By Daniel Kanu
Assistant Politics Editor
Elder-In-Council, MASSOB, Western Zone, Comrade Eze Calistus has vowed that no individual or government in the country can diminish the relevance of Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) in its struggle to realise the Biafra agenda.
He also said that those believing that the MASSOB leader Chief Ralph Uwazurike has compromised in the Biafra struggle are ignorant of the impeccable character of the great crusader.
He told The Niche that the realisation of the state of Biafra is nearer than expected, adding that other groups championing the case for Biafra is a good omen for the crusade.
“MASSOB is more than relevant in the struggle. No individual or government intimidation can diminish the MASSOB struggle. MASSOB has not taken any form of back seat. Chief Ralph Uwazurike was the founder of MASSOB and he began the process of agitation for Biafra independence, whoever that is talking of Biafra now outside Uwazurike must be a joker.
“The person is either recruited by Uwazurike himself or is an imposter. Anybody that is talking about Biafra today is working for Uwazurike. Uwazurike has done so much, sacrificed so much and committed so much for Biafra Actualisation and he has not rested till date.
“The issue is that Nnamdi Kanu of IPOB is in detention, he is not a free man that is why people are talking about him, the reason he is generating the attention. I do not think IPOB has done what MASSOB has been able to do. Our action cannot be surpassed because we are fully on ground and operate from all flanks, some outside the knowledge of the people.
“If you check back during the Nigeria independence project there was the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroun (NCNC), Action Group, Northern People’s Congress (NPC). Even in South Africa there were different parties and struggle groups which sometimes due to difference in ideology shift base but the end point is still the same. I think some groups like the IPOB and some other splinter groups may have left the MASSOB based on ideology.
“MASSOB is strongly based in non-violence and you know that in any organisation without disciple the organisation will not stand. So we are rooted so much in disciple and obedience. So anybody that comes into MASSOB and finds out that he or she cannot be obedient to the instructions and discipline that guides MASSOB is always shown the way out.
“We do not tolerate or condone indiscipline or lack of obedience from anybody, so the person can go away. Afterall you have the freedom to go and form your own group. But what we are witnessing is normal, the splinter groups will also help to heat up the polity and this will quicken the desired agenda.
“Even our leader said it’s better to have and welcome splinter groups so that the world will know that Biafra is real. It’s good to come from different fronts but we don’t lose sight of where we are coming from, our foundation. There is no controversy that Uwazurike has ignited and sustained the fire of Biafra agitation and no one can take away the shine from him.
“I do not see what IPOB is doing from the eye of disunity because the point is that at the end of the bridge all of us will meet there.
“As I said earlier, our leader is against any act of violence. If you have witnessed violence in any MASSOB protest, know that they are not under the leadership of Uwazurike. Our leadership remains deeply committed in the ideology of non-violence.
“You talk about IPOB, let me tell you that I am one of the senior officers in MASSOB and I know the nitty-gritty of all the struggle, Chief Uwazurike trained us under non-violence and it was Uwazurike that brought even the people you are talking about in IPOB into the struggle. “We have 25 stages to actualize Biafra and the journey is no longer far. We know it is not what you will achieve overnight through violence but we are steady and focused to the agenda.
“The realisation is nearer than you expect. We have sent bill of rights to the United Nations and UN gave us observer’s status. I was the person that was sent to receive the letter of observer’s status when the letter came from the UN. Anybody telling you that Uwazurike has abandoned the Biafra project is a lie. Some other groups do not want to have patience, they want Biafra today, today and they want to apply force. No. Uwazurike will not tell you that Biafra will be achieved today or now but he is optimistic that there is nothing stopping its realisation. He knows it takes a process and he is strategic about it”.