On September 11, 2001, when Al Qaeda struck the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, many Muslim fundamentalists and some moderates rejoiced that the United States is getting the pill they have been serving many parts of the world particularly the Middle East. This attack was followed by others in different European cities who the terrorists termed as allies of America. When Boko Haram started their bombing and senseless killings their major targets were churches and Christian communities. Again, many fundamentalists and moderates in Nigeria rejoiced seeing Boko Haram as the Islamic North’s answer to the Niger Delta militants. When IPOB attacked the former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, many IPOB members and sympathizers rejoiced and said this is the new normal that will check traitors of Ndigbo. Today, Al Qaeda has killed disproportionately more Muslims in the Middle East than anyone outside their region or religion. Likewise, Boko Haram has killed more Northerners and made more Muslim communities unfit for living. This is the irony of creating a monster – they become too powerful to control and eventually attack their own without achieving anything good.

Thinking about Nnamdi Kanu’s recent pronouncement – I do not want to use the unthinkable and sacrilegious word “fatwa” on the 9th President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, John Nnia Nwodo, it is not an overstatement to say this is the culmination of the established trend of monster creation. But many Igbos are still in denial. It happened with Al Qaeda. It happened with Boko Haram. And I pray it does not happen with IPOB. If you sample opinions on social media, you will be shocked by the number of Igbo men and women who see nothing wrong with Nnamdi Kanu’s call for the stoning of his kinsman. This is a man that is safely tucked away in the safety and protection provided by the British government that Igbos accuse of complexities during the Biafran War. A true revolutionary would have renounced his British citizenship and gone on exile in a different country that had no dealings in the starvation, killing, and desecration of his people. The way Kanu insults other tribes and people who do not agree with his ideology and modus operandi, you will have expected him to practice what he is preaching regarding individuals, organizations, and nations that have contributed to Ndigbo’s truncated march to independence. These are the kind of ill-equipped, irrational, and irresponsible leaders that have imprisoned North Koreans and made matters worse for South Sudan.

Nnamdi Kanu’s last pronouncement is a peep into the inner workings of his mind. He already sees himself as a maximum leader. If you have not arrived at the conclusion that this guy and his group of blind followers are a present and future threat that can metamorphose into an Al Qaeda or a Boko Haram, you are not putting on your thinking cap. The South-Eastern part of Nigeria is arguably the most peaceful and enterprising part of Nigeria collectively. IPOB’s blind followers who see Nnamdi Kanu as messiah will be shocked when he disappears into thin air if issues escalate and reappear years later to be welcomed by these same mindless followers after lives and properties have been extinguished. It has happened before. The march towards self-determination has gained substantial traction under Nnamdi Kanu, but Igbos should not be shy to see his evil and unreasonable ways that are not sustainable in the face of a Nigeria that lacks direction and cohesion. Our drive for a Nigeria where true federalism is practiced or where we have regionally gone our separate ways peacefully, should not push us into the hands of men who care more about power than people.

Ata Ukuta, Editor  – www.towncryyers.com