An Anambra-based rights activist, Comrade Osita Obi has frowned at the recent directive by the leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, for Nigerians of Southeast extraction not to partake in a planned nationwide protest over the high cost of living.
In some parts of the country, protests have begun over the high cost of living and some policies of the government hitting the people hard.
However, in the Southeast, it appears the people are standing aloof.
Instead, comic videos have surfaced online where Igbos were captured drinking and enjoying themselves, claiming that that was their way of protesting.
Recall that the president General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu had on Monday directed that no Igbo community should join the violent protests sweeping parts of the country, saying the apex Igbo socio-cultural group was studying the situation.
However, according to Comrade Obi, who is the convener of the Recover Nigeria Project, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the people standing up to say no to their undue exploitation.
Obi said what he is suggesting is not for the Igbos to join the Northern states to protest against President Bola Tinubu, rather, he is supporting civil disobedience against the obnoxious policies of the government and the continued exploitation of the people by Igbos themselves.
“When we are talking about civil disobedience, it is not about joining people to protest the high cost of food items. What about the electricity bills that our people pay without being given light?
”The people in charge of EEDC serving the Southeast region, are they Northerners?
“Our people are being kidnapped today by our own people.
“Today, fuel prices are between N750 and N800, yet our people sell these products at high prices with fraudulent meters. We also have our people working in the regulatory agencies who are doing nothing about it.
”The Ohaneze is crying that Southeast has just five states as against what other geo-political zones have, yet we have Senators from this region coming and going at the National Assembly.
“So, what I am promoting is that the people rise against a system that has left them impoverished and still impoverishing them today,” Obi explained.
On the argument that hitherto protests in the Southeast have been met with brute force from the national security outfits, Comrade Obi debunked the notion that Igbos would be crushed if they protest, emphasizing that if the people come out in their numbers and organize themselves, no such attacks will be meted out on them.
He urged the people not to compare peaceful protests with the Biafran agitation or ENDSARS, stating that the latter are distinct in terms of their organization and implementation, from the peaceful protest.
“If you are the one running the Nigerian state with sovereignty and some people are coming to undermine the legitimacy and sovereignty of your territory in the manner the Biafran agitations went, the truth is that you will tag them rebels.
“There are better civil means of pursuing such agitations to achieve better results.
“On the issue of ENDSARS, it was an amorphous movement with no one taking responsibility. Also, the call to end SARS was totally wrong because what people should be asking for is police reform.
“If you end SARS, criminals will take over. Even those who claimed they were the organizers of the ENDSARS protest fizzled away and hoodlums took over and began the attacks on police formations.
“If there is a protest and no one is taking responsibility, then the movement stands the chance of being hijacked and messed up,” he said.
The rights activist condemned what he called the uninformed position of some Igbos who share videos and pictures of themselves enjoying and comically saying they were protesting, noting that the Southeast is not immune to the hardship.
Obi, who further described the government as constituted today, as an organized crime syndicate, regretted that until the people begin a revolution to change the way things are in the country, nothing will change for the better.
”Today, people are complaining and saying that the Tinubu regime is worsening the hardship and hoping that had Peter Obi of the Labour Party won the election, things would have been better.
“But, I tell you that if Peter Obi had assumed the helm of affairs in the country, it would still be the same thing, because criminals are running the entire system.
“So, even if you bring a saint, they will terminate him. The only way is for the masses to rise in a revolution.
“Think about the millionaires we have today and ask how they acquired their wealth.
“It is a messed up situation. Only the people can rescue the situation,” Obi posited.
