Magnus Eze, Enugu
 
Chancellor of Eastern Mandate Union (EMU), Dr. Arthur Nwankwo, has said no amount of force could suppress the Biafra spirit; the urge for self-determination by people of the South East of Nigeria. 

However, Nwanwko lamented that the conditions that instigated the civil war between 1967 and 1970 are still as virulent as ever.

These are some of the issues contained in his just released book, entitled: “Nigeria and her Path to Doom.”

He accused President Muhammadu Buhari of lacking the capacity to address the many separatist agitations threatening the foundation of the nation and added that the only panacea is restructuring the country as already recommended by the 2014 national conference and the 2005 political reform conference.

“It is the inability of the Nigerian state to come to a round table to renegotiate the basis for the existence of the country that has given birth to renewed agitations for self-determination.
“It is in this context that the Biafran agitation should be located. The Biafran agitation is a product of the failed state that Nigerian has become.

“Biafra has become a monumental phenomenon that cannot be silenced by force or ‘crushed’.
“It is a constant reminder to the Nigerian state that all is not well with the structural configuration of the country.

“The Biafran spirit cannot be quenched by the furious guns of hatred-Biafra lives.
“Nigeria must be restructured along the line of true federalism. The Biafran agitation is a call to this restructuring.

“This agitation is legitimate and in tune with international law on self-determination.

“The agitation is not different from the Scottish agitation in the United Kingdom; the Catalonia agitation in Spain, the Eritrean agitation in Ethiopia, the South-Sudan agitation in Sudan,” he said.
The renowned pro-democracy activist described the anti-corruption fight of the current administration as selective because of what he called the ‘sacred cow syndrome’.

Taking a swipe at three years of President Buhari’s administration, Nwaknwo said the country needed a reconstructive surgeon who must perform a painful operation to extricate a painful ailment and not a bulldozer or robot.

“Buhari is not a constructive surgeon and, therefore, lacks the requisite credentials to perform Nigeria’s surgical operation,” Nwankwo said.