NIGERIA is faced with serious political tension arising from Biafra agitation and demands by other self-determination or separatist groups and those that are championing for a restructured Nigeria. Under the scenario, Nigeria is polarized into two main groups. One group is made up of those that want separate existence out of Nigeria. The second group is made up of those that want the country to be restructured.
However, there is another tiny group that consists of those who want Nigeria to remain the way it is. This minority group insists that what Nigeria needs now is good government and not necessarily restructuring. Some members of this group are even questioning the notion of restructuring. To them, the term restructuring has not been well defined and articulated. Perhaps, this group wants the attitudinal restructuring of Nigerian politicians.
While self-determination agitation cuts across the entire regions of Nigeria, it is more pronounced in the South-East region where Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) have raised the consciousness to a higher level. In fact, it is akin to religion, the Karl Marxian opium of the masses.
The incarceration of the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, has given new impetus to the Biafra agitation that his members take his words as law. It has given Kanu a larger-than-life image, and seen as a messiah. Members of his group worship him and see him as the black Moses. Kanu has been transformed to a folk hero and even deified that his members almost pray in his name. The success of IPOB sit-at-home order has emboldened the IPOB leader and his group to the extent that they ordered a boycott of the November 18 Anambra gubernatorial poll and the 2019 poll in the South-East.
But the leadership of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo led by Chief John Nnia Nwodo would not take such reckless ultimatum from the young IPOB leader. Nwodo had issued a disclaimer to IPOB’s ultimatum on Anambra poll and stressed that the group has no right to stop the Anambra governorship election. Nwodo argued that “whereas Ohanaeze understands the marginalization and unfair treatment of Igbo which have given rise to self-determination movements in Igboland, leaders of these movements must not arrogate to themselves the supreme leadership of Igboland.”
The Igbo leader surmised that “statements of the kind credited to Kanu are provocative, misleading and unproductive. Why should Anambra people be denied the opportunity to choose their own leader? Why should any of us who are not from Anambra, no matter how highly placed, descend to the arena and dictate for Anambra people when to vote, whether to vote or who to vote for?”
Nwodo reaffirmed that “Anambra, nay Igbo, are still part and parcel of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Yes, we are not happy with our treatment in Nigeria. Yes, some of us want Biafra. Yes, some of us prefer a restructuring, but the fact remains that we are still part and parcel of the present Federal Republic of Nigeria, bound by its laws, no matter how repressive or unjust.”
The Ohanaeze chieftain maintained that “our approach to reforms of our laws, even if it leads to self-determination or restructuring must be lawful. We must convince other Nigerians of our point of view, we must strive to make others share our convictions.” He advised that “our language must be civil, respectful and lead to consensus building. We must resist any attempt to turn division amongst us.”
Without doubt, Nwodo spoke the minds of majority of Ndi Igbo on this matter. The Biafra agitators have attracted more enemies to the cause than friends with their hate rhetoric and bogus territorial claims over some parts of Nigeria that were not part of the 1967-1970 Ojukwu’s Biafra. By their utterances, they have even alienated former Biafrans that they now want their own separate existence outside the new configured Biafra. The way they talk down on some notable Nigerian leaders from other regions make more enemies for the Igbo. That posturing is not good for Ndi Igbo who reside in other parts of the country. It is a threat to Igbo lives and investments outside Igboland. Such investments are huge in the North and the South-West. We should not toy with Igbo future, their lives and investments.
Nwodo spoke so well on poll boycott that there is nothing left to be said on it expect to enjoin Anambra people to prepare to choose their leader come November 18, 2017. That date is sacrosanct. However, it is worth reminding the agitators that their order for the South-East to boycott the 2006 census has left the zone politically inferior population-wise to other regions. The zone is yet to recover from the ugly effects of such ill-thought-out order. We have had enough from this group. They don’t own Igboland or Biafra franchise to dictate to the Igbo what they want.
They can air their views within the limitations of the extant rights and laws of the land. They should allow others that don’t subscribe to their territorial Biafra have their own views on the future of the Igbo, too. They should not force their will on others who are opposed to it. They should remember that Igbo are democratic and republican. They abhor dictatorship. They believe in consensus. They should be reminded that the situation in 1966 Nigeria is quite different from the situation in 2017.
Even the referendum that they are rooting for can go either in their favour or against. They should learn some useful lessons from the Scotland referendum and others that did not favour the protagonists. Referendum is a political exercise. Igbo politicians must be carried along and not castigated for it to work. The agitators need friends and alliances to make it pull through. No amount of ultimatum or sit-at-home or civil disobedience can achieve it.
As it is now, the Igbo have no unified position on what they want from Nigeria. While the elite are for restructuring, the youths that make up the bulk of Biafra agitators are for independent Biafra. While these groups have the right to make their demands, it should be in Igbo interest to have a consensus on what they actually want. The Igbo should not meet other Nigerians as a disorganized group. They must come together and review their separate goals and come up with one demand that will make sense. It is either the Igbo go for restructuring or for separate existence. It cannot be both. But they must think deeply before they make their choice. While not preempting the outcome of such exercise, majority of Igbo strongly believe that restructuring will best address the Igbo question. Igbo will be better in a restructured Nigeria.
But it is worth stating that those who stand against restructuring are adding fuel to separatist agitations. They are the ones to blame if Nigeria disintegrates.
In fact, restructuring is the minimum Nigerians expect from this APC government. The party should stop dancing over what it expressly promised Nigerians during the 2015 election campaign. Since restructuring is what majority of Nigerians want now, the party in power should just do that. No more, no less. Not doing so is akin to setting Nigeria on fire.