Why Nigeria Is Facing Secessionist Fervor, AgainBy 

Dulue Mbachu

September 25, 2017, 12:01 AM GMT+1

From 

Almost half a century after a secessionist war in southeastern Nigeria ended, a renewed push for an independent state known as Biafra is stoking fresh conflict. Thousands of troops have been deployed in the region, which is mainly populated by ethnic Igbos. The forces have rounded up scores of members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, or Ipob, the main group behind the breakaway campaign, several people have died in clashes, and Ipob’s popular leader has gone missing after a military raid at his home.

1. What’s brought the Biafra cause alive again?

In short, a new leader. Nnamdi Kanu, 45, has injected new life into the secessionist movement. Previously a member of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, Kanu quit to form Ipob in 2012. A citizen of both Nigeria and the U.K., he set up the London-based Radio Biafra, which broadcast calls for independence across Nigeria’s southeastern states and hurled insults at the authorities. After years of eluding the authorities, Kanu was arrested in Lagos in 2015 and charged with terrorism and treason. He was released on bail, and his trial is due to resume Oct. 17. If convicted, he could face a death sentence. Kanu hasn’t been seen or heard from since a raid by security forces on his home in the city of Umuahia Sept. 14, his lawyer Ifeanyi Ejiofor said in a Sept. 20 statement.

2. What are Ipob’s complaints?

The group argues that the mainly Christian Igbos have suffered discrimination and oppression since the secessionist war ended in 1970. President Muhammadu Buhari, elected in 2015, has fueled that complaint. Buhari has appointed Muslim northerners, like himself, to top military and security posts. Just three of the 17 top officials in positions in the army, navy, air force and other security agencies are from the south, and none are Igbo, one of the country’s three biggest ethnic groups. Buhari has said regions where he won 5 percent of the vote shouldn’t expect to be treated equally with those where he secured 97 percent support. 


3. How have authorities dealt with Ipob?

Buhari’s administration has been accused of sanctioning the security forces’ heavy-handed approach toward unarmed Ipob supporters. That criticism intensified after a video clip circulated on social media purportedly showing the military torturing people bearing the group’s banners and forcing them to swim in muddy water. The military says it’s investigating the incident. Last year, at least 150 of Ipob’s supporters who gathered in the southeastern city of Onitsha in May to mark the anniversary of the war of secession were shot dead, according to Amnesty International.

4. What led to the war?

Nigeria’s fractious regional dynamics are rooted in its colonial history. In 1914, Britain merged its mainly Muslim northern protectorate and predominantly Christian southern one into a single nation comprising more than 250 distinct ethnic and language groups. In 1966, mainly ethnic Igbo junior officers staged a coup against a Muslim-dominated government. The administration they installed was toppled six months later and tens of thousands of Igbos were massacred across northern Nigeria. The following year, the southeast region declared independence and the ensuing war claimed between one million and three million lives before the secessionists’ defeat.

5. What are Ipob’s methods?

The group is calling for a referendum on independence in the southeast. It insists it doesn’t approve of violence. Nevertheless, a federal high court ordered it banned and designated it a terrorist organization on Sept. 20. Clashes between the authorities and the group’s followers in the course of the raid at Kanu’s residence left several people dead, and a number of Muslim northerners were targeted by mobs in reprisal attacks.

6. How much support does Kanu have?

Kanu’s popularity has been boosted by his arrest and his denunciation of Buhari’s government at his court appearances. He has special appeal to unemployed young people in the southeast who feel the pinch of Nigeria’s worst economic slump in a quarter century. Since his April 25 release, Kanu has drawn tens of thousands of followers to rallies, defying a court ban on being in the company of more than 10 people, which has only brought him more admiration.

7. Can the secession battle succeed?

One of Buhari’s first actions upon returning to Nigeria in August after undergoing three months of medical treatment in London was to deliver a television address in which he declared that Nigeria’s unity wasn’t negotiable and there would be a crackdown on secessionists. However, his approach is unlikely to quell calls by ethnic minorities for more autonomy and control of their resources, issues that are likely to be central in elections in 2019. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who’s seen as a likely presidential contender, has said he’s in favor of meeting demands for a looser federation of Nigeria’s states. While most regions support greater devolution of powers, not many back an outright breakaway.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-24/why-nigeria-is-facing-secessionist-fervor-again-quicktake-q-a

The whole world is talking about it now thanks to the gworo chewing illiterate maga in Aso rock.

IPOB is a terrorist group. Plain and simple.

SillyMods:
IPOB is a terrorist group. Plain and simple.

EU and US disagree

nwabobo:
The whole world is talking about it now thanks to the gworo chewing illiterate maga in Aso rock.

Let the whole planets talk about it, IPOB remains a terrorist group.

The earlier you realize that Bloomberg and other outside media cannot help you the better. What has any of them been able to do for Catalonia, Kurds and many of such secessionist groups?

Don't get me wrong. I want to live separately from Ibos and Hausas but don't go about asking Ibo terrorists to kill me because I'm a Yoruba or to kill someone because he's a Hausa. What type of nonsense is that?

If I see terrorist Kanu, I will make sure I personally kill him first for such pronouncement. I swear.

OjukwuWarBird:



EU and US disagree

They don't have to agree. They have their locally designated terrorist groups not internationally agreed to by other countries as well. So?

You terrorist can sponsor articles on all foreign dailies . Ipob will still remain a terrorist group.

When the going was good , we advised you all
We also warned you ppl of consequences of your abrasive biligerance
You'all should know that

" when you pray for rain, prepare for storm"

atiku need to start holding world conference on how to end conflict in Nigeria, and restored better government in Nigeria. by visiting the Yoruba's / igbos in uk/usa/ and Europe. gain international community and Nigeria in diaspora support.

SillyMods:
IPOB is a terrorist group. Plain and simple.

I hope you know EU , America and 70 percent of Nigerians disagree

bkool7:
You terrorist can sponsor articles on all foreign dailies . Ipob will still remain a terrorist group.

When the going was good , we advised you all
We also warned you ppl of consequences of your abrasive biligerance
You'all should know that

" when you pray for rain, prepare for storm"

Durex condom Durex condom why Na

At some point not too far. We have to re-negotiate nigeria.

the real northern terrorist are not happy with this news.

Hmmmmmm........
BUHARI has destroyed Nigeria

nwabobo:
The whole world is talking about it now thanks to the gworo chewing illiterate maga in Aso rock.

Vegetable is plying IPOB's scrip perfectly. Every move he makes against IPOB is more of a gain to IPOB. I pity vegetable in coming weeks.

Buhari should NOT have been president. The man messes up everything his hand touches, and known for legendary bigotry and sectionalism.

The man has divided Nigeria into a thousand lines; a graceless president who solves every problem with force.

A different and more human(e) president would have handled these agitations differently, and with more tact and wisdom.

The Kurdish referendum was held today.

Kurdish people want to form a new country called Kurdistan. I'm yet to hear about any military occupation or operation from the Iraqi army.

Staying together is not by force

Let the stinking dross continue to hang for all to see.


The "reformed democrat" has been exposed to the world to see that tyranny flows in his blood stream.

Boko Haram would not have become that much of a headache � but for the ineptitude of Goodluck Jonathan whose gross lack of ability to sufficiently interprete intel and think as well as act independently gave room for BH to dig in to the extent it built an army that demystified The NA.
Buhari, thankfully handled IPOB with military despatch and restored the pride and punch of The NA to the point that a whisper of its presence made IPOB pause!

Iamzik:
The Kurdish referendum was held today.

Kurdish people want to form a new country called Kurdistan. I'm yet to hear about any military occupation or operation from the Iraqi army.

Staying together is not by force

Please study how the Kurds set about exercising their right to self determination! See how much of hate-speech, race superiority items and appropriation of territorial boundaries of other ethnic nationalities are in it. #spreadpeacenothatred

Splashme:
Hmmmmmm........
BUHARI has destroyed Nigeria

Something tells me IPOB would have made a better showing to the point of getting a referendum were they this active when Goodluck Jonathan was President. Hopefully when Ndigbo clinche The President the matter will get done.

zoedew:


Please study how the Kurds set about exercising their right to self determination! See how much of hate-speech, race superiority items and appropriation of territorial boundaries of other ethnic nationalities are in it. #spreadpeacenothatred

[b]Not much to study there sir. It's not rocket science.
They are able to organize a referendum because their constitution gives them that right.

It's not so much about the hate speech sir. No reasonable person will condone such utterances.

But even if hate speech was not involved where is it provided in the constitution that a section of this nation is entitled to self determination and that this right will be subject to the outcome of a referendum vote??

My point is that even though Bagdad does not want the Kurds to leave, they allowed the referendum nonetheless because there is a provision for that in their constitution. And the Kurds spoke through their votes loud and clear.

A constitution that doesnt recognize the right to self determination is a repressive constitution. And this is evidenced in the deliberate exclusion of a the right to conduct a referendum.

You can't keep hiding under hate speech to declare every group seeking self determination as terrorists.

Supposing the yorubas take up a similar struggle albeit peacefully, will Nigeria allow them go through a referendum??[/b]

SillyMods:
IPOB is a terrorist group. Plain and simple.

You are one hell of a terrorist. I guess it takes one to recognize another.

SillyMods:
IPOB is a terrorist group. Plain and simple.

i think Nigeria is the real terrorist organisation , Millions of innocent souls have died in the hands of Nigerian government , while millions of property has been seized , demolished and set ablaze , IPOB is not an arm carrying organisation

zoedew:


Please study how the Kurds set about exercising their right to self determination! See how much of hate-speech, race superiority items and appropriation of territorial boundaries of other ethnic nationalities are in it. #spreadpeacenothatred

[b]
Not much to study there sir. It's not rocket science.
They are able to organize a referendum because their constitution gives them that right.

It's not so much about the hate speech sir. No reasonable person will condone such utterances.

But even if hate speech was not involved where is it provided in the constitution that a section of this nation is entitled to self determination and that this right will be subject to the outcome of a referendum vote??

My point is that even though Bagdad does not want the Kurds to leave, they allowed the referendum nonetheless because there is a provision for that in their constitution. And the Kurds spoke through their votes loud and clear.

A constitution that doesnt recognize the right to self determination is a repressive constitution. And this is evidenced in the deliberate exclusion of a the right to conduct a referendum.

You can't keep hiding under hate speech to declare every group seeking self determination as terrorists.

Supposing the yorubas take up a similar struggle albeit peacefully, will Nigeria allow them go through a referendum?? [/b]

Iamzik:


It's not so much about the hate speech sir. No reasonable person will condone such utterances.

But even if hate speech was not involved where is it provided in the constitution that a section of this nation is entitled to self determination and that this right will be subject to the outcome of a referendum vote??

My point is that even though Bagdad does not want the Kurds to leave, they allowed the referendum nonetheless because there is a provision for that in their constitution. And the Kurds spoke through their votes loud and clear.

A constitution that doesnt recognize the right to self determination is a repressive constitution. And this is evidenced in the deliberate exclusion of a the right to conduct a referendum.

You can't keep hiding under hate speech to declare every group seeking self determination as terrorists.

Supposing the yorubas take up a similar struggle albeit peacefully, will Nigeria allow them go through a referendum??

Though not provided for in cfrn99 the right to self determination cannot be denied any people group in Nigeria who desire same since Nigeria is a signatory to the UN Charter that provides for it. However it must be pursued in a manner civil to the extent it would attract int. sympathy where Nigeria says no. Ndigbo politicians must be involved for the push to be credible. Nnamdi Kanu is the face of Biafra and unfortunately he is a tough sale! I wonder if you have viewed his vitriolic videos on YouTube which reminds one of Adolf Hitler and the disaster he brought on our world! Germans didn't spend their lifetime licking the wound of defeat but simply went to work at building a nation strong post WWII. Today Germany stands shoulder to shoulder with the top nations of the world. Ndigbo has a thing or two to learn from the Germans and the Third Reich!

SillyMods:

Let the whole planets talk about it, IPOB remains a terrorist group.

The earlier you realize that Bloomberg and other outside media cannot help you the better. What has any of them been able to do for Catalonia, Kurds and many of such secessionist groups?

Don't get me wrong. I want to live separately from Ibos and Hausas but don't go about asking Ibo terrorists to kill me because I'm a Yoruba or to kill someone because he's a Hausa. What type of nonsense is that?

If I see terrorist Kanu, I will make sure I personally kill him first for such pronouncement. I swear.

Every cockroach has an opinion on Nairaland.
I really wonder how and what the name " Kanu " does to cockroaches all over Nigeria.

The heat in increasing, until the center cannot hold. Let restructure Nigeria now!

paid write up

Iamzik:


Not much to study there sir. It's not rocket science.
They are able to organize a referendum because their constitution gives them that right.

It's not so much about the hate speech sir. No reasonable person will condone such utterances.

[b]But even if hate speech was not involved where is it provided in the constitution that a section of this nation is entitled to self determination and that this right will be subject to the outcome of a referendum vote??

My point is that even though Bagdad does not want the Kurds to leave, they allowed the referendum nonetheless because there is a provision for that in their constitution. And the Kurds spoke through their votes loud and clear.

A constitution that doesnt recognize the right to self determination is a repressive constitution. And this is evidenced in the deliberate exclusion of a the right to conduct a referendum.

You can't keep hiding under hate speech to declare every group seeking self determination as terrorists.

Supposing the yorubas take up a similar struggle albeit peacefully, will Nigeria allow them go through a referendum??[/b]

Please get some education beyond the Nigerian grade. Self-determination is not codified in any country's constitution however it is an inalienable right of individuals to enjoy self-determination. The same UN that ascertained the cesspit called Nigeria should be recognized as independent country also had a resolution for self-determination which Nigeria acknowledged.