2017 ANAMBRA GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION, ELECTION BOYCOTT AND SEPARATIST AGITATIONS: SEPARATING APPLES FROM ORANGES
PREFATORY REMARKS:
The last governorship election held in Anambra State of Nigeria was in November, 2013. The consequential impact of the landmark Supreme Court judgment in OBI V. INEC on the electoral calendar of the Nigerian nation is that Anambra State now conducts its governorship elections two years prior to the general elections held nationwide. The State is now due for another governorship election. The electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission [henceforth in this article called the INEC], has slated the date of the epic contest to be 18th November, 2017.
The incumbent governor, Dr. Willie Obiano of APGA party is contesting. He is squaring up with many opponents from other political parties. The atmosphere is gradually heating up. This is understandable. Now, we have the Indigenous People of Biafra [henceforth in this article called the IPOB]. They [the IPOB] are now concededly a factor in the political epic battle coming up. This is so not because the IPOB is a registered political party under the Nigerian laws. The IPOB is not even registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission in Nigeria and therefore enjoys no legal entity in the Nigerian nation.
However, the IPOB activities and the consequences flowing therefrom now transcend both political/geographical boundaries. The Leader of the IPOB, Maazi Nnamdi Kanu, has taken a decision and consequently issued a directive to the effect that elections would no longer hold in Biafraland [a geographical entity whose map is steeped in acrimonious controversy and its boundaries still largely indeterminate]. Anambra is prominently sitting within the Biafraland. This is not in controversy neither is it being challenged by both the proponents and antagonists of Biafra struggle.
THE OBJECT OF THIS WRITE-UP:
The present write-up is propelled by the strident opposition mounted by the IPOB to the conduct of the 2017 Governorship election in Anambra state. I choose to write on this topic principally because I am involved. I am involved because I am from Anambra State of Nigeria. I am involved because I am a youth [this writer is 28 years old] who has the better and larger part of his life [God being so gracious and sparing my life] to spend in the state. I am involved because it is my right to contribute in defining and protecting the future in which I will live and raise my kids. I therefore clearly have a legitimate interest in whatever plays out on the political scene of Anambra State of Nigeria. I have always intervened in the past [by way of constructive criticisms] in the affairs of the state. Now, more than any other time in our recent history, my contribution [by way of this article and other subsequent lawful measures if need be] has become of even greater necessity. In this article, I seek to examine the arguments in favour and against the conduct of the 2017 governorship election in my state as being canvassed by different quarters. The concatenation of this intellectual engagement would furnish an unassailable basis for the summation that the greater interest of Anambra State would be served and protected by the conduct of the election.
THE BOYCOTT ARGUMENT:
The IPOB it must be stressed is not the only group or movement canvassing for the establishment of the Sovereign State of Biafra. We have the Zionist Movement, the Biafra Independence Movement [BIM] led by Uwazuruike, Biafran Liberation in Exile [BILIE], the MASSOB and a host of countless others. What perhaps stands the IPOB out among the lots is its modus operandi [mode of operation] and methodology. It is the argument of the IPOB that by abstaining [boycotting] from further elections, the realization of an independent state of Biafra would be speedily actualized. They further canvass the view that unless the Federal Government of Nigeria names a date for the conduct of referendum in Biafraland, no election would hold thus the commonplace catchphrase “No referendum, no election”. They have gone further to euphemistically label 18th November, 2017 “ofe nsala day”.
If the IPOB had stopped at directing its members to abstain from the polls, perhaps the present article would have been of no moment. But they did not stop at that. They have not only dominated the airwaves with their “no referendum, no election” mantra, they have now gone physical. In Onitsha, video evidence abound how IPOB members have interrupted state activities where the
