When Dr. Reuben Abati, respected journalist and former presidential aide, recently declared that “the Civil War in this country has never ended,” as such the North will not buy into the one-term idea being proposed by Peter Obi, he echoed a sentiment that resonates deeply with the lived experiences of millions of Nigerians, especially the Igbo people. This is not a mere metaphor; it is a historical truth that continues to manifest in the political, economic, and social architecture of Nigeria.
Those who dismiss this assertion should pause and reflect on the trajectory of Nigeria’s post-war history and the structural marginalization that the Igbo nation has endured for over five decades since the guns supposedly went silent in January 1970. The reality is stark: the war ended on paper, but its consequences still bleed into the very fabric of Nigeria’s governance and power distribution.
The marginalization of the Igbo people did not begin yesterday. It is anchored in deliberate policies designed after the Civil War to weaken and diminish a people who dared to assert their right to self-determination. The infamous “20 Pounds Policy,” where Igbo families, regardless of the millions they had in Nigerian banks before the war, were reduced to a mere £20 after the war, was the first open declaration that reconciliation was a farce.
This was swiftly followed by the Indigenization Decree of 1972, which opened the door for Nigerians to buy shares in foreign companies. But for the Igbos, who were economically strangled, dispossessed, and stripped of resources, this meant permanent exclusion from the commanding heights of Nigeria’s economy. These policies were not coincidental; they were calculated to perpetuate the consequences of defeat long after the battlefield was quiet.
Fast forward to today, the evidence of structural bias remains overwhelming. Key political positions at the national level are deliberately skewed away from the South-East. In over 63 years of Nigeria’s independence, the presidency has rotated between the North and the South-West, leaving the South-East permanently on the margins of national leadership. The Igbo man’s aspiration for the presidency has become a mirage. It is indeed easier for an elephant to pass through the eye of a needle than for an Igbo to become president under the present political structure. This is the hard reality, which may sound strange to those who choose to live in illusion.
THE CASE OF DCG B.U NWAFOR- A CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLE:
For those who doubt Dr. Abati’s assertion, let us examine a recent example that illustrates this age-old pattern of exclusion. Deputy Comptroller-General (DCG) B.U. Nwafor, an accomplished officer of Anambra extraction, stood next in line to succeed the current Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi. Her track record was impeccable, marked by discipline, diligence, and distinction.
Yet, in a move that reeks of systemic injustice, the presidency extended Adeniyi’s tenure by one year, effectively blocking Nwafor from ever reaching the pinnacle of her career. She will retire next year without attaining the office she merited, not because of incompetence or corruption, but because the civil war has never ended in Nigeria.
The Igbos are not politically irrelevant because they lack competence or capacity. On the contrary, the Igbo nation boasts some of the most brilliant minds in governance, industry, technology, and academia. Yet, in the calculus of Nigeria’s power politics, competence is not the currency, ethnic arithmetic is.
The Civil War may have ended militarily, but politically, economically, and psychologically, its embers still burn. The Igbo man is systematically denied access to the center of power, not by accident, but because the Civil War in Nigeria has never truly ended.
A COMMUNITY IN SELF-DENIAL:
What makes this reality even more tragic is that many Igbo politicians continue to live in self-denial, chasing shadows, believing that one day the political heavens will open for them. They scramble for crumbs instead of building a united front, failing to appreciate that the Civil War never truly ended, just as posited by Dr. Reuben Abati. This internal disunity has compounded their vulnerability, making them easy pawns in the chess game of Nigeria’s politics.
THE CONSEQUENCES – A REGION IN CRISIS:
The insecurity ravaging Ala-Igbo today, the rise of armed groups, criminality, and the breakdown of law and order is not happening in a vacuum. It is the direct consequence of decades of political ostracism, economic strangulation, and internal misgovernance. When a people are excluded for too long, the center cannot hold. Unfortunately, the alternatives resorted to by our restive, frustrated, disenchanted, and disillusioned youths have taken extreme and criminal dimensions, undermining every measure of civility.
THE PATH FORWARD – REDEFINING THE IGBO AGENDA:
If the Igbo nation must break free from this vicious cycle, it begins with self-redefinition:
1. Thinking Igbo First: A coordinated political and economic strategy that prioritizes regional integration and self-reliance.
2. Learning from Visionaries: Embracing developmental models championed by leaders like Dr. Alex Otti, Ndubuisi Mba, etc., who are proving that good governance can transform our narrative.
3. Ending Illusions: Accepting the hard truth that the Nigerian state, as currently structured, will not willingly hand power to the South-East. Igbos must therefore innovate, negotiate from a position of strength, and stop living in the fantasy of political benevolence.
Until these steps are taken, the Civil War will continue, not with bullets and bombs, but with policies, appointments, and the quiet violence of exclusion.
Dr. Abati was right. The war never ended. It simply changed its weapons.
* Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor Esq (KSC) is human right lawyer in Nigeria
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