Right before our eyes we watched Mr. Ralph Uwazuruike use the struggle for the actualization of Biafra to achieve whatever objective he set out for at the time.

During his days as the leader of the Movement for the actualization of the sovereign state of Biafra (MASSOB), we watched how it all played out and how it ended.

During my stay in the FCT some years back, I was privileged to interface with one of the DSS operatives that was involved in one of the operations in which they had to disguise as National youth Corp (NYSC) members to gain access to his compound, to arrest him and whisk him away to Abuja.

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At the end of the day, the then President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government sorted him out how they deemed perfect, allegedly and that was the last we heard of the group but it would amaze you that if you search closely, there would still be some Igbo sons and daughters who are languishing in prison all over Nigeria because of their violent involvement with the disbanded group. To those who died in that movement, they are gone and forgotten forever.

Some years later, another group named Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) was birthed under the leadership of an illustrious and extremely brilliant son of Igbo extraction called Maazi Nnamdi Kanu.

It is worthy to note that the reason why these pro Biafra organizations are routinely being birthed with them having massive followership is because over the years, the Nigerian government has shown in many ways how much hatred they have for the Igbo tribe and on another angle, we have a lot of unemployed youths who can easily be recruited for such tasks.

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General Muhammadu Buhari was not apologetic about how much hatred he has for the Igbo tribe and this disposition of the then president gave impetus to the agitation of Maazi Nnamdi Kanu, before the IPOB leader was tricked and arrested.

While some of us stood very firmly against the approach of our brother Maazi Nnamdi Kanu’s advocacy for a nation where the Igbos were equal stakeholders, we did not shy away from the fact that what he was sensitizing the masses about was very valid.

We are aware that some of his approach to demanding that the federal government look into our plight as Igbo people and grant us equal rights with other Nigerians, was the foundation on which the mean looking, destructive, blood thirsty and manipulative Finnish fugitive took advantage of to call for the random destruction of the South East in their misguided quest to enforce the sit at home orders which they often declare.

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We must also not act ignorant of how this sit at home madness in the South east started and what the then IPOB foot soldiers did to instil so much fear in the masses, which is majorly the reason why people comply when such order is made irrespective of what the government says.

Unfortunately, in other to further illustrate that we as Igbos are not equal stakeholders in the Nigerian state, Maazi Nnamdi Kanu has been held in detention for years against all known law just to serve as a deterrent to any Igbo son or daughter who dares to raise their heads to demand for fair treatment in the Nigerian state.

While we pray and hope that Maazi Nnamdi Kanu is released from detention in the shortest possible time, I would want to state categorically that his release is not going to ensure any peace in ala Igbo as the struggle has been hijacked by criminals who are obviously making a kill from the anarchy in ala Igbo.

Wherefore, to release Maazi Nnamdi Kanu is a moral burden on the country.

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While we must wholly admit that the madness in ala Igbo has caused us so much in terms of development and regional prosperity, now is the time for South easterners to deliberately rally round themselves and birth a regional agenda, which would have no regard for anyone’s political affiliation and selfish interest.

We must also stand up to determine if this insecurity in ala Igbo is being sponsored by the people that are threatened by the ingenuity of the Igbo man or whether it is an act of random criminality from which the perpetrators are making a hell of money.

We must no longer accept the insecurity in the east as something we must live with. There is a need to start asking questions about who really benefits from the destruction of ala Igbo in the name of enforcing sit at home.

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Just as the Jews of Israel are hated by their neighbors such that these neighbors are doing everything to annihilate the Jews, the Igbo indigenes from all over the world must see the challenge we are facing at the moment as a region as an existential threat.

We must boldly remind our brothers and sisters who feel that by talking down and abusing their tribesmen, that the other regions of Nigeria who are the traditional custodians of political power would love and trust them the more. The truth is that in the present-day Nigeria, such would never happen when it comes to national politics and as such, we must all pay attention to our regional politics. We must start being daring to ask our political office holders uncomfortable questions about their stewardships.

This is the time to patronize and consume goods made in ala Igbo before considering the purchase of goods made from other regions and brought into the region. If these industries feel that the Southeast market in Nigeria is important to them, they are expected to either come down here to build their factories or become active in supporting projects that would lead to the development of the region.

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Elected office holders must start being deliberate about patronizing goods made in their localities. All they need to do is to make sure that these companies in their localities produce their goods in compliance with international best practices.

Finally, there seems to be an unwritten agreement that the Igbo man in Nigeria must not be allowed to thrive or have political power of worth. We must become deliberate about making sure that we make the best of the region by also supporting men like Mr. Gaius Chibueze aka Bitcoin Chief of the Eastside Ventures, this is the only way we can fulfil our potential.

Hopefully someday, we would begin to routinely see cranes at construction sites in the Southeast. The sight of wharf, railways lines interconnecting the region we hope someday would be a regular sight. If you as an Igbo man or woman does not stand up to fix the region, then be rest assured that the ones benefitting from the madness in the region would burn down the region before our eyes and make it a desolate place, if we all give them that privilege.