Nnamdi Kanu’s Arrest: Goodbye Nigeria, Welcome Biafra – Femi Fani-Kayode

How I wish that the Nigerian people had their own Odysseus’ ,
Achilles’, Agamemnons and Hectors.

How I wish they had their
own ancient poets and great thinkers like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
and Homer who could remind generations to come about our
past exploits with their inspiring, compelling and historic prose.
Yet I look at the Nigeria of today and I am not encouraged or
inspired. As a matter of fact I am deeply saddened. I see no
heroes on the horizon but only questionable pretenders and fallen
caricatures that have sold their heritage and destiny for a mess of
porridge and that couldn’t give a fig about what history or
posterity will say about them or their country.

•Demolishes claims on Igbo/Yoruba history with facts and figures
Many have asked why I should say such things.

 Permit me to
answer that pertinent question by posing a few of my own.
I start by asking: is this the Nigeria of Murtala Mohammed and
Theophilius Yakubu Danjuma? Is this the nation that helped to
liberate Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa?
Is this the nation that restored sanity and stability to Sierra Leone,
that brought an end to a civil war in Liberia, that fought so
gallantly in Burma and Somalia and that quelled a military coup in
Sao Tome and Principe?



Is this the nation whose wealth once knew no bounds and whose
middle class once owned the finest cars and properties in
London, Paris and New York? Is this the nation whose beautiful
people once graced the streets of Belgravia, Chelsea, Hampstead
and Knightsbridge?

Is this the country that once nationalized BP and that gave
Margaret Thatcher sleepless nights over apartheid South Africa?
Is this the nation that once stood up to the mighty Boers and
whose ancestors studied at Oxford and Cambridge as far back as
the 1800’s?

Is this the nation whose inhabitants and various ethnic
nationalities once ruled vast empires and whose progenitors
contributed so much to the traditions, religion and culture of
Ancient Egypt?


Is this the country that once fought a bitter and brutal civil war,
yet declared ”no victor, no vanquished” and, in the spirit of love,
came back as one? Is this the country which has been through
thick and thin and yet whose people remained ever so resilient
and always put a smile on their faces?

Is this the country where giants once held court and where the
greats of old once presided? Where did we go wrong? What has
happened to our people and what has afflicted our country? When
did our leaders become spineless cowards and deceivers? When
did the green white green of our nation’s flag become soiled with
human faeces and when was it torn to shreds?


When did we shy away from fighting our own battles and
prosecuting our own wars? When did we start bowing our heads
in shame as events unfold in our country? When did we start
sitting down silently as international newscasters speak about our
nation in painful, disdainful, hushed and condescending tones?
What has happened to the ever courageous, ever smiling, ever
confident and ever dependable Nigerian who shook the world with
his arrogance and confidence and who spoke of his nation with
pride and joy?

What has happened to our great army that was once the pride of
Africa and that once made us so proud? What has happened to
our great intellectuals and our men and women of courage and
vision who once, like a collosus, bestrode the world?

What has happened to the stubborn and proud yet warm, friendly
and profoundly good people that Nigerians once were? What has
happened to the people that were once regarded as the hope of
Africa and the pride of every black man on the planet?
Where and when did we go astray? How and when did it all go
wrong?

When did we lose our strength, our wealth, our honour and our
power? When did we lose our excellence, our confidence, our
dignity and our self-respect? When did we become so weak and
so helpless? When did we turn into killers, savages and
barbarians?