In his famous speech before the parliament and tactically rocketed to the shivering conscience and apparently somnolent regiment in tempestuous time, Patrick Henry will forever be ingrained in the heart of many who accepted his address as freedom pills.
In March 1775, without mincing words he said” Is life so dear, or peace so sweet to be purchased at the cost of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! for I do not know what course others may take; but for me, give me liberty or give me death”
Prior to this historic fearless demand to determine one’s fate by the inimitable liberator, his people had been subjected to untold terror, knavery and meatification while authorities looked the other way. Fleet of warships and infantries of alien states not only flanked their borders, menacingly besieging them but also launched offensive campaigns intermittently.
Reinvigorating his nerves, Patrick asked if those armaments are to win their love, reconciliation or to plunge the populace into absolute unfortunate servitude?
I always reach out to this age-honoured speech from a man whose people had borne same fate as Southeastern Nigeria endures now devoid of redemptive moves from state actors.
Our people said that no one goes hunting rats while one’s home goes up in flames. Again, a stitch in time no longer saves nine, it saves nations and generations unborn. I wonder what our leaders are doing to salvage the raging insecurities staring us today in the face.
Nigeria is quite morphing into Afghanistan maybe Somalia. Nigeria’s bumpy ride to becoming another Syria doesn’t appear to rattle the Presidency whose complicity and avuncular toleration of the heinous and unpardonable desecration of humanity by the rampaging herdsmen, bandits and terrorists is no longer worth investigative journalism. Sponsors of these criminals quickly invented fancy adjectives such as ethnic profiling, bandits or ragtag criminals to romanticize and euphemize the real script out for play making it more difficult and perilous for security operatives to apprehend them.
It’s heartwarming that Ondo State helmsman, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN read through the smoke screen and issued out a vacation order to rout the disturbers of state peace. Since then, the Nigerian polity has heated up in comparison to Babylonian furnace. Few stakeholders and true patriots are consistently waving the peace flag and proffering roundtable discussion for lasting solution while ethnic bigots, religious fundamentalists and genocidal-maniacs have thrown their filthy laundry for all to see, engaging into vain pursuit of firing incendiary remarks fanning already alight embers of civil unrest and probable war. What is currently transpiring in some Southwestern Nigeria serves as
an inkling of tragic events of tommorow if left unchecked.
However, Eastern Nigeria appears to be slumbering if not sleepwalking while our lands, even lives are practically uninsured against the imminent disasters by these marauding terrorists mutating into bandits, herdsmen and kidnappers to perpetrate their unholy trade; circumventing the seething pangs of retributive laws.
Must we all be coralled into one big barracks and our dailies being dictated to us before they should act? Nay! Should we wait until they advance through the Northern Benue? Or after they must have swept through East of Niger? God forbid!
Our people expect a formidable front and synergy of SouthEast Governors and Stakeholders against a common enemy threat to peaceful enjoyment of our lands and collective existence. Yom Kippur Miracle of 1967, a six days war between Israel and Five bellicose neighborhing States wasn’t acted to remain in pages of history as reference for academic purposes but an eternal message for nations whose cooperate existence is unceasingly punctured and threatened. Such message of preparation should advert to the attention our state actors in times like ours.
The Governor Gburugburu solution should be replicated and strategically enforced to the letter by other Igbo States. It’s with heart full of merry that we read the maiden inauguration of Special Constables also known as Community Policing Officers (CPOs) numbering in 272 persons with a minimum of 16 persons from each local government. For yet undisclosed reasons why SouthEast Governors tardiness in floating the much expected regional security network to shore up the extant security architecture after their meeting.
In that groping condition our people where thrown into hallucination and hysteria of the unknown. Thanks to Ugwuanyi for his gut and braveness to rise to the occasion especially in this turbulent period of national question that even quackers the minds of the learned.
To stand tall with faith and confidence in ones conviction is no mean task we all can attest but Ugwuanyi has proved his mettle and how treasurable the lives of his people are to him. As other Governors are engrossed in hurling tantrums and expletives against one another, Ugwuanyi is untiringly rejigging and building security fortresses, churning out a phalanx of professionally trained operatives to police the State.
Harvest of this security consciousness of the Governor definitely would be bounty in gaslighting the approaching conquistadorian foot soldiers, as they shall work cooperatively with other sister operatives like Forest Guards and respective Neighborhood watch. In fact, the latter considerably constitutes an invaluable espionage tool in the hands of official Police having much knowledge about hideouts and terrain of criminal operations.
Time is now for one to stand and be counted. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “A man is not known in the times of peace and merry but his stance at the times of controversy and adversity.” Governor Ugwuanyi has set the ball rolling without much noise to his credits, I sincerely doubt if he needs media eulogies unlike his counterpart in Ondo. Doing the right thing, at the right time is enough panegyric. The other four South Eastern States should immediately toe his line as against the acursed invitation of soldiers to rain explosives on our people, turning once a cool City into theatre of war in their misguided hunt and baying for innocent blood; while they leave the larger uninhabitable North free for terrorists enterprise.
May we not be caught unprepared. This is no time to score cheap political grades nor playing to the galary by bandying words and gushing phlegm of virulent against one another while the Ark of God risks courting by strangers.
IKEMSINACHI NWA-ONAH
Writes From Makurdi, the City of Benue.
MEDIA TEAM MEMBER OF ENUGU DI N’AKACHUKWU MOVEMENT
