaking English and are given scholarships (the lucky few of us) to travel to Europe and America in spite of the cruel legacy of the slave trade and colonization. We are commended for speaking Arabic and we get stipends of money (with Arabic inscriptions) to travel to Mecca in spite of the cruel legacy of Arabic Trans-Saharan slave trade and the raping of women and children in Northern Africa, including Darfur. But we are forbidden and our so-called leaders are afraid to utter "Biafra," discounting over a million people who perished in the name of one Nigeria. To ask us to forget and not mention Biafra is to ask us to forget the ancestors, which is to ask us to die spiritually. There is no greater death than that. We are tired of dying on our knees. If we must die, let us die like men. The only way to make some peoples’ dream of Biafra go away is to eliminate the inequities that make some people dream of a utopia called Biafra. That responsibility lies squarely on the shoulders of official Nigeria, with the collaboration and vigilance of We the People.
LET THE MASSOB 53 GO
And
so I ask the Federal Government of Nigeria to let the MASSOB 53 go. I am
affected by the plight of these men and women because most of them are just
about my age. At 40, I am the youngest member of the current WIC Board and I am
told that this "youth" must count against my candidacy to lead WIC. I am touched
because it could be me tomorrow hauled to jail, as I enter one of the airports
of Nigeria. And so, I say let freedom ring for the 53 and others whose
"representatives" in the state houses and in the assemblies seem to have
forgotten. Set them free, lest the bottom drops out.
Moreover, let the word go out and let the message be unambiguous. This reported member of the "International Year of the Child," this WIC Board member with "youthful flare" and "rhetorical flamboyance," this "later day Igbo saint" do hereby reaffirm that as far as the privilege to lead and/or serve WIC goes, there will be no surrender and no retreat. May the people speak and may their voices be heard here in the Diaspora, and over there, in the jails of Nigeria where the MASSOB 53 languish.
This is where I stand and I hope all the Biafran veterans in and outside WIC would stand with me as I have stood in honor of them and their valor. I am the only candidate that has said that I will initiate and build a befitting memorial to their valor. Every generation shall have its war to fight. I was too young to fight in Biafra. This is my time and my fighting shall be for an open, inclusive, and consequential World Igbo Congress. It is my generation’s duty to prepare a befitting and honorable retirement for the grandfathers and grandmothers of my community and to secure a freedom-laden future for their grandchildren. To this I am committed. Let the generational shift begin.
May the labors of our warriors never be in vain and may they never be forgotten (Val Mbah, do you hear me?). May the young in age and the young at heart rise and lead today, not tomorrow, for tomorrow is a mystery. May no elders of ours ever again say to their 40-year old brodas and systas that they are too young to lead! And may over 40 million people never be afraid to be free and to be sovereign. In God I trust and on the shoulders of my glorious ancestors I stand.
One WIC! One Team! One Igbo!
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Dr. Ugorji Okechukwu Ugorji is a candidate for the Chairmanship of the World Igbo Congress. He holds the traditional titles of Odoziobodo Mbaise of Enyiogugu, and Uzoala Lorji of Lorji.
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See WIC Chair Campaign Manifesto:
I dream a world: Toward a vision and strategies for a consequential World Igbo Congress