A group of eminent Nigerians under the aegis of The Patriots, has said that the Federal Government should not address the current wave of protests by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) by using force on the protesters.
It also warned that arresting the protesters would accentuate the problem, adding that the government should be persuaded to release the IPOB leader to enable the elders of the land speak words of wisdom to him.
The group urged President Muhammadu Buhari to see the national question as the country’s foremost problem, noting that it is more challenging than fighting corruption.
Briefing newsmen on the state of the nation in Lagos Friday, the Chairman of the Patriots, Prof Ben Nwabueze (SAN), urged the Federal Government to avoid being selective in its war against corruption.
Some other members of The Patriots at the briefing included, Chief Solomon Asemota (SAN), Chief Philip Asiodu and Mr. Michael Orobator, among others.
Nwabueze’s words: “The Federal Government should try to deal with the protests in a more matured way and not by arresting everybody and putting them in prison. That will accentuate the whole situation.
“I think they should reason with these youngsters. They are young people. In my view, I will say to the protesters not to put the entire people into another situation which they did not bargain for. We have to consider what has given rise to these protests. I don’t necessarily see that the protesters want Biafra actualized. It is the general condition in the country. It involves unemployment and other serious issues which have given rise to youth unrest and protests.
“It is the feeling of the youths. What do you expect from the youths who spend three, four or more years after graduation? The second issue that has given rise to the protests is the issue of injustice. Some areas of the country feel that they have not been well treated.
“They feel that they are treated as if they do not belong to the country. Consider the recent appointments in government by our President and the way they are slanted to favour a particular section of the country.’’
Biafra: IPOB disowns S-East govs, Ohanaeze over meeting with FG
* Bianca Ojukwu, Major Al-Mustapha, Fasheun, others storm Owerri for 3rd anniversary of Ojukwu’s death
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Friday warned the South East governors and Ohanaeze Ndigbo, to stop any meeting they were planning to hold with Federal Government in the name of representing and speaking for them as they did not represent IPOB
This came as the leader of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike appealed to the Federal Government to unconditionally release the detained Director of Radio Biafra Nnamdi Kanu.
Unconditional release
One of IPOB’s spokesmen, Emma Powerful said, “If the South East governors and the Ohanaeze Ndigbo are serious, they should be talking about getting unconditional release of the Director of Radio Biafra, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, who is still incacerated for the past one month, that should be the starting point.
How can the South East governors, whom we elected but stabbed us in the back, calling us all sorts of unprintable names with the enemies of Biafra and South East in general, and the people who call themselves Ohanaeze Ndigbo, a group that is in shambles, that has not taken Ndigbo forward after the leadership of Eze Ozobu and Nwabueze, be talking for us?
“The governors and the Ohanaeze Ndigbo that is in disarray and some disgruntled traditional rulers, whom we know for working for any government in power, and soliciting for and receiving contracts from governments, joined the enemies of Ndigbo, who betrayed us during the Nigerian Biafran Civil War, to call us name.
“And now they claim they want to go and negotiate for us, to collect money and contracts as usual, to sell us out like they have always done, when they have not even called us to a meeting to find out our grievances.
“We are rejecting the South East governors and Ohanaeze Ndigbo and whatever proposals they are making with Nigerian Federal Government. They are not representing us, but themselves.
“We, the IPOB members warn them to stop discussing IPOB because they are not representing us, they have roundly and consistently disappointed us, Ndigbo and Biafrans as a whole.
“We can only listen and support them if they are talking about unconditional release for Mr. Kanu and not to stop worldwide Biafra actualization agitation and peaceful protests; we will not stop until our leader is released unconditionally.”
Anniversary
Meanwhile, the leader of MASSOB, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, has appealed to the Federal Government to unconditionally release the detained Director of Radio Biafra Nnamdi Kanu.
Uwazuruike made the appeal while addressing loyalists and friends of MASSOB who stormed Owerri for the third anniversary of the exit of Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu.
Some dignitaries that honoured the event included, Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, who was the Special Guest of Honour, Dr. Fredrick Fasheun. Al-Mustapha was accompanied to the event by more than 70 persons.
Others included Alhaji Yerima Shetima, President, Arewa Youths Consultative Forum; Prof. Alu Danladi, Ambassador John Fashanu, Alhaji Abdullahi Zaria, Alhaji Sale Hassan, Alhaji Abubakar Shehu, Alhaji Zallari Bello and Alhaji Aminu Gwaru.
Continuing, the MASSOB leader said: “We are not operating from any foreign country. The so-called Radio Biafra, London, was opened by MASSOB in London and Nnamdi Kanu appointed as the Director, after MASSOB had operated Voice of Biafra International in Washington DC for three years. The purpose of Radio Biafra London was to showcase the marginalization of Ndigbo,” Uwazuruike said.
He said his group knew the desires of Ndigbo, and how to achieve them, noting that those who were threatening fire and brimstone today, were once members of MASSOB before they were expelled due to violent behaviours.
Blackmail
He was not particularly happy at the way Ndigbo “castigate, vilify and blackmail their leaders to impress other tribes,” pointing out that “Ndigbo takes delight in killing their leaders to emerge as the new champions.
“Ndigbo are now second class citizens in Nigeria. They will soon be relegated to third class. Ndigbo blames the Hausa and the Yoruba for their misadventure. Unfortunately, Ndigbo do not see any reason to blame themselves.
“Today, Ndigbo in their usual character, want to decimate MASSOB. They believe that since MASSOB has not achieved Biafra through non-violence for 16 years, they would achieve it through violence.”
Fire and brimstone
Uwazuruike said that the those claiming to be champions in their little knowledge, forget that “Igboland is landlocked and that the five states of the South East contribute less than eight per cent of the economy of Nigeria.
“In their little knowledge, they do not know that Ndigbo needs deep sea ports to bring in their arms and ammunition to be used to fight an established government of Nigeria.
There is no Sambisa forest connecting Igboland to other neighbouring countries, through which small arms could be smuggled in.”
Should Biafra become a reality
The pro-Biafra protests are not abating; and, for the first time, reached Abuja last week when Kanu, the Director of Radio Biafra, was brought before the magistrate’s court. The protests may be fuelled by yet to be identified financiers, but those fanning the embers of secession are youths who have abandoned their various vocations to participate in the protests. Some are doing so for genuine, if misguided reasons. Some, not so genuine. Some might not even be of Igbo origin. But all are unhappy and discontented with their lives and have inadvertently become willing pawns in a complex chess game.
After a period of studied but loud silence, the Igbo elders have come out to condemn the protests and by extension, the agitation for Biafra, by listing the many hurdles that await the realisation of Biafra. I don’t think they have gone far enough. The protesting youths need to be educated on the inevitability of war should they continue on this path. And should Radio Biafra continue to denigrate and insult every other tribe in Nigeria, the protesters are going to have many hostile neighbours.
They also need to be made aware of the realistic and pragmatic gains and losses of their actions both in the shorter and longer terms. No divorce, either of marriages or business partnerships or countries is without scars and casualties. The resultant ‘freedom’ is often not worth it. And speaking of marriages, our parents were not any happier in their unions than we are. Yet they largely stuck with them, learnt mutual respect in the process and gave us stable homes in which to develop.
There is no evidence that our lack of tolerance which has led to higher divorce rates has made us happier as individuals and as a society. The UK comprises four distinct nations. They have been pushing and pulling themselves for as long as I can remember. They are often privately disdainful of one another. But they realise in their wisdom, that the components cannot be better or greater than the whole. So it is with Nigeria. The recent history of the Soviet Union, Sudan and other countries that have had to balkanise themselves because of unresolved internal contradictions are there for all to learn from.
Let us assume today, that Kanu, Nwazuruike and their army of young Turks succeed in their wish to have Biafra. Would it all be gloom and doom for the rest of the country? I think not. Yes, the country would lose a valuable and vital piece of the tripod that had sustained the country. It would probably lose that section of the country that is most disposed to entrepreneurship in commerce and industry. It would also no longer be able to bask in the glory of their contributions in the diaspora.
But it is not as if the crown jewel has been taken away and the rest of us are ordinary stones or mere shafts as the radio Biafra propaganda wants people to believe. The vast in-road they have made in trade and commerce all over the country is because their host ‘nations’ have been accommodating and have provided a level playing field. This, of course would stop. In any case, it has hardly been reciprocated in Igbo land. The Igbos for all the noise, don’t believe in inclusiveness.
Or put another way, they don’t share well. I was once involved in a national newspaper where the admin manager was Igbo who was responsible for hiring the clerical staff. Before I knew it, all the cleaners, typists and messengers were from a particular part of the country. I had to tell him that were the owner of the paper like him, neither he nor I would have been employed in the first place since the owner was neither Igbo nor Yoruba.
Another important issue to consider is where the territory would be. Some of the maps I have seen include the states in the old South-Eastern region. One even includes the Idomas of North-Central! It is instructive that leaders of the South-South have dissociated themselves from the partition as the fear of ending up as minorities with a dominant partner is real. This was one of the many causes that the late Isaac Boro fought for. One South-South leader cynically told me ‘they will have to conquer us if they want us to be part of them’. This leaves the core Igbo land which is essentially landlocked.
But more importantly, having your own State like marriage, is in itself a journey not a destination. Nothing is to say that you are all going to live together happily ever after. Nothing is to say that one section is not going to feel maginalised by the other sections. This message is also to those who are angling for Oduduwa Republic. They should remember that the Yoruba have fought themselves in the past and could still do so. Sometimes, what unites you can also divide you.
At the end of the day, what the restfulness in the various sections of the country is all about is the callous way our leaders have wasted the tomorrow of our youths. For years we have stated the need to run an inclusive, transparent system that is not based on ethno/religious considerations. One has pushed for merit and a robust engagement of our youths. Now the chicken is coming home to roost. From North to South, the devil is providing tools for the idle hands of our youths.
MASSOB and the other disenfranchised youths from the other zones of the country need to engage the leaders from within. They need to tell them they were elected to improve living conditions for the entire populace and not for themselves alone. They should realise that many of the financiers of protests, riots and killings either live abroad or have their families abroad.
The country on its part should cede some autonomy to the zones. Let the different nationalities develop at their own paces. We have run the unitary form of government now for over 40 years and it really hasn’t worked. That is not to say that it is the only solution to the problem of the country. Our problem is the attitude of the leaders to governance and it is not likely to change whether we have Oduduwa Republic or Republic of Biafra.
The hope is that zonal autonomy will create inter zonal competition which will in turn bring development to the people especially the youths. It is only a hope.
-Vanguard