South-East: Concerns over steady push for ungoverned territory

As agitations by separatists in the South-East heighten, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) three years ago mandated schools and sundry establishments to remove the Nigerian national flag from their premises. But the sustenance of this treasonable order by non-state actors is fast eroding both the emblem and reverence for national Authority in the troubled region, LAWRENCE NJOKU reports.

Internationally, the national flag of any country evokes a great sense of pride in nationals of such countries, in addition to serving as a strong symbol of peace and unity.

In addition to showing support for the country that the flag is flown in, the national flag is a symbol that represents a country’s people, values, and culture and unifiers them during a sports game, a celebration, or a time of violence.

Besides representing identity and evoking feelings of pride, joy, and belonging, flags also remind people of their ancestors’ sacrifices and achievements, indicates a country’s sovereignty. Apart from also condensing the history and memories associated with countries, the colours and design elements of a flag can have specific meanings.

Mrs Grace Uwandu, a civil servant attached to the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) illustrated this much when she described the national flag as a symbol of pride.

Growing up in her rural Afor Oghe in Ezeagu Local Council of Enugu State, where she attended the Community Primary School in the area 44 years ago, Uwandu recalled that pupils pay respect to the Nigerian flag mounted in a central position in the school while reciting the national pledge, and singing the anthem during their morning devotion before the resumption of teaching and learning.

She told The Guardian that as a child, she was taught to respect the Nigerian flag in all circumstances even as it was almost compulsory for all public institutions to hoist the national flag to promote a sense of unity and peace.

Sadly, the Nigerian flag is no longer enjoying this level of prominence in many public institutions in the South-East region.

Investigations by The Guardian revealed that the national flag is disappearing from public institutions in the region. A visit to some government agencies, including schools, state, and federal government secretariats, as well as, banks and hotels, embarrassingly showed poles that hosted these flags before, now standing empty.

In some places where they still exist, they are either in tatters or are thoroughly weather-beaten. In places where they still exist, they were produced in breach of the rules on their measurements, and are flown on the same pole as others, in contravention of extant rules, thus negating the respect and honour attached to it as a national symbol.

In front of the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus (UNEC) Administrative Building, the pole, which bore the Nigerian flag some years ago now stands without it.

It is the same story at the Federal Government Secretariat in Enugu, where the pole has stood for sometime now without the national flag. It is like that at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka; the University of Nigeria Teaching hospital, Ituku and the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia among others.

The Nigerian flag at the premises of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (Unizik) in Awka, Anambra state, the Michael Okpara University, Umudike, federal medical centre, Umuahia, Abia state and Federal University of Technology, in Imo state were removed at the height of the insecurity and warnings against its continued existence in the region two years ago.

A lecturer at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, who pleaded anonymity, stated that the flags were removed for security reasons, adding that “most security agencies no longer have the Nigerian flag”.

“It is not as if we never had the flag but there was a time most institutions were warned to remove the flag in them or be ready to face the consequence. Since they said the flag is their problem, we removed it and hoping that someday we will return it. We are in a dire situation, where orders fly here and there. What is important is the security of the institution and those in it,” he stated.

While the national flag is hard to find in many public and private institutions in many parts of the region, flags belonging to other countries of the world conspicuously dot, and freely fly in the premises of various establishments in the region.

Most Pentecostal churches, private institutions such as schools and offices adorn their premises with various flags belonging to the United States of America, United Kingdom, Israel, and Russia among others in the region.

A popular private secondary school, along Transekulu, Enugu, mounts six poles bearing flags of different countries in front of the school without a Nigerian flag.

Sources have, however, attributed the disappearance of the national flags from institutions in the South-East region to the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The IPOB, it was learnt had in September 2021, ordered the removal of the Nigerian flag from all institutions in the region.

Emma Powerful, the group’s Media and Publicity Secretary, stated that the order was part of the agitation against the continued incarceration of its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, by the Federal Government, as well as a demonstration of its seriousness in the pursuit of Biafra restoration.

He had further threatened that the group “may be moved to do it their own way”, should the institutions concerned fail to comply.

It is now three years since that order was given and still counting, and there are no signs that those who issued the order are ready to rescind it, since the major reasons that it was issued has not been met.

Since public educational institutions are carrying on without the national flag, concerns are being raised that the sense of pride it is meant to promote, the message being conveyed, and the virtues it’s meant to imbue especially in the upcoming generation is being eroded.

Matters are made worse by reports that in some public and private primary and secondary schools, students no longer recite the national anthem during morning assembly as was the practice years ago for fear that they could be attacked.

There is also the attendant neglect associated with the national flag, so much so that except in government houses, it is almost difficult to find the flag in its admirable state in the region.

Mrs Nwanneka Igwe, who is the headmistress of a private nursery and Primary School in Ebonyi State, confirmed this much to The Guardian when she said that she went as far as stopping her students from singing the national anthem or reciting the pledge after she was forced to remove the national flag in response to the IPOB’s order.

“The truth is that everyone is afraid of the group. Nobody wants to fall victim to their schemes.

Three years ago when they ordered that we should remove the flag, I asked why? I even told one of their members that they could carry out their agitations without involving private people, including schoolchildren. I also told him that their agitation is against the Federal Government that has continued to maltreat their members. But he insisted that there was no going back. I didn’t want any of my staff or students to suffer unnecessarily. That was why we complied,” she said

She added that while the green white green flag has since been put away for now, “we only returned to singing the national anthem after the Federal Government ordered Nigerians to revert to the old national anthem.”

The Head Teacher of Community Secondary School, Ishielu, Mrs Ngozika Edeh, expressed similar sentiments when she explained that going against IPOB’s order was like inviting trouble.

“You cannot be doing a different thing from others. You can only act differently when you have sufficient backing to do so. I joined other schools in removing our national flag when one of the schools around us suffered an attack. I may not know whether the attack came from them, but realising that it was no longer a secret that institutions are removing their flag, why not join them?” she said.

According to a teacher in the Public Administration Department of the Abia State University, Dr Ugoeze Ejim, it is a well known fact that the disappearance of the national flag from institutions in the region is due to security challenges, being created by “ubiquitous” individuals.

He added that the loss of sense of pride has hindered the protection that the national flag should enjoy.

Recalling how he gleefully faced the national flag during his days in the primary school to recite the national pledge and sing the anthem, he stated that there was need for school heads, especially in the faith-based schools to hoist individual flags for students to face while singing the national anthem as a reminder of their obligations towards society.

“I believe that this can, nonetheless, instill the same value expected from the national flag,” he said.

He added, however, that what is happening is a wakeup call on leaders of the country to urgently fashion solutions to the security challenges plaguing the county and at the same time restore some values to the society.

The Founder of the Daniel Ukwu Leadership Foundation (DULF), Mr Daniel Ukwu, however, lamented the impact that the disappearance of the national flag has had on students in the region in the last three years, stressing that unless it is checked, “we might get to a level where our children will no longer know or identify a Nigerian flag”.

“I say this because the only place you sing the national anthem daily is at the primary and secondary school levels. You don’t do so in the university. If those of us were singing the national anthem while the flag was flying in the primary and secondary school and now, our children don’t see it unless they are shown the ones drawn in their books, then there is a problem.

“It is a problem because it will mean the loss of pride and loss of national identity; it is a problem because our children are gradually losing confidence in their own thing. During the recent protest to end poverty and bad governance, our youths discarded our national flag and were waving those of other countries. Was that not a way of expressing no confidence in their country? This should not be so if people understand the value behind a national symbol.”

Quoting copiously lines two and three of the second stanza of the new national anthem, “Our flag shall be a symbol that truth and justice reign, in peace and battle honoured,” Ukwu noted that the stanzas is a betrayal of current situations

The National Orientation Agency (NOA) sees the disappearance of national flags from institutions in the South-East as values erosion.

It has, therefore, commenced a three month sensitisation and public enlightenment campaign to change the narrative.

The Enugu State Director of the agency, Mrs Clara Nwachukwu, had told The Guardian that part of what the campaign would achieve would be to foster moral, ethical and cultural reawakening, and instill the right values, attitudes and perspectives in the hearts and minds of the people.

She said that most individuals have lost touch with the national flag as a symbol of the country’s unity and peace, stressing that efforts would be made to reawaken them to the consciousness and shared values inherent in one Nigeria.

“Even some of the things that we see people parade as Nigerian flags are not our national flag. There is so much abuse going on with the Nigerian flag. We see a lot of defaced flags; some don’t even know when and when not to lower our flag. All these are part of the enlightenment campaigns. When we have pride in our country, certainly we will work for its development,” she stated.