BIAFRA REPUBLIC: TRIVIALIZING THE SECESSION STRUGGLE by SHABA Mafu.

The agitation for the Independent State of Biafra began almost when the last British colonialist lifted his foot finally off the soil of Nigeria. Few years after independence of Nigeria from the colonial rule of the British, precisely January 15, 1966, there was the first military coup d’état led by Major Kaduna Nzeogwu of the South-Eastern part of the nation resulting in the coming in as the military Head of State, Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, an Ibo man of the  South-Eastern extraction. Though the coup had nothing to do with secession bid, the reaction to the coup by the Northern military officers and the people from that region, led to the  agitation for Biafran secession from the ‘contraction’ they called Nigeria, on the long-run. The January coup was targeted at the elimination of some certain key personalities of the North such as the Prime-Minister of Nigeria, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, the Sarduana of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello and others. However, it was countered in a bloody coup staged in July 29^th of same year by some young military man from the Northern part of the country. Before the July counter-coup, there was a reported pogrom in the North against the Ibos of the South-East as an additional affliction suffered along with those murdered in the counter-coup later staged.  The Head of State, General Aguiyi Ironsi was murdered in the counter-coup.  The unbearable massacre of the Ibos became a build-up to the thirty months civil war of attrition in an attempt for the Biafrans to secede from the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The protagonist and head of the Biafran secession bid was late Major Odumegwu Ojukwu, while the then Nigerian Head of State at the time was Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon. Millions of Nigerians died in that war of bitterness. It was a war that Nigerians cannot forget in the annals of this nation. Nigeria celebrates the end of this war by a yearly national programme called the Army Remembrance Day which is usually marked 15th of January every year, the day the civil war was declared over in 1970.

After the civil war, the Ibos had felt seriously marginalized especially in the political distribution of the country till now. Ironically, ever since Major- General Aguiyi Ironsi, the murdered Head of State ruled Nigeria for barely six months, no one from that geographical zone had ever headed this country again. The Ibos had been terribly embittered by this continuous treatment of monumental marginalization. Accompanied with other sundry factors, the Ibos strongly felt that the best way for them to fulfill destiny as a nation was to launch a secession bid to cut itself off and out of the whole entity called Nigeria. Fuelled by the fact that Nigeria as a political cum geographical contraction orchestrated by the British without the consent of the indigenous players, the Ibos felt they had the right to also secede from the arrangement without undue inhibition from any quarters.

The Ibos had adopted different approaches to drive home their agitation, first to the Nigerian state and then to the international community. Some of the approaches were sometimes not only confrontational to the Nigerian government but violently executed, with the government repressing the agitators and sometimes branding the leaders as having committed treasonable felony. Different groups have consequently emerged from the same region for the same purpose.  This is to roundly articulate their position of frustration and enduring bitterness of marginalization. Groups like Movement for Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) led by Chief Ralph Uwazuruike;  Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) by Nnamdi Kanu;  Biafra Zionist Federation (BZF) headed by Benjamin Igwe Onwuka.  These groups with their different leaders had not worked coherently with other political leaders of the same geographical zone. There have been times of serious disagreements with the citizens and the governors of the Eastern states. For instance, IPOB under Nnamdu Kanu, had categorically stated that it is going to disrupt the forth-coming Anambra State gubernatorial elections come November 18, 2017.  Besides, he has established Biafra Radio where constantly launches his campaign of hate speeches against the Nigerian state. This position has put him at loggerheads, not only with the governors of the States of the region but also against prominent lbo leaders and the federal government at large. The federal government has already issued a warning through the Department of State Services (DSS) that it will deal with anyone or group which attempts to disrupt the in-coming gubernatorial elections, however, MASSOB tacitly supports the governorship elections coming up.

The clamour for the Biafran nation took another twist when Nnamdi Kanu having recently regained his freedom from incarceration had demanded that the government had to objectively conduct a referendum to determine the true mindset of the people of the South-East whether they still want to be part of Nigeria or not. The government’s response to this particular call has been cold. It had rather preached the potency of maintaining in diversity. Nigerian nation is an indivisible entity made to grow and flourish in unity despite our differences – this is the definite response of the government.  This is to mean that the Biafra agitation and quest for a referendum cannot hold water, at least for now; as such the demand for a referendum may never see the light of the day. The position of the government has always angered the Ibos (the Easterners) the more. In the course of time, one could neatly observe that the groups agitating for the independence of this region are definitely not united as one. They appear uncoordinated, highly incoherent in their collaborative efforts to achieve a common goal. The approaches adopted are turning the entire struggle into a mockery, thus trivializing the entire project.

On the 1^st of August, 2017, one of the groups, Biafra Zionist Federation led by Benjamin Igwe Onwuka declared the secession of the Republic of Biafra without consultations with leaders of other groups like Chief Ralph Uwazuruike of MASSOB and Nnnamdi Kanu of IPOB. He unanimously declared the republic without any geographical delineation or hoisting of Biafran flag(s) anywhere on the ‘Biafran’ land. There was no evidence of the Biafran currency. The leader of the Zionist Federation who is the ‘interim President’ of the new nation, addressing the Nigeria Union of Journalists at Enugu Secretariat (Enugu is in the Federal Republic of Nigeria) announced the secession and the consequent independence of the Republic of Biafra. This same Onwuka had at a time on June 5, 2014, attempted but failed to declare the secession of the Republic.  He was arrested and charged with treason. But this time around, he has taken a bolder and more ridiculous step by announcing his new cabinet in the newly declared Republic. Obviously, the secession was certainly without any ceremonies and it appears that the federal Government of Nigeria has simply ignored his childishness.

In the new cabinet formed by the interim President of the Biafra Republic are Professor Charles Soludo for Governor of the Central Bank of Biafra; Professor Pat Utomi as Foreign affairs Minister; Ms Arunah Oteh for Finance; Chief Nnia Nwodo, Ambassador of the Republic of Biafra to the United states of America; Professor Jerry Gana  from Niger State for Information; Labaran Maku for Aviaition; Professor Nnaji for Energy; Gabriel Osagie Oluwole for Education; Mrs Okafor will be in charge of Trade and Industry, while Benny Lar (from Plateau State in Nigeria) will be the Secretary to the Republic of Biafra. Meanwhile, the ‘president’ would pay great allegiance to America and Israel, because America, particularly, had recognized Biafra Republic when Barak Obama was the President of America. The two strong nations (America and Israel) had been given serious assignment of ‘securing and sustaining’ the new republic. Consequently, Biafra will operate as their suzerain state for now.

While all these are in progress, the Kanu-led faction has predicated his own declaration upon referendum and the complete or appreciable exodus of the Ibos to the South come October 1, 2017 deadline given by the Arewa (Youths) Consultative Forum (ACF) of the Northern extraction, led by Ambassador Yerima Shettima. We would not know whether Kanu will eventually become the permanent president of the new nation or form part of the Kitchen-cabinet of the present arrangement of ‘President’ Benjamin Igwe Onwuka. That as it may, where is the place of Ralph Uwazuruike in all these arrangements?

History reminds us that Lt. col Odemegwu Ojukwu in his time was more deft and decisive than this childish dance in the arena. He staked his life and all he had for the redemption of his people. He had all plans and arrangement on ground before declaring his new republic in the mid 60s before the civil war began. Biafran flags were hoisted, their currency were in circulation, there was geographical delineation, there was a fighting force of the Biafran soldiers who fought to defend the territorial integrity of a well-defined new nation. It was truly a secession plan. All these outstanding preparations are obviously lacking in Onwuka’s jocular new Biafra and his seceding comrades. As for Nnamdi Kanu, most of the acclaimed followers are the peasants who have neither economic power to wield nor any connections to ensure the possibility, survival or sustenance of a new independent nation even if the secession succeeds. All the struggles of the contemporary times are childish and a pure mockery of a serious-minded people with a fundamental project at hand. This is purely a mockery of a secession bid.

Nigeria can achieve greatness as one indivisible nation. The best way to accommodate every section of this country is to restructure the country even through mass referendum or the implementation of the popular and well-articulated provisions of the 2014 constitutional conference held under the leadership of the former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

Every section of Nigeria will fare better if we reverse to the old or modernized regional structure with more attendant characteristics of a true federal arrangement. This will reduce the cries of marginalization across the country. With this proposed arrangement, the Ibos can climb to the highest ladder of the political terrain of the country when the central government is deliberately made less attractive. The regions can be allowed to develop at its own pace with healthy developmental competitiveness with one another.  The regions can regulate effectively their religions activities and also field their regional police. With this arrangement, the central government will concentrate on maintaining the exclusive list generally agreed to by all regions, with special reference to defence, currency and external relations. The issue of resource control shall be in the concurrent list. While the federal government controls international boundaries, regions are allowed to control the resources within their jurisdictions with the attendant royalties and necessary taxes remitted to the central purse of the federal government.

While the Biafrans have legitimate rights to protest their obvious marginalization, just as other parts of the country also cry of being marginalized in one way or the other, the solution does not lie in breaking into pieces, but of unity in diversity through consensual restructuring.