The event of closing down the Onitsha Main Market by Anambra State Governor, Professor Charles Soludo, has unraveled, leaving tiny dots that must be pieced together to the point of why the Southeast must take a stand.
Today is the third day of the closure, and not much of a protest has happened like it did on Tuesday. However, what is clear is that IPOB – Indigenous People of Biafra, proscribed as a terrorist organization in Nigeria, its supporters and sympathizers, have set themselves forward to challenge the authority of a duly constituted government. To put this differently, a major observation from the market closure is that IPOB, its supporters, and sympathizers are conscientiously competing with the Government of Anambra State, by extension, the Southeast. To demonstrate this, within only a few hours of the Anambra Governor’s declaration, IPOB issued a statement cancelling the governor’s order and outrightly gave a counter to the effect that markets must be open on Tuesday and that they have ordered an “elite squad to protect traders.” The statement, signed by one Dr. Ngozi Orabueze, also referred to the Governor’s order as the “illegal order given by the delegitimized Nigerian governor, Charles Soludo.” Without any iota of doubt, there are two visible divides within the Southeast society; the first is the government, and then IPOB. This development, as it played out particularly on Monday and Tuesday, should force every Southeasterner to take a position.
What is in contest is the authority, power, and influence a legally constituted authority leverages to give order and secure obedience. The IPOB, it does appear, now prides itself as the competent entity that can give orders or counter orders given by the government at will. Obedience to orders by the people emanates from authority, power, and influence exercised on the people by the exerting entity. What IPOB is doing is to demonstrate that by use of raw power and influence on some populace, it can alter, at will, the authority of the state and the government. It is at this point that people must be careful and pay closer attention. Given this scenario, the first duty of the government is to assert itself and establish its dominance as the authority in charge of administering the people and the state.
Between 2021 and 2025, the Southeast was under siege of gunmen suspected to be linked to IPOB’s military wing, ESN, said to have been formed to combat violent herdsmen. Pegged on the wings of marginalization of the people of Southeast, IPOB is easily construed not as a political competitor, but as an agent of revival in the Southeast. But indeed, what is on display is a deliberate use of a carefully carved messaging that fits into the marginalization narrative of the Southeast, to compete politically. Though IPOB is not qualified or authorized for any political competition in Nigeria, it is in a political competition where it is testing its grip on the people by issuing counter orders. Legitimacy emanates from the people, and this is why the government has continued to play it safe in dealing with the group. Unfortunately, the group had exploited this maximally to its growth and disruptive capability. Before now, the organization had debunked its involvement with the Monday sit-at-home. However, on Monday, IPOB found itself promoting the same thing it had denounced before. This denial in the past was a political necessity because the government had taken a bold step to stop the sit-at-home. Therefore, IPOB’s action was political as it grappled with giving its base a sense of something to count on, even if it was a straw.
Now, this is where it gets interesting. The people of the Southeast must take a position. The die is cast. No one should sit on the fence because it is now obvious that IPOB intends to dislodge a constituted legitimate government and insert itself. When a government’s authority is rivaled, not only is the government weakened, but it eventually withers. Unfortunately, it won’t end there because the state is also withered, and the society is forced into chaos, as different gang leaders take over administrative duties in clusters, completely at their discretion. No law and no supervision and nothing except a power drunk individual, armed not with knowledge or the burden of his people’s progress, but with guns and ruthless brutality. This is effectively the state of nature. I must admit that, as bizarre as this might sound, many parts of the Southeast, like Lilu, Orsumoghu, etc, in Anambra State, and parts of Orsu or Orlu zone in Imo State, etc, were effectively occupied and fully administered by these gangs. Therefore, this is no longer something in the realm of imagination. It is a lived experience for the people who witnessed this firsthand.
From all indications, even the worst government in the world is better than non-state actors. More so because non-state actors are not designed for governance. They are at best designed to disrepute and discredit a government without being the better alternative because it is basically driven by violence under the control of a strongman or strongmen. Frustration arising from failed expectations forces the people to share government loyalty with non-state actors, but in the end, it is the government that the same people will run back to for rescue. Therefore, the people must take their stand now. Take a position. The government should be bold to assert itself. The people must not conceive of the government as the last resort to clean up the atrocities of non-state actors. The government should be the first option to uphold the dignity of the populace, who must support its legitimacy to boost its influence and strengthen its authority beyond contradiction.
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