WHY NNAMDI KANU’S BIAFRA
PROJECT MUST BE STOPPED
.
BY JOE IGBOKWE
.
Ever since former President Goodluck
Jonathan lost the presidential
election on March 28, 2015 which
some of us knew he would never win
based on the facts that we all knew
and the statistics available, a
majority of the Igbo have been
unhappy and angry. They have been
cursing and abusing the President
and the All Progressives Congress
leaders wishing that President
Buhari never existed and the APC
never formed. Many of them have
been so frustrated after the election
that they are now looking for a way
to get back to the APC-controlled
Federal Government.
.
Now, one Nnamdi Kanu who has
been dreaming about the State of
Biafra has provided a space for them
to vent their anger. Some of them
have joined him to begin to wish for
the State of Biafra.
.
Suddenly, the so-called Radio Biafra
has created a momentum for them.
On Facebook, I have watched with
keen interest what these guys dish
out on a daily basis in the name of
fighting for Biafra. They tell blatant
lies, create havoc, make terrible
noise, they abuse other Nigerians,
and they preach unimaginable
propaganda and hate that at once
put Igboland in potential danger. I
have been waiting for the South-East
governors to speak up but they have
maintained a deafening silence that
suggests complicity. I have also
waited for our elders to caution this
young man but nothing has
happened. With the so-called Radio
Biafra, Kanu has unleashed an
unimaginable trailer- load of lies
and potentially dangerous
propaganda that have put the Igbo
nation in danger. It is now 45 years
after the Nigeria- Biafra Civil War
and I think that Igbo must rise up
to stop this man who apparently
never saw the 1967-1970 Civil War
and who may not know the
implications of what he is doing. He
has never consulted anybody to seek
his opinion. He has been speaking
to the gullible and not too educated
people in Igboland, and very soon
these uneducated people will take a
dangerous decision that may
decimate and destroy Igboland.
.
Soon, our people will start
complaining that they were not
consulted. To be fore-warned is to
be fore-armed. Last week, I saw a
photo of agroup of people that gave
the impression that they are getting
a military training somewhere in
Igboland. Later, I saw another
photograph on Facebook with some
youths bearing guns and Kanu
standing with them. I may not know
where these pictures came from and
what they are planning to do but
this is the time to speak out and I
urge anybody who is anybody who
understands where we are coming
from to stand up now to be counted.
Woe betides a nation whose leaders
are children. If we elders do not talk
about this evil, posterity will never
forgive us. Let us speak out and if
these children do not hear us, then
it should be on record that we
spoke. About a month ago, the
barrage of lies and uncontrolled
propaganda Radio Biafra dished out
everyday drew the attention of the
National Broadcasting Commission
which asked Nigerians to stop
listening to the pirate radio station.
Now, here are compelling reasons
why the Igbo must remain in Nigeria
in their own interest: The Igbo
fought a civil war of self-
determination between 1967 and
1970 and lost about one million
people. This should be taken as a
huge price for the unity of this
country. Having made this
monumental supreme price, I think
the Igbo should work for the unity of
this country based on social justice,
equity and fair play.
.
Nigeria has three major ethnic
groups: Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and
Igbo. The Hausa/Fulani Empire has
Hausa people stretching all through
the Sahel to the Sudan. They are
mostly Muslims and they have
contact with the Arab world.
.
The Yoruba nation has Togo, Benin
Republic, Sierra Leone and even up
to Brazil and Cuba to run to where
their kinsmen are. The Igbo nation
has no outlet anywhere in the world
where the language is spoken.
Therefore, they must see Nigeria as
where they belong and work for its
survival.
.
Nigeria provided a big space for the
Igbo to spread their tentacles,
explore, excel and blossom. The
South-East is too small for this
highly mobile and dynamic people to
thrive.
.
The world pays attention to Nigeria
today because of our size and
population. If Nigeria splits into
smaller countries, the world will pack
their bag and baggage and leave.
.
Population and size make a nation a
destination. Ndigbo control between
60 and 70 per cent of all the imports
in Nigeria and other Nigerians,
Yoruba, Hausa/Fulani, Ijaw, Efik,
Birom, Tiv, Idoma etc provide a huge
market for Igbo mobile and big-time
traders. Monumental inter-marriages
between the Igbo and Yoruba and
other ethnic groups have thrived for
close to 70 years now that we cannot
just dismiss all these with a wave of
the hand.
.
Ndigbo own huge and massive
investments in property in Lagos and
Abuja, and other state capitals in
Nigeria. Now, are you going to wish
all this away?
.
Other Nigerian cities have provided
safe havens for the Igbo as places to
run to cool off whenever self-
inflicted crises arise or other
problems. When kidnapping became
a way of life in the South-East, our
people moved to other parts of
Nigeria to settle. Now, where will the
Igbo go when confronted with these
problems in Biafra?
.
How can the Igbo thrive without
their Lagos and Abuja or Port
Harcourt? What happens to all their
connections and relationships in
these places? We have been so
intermarried, interwoven,
intertwined, inter- related that the
idea of separation may not be
encouraged. I do not want to lose
my friends from the other parts of
Nigeria for anything.
.
I can go on but there is no need to
continue to do so. We must be
strong enough to stop this world’s
old problems of looking down on
people who are different from us.
This is the problem of Nigeria.
.
Nigeria’s diversity is a big plus for
all of us to excel. United we stand,
divided we fall. I confess that the
Igbo have not played better politics
in Nigeria since 1970 and that has
been our bane. Anytime Nigeria
wants to change a bad leadership in
the country, the Igbo as a bloc will
resist it. It happened in 1993 and
we lost everything. In 2015, the Igbo
were at it again but forces of history
prevailed. The Igbo can do better
than this...
.
PROJECT MUST BE STOPPED
.
BY JOE IGBOKWE
.
Ever since former President Goodluck
Jonathan lost the presidential
election on March 28, 2015 which
some of us knew he would never win
based on the facts that we all knew
and the statistics available, a
majority of the Igbo have been
unhappy and angry. They have been
cursing and abusing the President
and the All Progressives Congress
leaders wishing that President
Buhari never existed and the APC
never formed. Many of them have
been so frustrated after the election
that they are now looking for a way
to get back to the APC-controlled
Federal Government.
.
Now, one Nnamdi Kanu who has
been dreaming about the State of
Biafra has provided a space for them
to vent their anger. Some of them
have joined him to begin to wish for
the State of Biafra.
.
Suddenly, the so-called Radio Biafra
has created a momentum for them.
On Facebook, I have watched with
keen interest what these guys dish
out on a daily basis in the name of
fighting for Biafra. They tell blatant
lies, create havoc, make terrible
noise, they abuse other Nigerians,
and they preach unimaginable
propaganda and hate that at once
put Igboland in potential danger. I
have been waiting for the South-East
governors to speak up but they have
maintained a deafening silence that
suggests complicity. I have also
waited for our elders to caution this
young man but nothing has
happened. With the so-called Radio
Biafra, Kanu has unleashed an
unimaginable trailer- load of lies
and potentially dangerous
propaganda that have put the Igbo
nation in danger. It is now 45 years
after the Nigeria- Biafra Civil War
and I think that Igbo must rise up
to stop this man who apparently
never saw the 1967-1970 Civil War
and who may not know the
implications of what he is doing. He
has never consulted anybody to seek
his opinion. He has been speaking
to the gullible and not too educated
people in Igboland, and very soon
these uneducated people will take a
dangerous decision that may
decimate and destroy Igboland.
.
Soon, our people will start
complaining that they were not
consulted. To be fore-warned is to
be fore-armed. Last week, I saw a
photo of agroup of people that gave
the impression that they are getting
a military training somewhere in
Igboland. Later, I saw another
photograph on Facebook with some
youths bearing guns and Kanu
standing with them. I may not know
where these pictures came from and
what they are planning to do but
this is the time to speak out and I
urge anybody who is anybody who
understands where we are coming
from to stand up now to be counted.
Woe betides a nation whose leaders
are children. If we elders do not talk
about this evil, posterity will never
forgive us. Let us speak out and if
these children do not hear us, then
it should be on record that we
spoke. About a month ago, the
barrage of lies and uncontrolled
propaganda Radio Biafra dished out
everyday drew the attention of the
National Broadcasting Commission
which asked Nigerians to stop
listening to the pirate radio station.
Now, here are compelling reasons
why the Igbo must remain in Nigeria
in their own interest: The Igbo
fought a civil war of self-
determination between 1967 and
1970 and lost about one million
people. This should be taken as a
huge price for the unity of this
country. Having made this
monumental supreme price, I think
the Igbo should work for the unity of
this country based on social justice,
equity and fair play.
.
Nigeria has three major ethnic
groups: Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and
Igbo. The Hausa/Fulani Empire has
Hausa people stretching all through
the Sahel to the Sudan. They are
mostly Muslims and they have
contact with the Arab world.
.
The Yoruba nation has Togo, Benin
Republic, Sierra Leone and even up
to Brazil and Cuba to run to where
their kinsmen are. The Igbo nation
has no outlet anywhere in the world
where the language is spoken.
Therefore, they must see Nigeria as
where they belong and work for its
survival.
.
Nigeria provided a big space for the
Igbo to spread their tentacles,
explore, excel and blossom. The
South-East is too small for this
highly mobile and dynamic people to
thrive.
.
The world pays attention to Nigeria
today because of our size and
population. If Nigeria splits into
smaller countries, the world will pack
their bag and baggage and leave.
.
Population and size make a nation a
destination. Ndigbo control between
60 and 70 per cent of all the imports
in Nigeria and other Nigerians,
Yoruba, Hausa/Fulani, Ijaw, Efik,
Birom, Tiv, Idoma etc provide a huge
market for Igbo mobile and big-time
traders. Monumental inter-marriages
between the Igbo and Yoruba and
other ethnic groups have thrived for
close to 70 years now that we cannot
just dismiss all these with a wave of
the hand.
.
Ndigbo own huge and massive
investments in property in Lagos and
Abuja, and other state capitals in
Nigeria. Now, are you going to wish
all this away?
.
Other Nigerian cities have provided
safe havens for the Igbo as places to
run to cool off whenever self-
inflicted crises arise or other
problems. When kidnapping became
a way of life in the South-East, our
people moved to other parts of
Nigeria to settle. Now, where will the
Igbo go when confronted with these
problems in Biafra?
.
How can the Igbo thrive without
their Lagos and Abuja or Port
Harcourt? What happens to all their
connections and relationships in
these places? We have been so
intermarried, interwoven,
intertwined, inter- related that the
idea of separation may not be
encouraged. I do not want to lose
my friends from the other parts of
Nigeria for anything.
.
I can go on but there is no need to
continue to do so. We must be
strong enough to stop this world’s
old problems of looking down on
people who are different from us.
This is the problem of Nigeria.
.
Nigeria’s diversity is a big plus for
all of us to excel. United we stand,
divided we fall. I confess that the
Igbo have not played better politics
in Nigeria since 1970 and that has
been our bane. Anytime Nigeria
wants to change a bad leadership in
the country, the Igbo as a bloc will
resist it. It happened in 1993 and
we lost everything. In 2015, the Igbo
were at it again but forces of history
prevailed. The Igbo can do better
than this...
.
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