CHIEF (SIR) DON UBANI, KSC; JP[b][/b]
(Okwubunka of Asa) Umuiku-Isi-Asa Ukwa-West
E-mail: Ubanidon@yahoo.com
P.M.B. 7048, Aba
Phone: 08035523360
9th November, 2015.

GOVERNANCE OF NIGERIA AND EXCALATING AGITATION FOR
BIAFRA

Scripted By Chief (Sir) Don Ubani

One good thing nobody has been able and will never be able to dispute is that history, whether oral or written, tells man and even generations yet unborn about the past. It is courtesy of history that people born more than two centuries later came to know that the declaration of independence and the birth of the United States of America as an independent state was on 4th of July, 1776. It is also history that helps man to realize that the First World War started on July 28, 1914 and ended on November 11, 1918. History also serves as a learning link between the past and the present and also, very importantly, helps in preparing the mindset for the future. Predicting the future in a human social and (or) political relationship becomes very easy and authentic being guided by history. History, in most cases, repeats itself either in similar circumstances or in slightly different circumstances. By this assertion, what happened longtime in the past could re-occur in the life time of later generations of the human race that had earlier witnessed a similar development. History could be likened to genes that run in a family. It is not by mere coincidence or accident that some families have a high frequency of giving birth to twins, just the same as in families where albinos are born.
While man may be incapable of preventing the re-occurrence of developments that are due to genes, it is easier for him to learn very useful lessons from history and, therefore, stand a good chance of preventing the bad aspect of history from repeating itself.
In the one century and one year the Nigerian State has trudged, the roughest and most devastating era was between 1966 and 1970. This period marked a holocaust that befell the Igbo nation of the Nigerian State and culminated in the defunct Eastern Region of Nigeria being left with no other alternative than to declare secession from the Nigeria federation. The end result was a thirty-month war between Nigeria and the people of Eastern Nigeria who had become citizens of the Republic of Biafra. The war witnessed the worst carnage and destruction of human life in the sub-Saharan Africa. It is estimated that more than three million lives were lost as a result of the carnage in the former Eastern Region.
The war ended on 15th January, 1970 on a note of ‘no victor, no vanquished’. The then Military Head of State of Nigeria; General Yakubu Gowon, a Christian northern minority, had announced the process of re-integration of the Igbo on the basis of three Rs, Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction. To be fair to General Yakubu Gowon, he did not show much sign of inclination towards vindictiveness to the Igbo after the civil war. His disposition could have been influenced by the simple fact that he was a Christian from the minority North and not a Muslim of the core North. The re-integration of the Igbo into the Nigerian State under General Yakubu Gowon would have been more laborious, more time-consuming and slippery if the Head of State then had been a Muslim from the core North of Nigeria.
From 1970 to 2015 is a very long gap of fourty-five years. Fourty-five years after the Nigerian/Biafran debacle, it is a cause for worry that a very strong wind of agitation or protest for the independence of the Igbo from the Nigerian State is taking place. Two groups; The Movement for the Actualization Of The Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB and the Indigenous People Of Biafra, IPOB, are at the head of this clamour for the re-establishment of Biafra. While Ralph Uwazuruike, from Okwe in Okigwe Senatorial district of Imo State, is the Founder and Leader of the Movement for the Actualization Of The Sovereign State of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, a British citizen whose African nativity is Afara-Ukwu-Ibeku in Abia State is the originator of Indigenous People Of Biafra and also Director of Radio Biafra. The coincidence in these two personalities is that they both hail from the defunct old Owerre Province of defunct Eastern Region.
Many thinkers and writers have continued to wonder why the demand for Biafra should resurrect fourty-five years after it had been assumed to have been buried. The Arch-Protagonist and General of the Biafran Republic; Chief Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, had been given a state pardon by the Nigerian government of former President Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari in 1982 and he had quickly returned from exile in cote d’ivoire, where late President Houphet Boigny, whose government had recognized the Peoples’ Republic of Biafra had kindly hosted him, and has spontaneously re-integrated himself into the Nigerian society. Even though Ojukwu, like many other top-ranking Nigerian politicians, was detained for ten months by military dictator, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in 1984, his spirit of one Nigeria was not dampened. In 1993, he was elected into Nigeria’s National constitutional conference and with the backing of well meaning Nigerian leaders, he had advocated for a true federalist Nigeria. Again, in 1994 and 1995, Chief Ojukwu was one of the wise men that were always consulted by the Nigerian government on how best to move the Nigerian State Forward. When the Ikemba of Nnewi was hospitalized in London and during his eventual death and burial, the Federal Government of former President Jonathan showed a lot of concern to his welfare and almost gave him a state burial; a burial he personally attended, accompanied by his wife and children.
Surprisingly, the youths that are in the fore-front for the actualization of the Biafran Project are youths, a good number of whose mothers had not been born during the Nigerian/Biafran war. The youths have, therefore, only heard of Biafra through the irrepressible influence of history.
The Biafran protest has been taken to many parts of South-East and some parts in the South-South of the country. They have, in addition to their perceived marginalization and neglect of their region by the Federal government, been agitating for the release of the Director of Radio Biafra and an influential member of the Indigenous People Of Biafra; Nnamdi Kanu, who has been in detention in Abuja since 18th October, 2015.
It has to be stated at this point that democracy allows peaceful protest but also insists that the freedom of others should not, in any way, be trampled upon by such protest. What is required now by the Federal government is careful understanding of the causes for which these protests are being made. Nigeria should be the pride of Africa and every component part of it should be given a sense of belonging, irrespective of tribe or religion. The truth is that South-East region has been terribly marginalized by both the federal government of Nigeria and more painfully by the governors of the states in the region who presided over the affairs of their states from 1999 to 2015. The governors looted their states dry.
Since the protesters have made their demands known, it is expected that the Federal government would look at their demands very dispassionately and address them. The governors of South-Eastern states should be more visionary and transparent in running the affairs of their states. Infact, the governors should create the enabling environment that will help create employment opportunities for the youths. Mr. President should not resort to brute force in trying to address these agitations. He should realize that Nigeria is a democracy and no longer a military dictatorship. As for the youths, having made their case legitimately known to the governments of Nigeria, it is advised that they would give peace a chance, hoping that their problems would be adequately addressed. The Igbo have suffered a lot and can not continue to be a theatre of war.
Don Ubani