Letter from Africa:
30 November 2015
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-34911465

In our series of letters from African journalists, Mannir Dan Ali looks at the resurgence of a secessionist movement that supports the creation of a breakaway state of Biafra in Nigeria.
The last few weeks have seen thousands of young people trooping to the streets of southern Nigeria to protest about the continued detention of a leading Biafra activist, Nnamdi Kanu.
Both new and old media are full of views and reports on the renewed agitation for the short-lived Biafran republic.
If it is not the report of the latest city to host the noisy protest by the mainly ethnic Igbo young men under the banner of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), it may be some hot exchanges on social media about the different interpretation of the event.
The Nigerian military's warning of dire consequences for anyone who tries to carry out what they refer to as treasonable acts, has also been getting attention.

Many Nigerians, with the deadly Boko Haram insurgency in their minds, are trying to understand what is going on, asking why now and what does it all mean?
The latest protests were triggered by the detention of Mr Kanu, the UK-based leader of the IPOB.
He came to Nigeria last month and was arrested by the authorities, accused of treason.
Biafra protesters
Image caption
Nnamdi Kanu has been in the custody of Nigeria's intelligence agency for more than four weeks
Pro-Biafra supporters in Nigiera - November 2015Image copyrightAFP
Image caption
Many of the protesters were born after the civil war which ended in 1970
Security sources say he was arrested for broadcasting hate speech both on the internet and through a banned London-based radio station called Radio Biafra, which he has been using to promote his call for the creation of a Biafran nation.
He has already appeared in court but is still under detention as his trial is yet to get off the ground.
Biafra at a glance:

First republic of Biafra was declared by a Nigerian military officer Odumegwu-Ojukwu in 1967
He led his mainly ethnic Igbos into a deadly three-year civil war that ended in 1970
More than one million people lost their lives, mostly because of hunger
Decades after Biafra uprising was quelled by the military, secessionist groups have attracted the support of many young people
They feel Nigeria's central government is not investing in the region
But the government says their complaints are not particular to the south-east
Still dreaming of Biafra

One of the most viewed items recently by people trying to understand what is going on is a video uploaded to YouTube showing Mr Kanu soliciting arms at a meeting of the World Igbo Congress in the US city of Los Angeles in September.
He said to his audience:
"We need guns and bullets from you people in America...
"In 1967, before the war started, there was a blood moon... and there is blood moon this year because we are going to be free - no matter what happens."
Now with raucous protesters calling for Mr Kanu's release, the security services are getting even more concerned.
A military chief said: "The Nigerian army would like to send an unequivocal warning to all and sundry, more specifically to all those threatening and agitating for the dismemberment of the country, committing treasonable felony and arson as well as wanton destruction of lives and property."

Mannir Dan Ali:
Mannir Dan AliImage copyrightMannir Dan Ali
"Most educated middle-class Igbos and other Nigerians who are hoping that common sense will prevail"
It is not only the security services who are concerned about the resurgence of sentiment for Biafra.
Many Nigerians cannot understand its logic because, as one commentator put it: The Igbo community, more than any other in Nigeria, has settled and is doing business in all parts of the country.
'Misunderstanding history'

Even at the conference where Mr Kanu made his incendiary call for arms, there were sceptics who pointed to recent events in South Sudan to show why secession may not be the answer to problems of disaffection and neglect.
A columnist with the Vanguard newspaper, who has made a career out of defending Igbo causes, Ochereome Nnanna, said in a recent article: "I see the agitators as people who do not understand the history of the defunct Biafra.
"I see them as people who misapprehend the Biafra they are asking for... Kanu and his multitude of blind followers must be told that they are playing into the hands of their enemies and dragging millions of other unwilling Igbos along."
This appears to be the position of most educated middle-class Igbos and other Nigerians who are hoping that common sense will prevail.
Community leaders in the Niger Delta where protests have also been taking place, have already disassociated themselves from the agitation, warning the protesters to stay clear of the oil-producing region.
Ethnic Igbo leaders in southern Nigeria
Image caption

Most political leaders in the region have distanced themselves from the protesters
Within Igboland, state governors met for the second time last weekend to agree a common approach to the matter.
But their effort was hampered by the refusal of some members of the pan-Igbo group Ohanaeze Ndigbo to attend the meeting.
However, they did set up a committee of elders to meet the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on the issue.

They said they would ask the federal government to find ways of addressing the region's lack of infrastructure and development.
Mr Buhari, a former military ruler who fought in the civil war, will be watching the Igbo leaders' response to the issue with concern.
He has less than a month to go to meet his own deadline to end the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency that has devastated the north-east.
Many would argue that that conflict was not born out of religion, but by those disaffected by lack of opportunities and unemployment - precisely the issues that commentators believe are driving the young pro-Biafra protesters.

Members of the Igbo establishment now face the tricky task of trying to rein in the youthful protesters, none of whom experienced the trauma of the original Biafra, but who are so convinced that it represents their best hope of a better future.

Certainly doesn't bother me the way it does others.

K

One fact here is that, the world is listening to the protest of Biafrans, even if Buhari want to pretend they are unseen or unheard.

Time will tell, but once the UN steps in, Nigeria faith would be sealed, as Buhari and Nigeria would have missed an opportunity to resolve this.

I see UN troops and UN referendum for people of Biafra soon.

It bothers some peeps o! Not me tho

Nope! The Ibos are dead weight and I dont think Buhari really gives a damn...who cares about some bunch of extremely dubious noisemaking Igbos? The oil they claim they have is now rubbish in the global market - and besides, putting up the normal infrastucture to drill the oil would take decades and by then they would have declared war on themselves. Their clannishness and individualism would see them suffering more than Somalia...who invests in a region of bigot and ethnocentrics? They think they are Jews? That they are special better than Yorubas and every other tribe in the whole world, well ask Israel what the current Israeli nation would be without the support of American tax payers money. With the Niger Delta not interested in going with them...Biafra even if it exist, wont survive a year. I see Ibos going away soon, and I see 2/3rd of them running back to the same zoo they so much hate

This question for those who dont get it is basically asking if; "Pro-Biafrans should get a referendum?"


It is response to this earlier article;

Nigeria: Should pro-Biafrans hold a referendum?
IB TimesBy Ludovica Iaccino | IB Times – Sat, Nov 28, 2015
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IBTimes UK has hosted a debate on whether the Biafran issue could be resolved peacefully with the cooperation of the Nigerian government. David Otto, CEO of UK-based global security provider TGS Intelligence Consultants, and Immanu-el Yahgozie, editor at Biafra 24, discussed their views on whether Biafrans could hold a referendum on the secession advocated by the pro-Biafrans.
Pro-Biafrans call for the independence of territories that constituted the Biafran Republic, established in 1967 and reannexed to Nigeria in 1970, following a civil war that claimed between one and three million lives.
Supporters of the Biafra cause hold regular marches − which they call evangelisations − across several states in southern Nigeria, mainly inhabited by the Igbo ethnic group. Protests have intensified in the past few days in Nigeria and other states since Radio Biafra director Nnamdi Kanu was arrested.
The Nigerian government told IBTimes UK that it does not consider the separatist movement a threat to the current leadership and defined pro-Biafrans as an "insignificant number of frustrated people who are not a threat to the existence of Nigeria".
Army spokesman Colonel Sani Usman told IBTimes UK: "The message to the Biafrans is clear: The army and police might use the Rules of Engagement (ROE) on security operations to the fullest depending on the circumstances."
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Nigeria: Should pro-Biafrans hold a referendum?

We can not force them to remain.it natural,they see themselves as biafrans.

lionness:
Nope! The Ibos are dead weight and I dont think Buhari really gives a damn...who cares about some bunch of extremely dubious noisemaking Igbos? The oil they claim they have is now rubbish in the global market - and besides, putting up the normal infrastucture to drill the oil would take decades and by then they would have declared war on themselves. Their clannishness and individualism would see them suffering more than Somalia...who invests in a region of bigot and ethnocentrics? They think they are Jews? That they are special better than Yorubas and every other tribe in the whole world, well ask Israel what the current Israeli nation would be without the support of American tax payers money. With the Niger Delta not interested in going with them...Biafra even if it exist, wont survive a year. I see Ibos going away soon, and I see 2/3rd of them running back to the same zoo they so much hate

What exactly is your problem if we go our way and you stay in your Yoruba land/Nigeria...
What are you afriad of exactly?

utytill:
We can not force them to remain.it natural,they see themselves as biafrans.

No matter what you do as Igbo...you will always feel Biafran...and Nigerians and their govt won't even allow you to forget.

If you like call it hate speech all what we need is Biafra

Biafra is not negotiable.

[size=14pt]Long story from oyibo propagandists.

Those that make a peacful change impossible, make a violent change inevitable.

Nigerians sat down as discussed how they want to associate and be ruled in the 2014 national CONFAB.

Buhari simply took over and dumped the entire thing into the dustbin. Then turns around to wonder why people are protesting their frustration with the unwillingness to re-structure Nigeria for fairness.

In the end, Nigeria will dismember. Historians shall remember that 2014 CONFAB resolutions as the last straw that could have saved Nigeria, which Buhari and his fellow arrogant northerners threw into the dustbin and dared the country to do its worst. Well, it will come in due time.[/size]

The British government should know that we want Biafra. We can't be in the same country with terrorist

lionness:
Nope! The Ibos are dead weight and I dont think Buhari really gives a damn...who cares about some bunch of extremely dubious noisemaking Igbos? The oil they claim they have is now rubbish in the global market - and besides, putting up the normal infrastucture to drill the oil would take decades and by then they would have declared war on themselves. Their clannishness and individualism would see them suffering more than Somalia...who invests in a region of bigot and ethnocentrics? They think they are Jews? That they are special better than Yorubas and every other tribe in the whole world, well ask Israel what the current Israeli nation would be without the support of American tax payers money. With the Niger Delta not interested in going with them...Biafra even if it exist, wont survive a year. I see Ibos going away soon, and I see 2/3rd of them running back to the same zoo they so much hate

Spoken like the yeriba that you are. Biafra cannot stand, Somalia will be paradise compared to Biafra, Biafran oil is worthless, then allow Biafrans to go and suffer, No. It's only God that knows what you ugly looking yeriba monkeys want.

cremedelacreme:


Spoken like the yeriba that you are. Biafra cannot stand, Somalia will be paradise compared to Biafra, Biafran oil is worthless, then allow Biafrans to go and suffer, No. It's only God that knows what you ugly looking yeriba monkeys want.

you don't understand..

they know Igbo people are nation builders. they kno the new country 'll so leave dem behind and we 'll rub it in....

that's exactly why they are worried..

With all this hate for Igbos ( Biafrans) why not let us just be on our own!!! The truth is that there can NEVER be "one Nigeria" with all this hating! So let's quit pretending!!!

I know the British with focus on oil through BBC will yarn trash but guess what, who cares about them? They know how to represent what interest them most.