M.O. ENE
An observant Igbo notices the curious surname “Ekpa” in Simon Ekpa, aka Ifeanyi Njoku. I watched his 2020 Zoom debate with attorney Emeka Emekasiri, who was fighting Nnamdi (MNK) Kanu’s over the right to the name IPOB: Indigenous People of Biafra. Simon dropped a bombshell: He was not really a lawyer nor a member of IPOB, just a Finland-based disciple of MNK. I never asked him whether his “ekpa,” came from “ịkpa” (a rascal), nor what makes one an “indigene of Biafra”!
I later found out that “Ekpa” was an alias! I revisited reasons for the curious spelling in some forums. It is “Akpa” (as ‘Egwụ’ is ‘Agwụ’—the deity of divination). It is a dialectal sound in northwestern Igbo that standard Igbo (Izugbe) has not addressed. When something does not fit, we must investigate it.
After the illegal extraordinary rendition of MNK, IPOB needed a stand-in who could spin current affairs to further the quest for Biafra. Simon was an independent content creator with followers. He took the job! Power is an elixir.
Expectedly, the deal flopped. Simon went back rogue. He energized the MNK vacuum. The emergent but largely faceless IPOB’s DOS fought back. Alas, Simon had stronger wings, long reach, a cherubic face, and feisty dry humor. It showed when DOS wanted to scrap the now unpopular Sit@Home as a direct order from MNK.
Simon claimed “autopilot”—as if the continued enforcement was organic! When the enforcers killed a pregnant woman early this year and an Enugu East senatorial candidate was murdered yesterday, the call to can Simon Ekpa became louder. The Finish police swung into action today and arrested him. Too little, too late? Yes!
Abacha’s axiom remains relevant: “Any insurgency that lasts more than 24 hours, a government official has a hand in it.” It may not be directly. The federal and state governments allowed Ekpa to flourish. How can one man sit in Finland and decide who stays home or goes out, when, and where!
Rumors circulated that politicians paid to maintain the status quo, that outside-Igbo forces made direct payments to Simon to disrupt the elections. Nonsense! Any state worth its salt would know the sponsors of violence and the funding of foot soldiers. Alas, Nigeria is a sad state, a sick society where strange situations surface normally.
As the federal authorities fed us MNK and took him to messiah-dom, the Igbo state governors opened the door for a single soul living in Finland to determine whether folks in five freaking federating states step out or stay home, feed or die. Not even in Biafra did we hear such an absurd order—except to seek shelter when mercenary Egyptian pilots came to kill civilians with Russian bombers.
We should stop tigering nonstate actors. Give organized opposition a chance to focus on issues and contest elections. Long term, we should teach right. The Biafran story is passed on in wrong doses. Biafra was a state; it is defunct. Just as Eastern Nigeria morphed into Biafra, Biafra became East Central, Southeastern, and Rivers states. They now form NINE states in two zones. If we want to preserve a progressive, pan-Igbo paradise, say Aladịmma, we organize and convince people. Elections are the best path, as towed in Scotland.
“Biafra” is a misnomer of Biafara, a larger area in old maps, as was Benin, Bornu, and Zamfara. If we want an Igbo-speaking nation in Nigeria or ECOWAS with such a name, it should be “Biafara.” Forget Biafra as-was; it was not Igbo—in existence and in language rules!
So, just as “ekpa” is not Igbo, linguistically, “Biafra” is not Igbo. “Sit at home” is not Igbo culture, and homicide is the highest crime against Anị, the Earth deity. Whoever kills, even with Ọfọ (the mantle of constituted authority), will never escape Ogu (the spike of divine justice). The pigment of punishment stains a killer’s existential essence unto the fourth generation.
Let’s teach right and stop enabling “ịkpa”: misguided single-mindedness and mindlessness. We are dedicated democrats and rugged republicans. No man is an island; that’s why we have ụmụnna (agnates); anyone without one is an outcast. #CommunityPolicing
#moe, 2.23.23
@aladimma
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