“One of the direct consequences of not voting is that your inaction further empowered those whose actions made you so mad not to vote.
As their style of leadership gets worst and worst, you point accusing fingers to to justify your not being part of it.
As they destroy education they destroy the future of your children.
As they destroy health care they destroy hope for your longevity.
As they destroy infrastructures they put your life at risk
Your not voting made it possible for a vacuum for election rigging to exist and as they rig, you turn around to scream, “you see it?” Our votes not matter.
When you don’t vote, you create a vacuum.
Politicians fear the people more than they fear God. You will never know until your vote began to speak. Once the people are active in deciding who leads them, politicians can do anything to please you.
You vote or you don’t vote, those voted in will determine the policies that will guide you.
There decisions will determine how Health, Education, Security etc are being run by appointing who does it.
Every struggle for liberation is supposed to take well thought out steps to protect the immediate family, lives, and environments of those it is trying to liberate. Not actions that will bring hell, destruction and put the lives of the people at risk.
Even at violence, 23years in prison, Mandela wisely realized that the struggle is not all about, but blacks in South Africa and came to negotiation table.
When you are surrounded by wolves, enemies that are looking for any slightest opportunity to devour you and, knowing full well that the world will look the other way, if it does. You act with wisdom.
We lost over 3 million souls and humanity showed no concern.
Since the end of the war in 1970 till date we are still, being slaughtered. Yet, the world showed no concern.
Virtually every part of Eastern Nigeria, mainly, Igbo land was bombarded, markets, hospitals, schools etc. The world looked the other way.
Yes, all these are what angered my beloved brothers and sisters into the justifiable recent struggle for Biafra. A struggle I have been and still part of.
But, we should be matured and sensible enough to understand the type of neighbours we have. We should struggle with smartness and show evidence that we have learnt from the misfortune of our fathers.
We shouldn’t, out of our justifiable anger take steps that will give another opportunity for the wolves, ever testy for our blood, to move in and devour us again.
This is a simple wisdom.
We shouldn’t equally allow our house to be divided and our hearts torn apart against each other.
We should understand that both school of thoughts across the divide have the interest of Ndi Igbo at heart. The different modalities about how to approach it should rather be a welcome development, which we should be wise enough to allow each party to pursue.
Let allow those that bark thunder and lightening to continue, because if the real sense of it, they’re justified. Any youth that does not get angry at the face of injustice against Nde Igbo should be questioned.
Let allow those that believe in peaceful negotiation to on about it. Let it all be channelled towards the betterment of Nde Igbo in Nigeria.
I am in support of taking part in election, I respect the will and right of those who don’t. But, let’s not allow this to bring about such division among us, as it has started doing, to the extent that those we are struggling against will see a vacuum and capitalize on it to divide us further.
That I chose to vote does not make a lesser Igbo than my brothers and sisters who decided not to.
There’s no society or ethnic groups that has 100% agreement on any issue. Even nuclear families don’t. Why, upon how wise and intelligent and well educated, we claim to be, or, we are. We should allow this to bring about this level of division among us is what I don’t understand.
We are all Igbo, We are one family. Let the spirit of oneness for the love of our fathers land take over. ”
IGBO KWENU!
©Peter Agba Kalu
