August 26, 2019

When they speak of colonial mentality of backward people, they are referring to the tendency of black colonized people to react in self-replicating manner toward the white colonial masters. If the list of 80 fraud-accused people had come from the EFCC, would the reaction have been the same? Yet, there is no basis to consider the FBI perfect. Indeed, there are many things problematic about the FBI list. First, DPA News has information that it was Obinwanne Okeke, Invictus Obi, who provided the FBI information that lead to the completion of investigation in the last case. He is cooperating with the FBI and we expect that more Nigerians will be exposed. But information from him may be tainted. Second, most of the 77 Nigerians have never entered the United States. Whatever role they played was done from Nigeria. So, Nigeria has the jurisdiction to try them. If so, they will not be extradited to the US. Third, most of the people on the list do not know themselves. The pivot of all interactions were the first 2 or 3 people who are based in the US. So, you need to look closely at the conspiracy charges. Fourth, it is absolutely not in the interest of the US to extradite them to the US. That means most of those men will be entering the US for the first time; and for what purpose? Why spend American tax payers money to fly them to the US, try them in the US, imprison them in the US, and then deport them back to Nigeria. What if they are granted bail with their passports held by court? That means they are free to marry American women and create immigration problem for the US. What if they are acquitted? There are so many questions. And who told you that FBI is right all the time? Of course your colonial mentality gave you that impression. It is likely that some of these men are innocent. And they are presumed innocent. The reaction over the FBI list, particularly the reaction from the office of Nigerian Diaspora Commission, is ridiculous and unhelpful.

In 2001, President Obasanjo, in Atlanta, Georgia, initiated a major Nigerian Diaspora project with a view to tapping into the huge Nigerian Diaspora resources for development of Nigeria. The idea was basic and simple - Nigeria's quest for development, especially in the field of science and technology and human capacity building would require a structured and systemic engagement of Nigerian citizens overseas. Everybody saw this initiative as a brilliant policy move. Obasanjo's government teamed up with prominent American-based Nigerians such as Emeka Ugwuonye, a Washington DC based lawyer, Bart Amu, an Atlanta based medical doctor, Professor Augustine Esogbuo, etc. to establish the first Nigerian Diaspora Organization (NIDO) for the Americans with offices in the Embassy of Nigeria. There was so much excitement, especially on the part of Nigerians in the Diaspora who assumed that a new era of strategic engagement with their home country had come. They remembered with envy the strong relationship between Israel and the Diaspora Jews. And thought that President Obasanjo's Diaspora initiative would replicate the Israeli model. Unfortunately, the Nigerian brand of politics and half measures kicked in and the Diaspora project got caught in the middle. First, there was tension over which Nigerian Consulate in America - Washington DC or Atlanta, would represent the Nigerian Government in the partnership. Second, the conditions for funding of the project were an issue. Further, conflict of interest among the officials of the Diaspora organization rose to problematic levels, as some saw it as opportunity to get positions in the government at home. With such perversive incentive structure, the project was undermined soon after inception. The only option was for the government to play some stabilizing role. It didn't. Instead, successive administrations in Nigeria developed ambivalence toward the Diaspora project and abandoned the original ideas. Lack of unity and stability within Nigeria further derailed the Diaspora movement. The question may now be asked: What is the current state of the Nigerian Diaspora project? The honest answer will acknowledge the startling failures. There has been a complete change in the concept. Rather than stable interface with Nigerians overseas giving back to their home country and the Nigerian government enabling them, we have a Diaspora Commission that hates Nigerians overseas and treats them with contempt. The Diaspora Commission is headed by Mrs. Abike Dabiri, a person of zero credentials on Diaspora matters. Mrs. Dabiri is known best for her unreasonable and provocative statements and hostility toward  Nigerian citizens overseas. Her latest was her gratuitous comment ordering Nigerians implicated in a recent FBI list of indicted suspects of online fraud that are in Nigeria to travel to America to surrender themselves. Mrs. Dabiri's comment is most unfortunate and totally irresponsible. First, the Americans have not yet requested the assistance of Nigerian Government in the matter. It seems Mrs. Dabiri is begging for such a request, even if American Government does not consider it in its interest to bring into America those people just to try them and feed them in prisons for many years. A proper thing for Mrs. Dabiri, if she was intelligent, would have been for her office to find out how so many Nigerians who have never been to America would have committed crimes in America and be tried in America. Since many of them are based in Nigeria, why can't they be tried in Nigeria with the evidence at the disposal of the FBI? After all, trying them in Nigeria will contribute toward the development of Nigerian legal system, and save the Americans the logistical costs of moving them to America, trying them in America, imprisoning them in America and the cost of deporting them after serving their sentences. The Diaspora project failed in other ways. Till date, Nigerians overseas still cannot vote in Nigerian elections, and there is no plan to change it. Also, they are not even allowed to return to Nigeria to contest elections because they might have acquired dual citizenship. Nigerians overseas are more alienated and excluded today than ever before. To the extent that Mrs. Dabiri is the personification of the Nigerian Diaspora policy, the Diaspora project Obasanjo started in 2001 can be declared dead and buried.

Going by history, there is no doubt that since shortly before the civil war, people of Northern Nigeria have wanted one Nigeria. I say shortly before the civil war, because all along up to 1966, it was the Igbos that had wanted one Nigeria the most, and they worked hard to have one Nigeria. Also, according to history, the Yorubas have been ambivalent toward the concept of one Nigeria. That is to say: the Yorubas are ready for either way - one Nigeria or a divided Nigeria, depending on the circumstances. Sequel to the events of 1966, leading through the civil war, the Igbos lost faith in one Nigeria. Since the civil war, that faith has never been restored. The government of Nigeria became dominated by the people of Northern Nigeria with a clear policy of deliberate exclusion of the Igbos. To the Igbos, the notion of one Nigeria has never been a reality since the war. However, the  Igbos were never united on what to do since the civil war. To some Igbos, one Nigeria has been a dream that is possible. And to some other Igbos, it has been a scary nightmare. So, the Igbos are divided between those who think that one Nigeria is an affordable possibility worth exploration and support and those who are convinced it is a futile exercise that must be discarded completely and now. The greatest and hottest undercurrent in Nigeria today or the most strategically significant division in Nigeria today is not between the North and the East or even between the rest of Nigeria and the East. Rather, it is between the two Igbo factions, ie, the Igbos that believe in giving the idea of one Nigeria a chance and those that reject the idea of one Nigeria. Again, note that no Igbo person believes that we already have a perfect Nigerian union worth preserving. They all agree that Nigeria is sick. The division is between those who believe that the sick country is curable and those who believe it is not curable. The Igbo political class - State Governors class, Legislators class, the wealthy Igbos who have acquired wealth they want to protect, the intelligentsia who have hope in upward mobility under the current system, tend to believe that Nigeria is curable and they are the ones seeking restructuring of  Nigeria. Let's say that this group of Igbos are represented by Senator Ike Ekweremadu. (This is just to help you understand the argument). Then you have the other group of Igbos who believe that Nigeria is incurable and there is no need to try to give it any further trial. This group are made up of mostly the youth, those who have been disenfranchised, the bottom of the middle class Igbos and the lower class. This group is agitated, mobile and aggressive and you see them in large numbers in the Diaspora, which comprises mostly of those forced out of Nigeria by the inequities inherent in the Nigeria that exists. This group does not believe in restructuring. It wants secession. This group is represented by IPOB. We view this division between the two Igbo ideological groups, as the critical and most decisive division today on the question of one Nigeria. As long as these two groups cannot resolve their differences and come together, neither of them can succeed. Thus, there will be the initial or preliminary war. That will be the war between the two Igbo factions described above. This doesn't have to be a shooting war. But that war must be fought and won before there can ever be the main war between Nigeria and the Igbos. This first or initial war has started. What happened in Germany with Ekweremadu is a flashpoint in that war. What happened in Germany may appear to some as a mere coincidence. But viewed closely, it has been in the making over the past 6 years - the discontent has simmered and we are at the moment when a major crisis is about to crest. Unfortunately, Ekweremadu, Nnia Nwodo and the Governors are misreading what is happening. They are viewing these events through the lens of yesterday. This writer will forecast that in the emerging war between the two Igbo factions, those who believe in restructuring Nigeria will lose and those who believe in secession will win. It may take time, but the group represented by the youths will win.  (This doesn't mean they win the ultimate war) The restructuring faction will lose because two factors work against them. First, the leaders of the restructuring faction are not trusted by those that are neutral. They comprise a greedy and exploitative and corrupt class who have not shown much interest in the welfare of the average Igbo person. They are also perceived as proxy for the North. Their message is perceived as self-serving, designed for self preservation. Secondly, the failure of the people of the North to make any concessions to the Igbos will further lead to the defeat of the restructuring faction. To buttress the point above, the fact that the North is refusing to concede the presidency of Nigeria to the Igbos, a huge strategic mistake by the North, will further weaken the position of restructuring faction and play straight into the hands of the secessionists. (This analysis will continue in two more parts)