Reflections On The Biafra Agitations As Political Vendetta
Nelson Ekujumi
Recently, the Nigerian political space has been jolted by the Biafra agitations in the South East which has culminated in streets protests by supporters and members of the group, calling for the establishment of the sovereign state of Biafra and IPOB, who according to sources, are protesting the continued detention of one Nnamdi Kanu who has remained in the custody of the Nigerian government due to his inability to fulfill the conditions of his bail as set by the courts as well the alledged marginalization of the South East in the political arrangement of the Nigerian state.
That this renewed protest for the state of Biafra in the South East is coming up vigorously just some few months of the assumption into office of a new administration in which majority of the people of the region and their political elites campaigned vigorously and voted against on the basis of ethnicity and religion, speaks volume about the motive of the sponsors of this streets protests.
A confirmation that the renewed protest for Biafra is akin to the Biblical the hands of Esau but the voice of Jacob and a manifestation of the hypocrisy of the political elite who keeps mum when their economic interest is preserved, but exploits the ignorance and poverty of the masses when they are no longer in the centre of action, was exposed by the recent media interview of a former governor of old Anambra state, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife when in justifying the Biafra agitations he said of President Muhammadu Buhari, ““He is pushing the Igbo out of Nigeria by his actions, (The Sun Newspaper, November 11, 2015).
In the above quoted interview, Dr. Ezeife, embarked on a campaign of blackmail and calumny against President Buhari’s administration as marginalizing the Igbos, barely 6 months in office, when in actual fact, we all know that this supposed elder “statesman” is being economical with the truth just because his unbridled access to our commonwealth which he and his ilk enjoyed endlessly under the immediate past administration of lawlessness and impunity ended with the exit of the Jonathan Presidency at the polls.
The cries of marginalization by the ethnic nationalities has become a recurring decimal in the Nigeria political state since time memorial if we all recollect the agitations of the Ogoni’s as encapsulated in the Ogoni bill of right, the Zango Kataf crisis, the Tiv and Junkun crisis, the South South agitations as encapsulated in the Kaiama declaration, the Yorubas, the middle belt, etc.
Unfortunately, while the calls for the resolution of the National Question is very germane, one must use this medium to admonish the youths in the south East not to allow themselves to be abused by political elites to settle personal political scores rather than serving national interest. They must purge themselves of the planted mindset of hatred against other nations in Nigeria on the basis of ethnicity and religion. It is character and integrity that defines a man and not where he comes from or the colour of his skin or his religious faith.
The renewed agitation in the South East is part of a larger plot by some political elites who lost out of the equation as a result of the 2015 general elections outcomes where the peoples will prevailed, but are now masquerading as fighting for the rights of the people who matter to them, only to be abused and exploited for feathering personal interest at the expense of national interest.
The ongoing scenario in the South East was what Afenifere Akure, a Yoruba socio cultural group planned to do with the youths of the South West, by using the recent kidnap of elder statesman and member of the group, Chief Olu Falae as a decoy but unfortunately for them, their plan collapsed with the early and safe return of Chief Olu Falae, contrary to expectations and thus, they had to resort to the irresponsible and unconstitutional call for ban of Fulani herdsmen from the South West, just to actualize their agenda of sowing ethnic discord and causing societal upheaval for the Buhari administration which is now being fully implemented in the South East.
In as much as one recognizes the right of people to protest which is a fundamental right which should not be abridged by the government no matter the circumstances, but one must admonish the protesters and their sponsors that this right must be observed within the confines of the law and not abused to infringe on the rights of others and threaten national security through provocative statements, burning of Nigeria’s flag, hoisting of Biafra flag on Nigeria’s territory, assault and destruction of lives and properties.
As the evil plot of political vendetta by enemies of peace, democracy and our country comes to the fore, one can only admonish the security agencies to live up to their constitutional responsibility by unmasking the sponsors and making them face the consequences of their action according to the constitution.
Equally, One would like to urge the government to make use of every available means of communication to engage with the people and social institutions all over the country on what the government is doing and intends to do to make life meaningful for the ordinary citizen who have been economically, politically and socially traumatized by the mismanagement and misrule of the economy by our political rulers. This will go a long way in disabusing and educating our teeming youths who are victims and willing tools of societal destruction.
The mass of our youths who are being exploited and misguided by selfish political elites for the political vendetta of Biafra protests in the South East is a sad reminder of the state of unemployment in the country as a whole and not only in the South East, thus, this should serve as a wakeup call to the government to frontally tackle the menace of unemployment in order to avert the time bomb that this menace portends for our society.
Ekujumi writes from Lagos
