I acknowledge the fact that everybody is entitled to his opinion and that there is freedom of expression in this country. I also appreciate the boldness in the expression of his opinion. But I vehemently disagree with his notion that the issue of Biafra struggle and agitation for the emancipation of its people is a, “dried wound licked for too long”.

Firstly, a wound might be dry on the surface but still remains very much alive beneath, especially if the cause of the wound was not properly treated.  To describe the likes of the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and the late Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, as agents of destruction of their people portrays Mr. Ibekwe, as a person who is unimaginably misguided. Describing the constitutionally based struggle and agitation for the emancipation of the Igbo people in particular and the South East and the South-South in general from the prevailing political and economic strangulation as, “dried wounds licked for too long” makes one conclude that Mr. Ibekwe is historically uninformed and politically unconscious.

If you compare Mr. Ibekwe’s high opinion and regard for the late Chief Obefami Awolowo, the late Saduana of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello with his disdain for Dr. Azikiwe and Ojukwu, you will agree with me that Mr. Ibekwe’s attempt to showcase his detribalized personality has actually made him look like one who has completely lost his own identity.

No Housa or Yoruba person in his right senses will describe Ahmadu Bello or Chief Obefemi Awolowo with such blatant disregard or disrespect. Being disconcerted, according to him, with his kinsmen who seek to use genuine constitutional means to improve the relevance of the South East in the present political structure in this country is a pointer to the level of Mr. Ibekwe’s myopia.  He is too short-sighted to see that it is the activities of the pressure groups like the IPOB, MASSOB and the Niger-Delta that have saved these regions from completely relegation in the politically scene in this country.

The fact that some great minds from outside the South East and South-South, like Prof. Wole Soinka, Gov. Fayose of Ekiti State and Mr. Fani Kayode, including the Arewa youth see Biafra agitation as a genuine attempt and struggle for freedom from  marginalization and relegation imposed on the easterners especially by the present administration. Views directly opposing those of these great minds can only be assumed to emanate from a narrowed mind. His analysis of Biafra struggle is narrow minded and, lacks intelligence and merit. The analysis portrays a political sycophant seeking notice.

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I want inform Mr. Ibekwe that “APC-ocracy” (the current democratic style) is a government of the North by the North, for the North. The government has vision and mission agenda, which include the suppression of the South. They need real men with clear vision to achieve the mission. Not myopic sycophants.

Given the current political structure in Nigeria, the concept of, “One Nigeria, shall continue to be a mirage; an illusion because it is based on falsehood, hence the emphasis. Other countries do not emphasize oneness because they know they are one. Or have you heard of ‘One Ghana’, ‘One Togo’, ‘One Egypt’, One USA’ ‘One Belgium’ etc. the answer is no. Because they know they are one. ‘One Nigeria is emphasized because there is no oneness. Everybody knows it. Many do not believe it especially those who benefit from the odd system. The present political structure can only lead to retrogression. Our contemporaries in the third world – India, Korea, Malaysia, Brazil, South Africa, Ghana etc are all moving forward technologically, politically, culturally, scientifically to join the ‘1st World’, but we are fast sliding back to join the ‘5th World’.

The only thing that will keep Nigeria as one progressive nation is radical restructuring. Otherwise total disintegration should be the solution to the country’s failure to thrive.

Gabriel .O.C. Onuegbu, writes from Owerri