Heroes Of Handcuffs: How Some Igbo Politicians Keep Masquerading Betrayal As Bravery

Heroes Of Handcuffs: How Some Igbo Politicians Keep Masquerading  Betrayal As Bravery It is compelling, to enquire if the jailing of Mazi Nn...

Heroes Of Handcuffs: How Some Igbo Politicians Keep Masquerading  Betrayal As Bravery

It is compelling, to enquire if the jailing of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has turn any Igbo politician into a hero. But, the accompanying effort would not be because, evidently, the finding will be a NO!. The jailing of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has only exposed who was willing to kneel, clap, and smile while their own brother was led away in chains.

History is not confused, even if politicians are. No one becomes a hero by helping to cage his own people. No one is crowned king for sharpening the knife used on his brother’s neck. And no one earns honour by proving he is a reliable tool, because tools are not respected; they are used, and when worn out, are discarded. Yet, here we are, watching some Igbo political elites strut like peacocks on borrowed feathers. Men like David Umahi, Orji Uzor Kalu, and their eager collaborators like Nyesom Wike, loudly applauded by outsiders,  have behaved as though the continued imprisonment of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu were a personal achievement worthy of medals.

But medals forged from betrayal always rust.

These men did not become statesmen; they became house boys of power, celebrating crumbs as banquets. They mistook being tolerated for being trusted, forgetting a simple truth: the same hand that pats you today can slap you tomorrow. Power has no tribe, no brotherhood, and no permanent friends — only temporary servants.

An Igbo man who helps in the destruction of his own people does not become enlightened; he becomes available; Available for praise today, but available for blames tomorrow. 

Did they think history would clap?

Did they imagine the ancestors would applaud?

Did they believe that selling one man would buy them immunity forever? How naive!

A man who proves he can betray his blood has already submitted his résumé for future betrayals. Once you show that you can sell your brother, you will be trusted only to sell again. And when the buyer no longer needs you, you will discover too late that traitors are never retired with honours.

Let it be recorded that no Igbo politician gained legitimacy from this tragedy. No moral capital was earned. No name was elevated. What was achieved was exposure of whom stands with their people and who rents out their conscience for political shelter.

There is an old saying: when the flood comes, it does not ask who praised the rain. Those who danced while injustice was done should remember that injustice does not recognize loyalty. The same system they served will one day look at them and ask, “Who is next?”

And when that day comes, there will be no choir, no praise singers, no borrowed bravery; only silence, regret, and the cold truth that betrayal never builds legacies — it only writes names in sand.

Family Writers Press International