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If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by faith2kool(f): 11:41pm On Dec 21, 2019 |
If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land, An Igbo Business Man Can Feed And Cloths A Senators – Obasanjo Told Buhari Many Igbo feel politically and economically marginalised, and the government’s hardline stance is not helping. 50 years after Nigeria’s then Eastern Region declared itself the Republic of Biafra, sparking a brutal and costly three-year civil war, the country again faces a separatist challenge. Across the Igbo south east, there is resurgent agitation for an independent Biafra state. President Muhammadu Buhari’s forceful response to the agitation has been counter-productive, inflaming passions and boosting separatist sentiments. The government needs to change course and prioritise dialogue over coercion. The starting point of any response is to understand the agitation’s roots. They include political and economic grievances, a deep sense of collective victimisation among the Igbo, and the failure of south east politicians to provide good governance and development. [Biafra 50 years on: Remembering, regretting, repeating history?] Roots of the agitation Separatists contend that since the Biafra War, the Igbo, one of the country’s three major ethnic groups, have been marginalised. They note that no Igbo has been elected to lead the country since Nnamdi Azikiwe’s ceremonial presidency in the 1960s or to be vice president since Alex Ekwueme (1979 to 1983). This persisted even under military rule. The only Igbo head of state in this period, Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, was killed after only seven months. Administrative structures decreed by northern-led military governments have also undermined the region. Of the country’s six geo-political zones, all but the south east contain either six or seven states. The south east has just five, while it accounts for only 96 of Nigeria’s 774 local governments. Representation in government and the flow of federal resources are based on these administrative units. Today, the south east, like much of the country, suffers deficient and dilapidated infrastructure and widespread youth unemployment. But many believe this is structural. They point out that as federal revenue allocation is based on number of states and local governments, the south east receives the least of all zones. Unequal treatment Under Buhari, political grievances have deepened. With no Igbo heading any of the military and security services, many argue the region has no voice in key organs such as the National Defence Council (NDC). “We are like second class citizens, of the same status as a colonised people, except that this is internal colonialism, caliphate colonialism”, asserted a retired Igbo military officer. The situation has also been aggravated by Buhari’s statement shortly after coming to power that “constituencies that gave me 97% cannot in all honesty be treated, on some issues, with constituencies that gave me 5%”. To many in the south east, who mostly voted for former president Goodluck Jonathan, that statement raised fears that the president would not accord them equal treatment with the north. They now see their fears confirmed by some government actions. For example, when the domestic intelligence agency the Department of State Services recruited recently, it hired just 44 new employees from the south east compared to 165 from the north west. Similarly, the south east is nearly completely excluded from a proposed national railway development plan. Victims of history Along with political and economic grievances, separatist agitation is driven by a strong feeling of collective victimisation. In 1949, the prominent Igbo leader Nnamdi Azikiwe asserted “it would appear that God has specially created the Ibo people to suffer persecution and be victimised because of their resolute will to live”. Almost 50 years later, another distinguished Igbo, Chinua Achebe, claimed that “Nigerians of all other ethnic groups will probably achieve consensus on no other matter than their common resentment of the Igbo”. These feelings have been deepened over the decades by recurrent rioting in the north in which Igbo have suffered great losses. Mostly notably, over 30,000 Igbo in the north were killed and two million fled back to the south in 1966 in the “Igbo pogrom” that followed the January coup and July counter-coup. During the Biafra War, all other groups rallied round the federal government. The conflict killed about two million people, mostly Igbo, and more died during post-war riots and conflicts in the north. Some northern leaders have argued that the Igbo were targeted because of their entrepreneurial success not their ethnicity, but such explanations offer no consolation. As one Igbo civil society leader said, the current separatist agitation is “a rejection of the Nigerian state by a group that feels already rejected by that state”. South-eastern governance failures also fuel unrest. Local political leaders have largely failed to harness the region’s resources, create sustainable employment and engage youth. As the president-general of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze, Nnia Nwodo said, Igbo youth “have passed a vote of no confidence in us their fathers”. The agitation therefore represents not only a protest against the state but a rift within Igbo society. Flawed responses Successive government responses have been generally intolerant and combative. The government generally lumps the separatist movement together with Boko Haram and the militant Yoruba group the O’odua People’s Congress (OPC) as “extremist groups” threatening national security. Under President Olusegun Obasanjo, the administration arrested the leader of the Movement for Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Ralph Uwazuruike, charged him with treason and detained him from 2005 to 2007. Police clashed with MASSOB members repeatedly, killing many. President Buhari’s government has been similarly intolerant. In November 2015, he issued a “serious warning” that: “The corporate existence of Nigeria as a single entity is not a subject of debate and will not be compromised”. On another occasion, he said: “For Nigeria to divide now…it is better for all of us to jump into the sea and get drowned”. Following from this hardline stance, security agencies shut down the unlicensed radio station, Radio Biafra, operated by the separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). They have banned pro-Biafran newspapers, arresting and brutalising non-compliant vendors. These measures have driven many publications off the streets, but have not curbed the even more vigorous social media. Security agencies have also broken up rallies and meetings, killing and arresting scores. An Amnesty International report alleged that security forces murdered at least 150 agitators between August 2015 and August 2016. The army rejected the report, but separatists say the number of deaths was even higher. In January 2017, when agitators organised a rally in “solidarity” with new US President Donald Trump, police reportedly killed 11 participants and arrested more than 65. Many are still in jail. The government also arrested IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu in October 2015. He was arraigned and granted bail, but despite court orders for his release, he was held in prison until April 2017. Kanu’s prolonged detention turned him into a hero and increased IPOB membership. Outlook for the future The agitation’s future trajectory is unclear. Much depends on the federal government. Further repression will earn the separatists more local sympathy and support and could push them to more desperate actions. If there is no progress towards constitutional, administrative and policy reforms that would respond to the demands of the south east, the agitation could escalate. Further demonstrations and government crackdowns could further strain the already over-stretched security forces, diverting resources needed to fight Boko Haram and insecurity elsewhere. Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, has counselled the government to ask the agitators: “What are those things we can do to make you content, to make you feel part of this entity [Nigeria]… What can we do to make them feel that they belong and are not alienated?” The federal government should heed that sage’s advice. In the short term, the government should refrain from further threats of “crushing” the agitation and free unconditionally the hundreds of protestors currently imprisoned. It should also reassure all regions it will allocate resources and develop infrastructure equitably. In the longer term, the National Assembly should resume its stalled constitution review and pass provisions that would guarantee all citizens a stronger sense of national belonging and redress the imbalance in administrative units between the zones. This is a key demand of south easterners and one already endorsed by the leaders of most other zones. The leaders of the south east must also respond to their region’s needs by focusing on economic development and curbing massive youth unemployment. The south east governors’ recent initiative towards integrated regional development is a welcome step that should be pursued vigorously. 50 years after the south east attempted to break away, the country remains fragile. Its democracy is still unstable, as demonstrated by the recent coup rumours as President Buhari is reportedly very ill. [Nigeria: Coup rumours reflect rising distrust in Buhari’s absence] At a 25 May colloquium on Biafra: 50 years after in Abuja, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo said the greatest responsibility of Nigerian leaders today is to give a pathway to unity in diversity. The country’s leaders must work harder to build bridges, close cleavages, and achieve a more cohesive country. If they fail, separatist agitations will grow even stronger. https://tigblog.com.ng/2019/12/21/if-igbos-have-functional-seaport-in-igbo-land-an-igbo-business-man-can-feed-and-cloths-a-senator-obasanjo-told-buhari/
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Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by Sirjamo: 11:55pm On Dec 21, 2019 |
Maybe Obasanjo always forgets that he was president for a cumulative 11 years, why did he not make the ports in close proximity to SE functional? 19 Likes 6 Shares |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by sweetonugbu: 12:00am On Dec 22, 2019 |
How many did he built?. 5 Likes 1 Share |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by tartar9(m): 12:07am On Dec 22, 2019 |
"If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land, An Igbo Business Man Can Feed And Cloths A Senators" Their always rude and arrogant ways of requesting for help alone is enough to make anyone not to heed their requests. 8 Likes 7 Shares |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by Bluntguy: 12:22am On Dec 22, 2019 |
What will be will be. Simple and short. 1 Like |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by Nobody: 12:22am On Dec 22, 2019 |
- 26 Likes 8 Shares |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by alphaNomega: 12:30am On Dec 22, 2019 |
Oh shut up you fucking twàt! Them niggers can't even maintain infrastructure as basic as road and you're talking of seaport. I know what you are doing. You're trying to ridicule the Igbos. Keep it up. 6 Likes 3 Shares |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by XANDERBOY85: 2:14am On Dec 22, 2019 |
BeachTime: You see the problem i have with people like you is you keep quiet in the face of tyranny and become docile....willing to accept any and all types of injustice for the sake of not wanting to 'rock the boat' or being tagged as 'reactionary'! All the while your resources are being milked and depleted with you having next to nothing to show for it! But when others who equally feel marginalised speak up and question the status-quo that has led to their ill-treatment, you raise your hand and say 'why are you complaining.....i feel i've been hard done by even more than you'! How many of you have keyed into the Biafran agitation for a referendum on secession? Or if you love 'one Nigeria' so much that you feel you can't do without it....how many of you have formed a movement to push for true fiscal-federalism and resource ownership? Igbos have been murdered in cold blood standing up for what they believe in, yet you sit there....doing nothing, and want to argue that your marginalisation is greater than what the Igbo are experiencing, hence we should keep quiet! The travails Donald Duke faced had nothing to do with Ndigbo! Rather, blame ethno-religious Nigerian partisan-politics and the those who can 'annoint' whomsoever they want to be president! 46 Likes 10 Shares |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by MoIbrahim: 2:35am On Dec 22, 2019 |
Says the letter writer who ruled Nigeria for 3+8=11 years. You had the best chance to build the ports, Oga Mischief Maker. Why didn't you? 1 Like 1 Share |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by Dedetwo(m): 3:26am On Dec 22, 2019 |
faith2kool: The bolded is very ignorant a statement as the fool who contrived it. There was nothing like ceremonial presidency in 1960 Nigerian constitution when the Zik was the Governor-General and in 1963 Nigerian constitution when Zik became president of the republic. 6 Likes |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by overall90: 3:28am On Dec 22, 2019 |
tartar9: requesting for help from who? i want you to know something that if not for Nigeria and the way it is,people like you and even those that we are supposed to request for help from would have been fetchers of water and hewers of wood in igboland. 12 Likes 5 Shares |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by freemanq(m): 3:52am On Dec 22, 2019 |
why don't you build the port for 8 good years you are president, you are just waking up to the reality now. who God bless no man can curse 4 Likes 2 Shares |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by allthingsgood: 5:11am On Dec 22, 2019 |
U guys are funny. So u expect the president to hand over an arm of the armed forces to people who wish to disintegrate the country? Who does that As far as I know, igbos are the ones marginalizing themselves 2 Likes 2 Shares |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by helinues: 5:13am On Dec 22, 2019 |
Probably Agatu, Ijesha and Kanuri have been their governors, senators and reps all this years . But me I thought Mr Hero beer have made SE paradise. 1 Like 2 Shares |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by overall90: 5:26am On Dec 22, 2019 |
BeachTime: of course you have to use Anambra to site your example and not Borno. i don;t know if it is wilful ignorance or you are being mischievous to want only Anambra to build a bridge connecting not just two states but two geopolitical zones,one being an oil rich state and the other being an economic hub generating billions in taxes and also the amount their importers pay for using the lagos ports. 25 Likes 3 Shares |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by 3rdavefarms(m): 6:15am On Dec 22, 2019 |
I won’t say anything because I will be banned But...... |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by Nobody: 6:18am On Dec 22, 2019 |
- 11 Likes 4 Shares |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by Philistine(m): 6:20am On Dec 22, 2019 |
BeachTime:I 1million likes for this comment. This is one of the best comments I have read on Nairaland so far. Igbos keep shouting Marginalisation in Nigeria, but the true fact is they are one of the ethnic groups enjoying Nigeria the most. 15 Likes 4 Shares |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by henryobinna(m): 6:22am On Dec 22, 2019 |
BeachTime: so Anambra recieves free $20 million according to you. I stopped taking the entire write up serious after reading that. Have a nice day and think of a way to better the lives of the people in your state. It'll do you more good than this 8 Likes 3 Shares |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by Omoodua007: 6:30am On Dec 22, 2019 |
lol there’s sea post in Rivers and delta Ibo women built airport and it collapsed in 5 years 2 Likes |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by henryobinna(m): 6:38am On Dec 22, 2019 |
BeachTime:I'm not interested in an argument with you as that's what you're looking for. Primarily because you lack what I think it takes to engage in any such. So you can add more espitles maybe this time use Abia state, do you like Aba? 8 Likes 2 Shares |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by Omoodua007: 6:44am On Dec 22, 2019 |
henryobinna: Since you can’t respond your running away looo 8 Likes 4 Shares |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by Nobody: 6:47am On Dec 22, 2019 |
tartar9: Requesting for help? How do some of you reason... 3 Likes 1 Share |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by Nobody: 6:50am On Dec 22, 2019 |
BeachTime: Good write up... but dont you think there are other minerals in the earth that they could harness to generate funds for their infrastructure aswell as speed up its pace?.. Dont you also think that a seaport would increase its IGR directly from the $11m you stated since its people top the list of importers into the country? Dont you think a seaport would attract international coys and partnership, aswell as population bloat which in turn increases IGR, standard of living, employment etc Dont you think so? 4 Likes 1 Share |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by StaffofOrayan(m): 6:58am On Dec 22, 2019 |
Nigerian politicians turning activists when they lose power, 2 Likes 1 Share |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by Philistine(m): 7:00am On Dec 22, 2019 |
Esseite:What Seaport are you talking about? South East does not have access to the sea. Just accept the truth and move on, Igbos are one of the major beneficiary of Nigeria, u guys should quit the blackmailing and Blame game, it works no more. 11 Likes 3 Shares |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by jom28gy(m): 7:04am On Dec 22, 2019 |
Though,he may have made his mistake while as a president,he might be used to correct some certain defectives in the decaying system 2 Likes |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by Chibuzoc(m): 7:05am On Dec 22, 2019 |
BeachTime:We are all entitled to our opinions but Op you lack understanding although you sounded intelligent. Now answer me, were will the seaport be located in igboland if not either in akwa-cross, port Harcourt or Warri Op with all due respect, I will classify you as an igbophobic element, my opinion thou 3 Likes |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by AtikuNetwork: 7:06am On Dec 22, 2019 |
This news looks fake. I don't think Obasanjo said any of those things. Besides, why is it a blog that is reporting it instead of a major newspaper like The Sun or Telegraph?? 2 Likes 1 Share |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by Nobody: 7:11am On Dec 22, 2019 |
Philistine: Now you are drifting from the points you made to getting angry and going tribal. https://allafrica.com/stories/201810260663.html Read and have a great day. 2 Likes |
Re: If Igbo’s Have Functional Sea Port In Igbo Land - Obasanjo by Wazobiamax22: 7:14am On Dec 22, 2019 |
tartar9:Brother, but that was a comment from Obasanjo if I am not mistaken Moreover, Obasanjo has stated a fact If we are talking about diversification, why not empower each region with what they are good in and watch poverty be a thing of the past!!! Philistine:Is the Niger bridge not in Onitsha Is Onitsha not in the East Just asking ooooo 3 Likes 3 Shares
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