Personal Reflections on Biafra

By Msonter Anzaa

The Nigerian polity is currently heated. Apart from the president's health challenges which have virtually relegated him to the background, there are renewed agitations for the independent State of Biafra. Not only that. There is unease in the Middle Belt state of Benue where leaders of Fulani cattle breeders associations are vowing to disobey an anti-open grazing law made by the state. They have even gone a notch higher to claim that they were the original inhabitants of the Benue valley and are involved in a struggle to assume control of its natural resources. Since then, the Benue people and government have been kicking, urging the federal government to call the Fulani to order and thwart their agenda of occupation.

Back to Biafra. A Biafran group has reportedly given the federal government six months to conduct a referendum in Biafran territory on its independence from the rest of the federation. As a response, a coalition of youth organizations in the North under the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) have given Igbos in the North until October 1 to leave, and also urged Northerners living in Biafran territory to leave by the same deadline. While Nigerians are reacting in various ways on social media and elsewhere, the federal government has dismissed the eviction notice served the Igbos. The governor of Kaduna State where the declaration was made has asked the Police to arrest and prosecute the the signatories to the document. The Northern Governors Forum has also condemned the declaration. And the Emir of Katsina has reportedly assured the Igbo in Katsina of their safety. But it is not everyone that is condemning the eviction declaration. The Northern Elders Forum has refused to call the Arewa youths to order. It's spokesman, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, reportedly told newsmen the forum will not condemn the declaration until Igbo elders condemn agitations for Biafra. At the moment, the Igbo are caught up between whether to succumb to the Arewa threat or put their trust in the assurances of the government.

While these issues have become deeply entrenched emotional flash points in our federation, a peaceful way forward cannot be articulated without a proper impartial evaluation. Agitators for Biafra have made their point again and again - that they have been maltreated by the remainder of Nigeria and victimized in the nation's affairs since the Civil War. Consequently, following failure of the federal government to reassure the Igbo through dialogue and appropriate policy adjustments, they prefer an independent state of their own. The truth is, Nigeria has always responded only superficially to the complaints of Ndigbo. For the most part we have responded by reminding them that they ought to be content with their lot since it has not been very long since they fought to secede from the federation. We have continued to treat every agitation of the Igbo with suspicion and sometimes frank animosity. The body language of most Nigerians seems to show they are tired of the Igbos. However, for not very clear reasons, they don't want the Igbos to leave.

The Igbos may have become rather popular for agitation, but the remaining regions of the country are not doing much different. In the Middle Belt, indigenes are vocally expressing their tiredness about putting up with Fulani herdsmen who have no apparent regard for law and order or human life. The indigenes are equally not amused by the federal government's lack of a firm policy on the Fulani phenomenon and are desirous of an arrangement that will give them more control over their affairs. The South-West has made it very clear that in the event of the secession of Biafra, it will also automatically cease to be part of the federation. Elsewhere, there is a consensus that as currently constituted, this country cannot achieve equity in administration of resources and political power.

Therefore, the truth is that the Biafran agitation is not an isolated pathology by itself. Instead, it is only the chief complaint of a nation with multiple pathologies. The scientific thing to do is not to try to suppress it, but to do a thorough history-taking and laboratory investigation in order to arrive at a correct diagnosis. Notwithstanding the narrative that best appeals to our side of the dispute, we must realize that the way forward requires us to look objectively at our position and see the excesses in our own proposition. For example, we cannot pretend that Nigeria has been fair to the Igbos. She has not. Since the Civil War, the Igbo man and his descendants have carried the stigma of a betrayer. This exists not only in political circles. It exists in our daily interactions with the Igbos on social media and across the several markets in this country where they trade. At the slightest provocation, the rest of us have often told the Igbos to "go home," as though they belonged to a different country. Be that as it may, the Igbos must also realize that constant agitation for secession has considerably worn-off the goodwill of Nigerians. Particularly, they must recognize that there is no armed solution to this problem. It failed in the past and has no promise in the present. Their language and approach must reflect this sober reality.

All Nigerians must realize that we owe ourselves the truth. We cannot totally avoid one another even if every region becomes an independent state. At best, we will be neighbours to one another still having to deal with cross border security, trade and citizen diplomacy. Since only partial separation is possible - and total separation is not desirable even if it were feasible - why don't we try to achieve a new sructural configuration that provides just enough separation while retaining unity in othe areas? This will enable each region to develop at its pace and establish such legal and cultural structures that suit the aspirations of its people without causing or attracting offense from other regions. The means of attaining this configuration may be difficult, but we are better-off if our conversation is focused on it than on the self-destroying allures of secession.

This  article has been published in The Nation Newspaper of June 22, 2017.

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