Igwe Iweka’s Call to Igbo Youths: A Classic Case of Do as I Say Not as I Do It is often said that, he who fetches the water must stay close ...
Igwe Iweka’s Call to Igbo Youths: A Classic Case of Do as I Say Not as I Do
It is often said that, he who fetches the water must stay close enough to drink from it. But Igwe Chidubem Iweka, Chairman of the Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council and Traditional Ruler of Obosi, seems to have forgotten this timeless wisdom and sage. At a recent Army recruitment sensitization event in Awka, he passionately urged Igbo youths to embrace enlistment into the Nigerian military, describing it as a path to gainful employment and regional pride. A noble call, perhaps, if not for the shameful double standard it represents.
Before addressing the public, one must first examine the home. Charity, they say, begins at home. So, it is imperative to Igwe Iweka to answer the following questions, how many of your own children have you encouraged or even allowed to join the Nigerian Army? Are they not studying and working abroad? Are they not shielded from the harsh realities of Nigeria's military trenches, while you preach sacrifice to the "sons of peasants" as you and your ilks in the political sphere deem the rest of the young population of the Igbo race?
Your first daughter, Princess Dr. Biano Iruọma Iweka, is married into another distinguished family of doctors. Others, like Ọma, Nwando, Chino, and Kaima, are not in any military barracks. They live under the soft comforts of wealth, influence, and protection. Yet, you mount the podium to ask the children of poor men and widows to join an army that has turned their homeland into a warzone, killed their siblings, harass and extort their brothers and sisters without mercy and indiscriminately.
What exactly is the pride in joining a military force that has on multiple occasions waged war against the very people you now rally to enlist? Is it the memory of Operation Python Dance, when Igbo communities were soaked in blood and tears? Is it the haunting shadow of the 1967-1970 genocide, when over five million Biafran lives – majority of them from the Igbo stock, were snuffed out under the same federal military machinery you now hail?
Or perhaps the pride lies in watching young men recruited, trained, and deployed to Northern regions, only to return in body bags with no honor, no justice, and no remembrance, while you stuff you pockets and bank accounts with ill gotten wealth made off their naivety.
The truth, Igwe Iweka is that what makes us inhumane is not our tribe or religion, it is our inability to reason, to empathize, to lead by example. You speak of marginalization and lack of representation in national institutions. But the answer is not to herd our youths into a system that has historically oppressed them. The answer is to demand equity, justice, and restructuring not to decorate graves of young promising teenagers with tribal titles and call it national pride.
Leadership demands integrity. You cannot urge other people’s children to die for a country you have not allowed your own children to live in. You cannot wave a white cloth in public while hiding a dagger behind your back.
If truly you believe in this cause, start with your household. Enlist your own sons and daughters. Let them lead by example. Until then, Igbo parents must be wary of leaders who speak from comfort while demanding sacrifice from the vulnerable.
Let us not forget: “A person who sends another into a fire must be prepared to go in first.” The fire is burning, Igwe Iweka, will you walk in too or just point others to the flames? The ball is in your court. We will watch to see you demonstrate the patriotism you talk about.
Family Writers Press International
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