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Nigerians Should Gang Up Against Those Who Have Ganged Up Against Them – Iroegbu

A Public Affairs Analyst, Dickson Iroegbu, says Nigerians should stop playing the ostrich but rather gang up against those who have ganged up against them. … Continue reading Nigerians Should Gang Up Against Those Who Have Ganged Up Against Them – Iroegbu


Dickson IroegbuA Public Affairs Analyst, Dickson Iroegbu, says Nigerians should stop playing the ostrich but rather gang up against those who have ganged up against them.

Iroegbu gave the suggestion during a conversation on the award winning breakfast programme on Channels Television, Sunrise Daily.

He urged Nigerians to wake up and realize that there was a common enemy which everybody has to get involved in fighting.

He warned that if Nigerians do not pay attention to the most important things from the family level, if the country should find itself in a full-fledged war; everyone would be forced to get involved.

“My elder brother died a military man. He died on the 1st of October 2013; he was in Yola. So we have been affected directly too”, he said.

Speaking further, he said that the situation in the country was one which should help define the country’s nationhood, as he expects that the need to win the war would help the citizens become conscious of how to move the nation forward.

“I am very convinced that this issue of insecurity will make us activate that spirit of ‘Nigerianess’ that we need”, he said.

Iroegbu, who is also a filmmaker, accused the media of having helped the insurgents by celebrating their activities. He explained that the act of highlighting the acts perpetrated by the insurgents amounted to celebrating evil.

As someone who had a military man in his family, Iroegbu was asked what the experience had been within the family as regards welfare, but he noted that rising up to fight for one’s country should not be monetised.

“First of all, it was a contribution that we have made. When my elder brother decided to join the force, his was ‘I couldn’t sit back and observe at the corner’ and he paid dearly for it.

“He wasn’t in there to go and make money for us. For us he died a hero”, maintaining that “we don’t have to be paid or wait for moments when we are being coerced to be conscious of doing something for Nigeria”.

He, however, revealed that from his interaction with his late brother, he deduced that the Nigerian military had been compromised with politics, religious and tribal sentiments allowed to creep into the military environment.

“A lot of overhauling needs to be done in that area”, he advised.

He also noted that the issues of insecurity and the Chibok abduction have thrown up a lot and Nigerians were more awake to the need to hold politicians accountable.

“Thank God we are going to have elections soon, Nigerians are watching, we’re not fools anymore.”

On the role of the movie industry in the nation’s security, Iroegbu stated that Nollywood has been fully involved in the fight against insurgency. He revealed that the issue of child soldiers was one that he had personally worked on and called on all Nigerians to embrace the motion picture medium better for propagating ideas.

He added that it was not only a good medium to disseminate good ideas, but it was also good business.