"We are all Biafrans".

This statement is valid depending on what you are saying. But it's false when you want to mean that every Igbo is Biafran and that Biafra is Igbo.

If some Igbos are agitating for the Igbo nation which to me does not solve any problem though, I don't think it's Biafra they should be agitating for.

Some Biafran agitators claim that the name "Nigeria" is foreign. But they fail to remember that "Biafra" is also very foreign. Why choose another foreign word? Biafra is a Portuguese word.

But aside from the origin of the name, Biafra as a nation, although made up of 65% Igbos was not an Igbo nation. It was simply a Nation consisting of what was then Eastern Nigeria. Whatever arrangement that consisted of Eastern Nigeria was the making of colonialists too.

If the Igbo nation is anything to go by; it should be a fresh new idea, a brand new plan and not Biafra. We were not Biafrans before the amalgamation of Nigeria. Biafra in itself is also an amalgamation because it consists of people of diverse ethnic groups in old Eastern Nigeria.

Before the amalgamation of Nigeria, we were not called Biafrans. The first town in West Africa to be known as Biafra according to a Portuguese record is located in present-day Cameroon.

Biafra would have made sense if all ethnic groups of the Old Eastern Region are collectively fighting for it. Today, Biafra is more like an Igbo project when we know that Biafra makes no sense without the Ijaws, the Kalabaris and so on whose regions are well situated in the Bight of Biafra.

What Ojukwu fought for was not the independence of the Igbos. Although the Igbos were more affected by the war because they were the majority, consisting of more than 65% of the population, it was not a fight for the Igbos but a fight to have Eastern Nigeria run as a separate entity. It still was going to maintain some form of Colonial arrangements.

Other Igbo towns in the Midwest and today's North Central were not part of Biafra on paper although the Igbo hate by the men of the Nigerian Army compelled them to commit genocide in Asaba which affected almost every single family in Asaba.

If Biafra was a success, we might still have some Igbo ethnic groups stuck within Nigeria and they would continue to be marginalized. From Asaba towards the West was not part of Biafra on paper and from Kogi towards the North was not part of Biafra.

In today's struggle for Biafra, other ethnic groups which were once part of Biafra have made it clear that they are not Biafra and do not want to be part of it. They believe that they will not have a voice in Biafra as they will be swallowed by the majority of Igbos. Their towns were rarely affected by the war because the majority of the combats happened within Igboland. So, many of them feel no attachment to Biafra even though their fathers fought gallantly for it.

Imagine if Anioma of Delta State was part of Biafra also. That would make the Igbos make up about 70% Biafran population. The other ethnic groups do not want a situation where they will always have to come to the negotiation table with the Igbos to have things done or to lead the nation. Igbos would have been to Biafra what Northern Nigeria is to Nigeria in today's arrangement.

This is also why it's laughable when folks try to resurrect the Biafran arrangement where it's impossible. An Igbo nation would have been a better idea since what some Igbos just like some Yorubas are agitating for is self-rule.

And for the idea of an Igbo nation to fly, it must be a new idea to be built from scratch. It doesn't have to be Biafra because Biafra is not an Igbo nation and the idea behind Biafra was not to build the Igbo nation. While Igbos played a major role in it, I always feel that giving Igbos all the credit for whatever took place including the bravery of Biafrans isn't fair.

Now that we have established that Biafra wasn't an Igbo nation even though Igbos made up more than half of the population, we should rather be talking of an Igbo nation that will include all Igbo communities that weren't part of the Biafran project. It has to be a fresh idea, fresh map, fresh planning and even fresh key players.

But then the question is, do Igbos need a Nation of their own? I would rather be opting for an Independent Southern & Middle Belt Nigeria as one country while the core North operates as a separate country. Otherwise, a truly restructured Nigeria with a fresh new constitution could be not just a start of something new but a start of something great.

But whichever is the case, it's still within a people's rights to agitate peacefully.

Ijaw is as large as Igbo.
Ijaws are for Ijaw Republic.

Igbo land is landlocked.

Ebi2233:
Ijaw is as large as Igbo.
Ijaws are for Ijaw Republic.

Igbo land is landlocked.

This is not about superiority but the Igbos are bigger in population. Ijaws are about 4-5 million and they account for 1.8% of Nigeria's population.

On Ijaw Population
Refer to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ijaw_people
Refer to this: https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/ijaw-people/m02wb1k?hl=en#:~:text=Population%20figures%20for%20the%20Ijaws,Africa%20known%20as%20the%20ORU.

Igbos are more than 30 million.
30 Million accounts only for the Igbos in South East and they make up about 18% of Nigeria's population. There are also millions of Igbos indigenous to South-South and North Central.

Aside from Nigeria, there are significant Igbo populations in the following countries

United States - 227,000
Cameroon - 116,000
Ghana - 67,000
Equatorial Guinea - 58,000
United Kingdom - 8,000
Gambia - 6,900
Australia - 2,000
Canada - 1,900

The Igbo language is a minority official language in Cameroon and Equatoria Guinea.

On Igbo Population
Refer to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igboland

Now, let me say again. The purpose of the original article isn't to say any ethnic group is greater than another but Igbo population made up 65-67% of the Biafra population.

Nice piece from OP. We share similar views. An igbo nation is workable and viable. Don't really like this shambolic biafran project.

Oduduwa - The Yorubas call themselves
Arewa - The Northerners call themselves
Biafrans - The Igbos call themselves.

I dont understand why Biafra is offensive but Oduduwa and Arewa isn't. OP if you have a more befitting name for the Igbos, I'll like to hear it.

Freethinker87:
Oduduwa - The Yorubas call themselves
Arewa - The Northerners call themselves
Biafrans - The Igbos call themselves.

I dont understand why Biafra is offensive but Oduduwa or Arewa isn't. OP if you have a more befitting name for the Igbos, I'll like to hear it.

Biafra was not an Igbo Project, it was more like cutting a piece from the colonial cake. There is nothing about Biafra that makes it Igbo and Ojukwu never had it in mind to establish an Igbo state called Biafra. Biafra was just going to be a smaller version of Nigeria. The Old Eastern Region was still a British project. So?

GeorgesDiary:


This is not about superiority but the Igbos are bigger in population. Ijaws are about 4-5 million and they account for 1.8% of Nigeria's population.

On Ijaw Population
Refer to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ijaw_people
Refer to this: https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/ijaw-people/m02wb1k?hl=en#:~:text=Population%20figures%20for%20the%20Ijaws,Africa%20known%20as%20the%20ORU.

Igbos are more than 30 million.
30 Million accounts only for the Igbos in South East and they make up about 18% of Nigeria's population. There are also millions of Igbos indigenous to South-South and North Central.

Aside from Nigeria, there are significant Igbo populations in the following countries

United States - 227,000
Cameroon - 116,000
Ghana - 67,000
Equatorial Guinea - 58,000
United Kingdom - 8,000
Gambia - 6,900
Australia - 2,000
Canada - 1,900

The Igbo language is a minority official language in Cameroon and Equatoria Guinea.

On Igbo Population
Refer to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igboland

Now, let me say again. The purpose of the original article isn't to say any ethnic group is greater than another but Igbo population made up 65-67% of the Biafra population.

Stop believing this lie created by Igbos. Igbos are not larger than Ijawsin population.

Ebi2233:


Stop believing this lie created by Igbos. Igbos are not larger than Ijawsin population.

Binawei, please don't do this here.

Ebi2233:
Ijaw is as large as Igbo.
Ijaws are for Ijaw Republic.

Igbo land is landlocked.

The bolded is arrant nonsense. Ijaw remains a migrant in Nigeria.

I am solidly behind the Republic of Igboland. Igboman ranks better than Englishman or Irishman.

It was simply a Nation consisting of what was then Eastern Nigeria. Whatever arrangement that consisted of Eastern Nigeria was the making of colonialists too.

OSU, eastern Nigeria was a colonial administrative region.

We are not one .

We made this clear to you.

Why you will condemn Lugard's 1914 almagation but in the same breath promote the lumped colonial borders of eastern Nigeria exposes your bloody hypocrisy.

Leave the Niger Delta out of your rubbish


Chai.

Which kind of people are these igbos for Gods sake ?

See as the bastards carve Cross Rover and Akwa Ibom join their rogue nation.

Igbos ehn!

GeorgesDiary:


Biafra was not an Igbo Project, it was more like cutting a piece from the colonial cake. There is nothing about Biafra that makes it Igbo and Ojukwu never had it in mind to establish an Igbo state called Biafra. Biafra was just going to be a smaller version of Nigeria. The Old Eastern Region was still a British project. So?

You lie

Biafra would have made sense if all ethnic groups of the Old Eastern Region are collectively fighting for it. Today, Biafra is more like an Igbo project when we know that Biafra makes no sense without the Ijaws, the Kalabaris and so on whose regions are well situated in the Bight of Biafra.

Biafra remains an Igbo project then like now.

Igbos that fought Adaka Boro's secessionist war to leave Nigeria after the Igbo coup ?

Do you expect the minorities to then join you like mumus ?

Was there any consultation before Ojukwu annexed the entire minority regions after Gowon created old Cross Rivers and old Rivers state .

You can continue lying to yourselves and keep longing for another mans land

Land grabbing okoro thieves..

But then the question is, do Igbos need a Nation of their own? I would rather be opting for an Independent Southern & Middle Belt Nigeria as one country

Listen to the parasite.

You will get your useless OSU land and be on your own

Niger Delta republic will not include any useless OSU as part of it.

Go your own way haba!

GeorgesDiary:
"We are all Biafrans".

This statement is valid depending on what you are saying. But it's false when you want to mean that every Igbo is Biafran and that Biafra is Igbo.

If some Igbos are agitating for the Igbo nation which to me does not solve any problem though, I don't think it's Biafra they should be agitating for.

Some Biafran agitators claim that the name "Nigeria" is foreign. But they fail to remember that "Biafra" is also very foreign. Why choose another foreign word? Biafra is a Portuguese word.

But aside from the origin of the name, Biafra as a nation, although made up of 65% Igbos was not an Igbo nation. It was simply a Nation consisting of what was then Eastern Nigeria. Whatever arrangement that consisted of Eastern Nigeria was the making of colonialists too.

If the Igbo nation is anything to go by; it should be a fresh new idea, a brand new plan and not Biafra. We were not Biafrans before the amalgamation of Nigeria. Biafra in itself is also an amalgamation because it consists of people of diverse ethnic groups in old Eastern Nigeria.

Before the amalgamation of Nigeria, we were not called Biafrans. The first town in West Africa to be known as Biafra according to a Portuguese record is located in present-day Cameroon.

Biafra would have made sense if all ethnic groups of the Old Eastern Region are collectively fighting for it. Today, Biafra is more like an Igbo project when we know that Biafra makes no sense without the Ijaws, the Kalabaris and so on whose regions are well situated in the Bight of Biafra.

What Ojukwu fought for was not the independence of the Igbos. Although the Igbos were more affected by the war because they were the majority, consisting of more than 65% of the population, it was not a fight for the Igbos but a fight to have Eastern Nigeria run as a separate entity. It still was going to maintain some form of Colonial arrangements.

Other Igbo towns in the Midwest and today's North Central were not part of Biafra on paper although the Igbo hate by the men of the Nigerian Army compelled them to commit genocide in Asaba which affected almost every single family in Asaba.

If Biafra was a success, we might still have some Igbo ethnic groups stuck within Nigeria and they would continue to be marginalized. From Asaba towards the West was not part of Biafra on paper and from Kogi towards the North was not part of Biafra.

In today's struggle for Biafra, other ethnic groups which were once part of Biafra have made it clear that they are not Biafra and do not want to be part of it. They believe that they will not have a voice in Biafra as they will be swallowed by the majority of Igbos. Their towns were rarely affected by the war because the majority of the combats happened within Igboland. So, many of them feel no attachment to Biafra even though their fathers fought gallantly for it.

Imagine if Anioma of Delta State was part of Biafra also. That would make the Igbos make up about 70% Biafran population. The other ethnic groups do not want a situation where they will always have to come to the negotiation table with the Igbos to have things done or to lead the nation. Igbos would have been to Biafra what Northern Nigeria is to Nigeria in today's arrangement.

This is also why it's laughable when folks try to resurrect the Biafran arrangement where it's impossible. An Igbo nation would have been a better idea since what some Igbos just like some Yorubas are agitating for is self-rule.

And for the idea of an Igbo nation to fly, it must be a new idea to be built from scratch. It doesn't have to be Biafra because Biafra is not an Igbo nation and the idea behind Biafra was not to build the Igbo nation. While Igbos played a major role in it, I always feel that giving Igbos all the credit for whatever took place including the bravery of Biafrans isn't fair.

Now that we have established that Biafra wasn't an Igbo nation even though Igbos made up more than half of the population, we should rather be talking of an Igbo nation that will include all Igbo communities that weren't part of the Biafran project. It has to be a fresh idea, fresh map, fresh planning and even fresh key players.

But then the question is, do Igbos need a Nation of their own? I would rather be opting for an Independent Southern & Middle Belt Nigeria as one country while the core North operates as a separate country. Otherwise, a truly restructured Nigeria with a fresh new constitution could be not just a start of something new but a start of something great.

But whichever is the case, it's still within a people's rights to agitate peacefully.

In as much as am an Igbo person, I do not subscribe to the form of ipob agitation. I have always opinioned for a viable and prosperous south east that can work even without the federal allocation.The problem I keep saying is that those elected in the east keep using the agitation of the ipob and likes as an excuse for their failures.Development of an erea or country must not be when you have mineral resources. I don't know the number of mineral resources they have in countries like.Switzerland,Germany and others. We in the east should start electing those that have idea of what to do before electing them.Example in Cross River State when Donald Duke came into power he knew what he wanted and went for it.he turned the state into the number one tourism state in the country.

I agree with you. I do not subscribe to the IPOB agenda.

whofoolwho:
In as much as am an Igbo person, I do not subscribe to the form of ipob agitation. I have always opinioned for a viable and prosperous south east that can work even without the federal allocation.The problem I keep saying is that those elected in the east keep using the agitation of the ipob and likes as an excuse for their failures.Development of an erea or country must not be when you have mineral resources. I don't know the number of mineral resources they have in countries like.Switzerland,Germany and others. We in the east should start electing those that have idea of what to do before electing them.Example in Cross River State when Donald Duke came into power he knew what he wanted and went for it.he turned the state into the number one tourism state in the country.

I agree with you. I do not subscribe to the IPOB agenda.

Biafra is a nation made-up with people of similar interests, beliefs, food and traditions unlike Nigeria which is a country made up with different nations with different cultures, interests, foods etc.

Hope someone is enlightened

Chibuzoc:
Biafra is a nation made-up with people of similar interests, beliefs, food and traditions unlike Nigeria which is a country made up with different nations with different cultures, interests, foods etc.

Hope someone is enlightened

Actually, Biafra was made up of diverse cultures, food and traditions. Biafra was just everything Nigeria was... It was just a British-Eastern Nigeria. And make no mistakes about it, I am not saying that Igbos cannot co-exist with their neighbours. I think Igbos can co-exist with everybody. Personally, I would prefer a restructured Nigeria. Nigerians are good together but the "big wigs" are using Nigerians as pawn and setting them against each other for their selfish reasons.

I have always said it after seeing how unserios and the hate filled heart of the minorities in Biafran program channel their hate and misinformation to the igbos,i have come to conclusions that WE THE IGBOS HAVEN HAD ENOUGH NATURAL GAS IN IGBOLAND BIG ENOUGH TO DEVELOP OUR COUNTRY, AS OUR GAS DEPOSIT IS WORTH AT 822 TRILLION DOLLARS, THIS IS ENOUGH TO BUILD A NATION, COUPLE WITH OUR HUGE CRUDE OIL, WITH A DIRECT ACCESS TO THE SEA UNINTERRUPTED, OUR INGENUITY AND HUMAN RESOURCES WE ARE GOOD TO GO,ALL THE MINORITIES IN BIAFRA COULD GO AND FORM THEIR NATIONS WE WOULD SUPPORT THEM.
Example an IBIBIO AND ANNANG man in AKWA IBOM would die rather than support Biafra because the oil and gas in akwa ibom are all in ORON LAND which are Okobo,Udung Uko,Enwang,MBO and more, then Ibeno, Ikot Abasi (former Opobo), Eastern Obolo this Last Three are igbos and a mixture of Oron especially Ibeno, where as Eastern Obolo and Ikot Abasi are purely igbos, so tell me why an IBIBIO AND ANNANG man ,would support Biafra when they don't have any drop of oil, gifted to them by God.
Do we talk about the ijaw who All the oil in Abia Imo egbema Obigbo Omoku Opobo Elele are being pumped to bayelsa and rivers state respectively as the ikwere are being handed over rivers state, to Lord over as a compensation for being a loyal servant to the colonial imperialists British and American, cum Fulani Yoruba Nigeria lord's .
So my people we must awake from our slumber to fight for what is rightly ours as the minorities in Biafran program before are part of the problem IGBOS have as most of them in reality dont a single drop of oil and gas Akwa ibom a case study the reason it's known the distribution and record of oil and gas in akwa ibom is because most of their resources were discovered recently hence they can't hide it from the populace, as every data is open for all to see.
Unlike the ijaw and ikwere who were lucky enough to get oil lordship of the Igbo and other few minorities in the Biafran program, due to its early discovery, and their willingness to subjugate other people round them with the lordship of oil and gas.

GeorgesDiary:


Actually, Biafra was made up of diverse cultures, food and traditions. Biafra was just everything Nigeria was... It was just a British-Eastern Nigeria. And make no mistakes about it, I am not saying that Igbos cannot co-exist with their neighbours. I think Igbos can co-exist with everybody. Personally, I would prefer a restructured Nigeria. Nigerians are good together but the "big wigs" are using Nigerians as pawn and setting them against each other for their selfish reasons.

Biafra is everything opposite of Nigeria. How much do you know about the Biafra people? Food, culture and traditions are almost similar hence a yoruba or hausa man can't differentiate the difference between tribes in Biafra.
Simply put Biafra is of different tribes with similarities while Nigeria is of different nations with no similarity.

Biafra is more connected with southern Cameroon than Yoruba/oduduwa which has more connection with Benin Republic and hausa/area which is connected with Niger.

If not for Berlin conference, I don't think Igbos would be together with Yorubas and hausa but that can't be said about other tribes in Biafra because while other Biafran tribes occupied coastal areas, Igbos were more in the hinterland (island and mainland)

Chibuzoc:


Biafra is everything opposite of Nigeria. How much do you know about the Biafra people? Food, culture and traditions are almost similar hence a yoruba or hausa man can't differentiate the difference between tribes in Biafra.
Simply put Biafra is of different tribes with similarities while Nigeria is of different nations with no similarity.

Biafra is more connected with southern Cameroon than Yoruba/oduduwa which has more connection with Benin Republic and hausa/area which is connected with Niger.

If not for Berlin conference, I don't think Igbos would be together with Yorubas and hausa but that can't be said about other tribes in Biafra because while other Biafran tribes occupied coastal areas, Igbos were more in the hinterland (island and mainland)

Still, Biafra had a diverse people with diverse culture and ways of life. We can't dispute this.

GeorgesDiary:


Still, Biafra had a diverse people with diverse culture and ways of life. We can't dispute this.

Even igbo as tribe has diversity