Briefs

AFRICA: A REVIEW OF HUMANITY?

Daado Balankang

Sometime in July 1967, Generals Yakubu Gowon of Nigeria and Chukwuemeka Ojukwu of then breakaway Biafra had a trunk telephone call that millions of people will never know about.

“General Ojukwu!” Gowon called, “I am calling to ask you to down your armor and let this mindless war end”.

“And what will go wrong if the gesture begins with you?” Ojukwu asked.

“Why should I be the one to down armor?” Gowon asked in return.

“And why should I be the one instead?” Ojukwu said with a note of impatience.

“If you don’t know, this is why: You’re on the side of rebellion” Gowon explained. “As for us, we are defending the sovereignty of our fatherland. As the saying goes ‘To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done’.

“What if I show you how illegal is the sovereignty and the unity you are defending?” Ojukwu asked. “Well, don’t bother to answer me. Rather, I am going ahead to tell you any way”.

“I am listening”.

“First” said Ojukwu, “are you aware that the people called Nigerians don’t come from strictly the same ethnological background? That the differences in their indigenous cultures and political institutions are as wide as the world?”

“I’m not aware” Gowon said. “Please, explain what you mean”.

“I mean” said Ojukwu, “that the ways we reasoned in the two major blocs of the country were radically different. That is because the ways we worship, the ways we are organized and the way we relate with reality are different also. Even the ways we look physically are different. So, we are not a nation in the first place.

“We’re not a nation?” Gowon asked in consternation. “So, what happens to the declaration of our national independence which happened seven years ago?”

“It was illegal” Ojukwu said calmly. "And the illegality is what you see manifesting in our conflict-ridden history as you can see".

“Illegal? How?” Gowon snapped with a note of disappointment.

“Must I tell you everything General Gowon? The coming into existence of this artificial union you are defending did not respect the right of the people to choose where to belong” Ojukwu said. “So, the coming into existence of Nigeria never respected natural law as seen in the ethnological differences of the North and South, neither did it respect the inalienable right of self determination”.

Both of them paused.

“Even the name Nigeria works against your dignity as a human being” Ojukwu said, breaking the brief silence.

“Can you explain what you mean by that?” Gowon asked.

“A harlot gave you the name and you took it without questions” Ojukwu said.

“Flora Shaw wasn’t a harlot” Gowon defended.

“And what was she?” Ojukwu insisted.

“She was the first lady of the colony when Lord Lugard administered the colony”.

“You know the culture of the British people as well as I do” Ojukwu said. “So, why was Flora Shaw not known as Flora Lugard?”

Silence.

“And even if Flora was Lord Lugard’s real wife” Ojukwu said, “why should you accept a name she gave you without asking questions – much like a dog? If you name your dog bingo, it doesn’t ask you what the name means. It doesn’t try to re-examine it. It doesn’t try to modify or change it. Should it be so with a human being also?”

“Colonel Ojukwu” Gowon said, “everything is not about Oxford English grammar. We have a country and we must defend its unity”.

“And you must do so against all reasons?” Ojukwu asked.

“Well, we’ll continue this discussion. Have a nice day” Gowon said and ended the call.

Evidences abound that a similar reason also informed the change of name of the former Gold Coast to Ghana. Then, after many decades of General Ojukwu likening Nigerians to dogs for accepting a name given to them without questions, one of the later generations of his kins, Nnamdi Kanu of IPOB has gone as far as tagging Nigeria a 'zoo', implying that it is a country of animals, rather than humans.

This view is shared by Mark Mthiyane who was a youth leader of South Africa's ANC in the 60s. "I have always been angry when you suggest that a black person is inferior to any other person" the septuagenarian said. "But the recent xenophobic killings in the country made me want to review the humanity of Africans".

As bitter as the truth is, I think there is a serious need for Africans to ask this self-directed question: "Are we humans the way other people are humans?" Otherwise, why has Africa remained the dregs of humanity for centuries and yet, there is hardly any sign of the continent being tired of the perennial humiliation that has been her lot? This is a question for every individual African.

Daado Balankang is a professor of African History at the International Community College, The Gambia.