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What is fueling demand for Biafra?

By Chris Enyinnaya
07 June 2016   |   3:46 am
The word Biafra has been a taboo to successive governments in Nigeria simply because Republic of Biafra was defeated by a coalition of Nigerian Armed Forces and forces deployed by Organisation ...

Pro-Biafra-protests

The word Biafra has been a taboo to successive governments in Nigeria simply because Republic of Biafra was defeated by a coalition of Nigerian Armed Forces and forces deployed by Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to join them in 1970. The first thing the government of General Yakubu Gowon did was to outlaw the word Biafra, and gazetted it; which is why any mention of Biafra got any Nigerian government angry. Yet, the Igbo cannot do away with the word Biafra. Why? Biafra is a spirit. You can kill the body but not the spirit. That is why the word Biafra keeps recurring like a decimal. To the true Igbo man, Biafra means freedom from operation in this country called Nigeria. The Igbo man feels, and events seem to justify it, that he is oppressed in Nigeria nation. The Igbo man believes in fairness and level playing ground in a competitive environment. Like all competitions, it is winner takes all. The corollary is that the Igbo man believes in merit-driven, just and egalitarian society. Nigeria is not providing the Igbo man the platform to freely express himself.

When the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) was established by the Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe-led Eastern Nigerian government in 1960, it was widely criticised as a glorified secondary school when compared to the University College Ibadan, which was actually University of London, Ibadan Campus which was established in 1948. UNN was awarding her own certificates to pioneer graduates in 1963, when University of Ibadan, established was still awarding the certificate of University of London.

Because the Nigerian nation is denying Igbo man merit in the scheme of things, and in the right sense of the word, Igbo man feels short-changed with Federal Government policies like federal character, state of origin, catchment area, and equality of states principle applied in admission to Federal Government owned secondary schools and tertiary institutions. That was why my daughter, born in Lagos and classified as an indigene of Abia State with a higher cut off mark than Lagos State (72% post JAMB) was denied admission to read Economics at the University of Lagos whereas her classmate from Ogun State that scored 65% was offered admission.

The irony here is that my daughter was born in Lagos like her classmate. But when it comes to admission to Federal government college or university, she is classed as indigene of Abia State where my father comes from, and get knocked out by higher Abia cut-off mark being classed as an educationally advantaged state instead of Lagos State which at the time was lower.

Everywhere in the developed world, you qualify to become a citizen with all citizenship rights by birth or migration when you continuously stay and work there for 10 years with no criminal record and show evidence of payment of tax. Unfortunately, it is not so in Nigeria. You remain a settler for life. It is policies like this that fuel Biafra.

However, Igbo are not alone in receiving this kind of injustice that fuel Biafra. It happens across the country whether you are Yoruba, Hausa, Ijaw, Jukun, Tiv, Idoma etc. as long as you are not resident in your so-called state of origin, you suffer discrimination and get short-changed in the distribution of privileges in a country they call their own.

Thus , I am for Biafra, but not in the sense of breaking away from Nigeria. Even at that, those clamouring for separatist Biafra are inviting the Federal Government headed by President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) for treat, to re-negotiate Nigeria because by United Nations charter of 2007 that grants the right to self-determination to minorities, Nigeria is negotiable. They are calling for equity in the distribution of resources, political power and opportunities because Nigeria belongs to all of us. God created all of us equal.

Why will people like Alhaji Balarabe Musa, an elder statesman want to bridge the educational gap between the North and the South when by choice they do not want to embrace western education because of their religious and cultural bias? Boko Haram ( western education is evil) is a product of this mindset about the usefulness of western education.

It will now appear that our Northern brothers are holding the rest of Nigeria back by aspiring to bridge the perceived educational gap between the North and the South of Nigeria which is an aberration in a federal set-up. Statesmen like Alhaji Balarabe Musa cannot be ignored.

Now, what is fueling Biafra is that the Nigerian army through the barrel of the gun abolished the economic and political model the British introduced in Nigeria. Colonial masters got it right by enthroning regional federalism with degrees of political and economic autonomy to the regions. Each region had its coat of arms and controlled its resources and was developing at its own pace. Each region worked hard to develop its domain; no region was advancing the argument of bridging the gap between North and south. All that changed when the military took over government by force and introduced unitary system of government.

Attempts were unsuccessfully made by previous administrations to expunge unitary system of government from our constitution so that Nigeria can move forward. It is the inequities created by this style of government that is fueling calls for Biafra.

PMB must be made to understand that he is a Nigerian citizen and cannot be bigger than Nigeria. If Nigerians met in 2014 in a National Conference and reached conclusions that will to a large extent meet theirs, who is he to throw it to the dustbin as he has vowed to do? It will seem that PMB does not understand Nigeria’s problems in that regard talkless solving it. If he will not implement the 2014 confab report, then let him embrace regionalism for that is the only economic and political structure that our heroes past won from the British colonial masters that was agreed upon in London conference with representation from all the regions. That is the only way to ensure that the labours of the forefathers of Nigerian nation who are truly our past heroes are not in vain.
Enyinnaya, Fellow, Chartered Institute of Bankers, wrote from Ikeja, Lagos.

15 Comments

  • Author’s gravatar

    Well articulated and unambiguous. Nice one.

  • Author’s gravatar

    It is like 50 years of total neglect of that zone could be fuelling the seccessionist quest. The post war declaration of no victor no vanished and its attendant chorus of reconciliation,rehabilitation,reconstruction have been proved fraudulent and deceitful but too late. What is needed there now seems like a south east war reconstruction fund just as we have a north east reconstructiin fund. Justice has to prevail. To every part of the federation unless we want them to opt out

  • Author’s gravatar

    You cannot say that the colonial forces are good for the regional governments when it was those same foolish colonial forces who forced the peoples of southern Nigeria into a a union with northern Nigeria as result of their financial mismanagement/incompetence.

    That’s like thanking someone for putting out a fire that they started.

  • Author’s gravatar

    It was APC as opposition party that practically forced Jonathan to call that National Conference. Buhari as a person has no right even as evecutive president to stop the wish of the people. There were surprises in that conference. He must implement it or there will be no Nigeria for his second term.

    • Author’s gravatar

      What did Jonathan do with the report of the National Conference when it was submitted to him? Nothing! Has any PDP member at the National Assembly, including those from the South East, moved a motion for the adoption of the conference report? No. Were the members of the National Conference elected by their constituencies? No Was there a law showing how the recommendations will be adopted? No

      • Author’s gravatar

        You have your head in the sand. The Frequency on which those calling for adoption of the conference report is too high for you to pick up.

      • Author’s gravatar

        Did you forget the northern leaders that vow that it would never see the light of day. The president doesn’t have to implement it, however I can assure you, that Nigeria would be hotter in coming years due to the lack of true federalism.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Nothing much special about this article than same old stories about how Igbos are second class citizen in Nigeria & many lies to back it up,as the writer said that they are marginalised, why are they winning elections to the federal & state houses in Lagos, they are all living well & giving freedom by there host in SW & North that there business are thriving well. How many Yoruba`s, Hausa`s, or fulani`s lives successfuly in the east. The Igbos are born ungrateful, self centred cancer that is the problem in our country. No wonders the ijaws of the SS are not even friendly with them.

    • Author’s gravatar

      The headsmen that massacred some Igbos (in Igboland) a few weeks ago did not carryout their act in Yorubaland. This is a direct contradiction of your claim that others don’t live in Igboland. They would not have been able to do that if they were repressed in Igboland.
      Recent statistics have shown that those trying to bridge the education gap in Nigeria are already succeeding in the SW. A look at the latest WASCE results show that most states in the SW are now in fierce competition with far North states like Zamfara and Gombe for the race to the bottom. These are trends that should give you sleepless nights. Not regurgitating some discredited stereotypical nonsense about the Igbos and discrediting goals that are elusive to you.

      See the ranking below or Google “2015 Top WASCE Ranking in Nigeria”

      1. Abia
      2. Anambra
      3. Edo
      4. Rivers
      5. Imo
      6. Lagos
      7. Bayelsa
      8. Delta
      9. Enugu
      10. Ebonyi
      11. Ekiti
      12. Kaduna
      13. Ondo
      14. Abuja
      15. Kogi
      16. Benue
      17. Akwa Ibom
      18. Kwara
      19. Ogun
      20. Cross River
      21. Taraba
      22. Plateau
      23. Nassarawa
      24. Kano
      25. Borno
      26. Oyo
      27. Niger
      28. Adamawa
      29. Osun
      30. Sokoto
      31. Bauchi
      32. Kebbi
      33. Katsina
      34. Gombe
      35. Jigawa
      36. Zamfara
      37. Yobe

    • Author’s gravatar

      As bad as lgbos are, why can’t they be allowed to separate from Nigeria. The reason is because , they are one of the important part of Nigeria. If that is true they must be listened to. Their rights must be protected according to the law of Nigeria. There is an urgent need to organise a referendum in igboland to find out if really they they want br on their own. Marriage is not by force.l am tired of this Nigeria nation of northern Nigeria.

      • Author’s gravatar

        They aren’t ‘bad’, they’re one of the better elements within Nigeria. Their industrious nature is something that should be harnessed, others should look to learn from their system of apprenticeship and business management. If we want to talk about ‘bad’ we only need to look to the North – that is the worst part of Nigeria and has been since the amalgamation.

        To be clear I am not an Igbo man – but I have no idea why it is they who are seemingly despised and not the Fulanis who have done nothing except mismanage their own resources and misrule.

    • Author’s gravatar

      what rubbish. I am pretty sure you didn’t understand a single thing the writer said. The question that most people always have. if you hate the Igbo people so much. why don’t you let them go, let them have the few states that they claim is their and let them go. what is the fear of the north and west or even the south. If you hate them so much, let them go.

  • Author’s gravatar

    “Thus, I am for Biafra, but not in the sense of breaking away from Nigeria.” Beautiful and excellent article, but we must never forget that in every relationships and endeavours, the options “yes” and “no” are always on the table. It will also involve parting ways. Friendship and marriage are never by force or a must.