Igbo elite want groups to drop secession bid for restructuring
By Enyeribe Ejiogu and Jeff AmaechI Agbodo
Some members of the Igbo intelligentsia have re-echoed the advice previously given by Southeast elders that the zone should work together to achieve negotiated restructuring of the country, to make every region stronger and the centre weaker rather than the growing clamour for secession from the Nigerian State as being vociferously advocated by the leaders of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).
The calls by the elite came in the wake of the sit-at-home protest which witnessed almost 100 per cent compliance in the Southeast even as Igbo in some other parts of the country also followed suit. Jolted by the success of the exercise, a coalition of youths in the northern part of the country, under the aegis of the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, met at the Arewa House and issued an ultimatum that all Igbo people in the North must leave the region on or before October 1 or face the consequences.
Speaking with Sunday Sun on the implications of the northern youths response to the growing agitation for the restoration of Biafra, spearheaded by IPOB and MASSOB, a Senior Lecturer at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Dr. Patrick Manafa recalled the positions taken by the former vice-president of Nigeria, Chief Alex Ekwueme, former governor of Anambra State, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezife, former Secretary of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu and other prominent leaders of the country, all of whom at various times and fora advocated for the restructuring of the country, instead of pushing for secession.
Manafa said: “I don’t believe in breaking up of the country, if there is some section or region that is being marginalized, we have to sit down and talk about it. The best thing is to bring out some salient points from the last confab that would provide answers to the restructuring. So, calling for secession is like declaring another war and that was what we did in 1967 and it led to war.
“I’m an Igbo man but I don’t think the way the leaders of these Biafra agitation groups are going about it is the best way and they should be called to order. Even as we are talking people are not considering what is happening in South Sudan. They clamoured for independence for years and after getting it, they went into serious tribal struggle, and now have warlords here and there. How are we even sure that after Biafra independence we will be better off than today?”
Continuing, Manafa said: “The whole struggle is confusing. Where is the geographical location that is called Biafra? It is not enough to just draw a map of Southeast states and put some parts of Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers states and call it Biafra. Have you discussed with them? You cannot go and carve out part of other people’s territory and call it Biafra. So, before you start this kind of venture, you have to sit down, consult and talk. I agree with some prominent Igbo who have been advocating for restructuring of Nigeria.
“Restructuring first will allow us have strong regions and a weak centre and from there we can then talk about the way forward. It is not enough for you to stand up one day and say you want to go. I also have fears that some of these Biafra agitators will lead us into serious tribal wars because they are now carrying themselves as warlords. We have Kanu, Madu, Uwazuruike, Onwuka, etc as leaders. They may turn out to be tribal warlords in the future.
“The elders should call Biafra agitators to order; the agitators should listen to the elders, consult with the elders. They are too young to dictate what is going to happen in Igbo land. I’m happy that Nnamdi Kanu has been going round to visit the elders, consulting with them since he came back on bail. That is the best approach.”
Making his own submission, Lagos based legal practitioner and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Anambra State, Chief Pat Anyadubalu, opined that the Igbo should engage in realpolitik and utilize extant legislations in the country’s basket of laws to push its case for equity and fairness even though such legal battlemay drag too long and possibly be psychologically debilitating.
Notwithstanding the long haul that his proposal may entail, Anyadubalu cites the example of the African American civil rights movement which fought a long and dogged legal battle from state courts all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which eventually resulted in the abolition of segregation across the country. That legal battle was spearheaded by a group of African American lawyers led by Thurgood Marshall, who later became appointed to the US Supreme Court. During his long tenure on the US apex court, he helped to rewrite and reshape America through profound judgements on the constitutionality of various federal, and state laws as well as policies that impinged on civil rights. That long and hard fought battle eventually opened the road for Barack Obama to ride to Washington and lay hold on the White House as the first African American president of the United States for two consecutive terms.
Citing several cogent reasons, Anyadubalu strongly argued that another secession bid is not in the best interest of the South east.
“The agitation for Biafra Republic has been on for about 50 years. I agree that there were justifiable reasons for the declaration of the sovereignty of Biafra in 1967. Ndigbo have moved on notwithstanding the serial injustices. The present agitation in my opinion may not be in the interest of Ndigbo, even though the current agitation is fueled by monumental injustice which Ndigbo have been suffering in Nigeria and if these injustices are addressed the agitation will be buried.
To buttress his position, he restated some of these injustices as follows. The first is the thorny issue of state creation, which has seen the zones in the country split into six states each except the Southeast which has five states. According to him, statehood is relevant because the following national benefits are shared based on states: statutory allocations from the Federation Account, employment into federal ministries, departments and agencies, appointment of people including ministers, ambassadors, permanent secretaries, apportioning of senatorial seats and enrolment in the armed forces.
“Who is not aware that each state for example must produce a minister at the Federal Executive Council and three senators on the basis of equality of states? Some might argue that several states are not viable but my response to that is that only few states in Nigeria like Lagos, Rivers and Kano are viable. Where lies the viability of states like Zamfara, Kebbi and Osun? Some southeast local governments like Nnewi, Onitsha and Aba, are more viable than any of these states.”
Second is the question of local governments, where the number of local government areas (LGAs) is also the basis for distribution of national patrimony. The South East as a whole is disadvantaged because it has about 76 LGAs while Kano alone has 44 LGAs.
“In terms of federally-funded infrastructural development, the southeast zone is the least developed as Federal projects are hardly sited in the zone. Most of the airports were built by self-effort of the people.
Federal government roads are abandoned. The much talked about second Niger Bridge has continued to be a campaign issue from the time of Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, who commissioned the Nigerian Society of Engineers to design it up to President Jonathan who boasted that Nnamdi Azikiwe built the first bridge and that he, Jonathan Azikiwe Goodluck, would build the second bridge. The question is: what has happened? The dredging of the River Niger was intended to facilitate the development of ports at Onitsha and Oguta, in the southeast, a zone noted for massive commercial activities and importation of goods, what has been the true outcome?
Recently, the federal government sought approval from the Senate to borrow money for construction of the Lagos-Kano and Lagos-Calabar standard gauge rail lines. The southeast will be compelled to bear the cost of repaying the loan but it was cut out from the project. Rather the government plans to seek a concessionaire that would undertake the construction of a standard gauge rail line that would benefit the southeast, at a later date. So the government has kept the case of southeast in abeyance while the zone will be repaying loans taken by the federal government to develop other areas.
He also lamented over the unequal application of the Directive Principles of State Policy as enshrined in the Constitution, explaining that the federal government has consistently applied such policies like quota system in ways that have been detrimental to the Igbo in areas like employment and appointments, stating that merit has been sacrificed on the altar of quota system.
“This unfair practice means that a child from either Imo or Anambra state who scores about 140 in the national common entrance examination into the Unity schools would be denied admission while a child from Zamfara, Kebbi or Jigawa states, who sat for the same exam and managed to score up to 50 marks would be admitted on grounds of quota system. The same principle of helping educationally disadvantaged states applies in the case of admission into federal universities, whereby candidates from areas like Kebbi, Zamfara and Sokoto get lower cut off marks. But the same principle is not applied in recruitment into the military, Immigration, Customs and employment into the federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), where again, the southeast is the least represented zone.”
Anyaduablu then posited this question: “Is Biafra the best option?” Then he said: My take is that Biafra is not the best option. I am aware that because of the frenzy associated with Biafra agitation anybody with an opposing view might be treated as a saboteur. One should not be intimidated in taking a stand based on clear understanding of the issues and the implications. Moreso, in some cases, the majority view might not even be the best option. I believe that Nigeria is the best option for Ndigbo with a proviso that there should be fairness, equity and justice.”
Asked to elaborate on the reasons for his position, Anyadubalu opined that “Ndigbo are the most nationalistic people and the only ethnic group that has investments outside Igboland, in every nook and cranny of the country. What happens to such investments, he queried? He recalled that Ndigbo fought a war for three years and when they went to the places where they once lived and built houses, they found out that their buildings in Rivers and Cross River had been acquired under the so-called Abandoned Property Edict, and advised that this time around “Igbo should use their tongue to count their teeth as an adage says.” He goes further to say: “Igbos like to explore places outside our enclave.
We are virtually in all parts of Nigeria, Africa and globally. Are we ready to bear the hostility from our brothers? Can we contain the hostility of our neighbours when we secede? The hatred is visible now that we are one country, what happens when you will need a visa to get into the South West, South South and the North? We are essentially merchants and therefore the huge population of Nigeria is a great advantage to us in terms of selling our products. Besides, we need more space to express ourselves, and space is lacking in our area.”
Proffering a way forward for the Igbo, he advised that the people of the southeast should learn to fight for their rights through available judicial mechanism. “We have sufficient statutory provisions to do so. We should learn how to prosecute our case for equity through the courts with well researched litigations even though such lawsuits drag on for some time. The judiciary is becoming activist in its pronouncements.
“Moreover, Ndigbo should use the areas where they have advantage to negotiate for better deal. Why complain that a particular company is not employing your people when you can use your money to negotiate for better deal and undertake a boycott of the products of such company? The African American civil rights movement in the United States used this strategy in the Rosa Parke incident to launch a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. This eventually led to change in the rules. The greatest obstacle is that Ndigbo still lack unity among themselves to fight. There is too much bickering among the populace.”
In the same vein the President of South-East Amalgmated Market Traders Association (SMATA), Dr. Okwudili Ezenwankwo, also threw his weight behind the quest for restructuring of Nigeria.
“What prompted the call for restructuring or secession is the marginalization of southeast geopolitical zone of the country. In the past 50 years, no Igbo man has held the position of President of this country. For me, I support the restructuring or in the alternative an Igbo man should become the president of this country in 2019,” he stated.
“My advice to IPOB and MASSOB members is to be law abiding and one day God will answer their prayers. All the Igbo are working for a common goal, all of us are working for a common interest. So, the call by northern youths telling Igbo to vacate the northern part of the country is an intimidation of the highest order. They should know that Igbo are hardworking, there is no state in the north where the Igbo have not contributed to the development of that state” Ezenwankwo said.