Do we really need Biafra?

Engr Ikenna Okonkwo and Family drove for 600KM from Abuja to his village Igbo-Ukwu in Anambra State on the Christmas day 25/12/2015 and the number of people that he saw on the road driving from the North to East made him to ask – DO WE REALLY NEED THE BIAFRA WE ARE CLAMOURING  FOR. If all Biafrans returns home, what will all of us be doing and will the place contain all of us.

He concluded, “I, therefore, say that WE STILL NEED THIS ENTITY CALLED NIGERIA. Let’s get UNITED as what UNITES US IS MORE THAN WHAT DIVIDES US.”

ABOVE PHOTO: Demand for Biafra goes international

When he posted his observation on a Nigerian forum, Dr Okenwa Nwosu noted that “this is the first time I have read a contrary viewpoint being expressed by the generation which has led the current upsurge in pro-Biafra protests in the Southeast and Southsouth geopolitical zones.”

Dr Nwosu made three straightforward observations: 1. Those who now clamor for Biafra must understand that they still need the entity called Nigeria. 2.  He Forthrightly recommend the continuation of a “UNITED” Nigeria and preservation of the status quo. 3.  What “UNITES US IS MORE THAN WHAT DIVIDES US”.

Chief Uwazuruike, MASSOB Leader

Dr Nwosu also wrote: “The above pronouncements are substantive but they require additional elucidation.

“If you can indeed prove that what unite Nigeria are much more than what divide the polity, then you shall have scored with a slam dunk. The next task in accomplishing your key objective shall then be much easier. All one needs, going forward, may be to mount enlightenment campaigns to spread the “gospel truth” to those who are completely fed up with the status quo and thus are determined to pull the Nigerian edifice down for reconstruction from its very foundation. I believe that, once your main points are stated, there are likely to be counterpoints emanating from those who clamor for Biafra or any other emergent configurations as the only redemptive path for contemporary Nigeria.”

Engr Okonkwo believes that What UNITES us is more than what DIVIDES us because of the following:

(1) More than 70% of the Assets of the South Easterners are either in the West (Lagos) and North (Kano). If Biafra stays do you think we will have an avenue to support these assets even over time if we want to REPLICATE it in the EAST. It  will really be difficult.

(2) In area of Agriculture, can we feed ourselves all year round in BIAFRA. At present do you know the support East gets from the North and North gets from East. Can we make it effectively when we stay on our own even overtime.

(3) Population is also a HUGE FACTOR IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. I know you will say what of small SINGAPORE but remember we are in Africa and we need the population of Nigeria at the moment to LEVERAGE on that.

(4) The last but not the least is LEADERSHIP. Who becomes the PRESIDENT OF BIAFRA. This is where the RUBBER WILL MEET THE ROAD. Can we see what is happening in SOUTH SUDAN.

With the few points above, He maintains that Igbos need this ENTITY called NIGERIA. “Let us all put in HUGE EFFORTS TO JOINTLY FIX IT.”

As one who witnessed the civil war though as a kid but can still remember what it was like,Mr Dan Ubeh have a somewhat different viewpoint. He wrote:

The “exodus”of Ndi’Igbo streaming only toward one direction – the southeast that made Mr Okonkwo began to wonder with regards to Biafra that if all these people will congregate in this narrow space called the southeast, will this be enough to accommodate all? To him this is not unusual.

“This is the nature of Ndi’Igbo and no one can take that away from them. Any part of the globe where you can’t find an Ibo man……run…that place is not habitable and there is no “bizinessi” there. This is a God given endowment and no one can take that away from them.”

However, this is no proof that what unite us as nation is more than what divide us.

“What becomes of assets owed by Ndi’Igbo in Lagos and elsewhere in Nigeria if the agitation for the nation of Biafra is actualized. It is no longer news that Ndi’Igbo have dominance of choose property situated across Lagos and elsewhere in Nigeria. I am sure if the nation of Biafra must be, technical details on how the separation will be effected must be worked out. Time is past when some people will anex what does not belong to them. Not in the world of today.

“Who says we can’t feed ourselves all year round. Granted that we still get some agricultural produce from the north, that does not suggest we can’t produce most of those here. Staying on our own does not also mean we can’t do business with other nations. 

“For obvious economic reasons, population appears to be a positive factor but there are a number small independent nations today doing very well economically. And so why would the state of Biafra be different if realized.

Protesters in South east demand release of Nnamdi Kano, a Bifran Activist and Director off Biafra currently detained by Nigeria authorities despite a court order for his release

“Where I have the greatest concern is with leadership. Ndi’Igbo seem not to be able to come together under a leader. Everyone wants to lead whether qualified or not. In today’s Nigeria ask Ndi’Igbo to produce the next president for Nigeria….what you will find will surprise you. Half the population of the Ibos will show up……all wanting to be president. This for me is an area Ndi’Igbo need to work on.

“In all, I would want to agree we are better of in Nigeria but our energy should and must be channelled towards asking for equitable balance in geopolitical framework of Nigeria. I say this because in Nigeria of today, there is no corporate or other wise entity you go to today and will not find an Ibo man there in one capacity or the other. Our agitation as Ndi’Igbo should gear towards asking for political influence in Nigeria to enable consolidation of the gains made this far inspite of all the effort being made by Nigeria to put Ndi’Igbo down. Like the ad of those days, “you can’t kill the bettle” Ndi’Igbo need Nigeria as much as Nigeria needs Ndi’Igbo”.

To Mr Daniel Akusiobi, “Igbos everywhere – in any office, but deprived of political power to influence policies. Most Igbo feats in Nigeria are personal affairs.”

“We are talking about whatever we call national cakes outside Abuja allocations. The federal presence in Alaigbo that may quail all these agitations would include a second Niger bridge Igbos won’t have to pay for. Developing a seaport like we have in Lagos , somewhere in the Eastern region, good federal roads. Having an Igbo be secretary of commerce and Industry for Nigeria does not translate into a good federal road in Igbo. He or she is there to serve Nigeria, not the Igbos.

“There shall not be Biafra. We can however have a country, Nigeria, that knows the SS/SE also share in that name, Nigeria. That is not asking for much.”

The obstacles against the successful establishment of a New Biafra now are much greater than those that confronted the UDI for Biafra in 1967, interjected Dr Ola Kassim who wrote:

“Nigeria is currently much more ethnically intertwined through marriages and through individual choices of where to live, work and raise their children than it was in 1967. There are millions of young Igbo men and women who live work or attend schools and universities in other regions of Nigeria, who beyond brief Xmas holidays spent in the SE would have no clues about how to find their original homesteads with or without GPS devices.

“The SE is to the vast majority of the Igbo living in all other regions of Nigeria  and across the world what the Republic of Israel is to the worldwide Jewish Diaspora. Just as there are more Jews outside of  Israel than those who live within her borders. it is also possible that almost half of the Igbo live outside of the SE.

“Diaspora Jews have an emotional attachment to the state of Israel and are the Jewish nation’s  most ardent supporters even though the vast majority would never visit Israel not to mention move permanently to live and work in the country during their lifetime.

“Diaspora Igbo would do much better by investing in Igboland and empowering their people through the creation of industries and industrial manufacturing facilities that would provide employment opportunities for millions of currently jobless Igbo youths.

Nnamdi Kanu resurrected the ghost of Biafra

“Just like the Diaspora worldwide, the Igbo Diaspora have  three choices to make regarding their original homelands.

“Firstly they could live all their lives in their adopted homelands or countries of their birth without caring a hoot about what happens or does not happen to their close and distant blood relations in their ancestral homelands.

“Secondly, they could develop an interest in the welfare of those they or their parents and grandparents left behind in their ancestral homelands by pooling their disposable incomes to help in he socioeconomic development of their peoples. 

“The third choice for the wealthy and financially comfortable Diaspora  is to help escalate conflicts in their original homelands by donating funds to purchase weapons to fight a war in support of the secessionist aspirations of a minority of their own ethnic groups in Nigeria.

“Nnamdi Kanu used the platform of the WIC to seek donations that would enable IPOB to purchase weapons that would be used in a war against the FGN of Nigeria. There is no evidence that the WIC agreed to champion the call for donations that would lead to the dismemberment of Nigeria as a unified country!

“There are probably more Igbo living and working outside of Nigeria who support the idea of a Republic of Biafra than are amongst those who live in the SE and other regions of Nigeria. 

“Another major obstacle to Biafra in 2015 is the definition of her borders compared to what pertained in 1967. How many of the ethnic minorities in the SS would willingly vote to be part of New Biafra if a referendum is scheduled for tomorrow?

“Does the SE have the capacity to employ and provide enough housing units to accommodate the millions of the Igbo who might decide to move back to their ancestral homeland once the UDI for New Biafra is declared and the war to retake the occupied territories begin anew just like in 1967?

“Does the SE have enough jobs in both the public and private sectors of the economy to employ both skilled and unskilled amongst the Igbo who might chose to relocate to New Biafra? 

“Who are the true leaders of the SE? Are they their Governors, Senators and HOR members who represent the zone in the state capitals and in Abuja or are they the leaders of secessionists groups such as IPOB and MASSOB?

“Would the New Biafra grant citizenship rights to non-Igbo Nigerians outside of those of SS origins or would these folks be deported back to their homelands in the SW, SS and the North? 

“How many countries with seats in the UN would chose –given the current conditions –to violate the territorial integrity of Nigeria, a member nation and for what reasons?”

These are pertinent questions and Dr Kassim does not believe that Igbos are deliberately marginalised in the polity. In his opinion, the SE just like the rest of Nigeria suffers from huge infrastructure deficits and high youth unemployment as well as decreasing quality of life for the vast majority of her citizens at the lower rungs of the socio-economic leader, this finding alone is insufficient to consider the SE as an economically marginalized region of Nigeria.

South East and South South bound by common destiny

“The SE is considerably blessed with people whose considerable work ethic, this has enabled them to succeed and thrive no matter in where in the world they live and work. 

“Any one who considers the SE economically marginalized has probably never visited the hinterlands of the Niger Delta from where the oil that keeps the economic engine of the nation running is derived, visit most of the villages and towns in the SW, NW, NE and NC outside of the few cities that dot the landscape would no doubt come to the conclusion that most of Nigeria’s densely populated cities are megaslums while most of our non-urban areas have not progressed farther than how they  were since the 1960s. 

“Politicians and senior bureaucrats from other regions of Nigeria have also not done that much better than those of the SE considering that most of these officials steal a lion’s share of the resources that are meant for the socio-economic development of those they represent and to whom they have sworn to serve.

“I almost wept about a decade ago when on a visit to Nigeria, a friend of mine decided that we should take a detour into the homestead of Tafa Balogun, the disgraced former Inspector General of the NPF. I could not imagine that someone who was so privileged and who stole billions of Naira of the funds meant for the men and women who served in the NPF had a zero impact on his own people.

“There were under nourished naked children roaming around in the desolate landscape that is village of the a former leader of the second largest police force (next to Russia and the former USSR) in the world. This kind of neglect by political leaders is also common throughout Nigeria. The only difference is that Nigerians from the SW, SS and the North do not turn around and start accusing other Nigerians of marginalizing their region as our compatriots from the SE frequently do.”

In conclusion, the solution to Nigeria’s problem is good governance delivered by visionary elected and appointed political leaders. Secession of any region of Nigeria will NOT solve our problems, Dr Kassim stated.