Biafra: The Road not being Taken

   By Msonter Anzaa

At the moment, there is palpable tension in the South East State of Abia, where the Nigerian Army has been clashing with Biafran agitators belonging to the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB. The Army says it is in the South East for a routine military exercise code-named “Python Dance” which involves a display of military might and is aimed at curtailing the wave of kidnapping, armed robbery and agitation sweeping across the region. The governor of Abia State has imposed a 3-day curfew on the state capital. Following clashes at the house of IPOB’s leader, Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB members are reportedly pouring into the town in their numbers to express solidarity with their leader. Nnamdi Kanu has revealed that IPOB has set up a secret security outfit. The federal government is asking the court for permission to re-arrest Kanu for allegedly violating his bail terms. The cycle is typical of the one preceding the Nigerian Civil War.

While this is going on, its implications are not lost on Nigerians. The social media are awash with speculations and alarms about a possible descent into another civil war. Well-meaning Nigerians are calling for calm and urging restraint. Attempts at mediating some form of peace by governors of the South East have largely been unsuccessful. Therefore, at a time when decent daily living is almost beyond the reach of the majority of Nigerians due to economic hardship, when Fulani aggression against indigenous communities has become a regular routine and the Boko Haram insurgency is still touching the nation where it hurts, Nigeria is freewheeling down the slope to another war.

War is not necessary to solve the issues of agitation in this country. In fact, war will only complicate them. Agitations are the alarm clocks that re-awaken a nation to her need for constant evolution and change. A nation whose people are agitating will be making a significant mistake if it focuses on stopping the agitations while doing nothing about the underlying causes. Unfortunately, that appears to be Nigeria’s policy towards Biafra. While it is the duty of the federal government to ensure the continued unity of Nigeria, it is important how the government goes about doing this.

The fundamental issues underlying and fueling agitations for Biafra are not hidden. There is a fundamental problem in Nigeria. In the South East, it manifests as agitation for secession. In the Middle Belt, it manifests as agitation against oppression and occupation by the Fulani, and in the North East, it manifests as Boko Haram. Elsewhere in Nigeria, it manifests as growing dissatisfaction of the people with the government. Nigerians are getting continually frustrated with the seeming eternally crippling inability of governments at all levels to live up to their basic obligations. Why is it so hard for the common man to feel the presence of government? Why do government projects not ever succeed? Why can governments not even pay their workers anymore? Why is there so much money available for stealing and yet so little available for legitimate use in Nigeria? Why is the management of the nation’s wealth concentrated in the hands of very few officials? Why must all the people look up to the federal government for things as elementary as salaries? Why has going on strike become a national sport enjoyed by nearly all sectors of national life?

In Nigeria, a school pupil in need of money for textbooks has to look up to his parents who must look up to the local government authority which must look up to the state government which must in turn look up to the federal government for sustenance. And when hoodlums attack a village, the village head has to look up to the local government chairman who must look up to the state governor who himself must look up to the president for the ultimate deployment of security. Why shouldn’t state or regional governments explore resources in their own lands, set up and command their own security apparatus and make their own laws about how their people want to organize their affairs? These questions are not being asked exclusively in Biafra. They are commonly shared sentiments across the nation.

The way forward, therefore, is to hold genuine dialogue among ourselves and evolve a new federal structure which, while preserving our unity as a nation, simultaneously provides sufficient flexibility to accommodate the expression of our unique differences and preferences. This is a fair deal for all the regions except those who want an over-powerful federal government behind which they hope to hide in order to subjugate other components of this nation for purposes other than the attainment of common good for our people. It is the refusal of this current crop of politicians – and the failure of the rest of us – to insist on that new structure that is responsible for the large followership IPOB’s secession argument is gathering in the South East and even in the Middle Belt.

Therefore, let the federal government exercise caution in its display of force. Let the indigenes of the South East also realize that dialogue is the way out of this problem. Let us not allow personal ego and adventurism push our country into the insatiable embers of civil war. Let IPOB not be allured by offers of military, political or economic assistance from foreign countries. If war comes to South East Nigeria, it will leave its impact on the people, the land and the economy of the region, not another country. All of us have a duty to put an immediate stop to the ongoing mutual provocation. With determination and genuine good will for a better future, we can still pull our nation from the brink of war. This is the road that is not being taken concerning Biafra.

Read also Personal Reflections on Biafra