Biafraxit: Osinbajo, Una Don Late

Only now does the Nigerian government know what hate speech is, thanks to Arewa youths. Read this headline from the Presidency:

"THOSE PROMOTING HATE SPEECHES, VIOLENCE WILL FACE FULL WRATH OF THE LAW – ACTING PRESIDENT OSINBAJO"

Northerners have been lampooned for over sixty years by the southern press. We were called Tutsis on Nigeria by late Bola Ige and his like. Nobody said it's hate speech. Northern leaders have been vilified and killed. The perpetrators were considered heroes. That wasn't a "disruption (sic) of life and property."

Now that some northern youths have expressed their opinion, Nigeria has suddenly realized what hate speech is. Good. Let's see what Osinbajo's government will do next time FFK speaks on behalf of the south.

Northern youths do not need to be tolerant to insults as their elders were. It's their today. It's their tomorrow. Let them define the terms of their times.

I'm afraid that the good call from our amiable Ag. President is belated. Duk wanda ya ce muku kule, ku ce mar chas! Treat others as they treat you. Otherwise, the world will register you as a fool.

Yes. We are for one Nigeria but only as equal partners in honour and rights. Let Igboland be open to all Nigerians. Let them allow other Nigerians acquire property and run businesses in Enugu, Umuahia, Owerri, Onitcha, Nnewi and Aba. Let their institutions admit our children.

As far back as 1982, I haven't seen a single Yoruba business in Umuahia when I served there for one year. When someone came to the town with a Lagos Yellow Bus one morning, I saw group of Igbo men chase him out of the town. Is this how the Igbo would reward other Nigerians who offered them unlimited access to economic opportunities in Lagos, Kano, Maiduguri or Port Harcourt? Are we living in the same country? Come on. Wake up.

Let their leaders - if they have any - condemn and end the call for Biafra, not rewarding Kanu with jeeps and money. Then, and only then, would other Nigerians consider them as serious partners in the Nigeria Project. So far, their misconduct, now and before, shows that they cannot be entrusted with political authority. That's the bitter truth. Take it or leave it.

Would the Igbo be better on their own? Nigerians now are saying, yes. Biafra request granted. Oya now! Leave the zoo. Ngwa no! If you can't, then shut up and behave well.

The Ag. President will do better delivering his sermon over Radio Biafra.

By the way, this is not hate speech. It's the truth.

Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde
14 June, 2017