I understand that I am stepping into controversial waters but I feel this has to be said, given the fact that Urhobo-Isokoland is added to the proposed Biafra Nation. Silence may mean consent. This has to be said and I anticipate a very exciting and non-tribalistic discussion of the issues I have raised. I have already made this comment on a thread elsewhere on this forum but I need it to be a thread of its own in order to attract more comments and reach out to IPOB youths which the message is directed to.

The Igbo people do have an inalienable right to self-determination. If the majority of Igbos support Biafra, there is certainly no problem with that. Nigeria was never a discussed nation. I believe that the FG should look into the request of the Igbos and find a permanent solution to their agitations. The international community should as well be consulted and wooed to the Igbo cause. However, my issues with the current Biafra ideology being propagated by IPOB are as follows:

1. The addition of tribes that have historically not been in Biafra such as Urhobo-Isoko and Itsekiri. These tribes have never been and have never pledged or advocated for Biafra. In fact, many Urhobos have never even heard of the word before. So there is no basis for the addition of these people.

2. The addition of non-Igbo tribes in the South South. It is true that many of the minorities in the former Eastern Region were in the extinct Biafran republic but it must be emphasised that only a few of them commiserated with the cause. Currently, less than 1% of members of these ethnic minorities are sympathetic to the Biafran project. Many don't trust the motives of IPOB, which added them to maps without due consultation. The mistrust is further exacerbated by the reactions of IPOB youths online when confronted with the reality that members of minority tribes are NOT interested in Biafra.
I have been hearing the common idea of a referendum from IPOB and Igbos but as far as I am concerned, there won't be any referendum in the South-South because the people haven't asked for it. Referendums are conducted on request and no minority tribe has asked for any in line with the Biafran ideology. In the SE, an overwhelming majority subscribe to Biafra so there won't also be a need for any referendum as the outcome would be certain.
If IPOB is to succeed and attract sympathy, it should remain an IGBO affair as it is. After all, how many of the so-called minorities join in protests and the propagandist movement? Will they eat from where they did not work? From all the comments on the internet and the reality on ground, it is obvious even to the blind that minorities do not want Biafra. Why force yourself and your ideology on them? Isn't it wise to speak for only your ethnicity and agitate for an Igbo Biafra? If the minorities want Biafra, they should agitate for it then an agreement will be reached. Don't force it down their throats. Many of these minorities have strong voices in the nation because of their oil and Nigeria WILL NEVER let them go except the minorities themselves reject Nigeria -which I have not seen any doing-. If Biafra is to leave Nigeria smoothly, focus on Igboland and leave areas where Nigeria has huge investments in. It simply won't work as Nigeria won't lose Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta and Bayelsa, etc, without a fight! Biafrans should cater for their own first and if Biafra is achieved, she may then extend a hand of fellowship to the neighbouring groups.

3. Use of emotions, rather than logic and reason to make arguments. I will concede that this is shown mainly by the semi-literate IPOB member with an internet connection. If you come online to hear the arguments proferred for Biafra, many are ridden with tribalism against the Hausa-Yoruba. The Hausa-Yoruba are people too and have their own wishes and aspirations. You may not want to be in a country with them doesn't mean you should hate them. I also understand that they return the hate as well but the circle will never end if you guys don't get your priorities right. As an Urhobo, I have seen many comments by Igbos geared towards annexing us whether we want it or not. To them, the whole of Delta is Biafraland without even realising that Delta was never part of Biafra to begin with. This campaign of calumny, heightened by sentiments, have created enemies of many minorities. I have heard discussions by Urhobos/Itsekiris and even Ibibios about Igbo and Biafra and nothing good was said whatsoever. I won't blame them for it. They simply reacted to what they've seen, especially on the internet.

4. Playing Lugard. Although this is just a repetition of what I had said, I wish to emphasise again in concrete terms. The Igbos frequently reference Nigeria as the Lugardian experiment. This is totally correct. One of the problems in Nigeria is multilingualism. At the onset, we operated a regional system and tribalism was still a very serious issue. In fact, so bad was tribalism in the regional system that it caused a civil war. Biafra proponents frequently cite regionalism and resource control as the basis for the addition of non-Igbo speaking tribes to Biafra. If regionalism didn't work in a multiethnic Nigeria, what will be different in a multiethnic Biafra? A lot has happened since the previous agitation and many of the Nigerian minorities are genuinely wary of Nigeria's major ethnic groups, including the Igbos. You cannot sweep this under the carpet all of a sudden. IPOB should focus more on building bridges and building its public image to the minorities if they really want them in Biafra. You can't force people into a marriage that they don't want. Don't play Lugard all over again.

5. Lack of good strategy. If you need a nation. You have to get intellectuals - political scientists, economists, scientists, sociologists, lawyers, etc - to draw a map and make useful contributions to the cause. This is where MASSOB has done better than IPOB. Many of the modern day Biafran agitators are traders, who are not even in Igboland to begin with, semi-literates and pure illiterates. They lack the wherewithal to draw a good action plan that will involve all Igbos. Protests are good but what have they achieved so far? NOTHING!!! Biafra also needs a charismatic leader. Nnamdi Kanu preaches too much violence and he is a war-monger. Biafra tried violence in 1967 and it didn't work. You need a different strategy. Organise a think-tank, engage the many Igbo professors, scientists, business moguls, innovators, economists, politicians, etc, and draw a clear roadmap. You don't need to fight Nigeria to get Biafra. No one owns Nigeria so fighting her would be in vain. Once Biafra gets a clear vision and roadmap towards its actualization, many things will fall in place naturally. The campaign shouldn't be all about violent protests; you guys should go to towns and villages and sensitise people, write letters to heads-of-states, make more calls, use more coercive forms of protests such as civil disobedience, solidarity walk, etc. Protest more in Abuja, rather than the South East.


I have more issues with the movement but I have made my point with the few I have listed. Biafra is a good cause. Every ethnicity has the right to create its own destiny. No one can force any determined group into anything. Just the way Igbos struggle for their inalienable rights to determine her faith, so also should Igbos recognise the minorities' right to fashion their own destinies. No one should play Lugard with people's future. Let us correct the sins of the past. Every ethnic group is independent and has the capacity to become a nation-state.

CC
Lalasticlala

Don't you pple get tired

Every tribe Biafrans love will be given the privilege to reject Biafra at the UN Referendum polls so that in turn, they will be rejected at the borders of Biafra.

Biafrans will be instructed to avoid Nigeria and her citizens in any part of the world

Biafrans and Nigerians will be good neighbors who don't visit each other or step foot into each other territory except to travel to other nations.

CarlosTheJackal:
Don't you pple get tired

Tired of what exactly?

ConqueredWest:
Every tribe Biafrans love will be given the privilege to reject Biafra at the UN Referendum polls so that in turn, they will be rejected at the borders of Biafra.

Biafrans will be instructed to avoid Nigeria and her citizens in any part of the world

Biafrans and Nigerians will be good neighbors who don't visit each other or step foot into each other territory except to travel to other nations.

Okay. Noted.

Haphazard. Erratic. Unnecessary.

Immediately I read 'less than 1% of SS want Biafra" I stopped because I knew the rest of the jargon will have no value.

When you make conclusive statements like that my Professor will ask you to show us verifiable evidence and references obtained from the 'survey' you did to arrive at that conclusion.


If you can't, then you are pulling figures from your anus and intelligent scholars like us see it as academic fraud and we have no business with fraudulent fakes. Good day.

iSlayer2:
Haphazard. Erratic. Unnecessary.

Why don't you address the issues I have raised for once, please.
Are we in a dictatorship where issues cannot be raised or addressed?

DocHMD:
Immediately I read 'less than 1% of SS want Biafra" I stopped because I knew the rest of the jargon will have no value.

When you make conclusive statements like that my Professor will ask you to show us verifiable evidence obtained from the 'survey' you did to arrive at that conclusion.
If you can't then you are pulling figures from your anus and intelligent scholars like us see it as academic fraud and we have no business with fraudulent fakes.

Number 2 is ofcourse fit for the dustbin.

DocHMD:
Immediately I read 'less than 1% of SS want Biafra" I stopped because I knew the rest of the jargon will have no value.

When you make conclusive statements like that my Professor will ask you to show us verifiable evidence obtained from the 'survey' you did to arrive at that conclusion.
If you can't then you are pulling figures from your anus and intelligent scholars like us see it as academic fraud and we have no business with fraudulent fakes.

You don't have to accept the reality to make it true.

Everyone has been savvy with the current spate of protests and demands for Biafra and we all know it is largely an Igbo affair. The few people from other ethnicities that MAY have been participating are less than 1% of the ethnicities.

Besides that fact, did you bother to look at the other issues and address them?

Sometimes, you have to be objective and think straight for once.

iSlayer2:


Number 2 is ofcourse fit for the dustbin.

I would very much want believable proof that number 2 is false because I do have proof that it isn't.

DocHMD:
Immediately I read 'less than 1% of SS want Biafra" I stopped because I knew the rest of the jargon will have no value.

When you make conclusive statements like that my Professor will ask you to show us verifiable evidence obtained from the 'survey' you did to arrive at that conclusion.
If you can't then you are pulling figures from your anus and intelligent scholars like us see it as academic fraud and we have no business with fraudulent fakes.

islayer2

He thinks we will die if Urhobos reject Biafra

Biafrans invited Urhobos out of love and they are free to accept or reject

I just pity them if they reject Biafra because their case will be worse than Southern Cameroon

fratermathy:


You don't have to accept the reality to make it true.

Everyone has been savvy with the current spate of protests and demands for Biafra and we all know it is largely an Igbo affair. The few people from other ethnicities that MAY have been participating are less than 1% of the ethnicities.

Besides that fact, did you bother to look at the other issues and address?

Sometimes, you have to be objective and think straight for once.

Oga show us results from the survey or referendum you conducted under your leaky brown roof and stop wearing us out with your garbage.

The sun is too hot for your empty effusions and argument without verifiable references.

ConqueredWest:
islayer2

He thinks we will die if Urhobos reject Biafra

Biafrans invited Urhobos out of love and they are free to accept or reject

I just pity them if they reject Biafra because their case will be worse than Southern Cameroon

We have not complained, have we? The so-called Southern Cameroonians are living their lives and you are here comparing another ethnicity with them.

If rejecting Biafra means we have to suffer for the consequences, so be it!

By the way, NO ONE has responded to the issues I raised.

DocHMD:


Oga show us results from the survey or referendum you conducted under your leaky brown roof and stop wearing us out with your garbage.

The sun is too hot for your empty effusions and argument without verifiable references.

You see the third point I raised? You are an embodiment of it!


While I do not speak for any of these groups below, I came across official statements from the groups asking Igbos specifically to respect their wishes and exclude them from Biafra. Every group is entitled to self-determination. The SS minorities certainly have made their stand clear!!!

Itsekiri people

The Itsekiri people in Warri, Delta state have dissociated themselves from the call and agitation of some Igbo people in the south east for an independent state of Biafra.
Vanguard reports that this was made known on Tuesday, October 27 by Itsekiri Leaders of Thought through a statement by its chairman Pa
Johnson Ayomike and secretary, Edward Ekpoko.

https://www.naij.com/620088-will-not-tolerate-another-igbo-invasion-itsekiri-people-dissociates-biafra.html

Gbaramatu Leaders

The leaders of Gbaramatu kingdom, Warri South West Local Government Area, Delta State, have warned that Gbaramatu kingdom is not part of Biafra.
Elder Dickson Agagha, who spoke on behalf of the leaders at a meeting in Warri, insisted that Gbaramatu kingdom will never be part of Biafra, saying that any son or daughter of the kingdom making such a move to include Gbaramatu in Biafra will fail.

www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/gbaramatu-kingdom-not-part-of-biafra-community-leaders-warn/

Gov Wike

Wike Bans Protesters in Rivers state

In a state broadcast, Mr. Wike banned all forms of street protests, demonstrations, rallies or unlawful gatherings associated with the agitations for the secession of any group from the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Majority of these individuals have come from neighbouring states and in the course of these protests, disrupted social and economic activities, damaged properties, assaulted and inflicted injuries on other citizens going about their lawful endeavours.

www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/192971-gov-wike-bans-biafra-protests-in-rivers.html

River Elders and Leaders Council

He said Rivers Elders noted those with Biafra “sentiments have chosen to transport trailer and bus loads of demonstrators from neighbouring states into Port Harcourt. To say the least, this amounts to the display of bad political fate across our neighbouring borders.
Rivers Elders pointed out “The action so far taken by the Biafra protesters in Port Harcourt is highly provocative to all genuine sons and daughters of Rivers state who have so far restrained themselves from confronting the demonstrators in Port Harcourt.”

www.newsrescue.com/we-are-not-biafrans-never-say-rivers-elders/

Senator Godswill Akpabio

The Rivers Commissioner of Police, Musa Kimo, also noted that his command would not allow lawlessness or breakdown of law and order.
Senate minority leader Senator Godswill Akpabio also condemned the Biafran agitators. Speaking at the venue of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) conference in Abuja, Akpabio, a former Akwa Ibom State governor, called on the Federal Government and the states where the militias are protesting to stop the spread of the agitation.
“The Biafra agitators must be told that those who witnessed the Nigerian civil war will never wish to experience another war in their entire
lifetime.
“If you don’t like the government of the day, you must wait for another election to vote them out”, Akpabio said.

www.thenationonlineng.net/rivers-elders-reject-biafra/

fratermathy:


Tired of what exactly?

Of typing senseless nonsense

CarlosTheJackal:
Of typing senseless nonsense

Embodiment of point number 3!

ConqueredWest:
islayer2

He thinks we will die if Urhobos reject Biafra

Biafrans invited Urhobos out of love and they are free to accept or reject

I just pity them if they reject Biafra because their case will be worse than Southern Cameroon

His article is fraudulent at best. Let him tell us when he conducted the survey, how did he do the sampling of opinion, how he evaluated his data, what statistical package he used in arriving at his results.

If he can't do this, then his claims can't stand any true test of empricism. If he went through a good school he should've known this but I hear Awo's free and substandard 'akara-chopping' education still pervade the academic cosmos of his region.

One Simple reason.

ACCESS TO SEA.....Biafrans are mortally scared of the idea of being a landlocked country.

DocHMD:


His article is fraudulent at best. Let him tell us when he conducted the survey, how he did the sampling of opinion, how he evaluated his data, what statistical package he used in arriving at his results.

If he can't do this, then his claims can't any true test of empricism. If he went through a good school he should've known this but I hear Awo free and substandard 'akara-chopping' education still pervade the academic cosmos of his region.

How did you conduct yours to warrant the addition of minorities to your proposed nation?

You guys should really grow up and discuss like adults.

Point number 3!

fratermathy:


You see the third point I raised? You are an embodiment of it!


While I do not speak for any of these groups below, I came across official statements from the groups asking Igbos specifically to respect their wishes and exclude them from Biafra. Every group is entitled to self-determination. The SS minorities certainly have made their stand clear!!!




https://www.naij.com/620088-will-not-tolerate-another-igbo-invasion-itsekiri-people-dissociates-biafra.html




www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/gbaramatu-kingdom-not-part-of-biafra-community-leaders-warn/





www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/192971-gov-wike-bans-biafra-protests-in-rivers.html




www.newsrescue.com/we-are-not-biafrans-never-say-rivers-elders/




www.thenationonlineng.net/rivers-elders-reject-biafra/

Oga are we here to make political statements like governors from both SE and SS who have pensions and allocation to protect or are we here to make verifiable, reproduceable and defendable claims about 'SS hating Biafra and loving to stay with Hausa/fulani forever in one nigeria'?

Make up your mind.

ManMountain:
One Simple reason.

ACCESS TO SEA.....Biafrans are mortally scared of the idea of being a landlocked country.

You see, I have no problem with trying to woo minorities into the struggle. What I do have a problem with is HOW they have been doing it. They have not engaged the minorities in any way or given them reasons to trust their motives. When members of the minorities accost them, they end up insulting the entire ethnic group for it. Such a shame! Get ready to see more of them troop in and instead of discussing my detribalized issues accordingly, they would attack me, Urhobo nation, SSners, and even Hausa-Yoruba!

I raised this issue in point 3 of my article. I really want an enlightened Igbo to address the concerns. Not for me only but for all to see.

DocHMD:


Oga are we here to make political statements like governors from both SE and SS who have pensions and allocation to protect or are here to make verifiable and defendable claims about SS 'hating Biafra and loving to stay with Hausa/fulani forever in one nigeria'?

Make up your mind?

Governors did not make statements. Socio-cultural groups made statements. Urhobos made theirs through UPU, Urhobo Progress Union.

And don't put words in my mouth. I never said SS hates Biafra. I made a precise statement about the status of the minorities in the South towards Biafra.

Why don't you guys simply respond to the issues like intellectual beings. Must you always get emotional when confronted with intellectual arguments? Was I tribalistic in my article?

Making the position known yesterday in a statement, National Publicity Secretary of the Urhobo Progress Union, UPU, Alhaji Mumakai-Unagha, warned that Urhobo and its territories should be counted out from any IPOB plan.
“IPOB have their rights of agitation for freedom of self determination as enshrined in the united nation declaration stressing that other ethnic groups should not be dragged along to avoid the mistake that led to the civil war.
“The magnanimity of Urhobos in allowing Igbos celebrate the Igbo Cultural Day should not be taken for granted as we urge IPOB to delist Urhobo from its proposed map.”

https://www.nairaland.com/2735702/urhobos-denounces-inclusion-proposed-biafran

ConqueredWest:
Every tribe Biafrans love will be given the privilege to reject Biafra at the UN Referendum polls so that in turn, they will be rejected at the borders of Biafra.

Biafrans will be instructed to avoid Nigeria and her citizens in any part of the world

Biafrans and Nigerians will be good neighbors who don't visit each other or step foot into each other territory except to travel to other nations.

Every single thing you typed is a teutonic dream, a delusion. IPOB have succeeded in Brainwashing you into believing that a Biafra can be achieved .

fratermathy:


How did you conduct yours to warrant the addition of minorities to your proposed nation?

You guys should really grow up and discuss like adults.

Point number 3!

Kanu did not add the minorities in the Biafra map by fiat, he simply did his research as a scholar in history (he has a UK degree in history) and took the map of Biafra AS IT WAS IN OLD JOURNALS even before Lugard was born and simply reproduced for rest of humanity to see.

Kanu did not add or subtract from the pre-lugardian Biafra map which is found in old geography and history journals, as old as 200 years ago. I'm sure you've seen the pre-lugardian map of Biafra but turned a blind eye to it.

fratermathy:


How did you conduct yours to warrant the addition of minorities to your proposed nation?

You guys should really grow up and discuss like adults.

Point number 3!

That is why you have a choice to reject Biafra in the UN supervised Referendum.

Urhobos were invited out of love

kropotkin2:
Every single thing you typed is a teutonic dream, a delusion. IPOB have succeeded in Brainwashing you into believing that a Biafra can be achieved .

If Nigeria can be free from British colonialism, Biafra can also be free from Nigeria oppression

fratermathy:


Why don't you address the issues I have raised for once, please.
Are we in a dictatorship where issues cannot be raised or addressed?

No my brother,I won't address the issues because I don't engage in arguments​ where I know the other party's mind is made.
1 - Fair but not good enough

2 - Complete nonsense. It obviously you're not very informed about the state of things.

3 - You talk of annexation of Urhobo lands. Very funny. However,direct your complains to Nnamdi Kanu,he is the one who included you guys in the new agitation. IPoB is only following his lead.

4 - Broken record

5 - IPoB has all the intellectuals it needs and an inexhaustible more are on standby. You are talking as though you don't know the kind of country we find ourselves. What proper channel do you think will work asides what IPoB is doing. Are we in the UK where the rule of law prevails and taking proper channels actually work? The bombing in the ND for resource control how many oil wells do the people now own? Some of the recommendations from the last national conference on resource control were they implemented? What did Buhari do to these recommendations on assuming office?
You talk of civil disobedience, solidarity walk,letters. You honestly don't know IPoB has used this options severally and are still using this options till now? So what do you know exactly?
Most of the time most of you guys who argue against this Biafra are not informed,many are just sentimental and illiterate and many are just very very slow, waiting for Nigeria to just turn to a country of their dreams. Under this structure? Such persons are big irredeemable fools. Open a thousand threads against Biafra on NL. It's​ not changing anything on the street, it's not making Nigeria better, so you're wasting your time.
Knowing this,I don't bother wasting my time explaining anything. Kponkwem!

ConqueredWest:



That is why you have a choice to reject Biafra in the UN supervised Referendum.

Urhobos were invited out of love

And like I've always maintained, we won't partake in any referendum because we didn't request for one. Our status is not in question. We are not divided over where to be.

Of course, you would say you invited us with love. Where was that love when we were embattled with the Itsekiris over ownership of Warri? Where is that love now that Ijaws in Warri South West and Burutu are massacring Urhobos everyday over land?

The love only comes when Biafra is involved?

ManMountain:
One Simple reason.

ACCESS TO SEA.....Biafrans are mortally scared of the idea of being a landlocked country.

Switzerland is a landlocked country far richer than your hopeless Nigeria

True or Lie

iSlayer2:


No my brother,I won't address the issues because I don't engage in arguments​ where I know the other party's mind is made.
1 - Fair but not good enough

2 - Complete nonsense. It obviously you're not very informed about the state of things.

3 - You talk of annexation of Urhobo lands. Very funny. However,direct your complains to Nnamdi Kanu,he is the one who included you guys in the new agitation. IPoB is only following his lead.

4 - Broken record

5 - IPoB has all the intellectuals it needs and an inexhaustible more are on standby. You are talking as though you don't know the kind of country we find ourselves. What proper channel do you think will work asides what IPoB is doing. Are we in the UK where the rule of law prevails and taking proper channels actually work? The bombing in the ND for resource control how many oil wells do the people now own? Some of the recommendations from the last national conference on resource control were they implemented? What did Buhari do to these recommendations on assuming office?
You talk of civil disobedience, solidarity walk,letters. You honestly don't know IPoB has used this options severally and are still using this options till now? So what do you know exactly?
Most of the time most of you guys who argue against this Biafra are not informed,many are just sentimental and illiterate and many are just very very slow, waiting for Nigeria to just turn to a country of their dreams. Under this structure? Such persons are big irredeemable fools. Open a thousand threads against Biafra on NL. It's​ not changing anything on the street, it's not making Nigeria better, so you're wasting your time.
Knowing this,I don't bother wasting my time explaining anything. Kponkwem!

You actually only addressed point number 5, albeit unconvincingly.

My issues still stand until a better informed and less bitter person comes along.