Kidnap stigma and the anti-Igbo phenomena – Oqye Dili
An authentic Igbo man for the yet to be informed is first an entrepreneur and from childhood is groomed to look forward to the day he will become independent wealth creator and for the Igbo woman, a resource or wealth manager. The parlance Okpata Aku and Odozi Aku are intertwined in application among this special and distinct race Ndi Igbo, than anywhere else in the entire world.
For the aspirations of the average Igbo man or woman to thrive, one of the most determinant indicator is the hospitability of the host And prevalence of law and order. The reason being that Igbos for economic reasons are migrant and as a reward for hard work, celebrate independence and comfort.
It is totally alien to the values and culture of Ndi Igbo to accommodate criminal minds and individuals or groups that are predisposed to lawlessness and disorder as such would entail unwarranted interruption and encumbrance of our economic lives and hard earned comfort.
As a people, we celebrate success earned and rightly attained. It is customary in Igbo communities to be queried irrespective of your status, social standing or political asscriptions, of the source of your wealth and material acquisition. Some not too distant years ago, families will deny their own child for associating with indiscreet wealth and riches.
Today, these cherished values are fast eroded and near extinction. Young men and women command personal financial acquisition without any identifiable and known source and the society which used to loathe such characters, embrace them and honor them. Not only have our society ceased to expose and disassociate with them, they have become custodians in some communities and active participants in determining interests of more credible and responsible members of the society.
School dropouts and common crooks have graduated to unacceptable and threatening criminal status, embedding themselves into institutions and cultural structures which serves as a cover up for strategic deployment of their callouss pursuits. Our once sacred societies now plays host to crimes which once earned refusals for burial, corpse of identified perpetrator, in family grounds.
These includes Assasinations, kidnapping, armed robbery, 419, prostitutions etc. Young but socially dysfunctional youths, incapable of spelling their names correctly nor making a complete sentence in English, having paid their ways into institutions of high learning or pushed through schools with undeveloped intelligence quotient and extremely low esteem are forced by society to coexist.
The consequence is that these defeated minds have now assumed social and political blocks with the predisposition to attain economic and political relevance and recognition at all cost. Miscreant and urchins without any form of dignity leveraging on the contraption code named political opportunities since success in our Nigerian Political culture is determined by the end and not the process. These crooks become indispensable vehicles for those that could afford their demand.
Today, the Ndi Igbo are paying dearly for this development as our most distinguished and respected minds and personalities are on the run and seeking refuge away from their communities and home of pride. There is anarchy and chaos with the security establishments in active connivance in some instances with these elements.
Today, 80% of Igbos have no investments in Igbo land as their lives and properties are most insecure. Rising unemployment contributing to criminal activities as a source of sustainable income. When mention is made of counterfeiting or kidnapping, assassinations and sales of new born babies thrives.
In Igbo land, over 90% of wealthy men and women patronize the arm carrying policemen or the army to visit their private homes, members of their immediate and extended families or offices etc. Socio-cultural activities have completely waned as extreme caution is applied in attendance and in most cases such perceived as risks.
A visit to universities without hostels inside most cities in the South East and South South reveals youths driving around in exotic cars and living above their means yet no authority have dared to invite them for questioning. Parent are collaborating with their Children without identifiable source of income instead of volunteering information to the security services as a way of checking this menace.
With over 20 thousand ex security men and women, I am surprised that ideas drought has hit our communities, villages and towns that we could not identify these bad elements. The recently introduced 4th Teir government by His Excellency Owelle Rochas Okorocha, obviously provides an opportunity for those who have lived their lives in defense of our societies to deploy their knowledge and experience and assist not the governor not government but their communities and people. Security if we realize is the business of all must be attended to with required zeal and discipline if we must unchain the socio-economic and political destiny of our race and people. The right time to act is now and the choice of exposing the sponsors and perpetrators is equally now. If we fail to do something now, kidnapping will become a family trade and for as little as family misunderstanding some one may be kidnapped and ransome paid.
Let us restore the dignity of Ndi Igbo, expose men and women living above their means.
Written by: Oqye Dili