The Unfortunate Leadership Editorial: Sam Ndah Isaiah and Arewa Youths
Posted by Factnews | 7 years ago | 2,346 times
By Kelechi Jeff Eme (KJE)
The Leadership Newspaper owned by Sam Ndah Isaiah has gone rogue and one can arguably conclude that it is an ideological soul mate of the “Overgrown Adults” masquerading as Arewa Youths. It is more disheartening that the publisher actually aspired to be President of this great country. To imagine that some politically naïve southerners routed for this guy to win the APC ticket in 2014 further entrenches the fact that religion is not our national problem. Politicians deploy religion to negotiate their perpetual presence during frequent bazaar of national resources.
Are we all now in agreement that we need leaders that have outgrown issues of religion and ethnicity in their approach to nation building? We need leaders with mind set to properly situate equality of all citizens and zones without neglecting equity. Such men will always get my support no matter their tribes and religion.
This is where good men and women from all tribes and faiths are important in refocusing our politics. You cannot require other zones of the country to always provide detribalized Nigerians for national leadership while you continuously promote confirmed and renowned bigots from your zone.
Why Sam Ndah Isaiah? He is the totality of Leadership Newspaper and his publication is preaching hate and distorting history. The Rwandan Genocide was promoted by media house owners and broadcasters and we must tame the likes of this man from migrating to the pedigree of the Rwandan hate merchants.
Firstly, his publication justified the killing of Ironsi and top military officers of Igbo extraction. His reason is that Nzeogwu and co killed northern leaders and officers. The leaders of the January, 1966 coup were majorly Igbos, but Emeka Ojukwu played significant role in ensuring its failure. Is it debatable that Igbo officers essentially foiled the coup? Yes, innocent northern leaders and officers were killed, but could that have justified the killing of another set of innocent officers no matter their tribe? This is what Sam Ndah Isaiah Leadership Newspaper and his Arewa Youth soul mates are justifying.
Secondly, it conclusively endorsed the massive pogrom that took the lives of over 30,000 Igbos and other easterners resident in the north. According to Leadership Newspaper and Arewa Youths, Igbos taunted northerners on the killing of their leaders, hence deserved to die. This is where Sam Ndah Isaiah and his publication lost it completely and I must say that only a soul cleansing will save them from the judgment of Almighty God. This justification is too lame that even stone aged humans would have laughed it off. What a shame!
Following the emboldening of the Arewa Youths by Leadership Newspaper, they are now asking the Igbos to leave the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Obviously they are residents of clueless Island, otherwise they should have known that the secession of Igbos will lead to immediate collapse of the country.
Finally, in their opposition to restructuring of the federation in line with the 1963 Republican constitution, they singled Ironsi out as the man that fractured the fiscal federalism. My question is: did they not take his life because of the unitary system he introduced. Was opposition to the unitary system not the rallying point of northern political leaders that led to the killing of Ironsi? The bigger question is whether Ironsi introduced unitary system because of his desire to control the north or he did so because of the Command and Control structure in the military? After murdering him in cold blood, did they revert to the fiscal federalism as enshrined in the 1963 Republican Constitution?
Take Home: the only way we can build a united Nigeria is by being truthful to ourselves. Holding tight to dubious advantages at the detriment of others in a union is criminal and such must be resisted without ceasing. The state of our union will remain like this until we restructure the country to entrench equity and equality.
Readers Comments
comment(s)
No comments yet. Be the first to post comment.
