Igbo Land, the pivot under which Nigeria, China and other economies rotates…
BETWEEN LOGIC AND EMOTIONS: THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW ORDER
A BRIEF CASE STUDY OF SIT HOME AGITATION IN ANA ÌGBÒ by Chukwuemeka Obinwugo.
The behavioral revolution is a major turnaround in political science. It introduces radical methodological re-orientations, promotes inter-subjectivity, and “identifies the behaviour of individuals or group of individuals as the primary unit of analysis” (Eldersveld &Katz 2007)
For 5 weeks, the social media has gone agog on the recent phase of the agitations in South east Nigeria (Ana Ìgbò).
On 29th June 2021, Nnamdi Kanu the leader of IPOB and the greatest voice of the recent agitations in Ana Ìgbò was abducted and held in DSS custody.
On 9th August, a Monday Sit at Home order was issued by the DOS of IPOB, an order which was hurriedly canceled but the cancelation met a strong resistance from the masses in Ana Ìgbò (mostly Ìgbò traders) who really wished to do something in solidarity with Nnamdi Kanu suffering in the DSS custody. Hence the Sit at Home agitation commenced and continued every Monday till date.
Consequently, a group of social media influencers (suspected to be paid…) , stormed the social media to discredit the merits of the agitation and influence the agitatiors to end the sit at home agitation.
From my observations, they have a pattern; their media weapons are launched every Monday, with variegated narrative ranging from violence, disruption of examinations, economic sabotage etc. The strongest of their weapons being economic sabotage, they are determined to blackmail IPOB, the Sit at home agitation and end it all.
But beyond these “facades of Concern” by these Anti-Sit-at-Home Social media intelligentsia (aka ottellectuals), I will like us to look at the indices of this agitation with both Clear Eyes and Deep Insight. One must look at this agitations from both perspectives of Instant Gratification and Deferred Gratification.
That’s where Emotions and Logic comes to play as complimentary factors and Not competing factors.
Who is an agitator?
According to Olukayode Segun Eesuola, “An Agitator is a man of peculiar behavioral composition, his personality having been formed through an interplay of social
factors that make him the type that bothers to take EMOTIONAL extra look and pay critical attention towards public policies and practices that others are often silent about. (Explaining Political Agitators: Socialization and Class
in the Making of Gani Fawehinmi and Fela Anikulapo Kuti of Nigeria)
From the above definition, we can see that agitation is both a logical action as well as emotional action. In fact agitations take flesh when a lot of Emotions are invested in it, logic rather does the job of a balancing agent (just like a citric acid in a sugar mixed juice).
Emotions are very powerful, even more powerful than logic. Nations have emerged, Civilization has be advanced, National prosperity has be built mostly because first, people became passionate and patriotic of their own society. Passion and Patriotism are Emotional acts and very powerful in National building.
Emotions Not logic, makes a soldier go into the battle field and die just to save a flag from falling down, this is because that flag is not just a piece of cloth to him but rather an Identity he is Emotionally attached to. Looking at the instant impact of such act, it won’t make sense because it seems that it doesn’t have much impact on the enemy but looking at the deferred impact which will build confidence in one’s identity and spur the logical mind to innovate within that emotional identity, it starts making sense to die for a flag.
Are the Ìgbòs in South east Nigeria most foolish for embarking on a Sit at Home protest?
Let’s do some comparative analysis…
On 13 May 1989, hundreds of student protesters in Tiananmen Square went on HUNGER STRIKE in order to speak push for talks with Communist Party leaders. It is estimated that one million people joined the protests in Beijing to express their support for the students on hunger strike and to demand reform. The Chinese government still tried to forcefully suppress that agitation.
1981 Irish hunger strike ended with 10 of the participants starving themselves to death, radicalizing Irish nationalist politics and leading to Sinn Féin becoming a mainstream political party.
In 1952, Sri Potti Sriramulu an Indian agitator fasted (without a drop of liquid/water) for 56 days and died on the 56th day of the Hunger strike, upon his death a special state was formed for Telugu speaking people, fulfilling his wish.
During the WWII, at the Pacific war, the Americans received a very devastating defeat from Japan and the American Generals with there logical deductions adviced the American president Franklin D. Roosevelt to give up and withdraw troops. The crippled president in an Emotional outburst stood up with his paralyzed legs from his wheel chair and with all his strength told the Generals, “Don’t Ever Tell Me, it can’t be done. We shall Never Give Up!”. Roosevelt went ahead and sent some younger soldiers to the battle field to strike at the heart of Japan. That special team succeeded but at the expense of their lives as very few came back alive from that suicide mission.
On may 30 1969, during the Biafran genocide, a Jewish American boy Bruce Mayrock, left the comfort of his home and set himself ablaze in front the UN building for a people miles away from him.
In 1803, Dunbar Creek on St. Simons Island, Glynn County, Georgia, our Ìgbò ancestors, resisted slavery by walking back into the waters and committing mass suicide.
Comparing these scenarios, simply shows me that the Igbos closing their shops and sitting at home once in a week in agitation are Not the most “stupid” on earth after all. People have done far more “stupid” acts to agitate.
So what’s the cause of this Sit at Home agitation?
Ndị Ìgbò for long have felt marginalized and stifled from advancing their civilization. Their agitations have taken many shapes and pattern for centuries. From Slave trade resistance, to Christian missionary resistance, to British invasion resistance to Ekumeku, to Aba Women riot, to Zikist movement, to Biafran genocide, to Massob, to IPOB peaceful protest, to today’s Sit at home etc.
Lord Lugard complained that we Igbos are too stubborn, recalcitrant and disloyal.
Furthermore, a critical observation of this Sit at Home revealed the following:
- The compliance were mostly in the cities of Ana Ìgbò in South east; Onịcha, Ọka, Nnewi, Enugwu, Aba, Owerri, Abakaliki.
- Asaba and Igweọcha, the Igbo cities in South South didn’t show full compliance
- The 3 major market cities that majorly hosts other markets in South east, South South and the North; Onịcha, Nnewi and Aba are in total compliance of the sit at home.
- These controling market cities are the bridge between the real owners of the market economy and the rest of the markets in the other zones.
In Onịcha, we have Main market, Ọchanja, Relief, Building material (by Ogidi axis) etc and these markets control Enugwu, Ebony, Delta, Edo, Bayelsa and all the Northern states. It also controls west African markets like Cameron, Togo etc
In Nnewi we have Nkwọ Edo which leads in motorcycle parts in the whole of Nigeria and the west African countries
In Aba, we have Ariria main market, Cemetery, Ahia ọhụrụ, Shoping Center etc and controls, Akwaibom, Cross river, Rivers, Imo, also leads the whole northern states in fabrics, they also control camaroon and other west African markets.
The strongest point used by the anti sit at home campaigners is “Economy”. In their argument, the Sit at home is only killing ourselves economical and that it is not affecting other zones outside southeast. That in my Observations is Not correct.
My reasons:
The major beneficiaries of the economic activities in the south east are Not even the Ìgbòs in the south east.
The major beneficiaries are
- The producers of the goods traded in those south east markers. Most of them are foreign companies not Ìgbòs and worst still some of these foreign companies run a Monopoly on our own market and backed up by the government.
- The government (both Nigeria and foreign) that collects taxes on those goods traded in the south east market. They are Not Ìgbò government (it is not Igbo government because the government system we operate is Not an Ìgbò Indiginenous government system but a British colonial government system)
- The Banks that handles the transactions (including CBN) which emanates from goods traded in the south east market. Most of these banks are not Ìgbò banks.
Having these indices in mind, we can now see that this Sit at home hits a lot of other people outside Ndị Ìgbò in South east.
When a trader experience a low turnover, it affects the producer of the goods traded, more than the trader himself because the producer makes more profit and needed that trader to trade more so that he produces more. Therefore, this Sit at home vibrates as far as China… It hits Nestlé, P&G, Uniliver, Dufil, Prima Corp., Bua etc, shakes their cash flow and distablise their financial forecast.
In that MDS logistics warehouse located in Harbour estate Onịcha where those foreign multinational companies dump their goods for the Ìgbò traders to slavishly trade for them and fill their pockets, the activities have drastically slowed down because of this Sit at home and their is panic in the board rooms…
That hawker who hawks Gala, LA casera, Coca Cola etc under the scorching sun and under the rain and makes “peanut money” from it while the “lion share” goes to Uniliver, Prima Corp, Coca Cola etc is now sitting at home every Monday as the lion share drastically depreciates. Anyone telling me that this Sit at home is Not hitting these companies in whose goods thrives “on-the-go” market is either ignorant, Naive or in self decit
The government has lost billions of Naira in tax that should be remitted on the economic activities going on in the South east. They will like to pretend that, it is Not affecting them 🤣 but we know they are the ones desperately working back stage to end the sit at home agitation. Why? Because the money they collect daily from the traders and transporters are seriously going down as the Monday sit at home hits that nerve.
VAT are collected on the daily transactions done by trading goods and services. Even the organized Hyper markets like Shoprite etc complain of slow sales. This affects the volume of VAT collected from our space and sent to Abuja to be shared among the pot bellied lazy baboons in Agbada.
The Banks have also suffered loses, after Lagos, Onịcha is the next market that gives these banks the highest volume of monetary transactions in Nigeria. This sit at home, causes panic in their corporate head quarters in Lagos.
The CBN also collects the hit all the way in Abuja as the inter bank transactions depreciates drastically as a result of the Monday sit at home.
Brethren, they will Not like to give you this information but know it today that the South East market are one of the major life wire of the Nigerian Economy, the Chinese Economy, the European Economy, the American economy and our Sit at home affects these economies in one way or the other…
Does this Sit at home affect us? Yes it does, Greatly but Not as devastating as it is to the Principalities mentioned above that reap off our sweat.
These principalities are seriously hit by this particular agitation that they are desperatly working back stage to crush it in our minds by blackmailing us of with words like “economic sabotage”
Why do I think so?
Over the years, So many factors have frustrated these traders from maximizing their potentials, example, our Sea ports are deliberately shut down or underused, our railway metro system destroyed, the road to Ariria market is a disaster, Main market Onịcha is nothing to write home about. The touts unleashed in the market environment is a story of its own. The unstable currency fluctuations, high inflation, Market MONOPOLY!!! But no serious and sustain outrage have been raised on these issues.
How come these sudden outrage and concern about our Economy by a group of few influencers on social media immidately Sit at home started? And these concerns always take life every monday that this sit at home happens, how come???
Finally, I wrote earlier that this agitation must be critical looked into from both Instant gratification and deferred gratification perspective for better appreciation.
The Contemporary black man have been constantly accused of Not thinking beyond his belly, that’s why he will sell off his land today simply because he is hungry and leave his child empty handed in the future.
The Ìgbòs sacrificing their economic activities and Siting at Home today are simply doing it because
- They wish to show solidarity to the one man, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu who have constantly spoken out against the anomaly of the society and the need to change status quo for the good of our children in the future and has consistently marched words with action.
- They wish to change the status quo of the economic environment that will ursher in enabling environment to encourage innovation, create more local products to be traded and force both the government and non-government principalities to listen to us.
Does what they do today make sense now? It might not.
Just like Bruce Mayrock setting himself ablase didn’t make sense instantly and didn’t end the Biafran genocide instantly, just like the mass suicide in Ìgbò landing didn’t make sense instantly and didn’t stop the slave trade instantly but today after years later we now celebrate these events as Emotional actions that make great impact.
That’s the power of deferred gratification 💪
So, for those writing epistles like I wrote now on how the Sit at home didn’t make sense, your judgment are just based on Instant gratification logic which to me is shallow and incomplete.
In the pre colonial period, the Ìgbòs easily do without imported goods but could Not do without exchange of locally produced goods. (Onwuka Njoku 2014, Economic History of Nigeria 19th – 21th centuries 2nd Edition).
That pre colonial era to me is the Era we truely own an economy but today, reverse is the case… and if painfully ending today’s Sick Economy will return us back to our locally controlled economy for our children in the future to thrive, I will rather say “let’s go hungry today that our children become prosperous”, “let’s die today that our children may live”
Like Achebe, I will say, “It is morning yet creation day”
Posterity has the final say.
K’anyi na-eje n’ubi…
©Chukwuemeka Obinwugo 14th September 2021
