I was in Onitsha Saturday for burial ceremony of one Amarachi Osaji. Amarachi was vivacious and full of life when she left Lagos for her hometown, Onitsha on February 1. All the way from Lagos until they arrived Onitsha , they had a safe journey.
Naturally, anybody travelling such a long distance would heave a sigh of relief when he arrives at his hometown. When they arrived Upper Iweka, a popular place in Onitsha, Amarachi who was in company of her family, heaved a sigh of relief. Minutes later, they were waved down by dare-devil robbers who shot directly at them without asking questions. She was gunned down instantly. A man and his wife, coming from Lagos and driving directly behind, were also shot dead. Several people were wounded and no arrests were made.
Last Saturday after her burial, those who came from Lagos and were about leaving were attacked in broad day light and robbed. In Onitsha , robbery has been elevated to a pastime. Social miscreants have become tin gods, prowling the city with pride and prejudice. I am told they carry such sophisticated weapons that the police would not dare near them.
It is often said that Lagosians
Who are Lagosians?
sleep with one eye closed. In Onitsha , residents and visitors sleep with their eyes wide open. When you walk along the streets, you walk with trembling and trepidation. You would be lucky if the man, who was so kind to offer you a sachet of cold water, did not turn out to become the dare-devil robber you were dreading. Fear is the diet everybody is feeding on.I tried to ask questions why there is such a high rate of crime in the city; a city which is more like the citadel of Igbo tradition and culture, being the residence of the Obi of Onitsha
, leader of Onitsha Kingdom, Prof Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe
, an intellectual of high repute and a man who has lived all his life, implanting the seed of peace and unity not only in Igboland, but in Africa. Such irony; such paradox.From the answers I got, the first impression is that most of these armed robbers were the creation of our governments. They gave instance of the formation of Bakassi Boys, a deadly cult that once held sway in the South-East and allegedly formed, armed and sponsored by one of the serving governors for the purpose of helming down his opponents. Now when the federal government clamped down on them, the arms they carried were not recovered and what do they do, they turn them on hapless and helpless citizens.
Another resident told me that while other governments, in other geopolitical zones were busy creating jobs for the youths and instilling a culture of literacy by providing free and quality education, our state governors are busy fighting personality wars. Now I do not know how true these assertions are, but when you hear of ugly stories that emanate from Onitsha everyday, you would tend to believe them.
Indeed, I weep for Onitsha . Is it not this same Onitsha that was a repository of literature and education in the entire African continent and beyond, with the famous Onitsha Market Literature? This was a pool of writings consisting of stories, plays, advice and moral discourses published primarily in the 50s and 60s by local presses. In the fresh and vigorous genre of Onitsha Market Literature, the commoner wrote pulp fiction and didactic handbooks unequaled in the history of publishing and literature.
Altogether, there were 102 of such pamphlets. They were intriguing in concept as they were confounding in context. A peep into the Bibliography of the Onitsha Market Literature shows a colony of celebrated writers the world this side of Africa has ever produced. They celebrated love and romance, served as moral omnibus on the highways of civility, preached patriotism and exemplified African customs and traditions. Such writers as J.C.Abiakam: How to speak in public, with 300 questions and answers, Nnamdi Azikiwe’s Respect for human dignity. An inaugural address by his Excellency Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, P.C., Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief, A.D.Azoh, Colorful wedding and a happy home, Yakubu Gowon, From the start to surrender: the story and records of Nigerian civil war for unity, including current affairs of the Twelve States Cabinet. O
Others include, F.B. Joe, General guide in English, The. Complete compositions, business letters and 95 modern questions and answers made easy. For elementary schools and colleges: Education makes a person to be wise, Jackson Ngbanti, Born and bred of a Christian family, as well as Marius Nkwoh’s Bribery and corruption: (bane of our society).
We also had J.O.Nnadozie, Beware of harlots and many friends; the world is hard,
Frank Odili, What is life? (A book of outstanding precaution with genuine facts intended for the course of true living, moral activity, and for self-utility love) and of course, Ogali Ogali’s famous, Veronica my daughter, not to forget Felix Stephen’s
How to get a lady in love.
Some of us read some of these literatures and benefitted immensely from them. Forget the verbosity of their titles and sometimes wrong captions, one thing you cannot ignore is their contribution to the growth of education in Africa . This record is yet to be equaled. Amazingly, most of the publishers operated from one room apartments and the writers wrote not because of money, but with a purpose of aiding mankind.
It is indeed sad, that today, the offspring of these great education icons are nothing but miscreants and social wasps; armed robbers and killers whose only delight and contribution to the development of mankind is nothing but to kill and plunder.
The story of Onitsha is the story of the collective failure of our governments, both the states and federal. It is sad that this city which is the commercial nerve centre of the South-East, has suffered untold neglect in the hands of our governments, allowing the city to be taken over by armed robbers and social miscreants. Onitsha , I weep for you.
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