EditorialTHEWILL EDITORIAL: Nigeria: Soothing The Burning Agitation For Biafra

THEWILL EDITORIAL: Nigeria: Soothing The Burning Agitation For Biafra

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SAN FRANCISCO, MAY 26, (THEWILL) – When on May 30, 1967, then Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu announced the secession of the defunct eastern region from Nigeria, he declared that the action was caused by the marginalization suffered by the Igbo as well as the incessant instances of violence unleashed on them in other parts of the country.

The attempted secession triggered a fierce civil war which led to the killing of over 3 million Igbo natives. By the time the war finally ended in 1970, then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon came up with the “No Victor, No Vanquished” slogan to heal the wounds and even made an acronym of his name, GOWON, thus: Go On With One Nigeria.

Unfortunately, 50 years down the line, the issues that caused the war are still prevalent. According to those agitating for an independent state of Biafra, the Nigerian federation is still marginalizing them, and of course the actions and inactions of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government lend credence to this. Instances abound but the exclusion of the eastern corridor in the construction of standard rail lines across the country is a glaring case in point.

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In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the declaration of Biafra, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, and some members of the Biafra Independent Movement, BIM, have directed their members to observe a sit-at-home on May 30.

According to MASSOB’s National Director of Information, Edeson Samuel, the day would be used to plan a referendum and honour those who died during the war that lasted from 1967-1970.

Whether the continued agitation for the carving out of a Biafra state out of the present-day Nigeria is right or wrong can be situated within the many developments that have taken place in the country since the war ended. It is worrisome that nothing much came out from the Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, promised by the Gowon regime to heal the wounds of war.

In terms of federal appointments, it appears the Igbo are still being punished for the civil war which they were obviously forced to fight. From one administration after another, these people which before the war were a force to be reckoned with in Nigerian politics have been literarily reduced to second-class citizens in what should be their country.

For instance, in the current Federal Government, no Igbo person is occupying any of the four top protocol positions and other strategic placements dominated by persons from a particular part of the country.

Also, in terms of the location of federal institutions and project, the region has been denied some strategic projects. True that residents of the predominantly Igbo states in eastern Nigeria did not vote overwhelmingly for the Buhari-Osinbajo ticket preferring the Jonathan-Sambo ticket, it is does not make any sense to marginalise the region.

The Federal Government is not serious about its much-publicised intention to upgrade the Akanu Ibiam airport in Enugu to an international facility. While no petroleum refinery or viable power plant has yet been located in the South-East, the issue of the much-needed second Niger Bridge has become a political issue, among others.

It is ironical for the country’s leaders to continue to posit that the civil war upsets have been healed when the zone remains the only one with five states, while others have between six and seven. Also, out of the 776 local councils in the country, the zone has a total of 95, whereas two states in the North-West have as many as that.

If the country must be managed as one, the current system where one region dominates the rest must be reviewed. Unless these issues are corrected, the expression in George Orwell’s novel, “All animals are equal but some are more equal than others,” would continue to ignite separatist tendencies across the country, and would continue to throw up mediocre leadership.

THEWILL is concerned that unless this lopsided configuration of the country is curtailed, it would not only make for an intensified demand for restructuring but could make an independent Biafra state become a reality.

It is an absurdity that the South-East zone of the country could be so treated, despite the fact that Section 17 (1) of the 1999 Constitution states that Freedom, Equality and Justice will be the cord that binds the federating units, nay the country together.

Five decades after the anti-Igbo pogroms in the northern Nigeria, which caused them to flee from the area, the same ill treatment has continued against them till date in the name of ethnic and religious killings – it is sad that masterminds of the brutal murder of Bridget Agbahime in Kano last June for allegedly blaspheming Prophet Mohammed have not been brought to book.

While we abhor any form of violence by the Biafra agitators in advancing their campaign, THEWILL calls on the Federal Government to use this occasion of the remembrance of the Ojukwu declaration to consider the calls for the country’s restructuring so that the six geo-political zones can breath the air of equality resulting in national harmony.

However, if this must be accomplished, we urge leaders of the zone to come together and pursue a common goal. The current posture where some South-East politicians are at variance with the perceived common course and cause will only complicate the situation.

THEWILL concedes that the Igbo have a right to agitate for a fair treatment in the country but we advise them to remain non-violent in their agitation and follow internationally enshrined statutes to actualize their quest for Biafra.

At a time when eminent Nigerians, including former President Goodluck Jonathan and former Vice President Atiku Abubarkar have lent their voices to restructuring, only a true federalism could douse the infectious calls for the balkanisation of the country. Government should heed the advice from former president Olusegun Obasanjo who was recently reported as saying that those agitating for Biafra should be begged and brought to the negotiation table.

In the main, THEWILL demands that the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference should be immediately implemented to address the several complaints of inequality in Nigeria and put the country on a sound footing for progress.

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