By Femi Fani-Kayode
In a short contribution titled “Biafra Without Our Consent?” which appears to have gone viral on social media, the celebtated and respected thespian Miss Kate Henshaw wrote as follows: “I think the current generation of ‘Biafrans’ are the most funny people I hve ever seen. How dare you sit in your home or offices and draw your Biafra map and include places like Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, etc as part of your empire? Did you consult them? Did you seek their opinions? You are forcing people to join a country whose commander in chief you have already anointed- Nnamdi Kanu; whose currency you have already decided- Biafra Pounds; whose official religion you have already adopted- Judaism; whose God you have already chosen- Chukwu Abiama? Do you not realize that you are doing to those people the same thing you accuse the British and Nigeria of doing to you? For carving my state into your ‘Biafra’ and renaming it without my permission and consultation, I have a moral duty to stand against you with everything I have. I am not standing against you because I do not want your freedom; I stand against you because I love mine too. I don’t stand against you because you don’t have a right to your country; I stand against you because I have the same right.
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I stand against you because your map is an insult to me and my freedom to choose were I belong. Be warned!” Since she has not publicly denied it I assume that this beautiful and talented actress really is the author of these words. That being the case my response is as follows. Miss Henshaw and those that think like her are being disingenious and unduly hostile to Nnamdi Kanu and the concept and spirit of Biafra. She has made a point that appears to be valid but that point is based on a false premise. That premise is that the southern minorities would be compelled or obliged to be part of Biafra without their consent. This is false. It is not true. The truth is that each of the bordering ethnic nationalities, and even the Igbo themselves, must and will have their own referendum before going anywhere. It is entirely up to them what they do and where they go.
They cannot and will not be forced to go with Biafra if they choose not to do so. And neither can they be forced to remain in Nigeria if they choose to leave. Everything that is done must and will be based on the free and fair expression of the will of the people. That is the basic point that needs to be grasped and clearly understood. Miss Henshaw’s fear is therefore baseless. Yet we cannot leave it there. We must consider the wider issues that her concerns have raised. We must learn to be clear-headed and strategic in our thinking and actions. We must know what we wish to achieve and we must learn from history. The cost of petty bickering, division, undue rivalry, pettiness and age-old suspicions amongst the southern ethnic minorities and southerners generally is extreemly high. It has cost us virtually everything and it has stripped us naked and bare before our enemies and adversaries.
Someone is fighting for the freedom of his people and you lend your voice to rubbishing that person and that cause? That cannot be right and neither is it reasonable or fair.
The sooner that we southerners get it into our skulls that there must be unity between us the better. Without that unity we are nothing and we shall continue to fail and falter.
Yours truly has attacked and joined issues with the Igbo in a series of literary debates and articles in the past perhaps more than anyone else but now I know better.
Now I know that historical and intellectual debate is one thing and political expediency and pragmatism is another.
Now I know that we are fighting a collective cause and that we have a collective adversary and oppressor who seeks to destroy and devour us all. Now I know that when my Igbo or southern neighbour’s house is burning, even if we are barely on speaking terms, it is in my own interest to help him to put it out before that fire spreads to mine.
Now I know that the “handshake across the Niger” that the late and great Ikemba, Colonel Emeka Odimegwu-Ojukwu, the
