AGULERI–UMUOBA ANAM CRISIS: LET THE SWORDS FALL SILENT.

This morning, right in the heart of Southwestern Nigeria, I learned of the Aguleri-Uuoba Anam Crisis. It is not just a mere crisis but one that has its origin in history and this is exactly why I am writing on it.

I staunchly believe that, there should be moments in the life of a people when history demands wisdom more than courage, dialogue more than confrontation, and restraint more than retaliation. The recurring crisis between Aguleri and Umuoba Anam communities in Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State is one of such moments. Historically, the crisis is said to be weaved around longstanding disputes over land between both communities. It has transcended time, yet still manifesting in the contemporary society with reports of injuries, destruction of property and communal unrest, to the point of setting ablaze 🔥 the palace of the Igwe of Aguleri. 

Whatever the immediate trigger of the latest confrontation, the issue shouldn't have been allowed to snowball into the anger and retaliation it has already degenerated into. No doubt, land is important and ancestral land carries history, identity, memory, economic value and some sense of ancestral veneration. Thus, every community has the legitimate right to defend their interests and pursue genuine claims to land ownership. But there is a fundamental question that every person involved in this crisis must ask, which is, is any piece of land worth unrest or the life of a human being?

Why go on rampage or full length of crisis when a boundary can be surveyed. A disputed title can be examined. Historical documents can be produced. Agreements can be interpreted. Court judgments can be obtained or challenged through lawful procedures. History can even be interrogated! Even if settlement tends to be difficult and mediation becomes impossible. God forbids a person loses his or her life in this confrontation or crisis, such a dead person cannot be negotiated back to life. Because, once blood is spilled, no victory over land can restore the person who has been lost to his or her family.

Reports surrounding the latest crisis indicate that the immediate dispute involved activities around the disputed area, including the erection and removal of a signpost, after which the situation reportedly escalated into violence, with stones thrown and properties subsequently attacked and burned.

Ask Yakubu Gowon and read Ojukwu's diaries, there's nothing sweet in confrontation, crisis or war itself. 

All Nigerians and Igbos in particular must be concerned about this crisis. The Government must get on top of the situation because of the potential of such communal disagreement over a piece of land snowballing into violence or capable of consuming entire communities and igniting a statewide unrest. Report has it that the Deputy Governor of Anambra State accompanied by the Local Government Chairman of Anambra East, Hon. Chinweze  Ifeanyi and Security Personnel had visited and encouraged the people of Aguleri and Umuoba Anam to embrace peace. However, the crisis tends to be taking new dimensions with the burning of Igwe Aguleri's palace today and destruction of other properties. 

At this juncture, the people of Aguleri and Umuoba Anam must pause and think about this crisis and its effects. When stones become weapons, weapons become gunfire, and gunfire becomes the burning of homes, the original disagreement begins to lose its meaning. Who knows, a full scale communal war may pick momentum. God forbids! When this happens, ordinary people suffer first with Women and children being the most vulnerable. Businesses are closed. Farmlands are deserted. Young people who should be building careers inevitably become participants or victims of violence. Interestingly, no community wins such a crisis yet its aftermath lives in the people's hearts forever. 

Recall the Nigerian Civil War. It is still eked in the people's memories and continues to serve as painful lessons about what happens when disagreements are allowed to grow beyond the capability of dialogue and institutions to contain them. The Aguleri and Umuoba Anam people must therefore learn from history without reproducing its tragedies at the community level.

Interestingly, I learned indigenes of the respective communities are leaving Lagos to their villages to join the Vanguard. O lagbara! No doubt, community or ethnic loyalty should be encouraged. In fact, defending one's ancestral heritage is not wrong. However, loyalty or ethnic patriotism must never become a licence for violence. One can love one's community and still reject bloodshed. One can defend one's ancestral land and still respect the humanity of one's neighbour. One can disagree strongly with his neighbours and still sit across the table for diplomatic bargaining or agreement. That is what civilisation demands.

What is needed in the ongoing crisis between the Aguleri and Umuoba Anam people of Anambra state over ownership, boundaries or historical rights to land is not an instrument of violence but evidence, negotiation, mediation and the law. If ancient documents exist, let them be brought forward. If historical agreements exist, let them be examined. If archival records, survey plans, deeds, gazettes or previous court judgments exist, let competent authorities examine them via an impartial process to establish the truth.

Aguleri and Umuoba Anam people must shield their swords now and embrace peace. The Government of Anambra state, Excellency Prof. Charles Soludo must immediately send security operatives to these communities to maintain peace, while he invites key leaders from both communities and sets up an investigation committee to investigate the details of the crisis/land dispute and establish historical facts and where necessary, a competent court of Jurisprudence takes its course to determine the matter to avoid recurrence in the future. 

No society should fold hands and watch crisis over lands degenerate into war, destruction of properties, livelihoods and loss of lives. The GOVERNMENT MUST ACT NOW! 

© Bababo Ikuemonisan writes from Lagos, Nigeria.