I understand that I am stepping into controversial waters but I feel this has to be said, given the fact that Urhobo-Isokoland is added to the proposed Biafra Nation. Silence may mean consent. This has to be said and I anticipate a very exciting and non-tribalistic discussion of the issues I have raised. I have already made this comment on a thread elsewhere on this forum but I need it to be a thread of its own in order to attract more comments and reach out to IPOB youths which the message is directed to.
The Igbo people do have an inalienable right to self-determination. If the majority of Igbos support Biafra, there is certainly no problem with that. Nigeria was never a discussed nation. I believe that the FG should look into the request of the Igbos and find a permanent solution to their agitations. The international community should as well be consulted and wooed to the Igbo cause. However, my issues with the current Biafra ideology being propagated by IPOB are as follows:
1. The addition of tribes that have historically not been in Biafra such as Urhobo-Isoko and Itsekiri. These tribes have never been and have never pledged or advocated for Biafra. In fact, many Urhobos have never even heard of the word before. So there is no basis for the addition of these people.
2. The addition of non-Igbo tribes in the South South. It is true that many of the minorities in the former Eastern Region were in the extinct Biafran republic but it must be emphasised that only a few of them commiserated with the cause. Currently, less than 1% of members of these ethnic minorities are sympathetic to the Biafran project. Many don’t trust the motives of IPOB, which added them to maps without due consultation. The mistrust is further exacerbated by the reactions of IPOB youths online when confronted with the reality that members of minority tribes are NOT interested in Biafra.
I have been hearing the common idea of a referendum from IPOB and Igbos but as far as I am concerned, there won’t be any referendum in the South-South because the people haven’t asked for it. Referendums are conducted on request and no minority tribe has asked for any in line with the Biafran ideology. In the SE, an overwhelming majority subscribe to Biafra so there won’t also be a need for any referendum as the outcome would be certain.
If IPOB is to succeed and attract sympathy, it should remain an IGBO affair as it is. After all, how many of the so-called minorities join in protests and the propagandist movement? Will they eat from where they did not work? From all the comments on the internet and the reality on ground, it is obvious even to the blind that minorities do not want Biafra. Why force yourself and your ideology on them? Isn’t it wise to speak for only your ethnicity and agitate for an Igbo Biafra? If the minorities want Biafra, they should agitate for it then an agreement will be reached. Don’t force it down their throats. Many of these minorities have strong voices in the nation because of their oil and Nigeria WILL NEVER let them go except the minorities themselves reject Nigeria -which I have not seen any doing-. If Biafra is to leave Nigeria smoothly, focus on Igboland and leave areas where Nigeria has huge investments in. It simply won’t work as Nigeria won’t lose Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta and Bayelsa, etc, without a fight! Biafrans should cater for their own first and if Biafra is achieved, she may then extend a hand of fellowship to the neighbouring groups.
3. Use of emotions, rather than logic and reason to make arguments. I will concede that this is shown mainly by the semi-literate IPOB member with an internet connection. If you come online to hear the arguments proferred for Biafra, many are ridden with tribalism against the Hausa-Yoruba. The Hausa-Yoruba are people too and have their own wishes and aspirations. You may not want to be in a country with them doesn’t mean you should hate them. I also understand that they return the hate as well but the circle will never end if you guys don’t get your priorities right. As an Urhobo, I have seen many comments by Igbos geared towards annexing us whether we want it or not. To them, the whole of Delta is Biafraland without even realising that Delta was never part of Biafra to begin with. This campaign of calumny, heightened by sentiments, have created enemies of many minorities. I have heard discussions by Urhobos/Itsekiris and even Ibibios about Igbo and Biafra and nothing good was said whatsoever. I won’t blame them for it. They simply reacted to what they’ve seen, especially on the internet.
4. Playing Lugard. Although this is just a repetition of what I had said, I wish to emphasise again in concrete terms. The Igbos frequently reference Nigeria as the Lugardian experiment. This is totally correct. One of the problems in Nigeria is multilingualism. At the onset, we operated a regional system and tribalism was still a very serious issue. In fact, so bad was tribalism in the regional system that it caused a civil war. Biafra proponents frequently cite regionalism and resource control as the basis for the addition of non-Igbo speaking tribes to Biafra. If regionalism didn’t work in a multiethnic Nigeria, what will be different in a multiethnic Biafra? A lot has happened since the previous agitation and many of the Nigerian minorities are genuinely wary of Nigeria’s major ethnic groups, including the Igbos. You cannot sweep this under the carpet all of a sudden. IPOB should focus more on building bridges and building its public image to the minorities if they really want them in Biafra. You can’t force people into a marriage that they don’t want. Don’t play Lugard all over again.
5. Lack of good strategy. If you need a nation. You have to get intellectuals – political scientists, economists, scientists, sociologists, lawyers, etc – to draw a map and make useful contributions to the cause. This is where MASSOB has done better than IPOB. Many of the modern day Biafran agitators are traders, who are not even in Igboland to begin with, semi-literates and pure illiterates. They lack the wherewithal to draw a good action plan that will involve all Igbos. Protests are good but what have they achieved so far? NOTHING!!! Biafra also needs a charismatic leader. Nnamdi Kanu preaches too much violence and he is a war-monger. Biafra tried violence in 1967 and it didn’t work. You need a different strategy. Organise a think-tank, engage the many Igbo professors, scientists, business moguls, innovators, economists, politicians, etc, and draw a clear roadmap. You don’t need to fight Nigeria to get Biafra. No one owns Nigeria so fighting her would be in vain. Once Biafra gets a clear vision and roadmap towards its actualization, many things will fall in place naturally. The campaign shouldn’t be all about violent protests; you guys should go to towns and villages and sensitise people, write letters to heads-of-states, make more calls, use more coercive forms of protests such as civil disobedience, solidarity walk, etc. Protest more in Abuja, rather than the South East.
I have more issues with the movement but I have made my point with the few I have listed. Biafra is a good cause. Every ethnicity has the right to create its own destiny. No one can force any determined group into anything. Just the way Igbos struggle for their inalienable rights to determine her faith, so also should Igbos recognise the minorities’ right to fashion their own destinies. No one should play Lugard with people’s future. Let us correct the sins of the past. Every ethnic group is independent and has the capacity to become a nation-state.
