Supreme Court. If and when the outcome does not favour the agitators, then they have a case which they can put before regional and global bodies having exhausted all available domestic remedies. This can only be so because Biafra as an entity will at best remain a failed project without recognition accorded to it by the United Nation [an august body that understands that the balkanization of a country is not a tea party.]. Confirming this line of reasoning, no less a person than the Distinguished Senator Ike Ekweremadu [a man occupying a commanding height in the field of law and former Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament] echoed this incisive view:
“Beyond sentiments, it needs to be emphasised that Nigeria is a sovereign state, with a defined territory recognised by the international community. She is a member of the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), among others. This territory includes the South-east region. While the right to self-determination is guaranteed under the international systems, specifically the United Nations and African Union, this right has laid down procedures that must be religiously followed. For instance, while the call for referendum is legal, they do not come by fiat. Referendum is the ultimate result of wide and long negotiations, consultations, and processes involving the international community as we have seen in the cases of Scotland in the United Kingdom, Catalonia in Spain, Quebec in Canada, and recently in Puerto Rico as well as the successful secession of East Timor from Indonesia, Eritrea from Ethiopia, and South Sudan from Sudan.
Unless these due processes are observed, as in the case of Eritrea, East Timor, and South Sudan, such enclaves will not be recognised as sovereign states by the international community…There is also the case of Somaliland. Almost three decades after it declared itself a sovereign state from the Federal Republic of Somalia, the best the self-declared Republic (British Somaliland) has achieved is recognition as an autonomous state, but still part of Somalia in spite of the fact that Somalia is a failed state. We also have the Russia-backed breakaway Eastern Ukraine, which still uses the Ukrainian international passport and currency, several years after. It does not matter that it is supported by Russia, a world super power. In the Caucasus, the breakaway South Ossetia and Abkazia from Georgia are only recognised by Russia more than 10 years after. They can only travel as Russian citizens with Russian international passport. The international community still recognises them as citizens of Georgia”
[http://www.vanguardngr.com/…/biafra-legal-political-econom…/]
There is a possibility that the drivers of secessionist agitations among us are yet to avail themselves of this crucial position of the law as amplified above. This seemingly lack of intellectual content in the separatist push may have led the former INEC Chief [Umeadi] to lament that until the people that will provide the intellectual argument are allowed to lead the agitation, which he doubted, “it will remain a successful agitation in attention-seeking. The issues will be addressed as stated above so, we can stop making “noise”, but the idea of an independent state of Biafra will remain a mirage.” [https://guardian.ng/…/between-separatist-agitations-and-de…/].
END:
Call it pride, call it immodesty, this writer is confident in announcing that Anambra ranks first ahead of all other South-Eastern States in all the indices of good governance and in distribution of dividends of democracy to the citizens. This is a state with the best network of roads in the whole of the Nigerian federation and the least indebted state. From the inglorious era of Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju, tremendous efforts have been made to gloriously change the narratives of Leadership model from the time of Dr. Chris Ngige, Mr. Peter Obi and now Dr. Willie Obiano. All these superlative achievements would not have been possible but for the
