The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Biafra

  • MASSOB condemns arrest of Biafra Radio Director

    A faction of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), has condemned the arrest of the Biafra Radio Director, Nnadi Kanu saying it will cause more diplomatic harm on Nigeria’s image.

    Kanu was allegedly arrested by DSS on Saturday in Lagos after three days of his return to the country.

    In a statement  on the arrest, the faction’s Leader, Uchenna Mdau who said the arrest will draw sympathy from internal and external observers for Kanu and the Biafran cause, maintained that it was an indication that Radio Biafra has become a factor of reckoning in Nigeria.

    According to him, the arrest and detention of Nnamdi Kanu will assist immensely in reviving the consciousness and sympathy for Biafra actualization in higher dimension.

    ‘’Before Kanu’s arrest, he has succeeded in rooting the Biafra struggle in about 78 countries including Biafra land’’.

    Mdau accused the movement’s factional leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike of masterminding the arrest.

    The faction warned the federal government to immediately release the radio director or arraign him in court or face worldwide demonstration.

  • Radio Biafra: The urgency of now

    SIR: Not too long ago, the public was awash with the news of a terrestrial radio station with an FM bandwidth airing in most parts of the South-south and South-east states. Popularly called Radio Biafra, it is allegedly run by a foreign-based Nnamdi Kanu who goes by the nom de plume, Director. This station began as an internet radio station and had few followers until it somehow found its way on terrestrial radio with a tune-in frequency. Since the last general election, the station has been known to spew inciting statements, calling for violence against certain ethnic groups in the country and canvassing for secession from the Nigerian state. One would have thought that with the monster the Boko Haram sect has become today and the headache militant agitations in the delta region gave us few years back, some useful lessons would have been learnt by the Nigerians state on this particular issue by abruptly putting an end to the brains behind Radio Biafra.

    The question on the minds of many is why now? There is no answer to this other than the fact that some elements feel or believe the last election was a gang up by some regions against the other and as such must openly express their grievances even if it meant inciting others to violence. When Kanu portrays the Nigerian state as a “Zoo” and the people living in it as “animals” or gives a sense of belonging to a people he calls “Biafrans”, charging them to unequivocally reject the 2015 election, we surely need not take such diatribe with kid gloves. At a time when we are still battling the monster called Boko Haram and having just in the last four years put an end to militant agitations in the delta region, all we need now is the peace rather than another monster rearing its ugly head in the East.

    We must not take it lightly that a radio station operating illegally in Nigeria has first broken the rules of engagement. Knowing full well that quite a number of the radio’s growing followers which include traders, village dwellers, school children, commercial bus drivers etc., are not in tune with the realities of the past and present, it is likely we may have much trouble to contend with sooner if nothing is done now. It is not clear what Kanu wants and how he intends to go about his secessionist aspirations but hate speeches, inciting violence and calling for secession will never do much to bring his dreams to reality. While it is understandable that the last election had bred a level of regional dissatisfaction, it however, shouldn’t be a reason for using egregious narratives to fight the Nigerian state.

    The authorities must begin to act fast and take a firm stand on Radio Biafra and all its promoters. The station is a ticking time bomb that may explode if we do not nip it in the bud. Now is the time to act before we have yet another destabilising monster on our hands.

     

    • Raheem Oluwafunminiyi,

    Lagos.

  • Why Kanu’s Biafra radio must be stopped

    Ever since former President Jonathan lost the presidential elections on March 28, which some of us knew he will never win based on the facts that we all know and the statistics available, majority of Igbo have been unhappy and angry. They have been cursing and abusing the President and APC leaders wishing that President Buhari never existed and APC never formed. Many of them have been so frustrated after the elections that they are now looking for a way to get back to the APC controlled federal government.

    Now, one Nnamdi Kanu who has been dreaming about the State of Biafra has provided a space for them to vent their anger. Some of them have joined him to wish for the State of Biafra. Suddenly the so-called Radio Biafra has created a momentum for them. On facebook I have watched with a keen interest what these guys dish out on daily basis in the name of fighting for Biafra. They tell blatant lies, create havoc, make terrible noise, abuse other Nigerians, and preach unimaginable propaganda and hate that at once put Igbo land in potential danger. I have been waiting for the South-east governors to speak up but they have maintained a deafening silence that suggests complicity. I have also waited for our elders to call him to order but nothing has happened. With the so-called Radio Biafra, he has unleashed an unimaginable trailer-load of lies and potentially dangerous propaganda that has put Igbo nation in danger. It is now 45years after the Nigeria-Biafra Civil War and I think that the Igbo must rise up to stop this man who never saw the 1967-1970 Civil War and who may not know the implications of what he is doing. He has never consulted anybody to seek his opinion. He has been speaking to the gullible and not too educated people in Igboland, and very soon these uneducated people will take a dangerous decision that may decimate and destroy Igboland. Soon our people will start complaining that they were not consulted. To be fore-warned is to be fore-armed.

    Woe betides a nation whose leaders are children. If we elders do not talk about this evil, posterity will never forgive us. Let us speak out and if these children do not hear us, then it should be on record that we spoke. About a month ago the barrage of lies and uncontrolled propaganda Radio Biafra dished out everyday drew the attention of NBC which asked Nigerians to stop listening to this useless radio station.

    Now here are compelling reasons why Igbo must remain in Nigeria in their own interest. The Igbo fought a civil war of self determination between 1967 and 1970 and lost about one million people. This should be taken as a huge price for the unity of this country. Having paid this monumental supreme price I think Igbo should work for the unity of this country based on social justice, equity and fair play.

    Moreover, Nigeria has three major ethnic groups: Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo. The Hausa/Fulani has Hausa people stretching all through the Sahel to the Sudan. They are mostly Muslims and they have contact with the Arab world. The Yoruba nation has Togo, Benin Republic, Sierra Leone and even up to Brazil and Cuba to run to where their kinsmen are. Igbo nation has no outlet anywhere in the world where the language is spoken. Therefore they must see Nigeria as where they belong and work for its survival.

    Nigeria provided a big space for Igbo to spread their tentacles, explore, excel and blossom. South East is too small for this highly mobile and dynamic people to thrive. The world pays attention to Nigeria today because of our size and population. If Nigeria splits into smaller countries the world will pack their bag and baggage and leave. Population and size make a nation a destination.

    Assuming we manage to get a State of Biafra, which state in the South-east will produce the first President? When Enugu State was created, the late Governor C.C Onoh sacked all the civil servants and teachers from Anambra State. Recently former governor T. A. Orji of Abia State sacked workers from Imo, Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu States. Now how can we manage Biafra with this attitude?

    The Igbo control 60-70% of all the imports in Nigeria and other Nigerians, Yoruba, Hausa/Fulani, Ijaw, Efik, Birom, Tiv, Idoma etc provides huge market for Igbo mobile and big time traders.

    Monumental inter marriages between Igbo and Yoruba and other ethnic groups have thrived for close to 70years now that we cannot just dismiss all these with a wave of hand.

    Igbo own huge and massive investments in property in Lagos and Abuja, and other state capitals in Nigeria. Now are you going to wish all this away?

    Other Nigerian cities have provided safe haven for Igbo as places to run to cool off whenever self inflicted crisis arise or other problems. When kidnapping became a way of life in the South-east, our people moved to other parts of Nigeria to settle. Now where will Igbo go when confronted with these problems in Biafra?

    How can Igbo thrive without their Lagos and Abuja or Port-Harcourt? What happens to all their connections and relationships in these places?

    Can someone tell Nnamdi Kanu that wars may be fought for 50 years and people will die to achieve Biafra? The war may even consume Nnamdi and all the members of his family and millions of others without achieving the purpose.

    We have been so inter-married, interwoven, intertwined, inter-related that the idea of separation may not be encouraged. I do not want to lose my friends from the other parts of Nigeria for anything.

    I can go on but there is no need to continue to do so. We must be strong enough to stop this  old problem of looking down on people who are different from us. This is the problem of Nigeria. Nigeria’s diversity is a big plus for all of us to excel. United we stand, divided we fall. I confess that Igbo have not played better politics in Nigeria since 1970 and that has been our bane. Anytime we want to change bad leadership in the country, Igbo as a block will resist it. It happened in 1993 and we lost everything. In 2015, Igbo were at it again but forces of history prevailed. Igbo can do better than this.

    However, I want Nigerian leaders to show leadership by carrying all Nigerians along in distributing power and resources. If there is no justice, there will be no peace. If there is no peace there will be no progress. Let justice prevail. Let us be fair to all concerned. If the truth must prevail and it must prevail, Nigeria has not been fair to Igbo since the end of civil war. They tell us that there is no victor and no vanquished but in actions and deeds, the victors are still celebrating and enjoying the spoils of the war while the defeated are still languishing in abject neglect. For instance, of all the six zones in Nigeria, only the South-east has five states. We have found solace in all these because we have found out that those who are still oppressing the Igbo in Nigeria are not better. We also take solace in the findings of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council that all acts of indignity against human persons, against human society debase the perpetrators more than the victims.  It is not that the offended cannot forgive but have the offenders repented? This injustice must stop now for the sake of unity of this country.

    • Igbokwe writes from Lagos

  • Re: Biafra: Allow us to enjoy our Nigeria

    SIR: The write-up by one Simon Abah from Port Harcourt which appeared in “The Nation” of Monday May 18 refers. Much as his write-up made some interesting reading, it contained half-truths and falsehoods which need to be urgently corrected. First, perhaps unknown to Simon Abah, a large chunk of the South-south belongs to the Igbo. The Igbo occupy nine local government areas in Delta State and about six local government areas in Rivers State plus large populations of Igbo resident in the other four states in the South-south.

    Secondly Abah may not be aware of the fact that the so-called oil wells mentioned in his article belong to the federal government. They are not owned by the South-south and that is why the federal government pays oil producing states including Imo, Abia and Anambra states in the South-east 13% derivation.

    Thirdly Abah may be wrongly basking under a false euphoria of South-south unity. But how united are they? Do all parts of the South-south have oil? You have the Ijaws, Kalabaris, Ibibios, Efik, Anang, the Edos, the Urhobos all different ethnic groups in the South-south. Do all of them have oil?

    Fourthly, when the Igbo make reference to the South-south, they refer to their kith and kin in the South-south, not necessarily because of the so-called oil wells in the South-south but because of brotherly love. The Igbo have shown tremendous love to the South-south by supporting one of their own en masse during the last general elections. People like Simon Abah should allow this healing process to run its full course and stop sowing seeds of discord between the Igbo and the rest of the South-south.

     

    • Ike Ugwuadu

    Lagos

     

  • Why Nigeria fought Biafra, by Gowon

    Why Nigeria fought Biafra, by Gowon

    Former Head of State Gen Yakubu Gowon was guest lecturer at the sixth Convocation of the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojuwkwu University (COOU) in Uli, Anambra State. To Gowon, the event was a “booby trap” of sorts to get him to give insight into his much expected Civil War memoirs. EMEKA CHUKWUEMEKA reports.

    Former Head of State Gen Yakubu Gowon was the star attraction of the sixth convocation of the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU) in Uli, Anambra State, where five graduating students bagged First Class.

    The event, which held at the Igbariam campus, was also graced by  Senate President David Mark. Other guests included top government officials and traditional rulers.

    Gowon delivered the pre-convocation lecture titled: No victor, no vanquished: Healing the Nigerian nation. He said he thought the invitation to deliver the lecture was a “booby trap” for him.

    His words: “When I speak of a booby trap, I refer to the possibility that some brilliant professors may have deemed this a good time and platform to get me to make an early public presentation of my memoirs. I reckoned that the organisers may easily have been persuaded to believe that it would be near-impossible for me to do justice to the theme of the lecture without sharing critical insights into my story vis-a-vis the history of Nigeria, especially in respect of my role in the 30-month civil war that gave rise to the first part of the topic of this lecture”.

    Gowon said the civil war occurred not out of hatred for the late Ojukwu or the Igbo, but was based on the principle of a commitment to a robust Nigeria.

    He said: “It is wrong to conclude that the civil war broke out, following the failure of the Aburi Accord; it was the direct result of a unilateral decision of independence for Eastern Nigeria. If there was no secession plan, there would have been no war. It was a reluctant war waged to unite the country. I would like to state categorically that, from the onset, it was never out of hatred for the Igbo or animosity against my late comrade and colleague, Chukwuemeka, but on principle of commitment to one Nigeria.”

    Gowon denied having any problem with the late Ojukwu until the latter died in 2011, saying: “Let me quickly clear the speculations that my late comrade and I continued our animosity until his death. We achieved reconciliation about four decades ago when we had our first post-civil war physical meeting in the late 1970s in his room at the Mont Calm Hotel in London. Before then, he had reached out to me through his friend, Frederick Forsythe, who rang the house and spoke to my wife.

    “My wife sent the message to me at Warwick University where I was pursuing my post-graduate degree at the time. When I got back home at the weekend, I called him (Ojukwu) and arranged to meet. We eventually met at the hotel…we engaged in heart to heart discussion, reminiscing on the past and expressing hope that we could soon returns and join forces with our compatriots back home to build a better Nigeria.”

    Gowon said he was confident that the university had expanded the worldview of its graduates and equipped them to face the challenge of living in a tough world, which punishes laziness or rewards hard work.

    He added: “The management of education in Nigeria today requires all citizens to contribute their quota, so that we can have minds that are not only literate but that can maturely grasp the issues that define contemporary reality. One of such realities is democracy. One fact that many people may not immediately grasp is that without democracy, economic development can hardly be achieved because a host of the needed support structures, such as education, which is the foundation of progress.”

    If democracy must work, he said, people must be more than willing to explore possibilities beyond their immediate environment.

    The Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Fedelis Okafor, said Governor Willie Obiano had provided conducive teaching and learning environment for students of the university.

    The VC disclosed that the institution continued to advance in all frontiers of learning, adding that its programmes were fully accredited and some due for re-accreditation. In research, he said the university made good contribution to knowledge, which earned it international awards and recognition.

    Gov. Obiano, who hailed Gowon for honouring the school invitation, promised to improve on the successes recorded by his administration in making education attractive to the youth in the state.

    Speaking on behalf of the graduands, the overall best graduating student, Michael Iyebeye, said the institution had inculcated good moral values in them and trained them to achieve academic excellence. He graduated at the Department of Statistics with Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.75.

    Other First Class graduates are Ekene Okafor, Statistics with CGPA of 4.66; Kingsley Enekanma, Electrical and Electronic Engineering with CGPA 4.65; Anthony Uzor, Public Administration with CGPA 4.57 and John Onuzulike, Law with CGPA 4.52.

    There was also conferment of the honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) on the late Ojukwu. It was received by his wife, Bianca, on behalf of the family.

  • Biafra Zionist leader, 11 othersarraigned for treason

    Biafra Zionist leader, 11 othersarraigned for treason

    A Federal High Court sitting in Enugu yesterday remanded Leader of Biafra Zionist Movement Benjamin Onwuka and 11 members of the separatist group in prison after they were arraigned before it for treason.

    The secessionists invaded the Enugu State Broadcasting Serrvice studios on June 5 to declare Republic of Biafra. A policeman and a member of the group died during the invasion when policemen came in to stop them.

    Those arraigned apart from Onwuka are: are Kelvin Eke, Samson Ijaga, Uduma Uduma, Bethrain Obiekwe, Abraham Ugwu, Paulinus Uzoegbu, Fidelis Nwaano, Nnamchi Ndubuisi, Michael Olennya, Jeophet  Nwaodo and Aloysius Chukwuma.

    The Prosecution told Justice D.V Agishi that the secessionists forced the radio station to air Biafran jingles and speeches of the late leader of the defunct Republic of Biafra, Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu and also attempted to make a live broadcast for the secession of Biafra from the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    They all pleaded not guilty. The charges were read to them in English and Igbo.

    They were accused of converging on Nike Grammar School, Enugu, on June 4, to conspire to arm themselves with dangerous weapons with intent to capture the Enugu State Broadcasting Service Radio House and make a live broadcast for the secession of Biafra as a nation, an offence contrary to section 37(2) of the Criminal Code Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

    In count two, they were accused of, on or about the March 8, 2014, in Enugu, committed an illegal act with intent to intimidate and overawe the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, and the Governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime, by hoisting the flags of the Republic of Biafra and state of Israel at the main gate of the Enugu State Government House, an offence contrary to section (37)(1)(2) of the Criminal Code Act LFN 2004.

    .Count three. On or about June 5, arming themselves with dangerous weapons, and with intent to secede and make a live broadcast for secession of Biafra as a nation, attacking ESBS radio house and forced the staff on duty to play on air a compact disc containing Biafra jingles and speeches of the late Ojukwu “with a view to secure or procure unintentionally the restoration of Biafran nation and to overawe the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan,” an “offence of treason contrary to section 37(1) of the Criminal Code Act, LFN, 2004.

    .Count four: The leader of the BZF, Onwuka, created a website for the group and posting inciting publications with intent to incite and solicit support from members of the public to intimidate and overawe President Goodluck Jonathan, an offence contrary to section 37(1)(2) of the Criminal Code Act LFN 2004.

    Following the ‘not guilty’ plea entered by the accused persons, the prosecuting counsel, Mr. D. E. Kaswe, asked the court to set a date for the commencement of trial. The judge fixed December 8.

    The suspects were represented by Mr. Olu Omotayo, the South East Zonal Director of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO).

  • On the grave of Biafra

    Is anyone perchance feeding on the grave of ex-Biafran soldiers? In a clime where nothing is sacrosanct anymore would some morbid fellows in government exhume the better-forgotten Biafran debacle and profit by it? Hardball fears so. Why the Nigerian civil war, also known as the Biafran war, ended about 44 years ago with the war generation aging and passing away while some scars of battle remain visible and in some cases unhealed. Many compatriots from the Biafran side still feel hard done by as not much reconstruction and rehabilitation have been achieved over these years.

    In fact, most must have moved on with their lives knowing that Nigeria is a wayward entity where government is apt to provoke its citizenry to strive and contestation. Explains why government keep poking stick in the eye of the Biafran wound. If it refused to attend to the wound, dress it and in fact find out the anatomy of the wound, why rake it up after more than four decades? Yes the recent story that the federal government is paying pension to ex-Biafran soldiers reads like a hoax.

    According to the report, government has started paying pension to soldiers of the Nigerian Army who fought on the side of the secessionist Biafran army during the Nigerian civil war of 1967 to 1970. The freshly appointed chairman of the Military Pension Board (MPB), Air Commodore Mohammed Dabo told his visiting boss Musiliu Obanikoro who is the Minister of State for Defence that the MPB had enrolled 160 ex-Biafran soldiers for the payment of monthly pensions.

    Strange things happen daily in Nigeria and desperate things stranger than fiction would happen when big elections are nigh. This scheme seems so strange even a rat would smell a rat. Now the civil war ended 44 years ago; no one remembered the ex-Biafran soldiers till the year 2000 when the government of the day deigned to have pardoned the soldiers. But between then and now, nothing was heard of the hapless soldiers anymore. Then out of the blue, a very ‘magnanimous’ Goodluck Jonathan administration is suddenly paying pensions to some unknown and forgotten soldiers?

    Hardball would wager that the Nigeria Army does not have proper data of its current soldiers not to speak of those who fought in the civil war in what must se like dark ages now. A few weeks ago, Nigeria Army retirees protested in Kano, Ibadan, Taraba and Abuja over 39 months of an unpaid 20 per cent of their pension. The protest was carried out under the aegis of the Retired Army, Navy and Airforce officers’ Association. They had protested to the president in 2013 who promised to see that their outstanding was capture in the budget of 2014. Now the year is more than half way gone yet nobody cares. As you read this, those soldiers are still being owed.

    Nothing can be fishier than this ex-Biafran soldiers’ pension story. It would be nice to see the remnants of the Biafrans. It would be salutary to publish their names, addresses, local government areas, hometowns and states of origin. It would be wonderful if MPB could give Nigerians more information including the sum paid to these ex-soldiers so far. This is the only way to prove that some soulless people are not feeding on dead Biafran soldiers.

     

  • Don’t destroy MASSOB, politicians warned

    Don’t destroy MASSOB, politicians warned

    THE Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) under Chief Ralph Uwazuruike has cautioned politicians in the Southeast to drop their alleged plan to destroy the movement.

    In a statement yesterday by Uwazuruike’s Media Assistant, Mazi Chris Mocha, the group said any plan against the movement would not succeed.

    Also, members of the movement, including their regional directors, commissioners and supervisors in the transport industry, affirmed their solidarity with Uwazuruike.

    MASSOB said there was no division in the body, as being speculated in a statement by its National Director for Transport, Chief Charles Oputa.

    The director berated those accusing Uwazurike of mismanaging resources, adding that such people failed to understand that the movement had no other sources of getting funds except from the monthly dues from its members.

    He explained that MASSOB’s finances were prudently used and channelled to building structures.

    But Mocha said Igbo politicians should not destroy “the mouthpiece of the Ndigbo”.

    He said: “If Odua People’s Congress (OPC) in the Southwest; the Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND); the Movement for Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) in the Southsouth and Boko Haram in the North are not destroyed, why is it that some politicians in the Southeast would want to destroy and kill MASSOB?

     

    “This is the only formidable Igbo organisation championing the cause of Biafra in truth. It sometimes pays the sacrifice. Our people should be careful.

    The group commiserated with The Sun and other media organisations on the death of Pastor Dimgba Igwe, the Deputy Chairman of the newspaper, last Saturday

    In a statement yesterday in Awka, the Anambra State capital, by MASSOB’s National Director of Information, Comrade Uchenna Madu, the movement urged Federal and Abia State governments to immortalise the late journalist.

    It said Ndigbo had lost another Iroko, adding that the people of Igbo extraction would continue to honour and celebrate the late Igwe.

    MASSOB said: “Dimgba was a faithful and loyal person who served Chief Orji Uzor Kalu in many capacities.

    “MASSOB sends its condolences also to Mr Mike Awoyinfa, Dimgba’s journalism twin brother and the media world for losing such a gem.”

    Also, the senator representing Anambra Central, Chris Ngige, condoled with The Sun over Igwe’s death.

    In a condolence letter yesterday to Kalu and the newspapers Managing Director Femi Adesina, the senator described Igwe’s death as a shock.

    “His loss will be seriously felt within the Nigerian media sphere, particularly The Sun, which he nurtured from infancy to become one of the nation’s leading newspapers.

    “I, therefore, sympathise with Igwe’s family, The Sun, colleagues and friends. I urge them to show great strength at this period, dwelling on the fact that he was indeed a literary giant while here on earth.”

     

     

     

     

     

  • We’ll return armed to Enugu Govt House, says Biafra group

    We’ll return armed to Enugu Govt House, says Biafra group

    The Leader of the Biafra Zionist Federation (BZF), the group which claimed responsibility for last weekend’s attack on the Enugu State Government House, has vowed to stage another attack –this time with a well armed team.

    Ben Onwuka also warned against any attempt to arrest him as a result of the activities of his movement, which, he said, is also to be extended to Owerri, the Imo State capital.

    Onwuka said he feared no arrest, but added his arrest would spell doom for Nigeria.

    He spoke with reporters on telephone from his undisclosed hideout.

    The British trained lawyer said since they operated for four hours at the Government House without any weapon and could not be arrested, it would be bloody this time around if attempts were made to arrest them.

    Reiterating that the group’s aim is to reclaim Biafra’s independence, he admonished that the Nigerian authorities should be cautious in the way they go after them because the world powers were behind their actions. But he did not name the world powers.

    “We are going again to the Government House, Enugu. This time around, we will be fully armed. We must take our headquarters from Nigeria,” Onwuka threatened.

    The group on March 8 stormed the Government House, Enugu to hoist the Biafran flag. They were beaten by security agents.

    Onwuka told reporters in Enugu on Wednesday that they succeeded in hoisting the flag, even though it may have been removed.

    He insisted that the flag must rest in Enugu Government House, which is the epicentre of the Biafran federation.

    There were strong indications yesterday that the BZF had concluded plans to hoist the Biafra flag at the Imo State Government House.

    A high ranking member of the group, who pleaded for anonymity, said the BZF would take over the entire Southeast states. “We will start from the Southeast states and Imo State will likely be our next point of call and we must hoist our flags in all the government houses and no threat from security operatives can stop us.”

    But the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), has warned splinter groups agitating for the realisation of Biafra Republic to desist from violent measures that may further endanger the life and property of “Biafrans”.

    MASSOB also distanced itself from the attack on Enugu Government House, stressing that as a non violent organisation, it would continue to employ peaceful but strict measures towards achieving an independent Biafra.

    MASSOB’s Director of Information Uchenna Madu said: “Although MASSOB is not disturbed by the various groups championing the course of Biafra, we are non-violent and will not support any plan by any person or group of persons to engage in violence in the guise of fighting for Biafra.

    “We warn against any further act that will expose the lives and property of Ndigbo to any danger. We are committed to Biafra but through peaceful means”.

  • As Igbo become a minority in Nigeria

    SIR: The Igbo today are groping in a labyrinth of confusion; a labyrinth that they have knitted together out of humongous morsels of selfishness, avarice and ignorance. And as they waltz in the ball of anodyne confusion their status or place in the Nigerian entity magnanimously tapers off.

    It is indubitable to aver that the place of the Igbo in Nigeria is the abominable and thrashed quarters of irrelevance. The Igbo take the wizened, bottom space after the Hausa, Yoruba and Ijaw. In fact, other peoples that are considered ethnic minorities in Nigeria may go up the political ladder before the Igbo as it is today. To say the least, the Igbo have become side-kicks to dominant Hausa-Yoruba-Ijaw power heroes in the Marvel comic of Nigeria.

    As always, the unthinking Igbo horde will allude the present condition of the Igbo to the Biafra-Nigeria civil war. And for this horde there is no way out of the asphyxiating cul-de-sac because the war has already done irredeemable damage. Playing the victim has become the lazy default configuration of some Igbo.

    Is the war the reason greedy Igbo leaders in a perfidious clique known as Ohanaeze barter the political future of the Igbo for billions of naira which they swallow, and defecate pennies for their coterie of unthinking followers? Is the war the reason states in the South-east are sprawling igloos in spite of all the huge monetary allocations to the various South-east governments? Is the war the reason the Igbo lack direction, and orphaned of an agenda? Is war the cause of the gully erosion gormandizing parts of Anambra State with belligerence? Is the war the reason the Igbo are ball boys at the Maracana of Nigerian politics? Is the war the reason for the ossified, steal-abroad-and-take-chieftaincy-title -at-home culture in Igboland? Is the war the reason for the baby factories mushrooming in Igboland? Is the war the reason for preponderance of Igbo criminal regiments at home and abroad? There are many more imposing posers, but these are for cerebral crunching.

    Perhaps, the war is the reason why “Kpomo” is more expensive in Anambra than in Kano.

    For the thinking Igbo, it is wholesomely clear that the trash position of the Igbo in Nigeria today is as a result of a concatenation of ill-forces mustered by the Igbo themselves. The vilest ill force militating against Igbo ascendancy to affluence, influence and power is Igbo penny leaders. The fact is a scrum of Igbo penny leaders feed fat on the emaciated condition of the Igbo in Nigeria. They claim to represent the Igbo, but what they do is to gulp down mouth watering sums of valuable paper in exchange for Igbo’s rights farting stained coins of greed. The alleged handout of 1.2 billion given to Ohanaeze by President Goodluck Jonathan is a knocking affirmation of this point. Even if Ohanaeze disputes the allegation, the truth remains it cannot be tooting Jonathan’s horns and running his errands for free. Ohanaeze, we all know is not for charity. So it must have been duly raking in “solid quid” into its bloating coffers from its consort with the President.

    The vacuity of Igbo leadership heralds itself as the national conference dawns. The Igbo seem to be the obfuscated people without an agenda. The Yoruba agenda is regional autonomy. The Hausa-Fulani agenda according to Arewa Consultative Forum is unitary Nigeria (even though they are euphemistic about it), but the Igbo sadly, tout conflicting ideological noises as agenda. At best, what the Igbo do is to sandwich themselves between Ijaw agenda of resource control and self-determination. One Igbo leader from the North Pole cries, “self-determination” another one from the South Pole screams “con-federalism”. Disjointed schema! Playing the “fourth fiddle” has become the genius of the Igbo.

     

    • Fredrick Nwabufo,

    Abuja.