The Biafran Question, History & What Next

I wish to write something about the Biafran agitation in the South East. Some Igbos might not be happy with this frankness but they should think deep.

I was not born when the civil war happened (1967-1970) but I heard terrible things happened. Mass slaughter of Igbos in Northern Nigeria and the mass starvation of Igbos in the South East.

After Nigerian independence in 1960 Igbos had a dominant role in post-colonial Nigeria. Igbos dominated the military and the civil service. Though the Prime Minister was from the North, the President (ceremonial) was an Igbo.

The Igbos then totally controlled what is today the South East and South South regions.

Then the 1966 coup that was planned and executed by Igbo military officers happened and their main Victims were political and military leaders of Northern Nigeria. The famous Sadauna was murdered with his wife in Kaduna. The reason of this 1966 tribal coup was to enhance Igbo hegemony. Despite all what they had in the political space then, they were still greedy for more power. And this was their unmaking as they lost everything.

After the 1966 coup an Igbo, Gen. Aguyi Ironsi, became Head of State. Then the North organized counter-coup the next year, abducted Gen. Aguyi Ironsi and eliminated him. Two Northern Army officers of Christian extraction led that operation in Ibadan.

Then the unfortunate civil war (1967+1970). More than 3 million Igbos died in that war. All their major cities destroyed.

One of the outcome of the Nigerian civil war was that the ethnic minorities of the former Eastern region were liberated from Igbo servitude and domination. The lands of these minorities is rich in oil resources. This shrinked the sphere of influence of Igbos and restricted them to just 5 states with the smallest land mass in Nigeria. Each of 13 states of Northern Nigeria are bigger than the entire South East region in terms of land mass.

The South East is a densely populated area. The Igbos who are historically traders are forced to move out of their region and spread to various parts of Nigeria, Africa and the world. The largest number of Nigerians outside Nigeria are Igbos. It is not an understatement to state that majority of Igbos live outside the 5 South East states. There are millions of Igbos in Lagos alone. The millions of Igbos in Northern Nigeria are more than the population of two states in the South East. Go to remote villages in Northern Nigeria and you will find Igbos.

Historically, Igbos did not have contact with great civilizations before the advent of European colonialism. The North had contact with great civilizations before the advent of European colonialism. This was why the North could read and write even before British colonialism. The city of Kano is more than one thousand years old. The people of Borno were playing Chess game before the European colonialism arrived the shores of Nigeria.

The Biafran sessesionist agitation did not die with the end of the civil war. It was just subdued but that quest always remain. In the regime of former president GEJ, Igbos were well represented with key government appointments. The Biafra agitation was almost non existent then. Then came the Buhari regime on 29th May, 2015. Those that know President Buhari knows that he does not have favorable disposition towards the Igbo tribe. In appointments president Buhari marginalized the Igbo tribe hiding under the pretext that they voted for the opposition party PDP.

Then the pretender, Nnamdi Kanu, surfaced from nowhere and started a campaign for the actualization of Biafra. The brutal and tyrannical nature of president Buhari became the catalyst of the brutal attacks on the then peaceful Biafran agitation. Nnamdi Kanu was arrested and detained. President Buhari sent the former Nigerian army chief Buratai and hundreds of Igbos Youths were brutally slaughtered and dumped in a mass grave.

These genocidal massacres fueled the sessesionist agitation in the South East and thousands of Igbo Youths flooded to join the military wing of Nnamdi Kanu's IPOB. The IPOB militia started attacking and killing security forces in the South East and some part of the South South. Some Northern interest and businesses were also attacked. A low-key insurgency has started in the South East. Very unfortunate!

On a final note, we should hold president Buhari responsible for the recent rise of the Biafran sessesionist agitation in the South East but it is up to Igbo leaders to decide whether they want to remain in the Nigerian union or not but in my thinking it is in their interest to remain in the Nigerian Union.

Harun Elbinawi
elbinawi@yahoo.com
Elbinawi.

SIMPLE

Elbinawi:
The Biafran Question, History & What Next

I wish to write something about the Biafran agitation in the South East. Some Igbos might not be happy with this frankness but they should think deep.

I was not born when the civil war happened (1967-1970) but I heard terrible things happened. Mass slaughter of Igbos in Northern Nigeria and the mass starvation of Igbos in the South East.

After Nigerian independence in 1960 Igbos had a dominant role in post-colonial Nigeria. Igbos dominated the military and the civil service. Though the Prime Minister was from the North, the President (ceremonial) was an Igbo.

The Igbos then totally controlled what is today the South East and South South regions.

Then the 1966 coup that was planned and executed by Igbo military officers happened and their main Victims were political and military leaders of Northern Nigeria. The famous Sadauna was murdered with his wife in Kaduna. The reason of this 1966 tribal coup was to enhance Igbo hegemony. Despite all what they had in the political space then, they were still greedy for more power. And this was their unmaking as they lost everything.

After the 1966 coup an Igbo, Gen. Aguyi Ironsi, became Head of State. Then the North organized counter-coup the next year, abducted Gen. Aguyi Ironsi and eliminated him. Two Northern Army officers of Christian extraction led that operation in Ibadan.

Then the unfortunate civil war (1967+1970). More than 3 million Igbos died in that war. All their major cities destroyed.

One of the outcome of the Nigerian civil war was that the ethnic minorities of the former Eastern region were liberated from Igbo servitude and domination. The lands of these minorities is rich in oil resources. This shrinked the sphere of influence of Igbos and restricted them to just 5 states with the smallest land mass in Nigeria. Each of 13 states of Northern Nigeria are bigger than the entire South East region in terms of land mass.

The South East is a densely populated area. The Igbos who are historically traders are forced to move out of their region and spread to various parts of Nigeria, Africa and the world. The largest number of Nigerians outside Nigeria are Igbos. It is not an understatement to state that majority of Igbos live outside the 5 South East states. There are millions of Igbos in Lagos alone. The millions of Igbos in Northern Nigeria are more than the population of two states in the South East. Go to remote villages in Northern Nigeria and you will find Igbos.

Historically, Igbos did not have contact with great civilizations before the advent of European colonialism. The North had contact with great civilizations before the advent of European colonialism. This was why the North could read and write even before British colonialism. The city of Kano is more than one thousand years old. The people of Borno were playing Chess game before the European colonialism arrived the shores of Nigeria.

The Biafran sessesionist agitation did not die with the end of the civil war. It was just subdued but that quest always remain. In the regime of former president GEJ, Igbos were well represented with key government appointments. The Biafra agitation was almost non existent then. Then came the Buhari regime on 29th May, 2015. Those that know President Buhari knows that he does not have favorable disposition towards the Igbo tribe. In appointments president Buhari marginalized the Igbo tribe hiding under the pretext that they voted for the opposition party PDP.

Then the pretender, Nnamdi Kanu, surfaced from nowhere and started a campaign for the actualization of Biafra. The brutal and tyrannical nature of president Buhari became the catalyst of the brutal attacks on the then peaceful Biafran agitation. Nnamdi Kanu was arrested and detained. President Buhari sent the former Nigerian army chief Buratai and hundreds of Igbos Youths were brutally slaughtered and dumped in a mass grave.

These genocidal massacres fueled the sessesionist agitation in the South East and thousands of Igbo Youths flooded to join the military wing of Nnamdi Kanu's IPOB. The IPOB militia started attacking and killing security forces in the South East and some part of the South South. Some Northern interest and businesses were also attacked. A low-key insurgency has started in the South East. Very unfortunate!

On a final note, we should hold president Buhari responsible for the recent rise of the Biafran sessesionist agitation in the South East but it is up to Igbo leaders to decide whether they want to remain in the Nigerian union or not but in my thinking it is in their interest to remain in the Nigerian Union.

Harun Elbinawi
elbinawi@yahoo.com
Elbinawi.

Beautiful and unbiased analysis. When Obasanjo won the 1999 election, the çore north didn't vote for obj rather they voted buhari.
In all, obj nevèr showed any form of animosity towards them. He carried everybody along even while they were doing the same thing the igbo are doing now with sharia blackmail! As far as we continue to decieve ourselves without coming together to discuss the basis of our unity as a nation, we will only be dancing russian roulette with our national unity.

All the threads now are about Biafra,Nnamdi Kanu and Ipob...Seun you should thank Mazi Nnamdi Kanu on a more successful cashout this year.