At the risk of sounding vulgar, I wish to apply this Igbo proverb here: “Kinsmen are like the hairs around the anus, they can neither be shaved or pulled.” The Igbos fighting for Biafra are like those hairs, they are going about it the wrong way for now and dying unnecessarily, but they are our kinsmen and we cannot disown them, rather we can tell them not to die in vain like they are doing, because they are not doing anyone any good.

At the right time and in due course, their style of the struggle will be needed but it is not at this moment. We also say in Igboland that, “In a wealthy man’s house, all kinds of characters abound—the strong, the weak, the loud, the meek, the violent and the peaceful, the honest and the thieves….” So whichever way you want to fight for Biafra, your skills will be needed, it’s just for you to await the right time and place.


At the moment, if you want to use violence in the struggle, follow the example of Apostle Johnson Suleiman, preach it, shout it, threaten it, but never go outside in the name of any demonstration because you will only be canon fodder for trigger happy soldiers and policemen ordered to kill you and no matter how unfair, unjust and unlawful your death is, you can never resurrect. You do not have two lives where you can use one to fight and die for the struggle and use the other to live and enjoy Biafra when it comes. You only have one and we need you to be alive whenever Biafra is achieved.

There is always a time to defend and attack and now is the time for defence. Let us first defend ourselves from the Fulani Herdsmen rampaging about and killing our people instead of wasting our lives in demonstrations shouting for Biafra. It is better to die while defending yourself than to place yourself in the path of unnecessary danger through demonstrations.

You should even worry about the quality of the people that kill you. A comedian once joked that he would prefer to be jammed by someone driving a Hummer Jeep than one driving a Keke. It is people you have labeled animals that are killing you and you are answering a messiah or sacrifice. Messiah for who? Sacrifice for what? What do you gain from that?


Biafra does not need that type of sacrifice at the moment; if you have to die, you have to die honourably and your death has to count towards something and statistics have to at least capture you. These days we hardly know the correct figure of people that are killed, the numbers are usually disputed and coupled with that the soldiers and police usually deny killing anyone, so why die when no one will admit to killing you and your number won’t even be reflected in the data?

We need everyone alive for the struggle. If you see they are shooting people, run away because he who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day. Don’t die struggle now, we need people to live for the struggle. That is the current situation.

The way to the new Biafra is through self and nation building. Develop yourself and get ready to play a part, develop your land and your people, train them, help them and give them good governance if you are in a position of power.

In fact we already have Biafra but we do not realize it; we do not cherish it; we betray it; we steal from it; we cheat on it; we kill it.

The East is already Biafra but we do not nurture it because of the selfish and stealing leaders we have in Igboland. How can we realize Biafra when a governor uses the people’s money to erect Christmas Trees while slashing the salaries of workers and pensioners and still not paying them the rest? How can we realize Biafra when a governor has turned the state government to his own family’s business and we do nothing about it? How can we realize Biafra when a governor instead of paying his people decides to deceive them with a fake and non-existent airline?

Or do we talk about Biafra in Enugu State, the original capital of Biafra where Ugwuanyi ran to Abuja to laugh and pose for pictures with Buhari when his people had been massacred? How can we have Biafra when after the massacre, Ugwuanyi welcomes the Sultan of Sokoto with fanfare and praise instead of expressing anger and threatening retaliation for the death of his people just like El Rufai threatened that the Fulanis would in this 2012 tweet: “We write this for all to read. Anyone, soldier or not that kills the Fulani takes a loan repayable one day no matter how long it takes.”

Where is this where instead of patronizing Innoson Motors who is right there with us, they are still buying Toyota and BMW cars? Where is this Biafra my people?

We cannot have Biafra until we develop Igboland and make it Biafra. Nothing is holding us from making sure the leaders of Igboland lead honestly and accountably.

What we need to do now is to strategize and elect humane leaders for Igboland who can develop our land; people who will not eat our collective share of the “National Cake” alone, only then we can take a step forward and say we are Biafra before demanding for Biafra from anybody we accuse of holding it.

Note: While writing this article, I also saw one by the Areafada, Charly Boy, titled: “Let us pause on the fantasy tagged Biafra for now” which expressed most of the same sentiments in my piece in a better way.

A recent update to this piece reads thus;

I have said this before, I am Biafran. I support the concept of Biafra. But the way some of my Igbo brothers are going about it is alarming. Once anyone raises any idea contrary to theirs about how things should be done, they will curse him to death and threaten to kill him.

This is not the way of Biafra. The war for Biafra has been fought a long time ago and we are past that now. All we need is to develop our lands and our people; to elevate the areas that represented Biafra during the period of that war and that is Biafra.

We cannot come and say Nigeria should let us go when no one is holding us. When we cannot even receive honesty and good governance from the people governing us in the states of Biafra, how can we claim someone is holding us?

Nnamdi Kanu preaches hatred and death and I can say this and repeat it, we can never get Biafra through his message or leadership. Anyone can claim him as a leader but he is not the leader of the Igbos. Many of you can come here and curse and say whatever you want, but we are all part of this and no one owns the land more than the other.

He is leading a lot of young men and women to their early graves. So many people have already died abominable deaths by listening to him. Do you people think that his hatred will go away if we get Biafra? No, he will simply redirect it to other Igbos and command peope to worship him.

All I see happening is people preparing themselves and giving Buhari and his soldiers another reason to shoot them like they shot others and nothing has happened.
If you want Biafra, go and develop yourself, develop your community, demand good governance from your rulers, be peaceful and get ready to take Biafra!

Chilee Agunanna is a Nigerian journalist and you can reach him on Social Media @ChileeChills.

http://peoplespostng.com/news/2017/05/28942the-shape-of-the-new-biafra-by-chilee-agunanna/

I am not hearing "we want Biafra" all I can hear is "we want another genocide just to ruin this country's name"..


pls how has the Igbo contributed to this nation..! other than to ruin it internationally..!!

and they expect Nigerians to be happy with them,


they doing it the wrong way and we telling them bit all falling on deaf hears.. someone named his cow buhari and donated it to KANU and KANU accepted it.. pls what kind of message are u trying to send to the Nigerian government..

as for me I don't support this Biafra chessboard and I will continue to focus on the battle against the corrupt political class.

we need revolution not Biafra..!!

whitebeard:
I am not hearing "we want Biafra" all I can hear is "we want another genocide just to ruin this country's name"..


pls how has the Igbo contributed to this nation..! other than to ruin it internationally..!!

Then join the campaign to free b1afra so you can be rid of them completely,otherwise anything less makes you insecure!

vayne:

Then join the campaign to free b1afra so you can be rid of them completely,otherwise anything less makes you insecure!

insecure, u mean what the percentage of Igbo's that do not support biafra feel

Who is 'Chilee Agunana'?


Biafra you guys have suffered. Any riff raff feels they can wake up from sleep and spill thrash from where the sun don't shine.

Wish you God's speed Biafra...

Some of us can't wait to hear Boom! To get on the next available flight out to our country

We learned how to nail our enemies not how to make noise about them all over the world ..What an elderly saw when seated on the mat the young one would never see the same even if he is on Dubai tallest building.. You can see the beginning of a war but no one is sure seen the end of the war you started yesterday.. You don't ask who killed your father when you still unprepared.. the piece from the article is enough to wine exactly what the writer is trying to know, is not against Biafra ,how to do/go about without losing you to grip of untimely death.. Abiola once said " if you for my struggling you died who am I going rule "..

Chilee what? And who the fvck is he?

Jabioro:
We learned how to nail our enemies not how to make noise about them all over the world ..What an elderly saw when seated on the mat the young one would never see the same even if he is on Dubai tallest building.. You can see the beginning of a war but no one is sure seen the end of the war you started yesterday.. You don't ask who killed your father when you still unprepared.. the piece from the article is enough to wine exactly what the writer is trying to know, is not against Biafra ,how to do/go about without losing you to grip of untimely death.. Abiola once said " if you for my struggling you died who am I going rule "..

Abiola? the one that could not even come of prison like kanu? killed like chicken? abeg shut up

igwebuike01:

Abiola? the one that could not even come of prison like kanu? killed like chicken? abeg shut up

He died for you're enjoy as democracy today, is a great symbol, more diplomatic than Ojukwu the greatest coward who left your father behind when the battle is hot, disguised as woman..