₦airaland Forum

DDeliverer:
Continue doing Afonja and Igbo on nairaland....

I talk say I no wan dey talk for politics section again.

Lemme drop this here and carry my wahala move

chijiblaze:
George Orwell never fought in Spain. He'd never been to Catalonia. He in fact worked as a newsreader with the BBC. All his books are fictional in nature. And his real name isn't George Orwell.

ipobarecriminals:
confused and dumb people association. Biafra wasn't her destination during Jona govt,nah now day break for Aba?Slaves ,I stand with Ndigbo not for terrorist ipobtouts

Boyooosa:
HE IS SOFT PEDALLING SMAL SMALL

Markfemi2:
I thought they said Yoruba was slave

conductor1:
[s][/s]

The long struggle for pro-independence groups to separate Biafra from Nigeria is gathering pace, 50 years after a brutal civil war over a successionist rebellion.

Now, it's mainly young activists from southeastern Nigeria, also known as Igboland, that are demanding separation.

Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idris reports from their heartland in Umuahia in southeast Nigeria.

Says Nigeria may lose out in $1bn solar power deal

President Muhammadu Buhari’s support for an independent Palestini­an State forced Israel to formally recognize the agitation by the Indigenous Peoples of Bi­afra (IPOB) for the creation of an independent State of Biafra, an Arab diplomat has disclosed.

The diplomat told The AU­THORITY at the weekend that Buhari’s pledge to help “our brothers and sisters in Pal­estine” attain independence greatly angered the Israeli gov­ernment.

Buhari had in a visit last year to Qatar, promised the Emir (Head of State) Tamim Bin Hammad Al-Thani, that “we will stand side by side with you, until our brothers and sisters in Palestine achieve their desired objectives (independence).”

According to the diplomat, “Buhari’s meddling in the Israe­li-Palestanian crisis was largely unnecessary”.

The envoy pointed out that “while Buhari keeps address­ing Palestinians as ‘our broth­ers and sisters,’ majority of Mus

lim countries like Senegal have since softpedaled on their sup­port for Palestinians.”

He continued: “It was not for nothing that Prime Minis­ter Benjamin Netanyahu chose to recognize Biafra at a very im­portant ceremony like the Hol­ocaust memorial, last April.”

“At the memorial, Netanya­hu chided the world for keep­ing quiet and standing aside and did not prevent genocide or mass murder in Biafra, Cam­bodia, Rwanda, Sudan and also in Syria.”

He observed, “Netanyahu is the first Head of State of a First World country to describe the 1967-1970 war against Biafra as genocide.”

“The Israeli PM’s presence at the 51st ECOWAS summit in Liberia, the first by any Israeli leader to Africa, and the first by any non-African Head of State, coupled with the promise of a $1 billion solar power project for the region, was tailored to teach Nigeria a bitter lesson,” stressed the envoy.

He noted that Nigeria’s ab­sence at the “very important” re­gional summit may have been orchestrated to avoid the em­barrassment the very large Is­raeli delegation would have caused the country.

The envoy said: “ECOW­AS countries have a combined population of about 350 mil­lion, of which Nigeria, which suffers tremendous power def­icit, has about 180 million or more than half of the total pop­ulation. Clearly, one would have expected such solar power plant to be sited in Nigeria, but Israel chose Liberia apparently to snub Nigeria.”

He added that Israel’s bid for reinstatement as an observer in the African Union (AU) would further injure Nigeria’s interests.

“Perhaps Nigeria should pay greater attention to Netanyahu’s forecast at the ECOWAS sum­mit that ‘Israel is coming to Af­rica and Africa is coming to Is­rael”, advised. The envoy.

He expressed fears that with Nigeria’s decision to withhold funding of the ECOWAS may have come a whittling down of the country’s dominance in the sub-region.

“Nigeria’s influence in ECO­WAS is at its lowest ebb. The country used to be the big­gest financier of ECOWAS, but stopped funding the body the moment Buhari came into power. Nigeria’s indebtedness now hovers around $700,000. What did you expect? The oth­er member countries are now forced to look elsewhere, and don’t be surprised if non-Afri­can countiries like Israel come in handy,” opined the diplomat.

He cited the recent decision of Morocco, a northern African country, to join ECOWAS as a pointer to the belief that certain countries can’t wait to take over Nigeria’s leadership role in West Africa.

“I fear that like Israel, Mo­rocco may have a diplomatic axe to grind with Nigeria after your president (Buhari) open­ly declared support for the in­dependence of Western Sahara just a few months after hosting King Mohammed VI in Abuja”.

”I don’t know the shape of your country’s foreign policy. Your president goes about can­vassing support for people who seek self determination in Isra­el and Morocco, yet rolls out the tanks on Nigerians who express the same sentiments.

igbodefender:
That's an error by the author who obviously wanted to write South South, but is that all you saw in the article?

CutieGuy:
And Nigeria voted in favour of this......

Zoo Republic

Signs that the Nigerian state may cave in have become too ominous to ignore.

The growing demand by South-East groups to have a separate state, Biafra, and the ultimatum issued by Northern youths on Ndigbo to vacate the North on or before October 1, 2017, has left many discerning minds asking if the United States’ prediction of imminent break up of Nigeria will come to pass under President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.

Presently, a number of Nigerians, following the situation in the country, have argued that except and unless the country is restructured there may be nothing stopping it from heading to doom.
These prominent Nigerians and groups which include Chief Kalu Idika Kalu, Edwin Clark, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, among several others, have continued to call for true federalism as panacea to the likely doom looming over the continued existence of the country.

According to Musa, Nigeria’s continued existence depends largely on the grace of God as the country is fast moving towards a failed state.

In 2006, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was reported to have predicted that Nigeria would no longer be in existence by 2015.

However, 2015 came and passed and Nigeria failed to break up as allegedly predicted by the US. But as many believed, the timely conceding of defeat by then incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan to President Buhari before official announcement of the election results, did much to avert the dooms day prediction.
Nonetheless, two years after surviving the 2015 prediction of a possible break up, Nigeria is at the moment faced with a serious threat which if not properly handled, will eventually lead to the fulfillment of the prediction it escaped in 2015.

Biafra, a real threat

Since the emergence of Buhari, a Muslim from the North two years ago, the demand for the restoration of Biafra, which though preceded his administration, by different groups and people from the South-Eastern part of Nigeria has continued to gather momentum at an alarming level, both locally and internationally.

Biafra separated from Nigeria and existed for three years between 1967 and 1970 before it was reintegrated into the country following defeat in the civil war that ensued as a result of the separation.
Except as witnessed in 1967, the agitation for the separation of Biafra from Nigeria has taken on a more vociferous nature by South easterners, who are now hinging the reasons for the agitation on marginalization, neglect, underdevelopment and short change of the region.

While the arrest and detention of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu, for about a year and six months may have contributed in fueling the agitation, the perceived ill-treatment of the region by President Buhari’s administration seems to have contributed much as well.
The Igbo ethnic stock during the 2015 election had massively voted for Jonathan from South-South and Buhari had in his response in an interview with an international media said that he should not be expected to treat those who gave him 97 per cent vote the same way he will treat the regions that gave him five per cent votes (referring to the South-East and South-South).

Buhari’s subsequent failure to appoint a single person from the five eastern states in his kitchen cabinet, and also not having any easterner as head of any security agency, among others, have been heavily criticised by the leaders of the region leading to many of them appearing to be in support of Biafra and those who do not, insisting on the restructuring of the country.

The full weight and threat the agitation for Biafra now poses to the country became manifest in the May 30, stay-at-home order by the agitators. The order recorded a near total compliance in the five eastern states of Imo, Anambra, Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi, and partial compliance in some neighboring South-South states.
The order for sit-at home and its compliance appeared to have infuriated the northern youths who, in total neglect of the country’s constitution, ordered all Igbo living in any part of the North to vacate the region on or before October 1, 2017.

The Arewa Youths mean business too

Some analysts argue that the quit notice order, now referred to as Kaduna Declaration, by Arewa youths may be the highest threat to the continuous existence of Nigeria as a country since the Biafra War of 1967-1970.
A coalition of northern youths had, while giving Ndigbo a three-month quit notice order during a press conference held at Arewa House Kaduna on Tuesday, June 6, and read by Alhaji Abdulaziz Suleiman of the Northern Emancipation Network, called on all northern civil society and pressure groups to, by the declaration, mobilise for sustained and coordinated campaigns at their respective states.

“We are hereby placing the Nigerian authorities and the entire nation on notice, that as from the 1st October, 2017, we shall commence the implementation of visible actions to prove to the whole world that we are no longer part of any federal union that should do with the Igbos.

“From that date, effective, peaceful and safe mop-up of all the remnants of the stubborn Igbos that neglect to heed this quit notice shall commence to finally eject them from every part of the North.

“And finally, all authorities, individuals or groups are hereby advised against attempting to undermine this declaration by insisting on this union with the Igbos who have thus far proved to be an unnecessary baggage carried too far and for too long,” the group partly stated in the statement.”

Professor Ango Abdullahi, Northern Elders’ Forum spokesman, openly supported the position of the youths and lambasted northern leaders who condemned the demands by the youths.

According to some closer watchers of the polity, no other signal could tell of an impending danger than the failure of all security departments of the country to arrest the youth leaders behind the quit notice order, especially when Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, in whose state the quit notice was issued, had ordered their arrest.
Though many prominent Nigerians across the country have branded the quit notice order as heinous offense, both the youths and their backers such as Abdullahi, have stuck to their guns insisting that Igbo must go with Nigerian security operatives seemingly issuing empty threats.

Further complexities have been thrown into #breakupnigeria move with corresponding quit notice dished out by some Niger Delta militants directing that all northerners should vacate the oil region, coupled with demand for a Niger Delta Republic. With the Yorubas demanding Oodua Republic, Nigeria appears all set to prove the American intelligence right.

Will Afenifere, Ohanaeze romance last?

Ayo Adebanjo

The Department of State (DSS) in a statement released through its spokesman 10 days after Arewa youths’ quit notice, merely cautioned those fanning the embers of discord in the country to desist from such activities.
Meanwhile, while the DSS and other security operatives continue to grandstand over the situation, more divide appears to have been created with other southern leaders counseling the South-East not to honour any meeting called by Acting President Osinbajo without the inclusion of the entire southern regions.

In a communiqué issued at the end a meeting in Lagos and signed by Ayo Adebanjo (South – West), retired Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe (South – East) and Chief Albert Horsfall (South-South ) and read to newsmen by the spokesperson for the Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, southern leaders asked Arewa youths to withdraw their October 1, quit notice order to Ndigbo living in the North insisting that attack on the ethnic group will be considered as an attack on the entire southern region of the country.

They also insisted on the implementation of the report of the 2014 National Conference, which they say aims at a complete transformation and restructuring of the country and to build and consolidate Nigeria’s unity through national solidarity, peaceful and harmonious coexistence, progress and genuine developments.
With apparent lack of wilingness by the Federal Government to implement the Confab report, there is fear of imminent trouble that could arise from those insisting on restructuring.

The Nigerian wound goes deeper than imagined

What seems to be more worrisome in the possible end of a country called Nigeria under Buhari’s administration is the resolve with which those fanning embers of disunity have kept and maintained their grounds despite Acting President Yemi Osinbajo’s consultative meetings with the North and South-East.

Despite threats of arrest and accusation of breaking the laws of the land, the Arewa youths and their supporters have insisted that Ndigbo must leave and have taken a step further to write a detailed letter to Osinbajo on why Ndigbo must be allowed to have their age-long desired country, Biafra.

The Arewa youths had told Osinbajo in their letter, “Though we do not doubt Your Excellency’s bona fide concerns for the peaceful resolution of the crises, we nevertheless have reservations as to the efficacy of this approach in ensuring lasting solutions.

“Our doubts are informed by the following historical antecedents that have characterized the behavior and conduct of the Igbo in Nigeria and previous efforts at containing them.
“And since evidently the Igbo have not been sufficiently humbled by their self-imposed bloody civil violence of 1966, we are strongly concerned that nothing short of granting their Biafran dream will suffice.”

On the other hand, the agitators for Biafra from South-East, who also have been accused of breaking the country’s law by their demands, have continued to urge their people in the North to obey the vacation order, insisting that it is either ‘Biafra or death’.

While it is possible that the Federal Government still has the chance of addressing the problems, some political analysts contend that with the level of love lost between the aggrieved youths who are tomorrow’s leaders, any achievable peace could only be temporal.

Rumours of coup, and will history repeat itself?

Tukur Buratai

The alert of a possible coup raised by the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai (COAS), and its consequent tension seems to have fizzled out but the fears that came with it remains.
There are Nigerians who have argued that there could be more to the coup alert than meets the eyes. They allege that the coup rumour could be a plot by those who are not happy with the present state of affairs of the leadership of the country, where history seems to be repeating itself.

According to these Nigerians, those who would not want a repeat of former presidents Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan’s saga, may not give a damn if a coup is what it takes to stop a southern takeover of power again in an event that ailing President Buhari could not continue as president.

Already, the position of the North on the issue seems to have been expressed by some of the leaders including Junaid Mohammed, a member of the House of Representatives during the Second Republic, who expressly warned that Osinbajo should not nurture any ambition of becoming president in 2019, should Buhari not be in position to continue.

According to him, the North will resist such attempt.
There is this argument by some keen observers of the country polity that the recent allegations of nepotism levelled against Osinbajo by one Dr. Ismaila Farouk, could be an effort to give a dog a bad name and then hang it.
Farouk in his accusation, which the Presidency rubbished as a mere smear campaign, alleged among other things that all aides of the Acting President are either Yoruba or members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
However, a detailed list of aides to Osinbajo released by the Presidency may have proved the accuser wrong as there were mixture of Muslims and Christians on the list.

Playing the Ostrich

All said, the tense atmosphere in the country at the moment, occasioned by agitation for Biafra, quit notice to Ndigbo living in the North as well as the possibility of Buhari not continuing in 2019 and the politics that seems to have ensued as a result of that, call for concerns.

The Federal Government appears to want paper over the issues without much push to execute calls for total restructuring of the country.

Will Nigeria overcome all these like it has always done in the past and continue to exist as one nation? That can only be told in a matter of time.

But until then, the possibility of the US prediction of the country’s break up happening under Buhari’s administration seems to be staring every Nigeria in the face.

HopeAtHand:
@ezeagu, If it becomes certain that Igbos will get that referendum, you might actually be shocked that certain Niger Deltans will join. Not because we love the Biafran dream but Nigeria is messed up and once in Biafra, Igbos cannot hold us back from whatever we choose to become after Biafra.

Biafra referendum once certain to happen, ultimately, becomes that means to the desired end.

ezeagu:
As an intelligent poster said in another thread, an Igbo mind you, referendums happen once, they cost money, they won't just be popping up and down as any small city or village demands. The SE leaving will mean the SE leaving alone, when the Yugoslavia split, the ethnic communities outised of the main homeland where living behind walls, no such thing as re-referendum, look at Kosovo and Albania. The voice of the Igbo in Asaba and so on will be drowned out, there will be little they can do once a referendum has been signed and sealed, the whole debacle will not be opened again just so that Asaba can join the SE, the rest of Nigeria will make sure of that.

Port Harcourt is also a very tricky one because without any kind of Igbo consciousness among Ikwere people, Port Harcourt is gone, unless you want to go to war for Ikwere indigenous lands because of Igbo migrants.

As I've been saying, IPOB doesn't know what they are doing, I opened a thread on why the 'Biafra' movement should be centred on Igbo land and what people are realising now is exactly why that should be. Without Igbo consciousness outside of the SE you can kiss Port Harcourt and co goodbye because they will not go, the IPOB protesting there are mostly migrants, the people who occupied Igbo houses during the war still occupy them and you people are calling them Biafrans.

The idea that Kalabari or Ibibio, etc will demand to join the SE is far fetched, all of these groups are worried about Igbo domination, so why will they fall into the den of the Igbo people?

It's obvious most Igbo people do not wish to learn about their neighbours and what their neighbours think of the Igbo, because it will surprise you, not this foolish IPOB propaganda about Igwa Nga and Igala Biafrans.

ezeagu:
Which SS ethnic groups will join the south east in a new country?

ezeagu:
Which SS groups, specifically, is going to join Biafra the south east?

oseka101:
am just laughing by time federal government declare state of emergency send 1000 troops from maiduguri who are hungry and eager to go home.. Biafra will go into hibernation for another 30years...

johnserek:
You can keep all the Yoruba properties in Biafra we don't want them back

cumbak60:
This thread is in response to the issue on board. Northerners wants Igbos out, and Yorubas are not hiding their disdain for the Igbos, either. Nnamdi Kanu was vocal on Biafra, but his method and antics, attracted lots of hate and resentment from Nigerians. Perhaps, that was exactly his overall objective, attract hate and make them push Igbos out of the federation.
Respect to Nnamdi Kanu, even though I'm not in tune with his methods and ideology. Some of his ideologies on country formation is completely alien and ridiculous, especially on the "two wrapper" principle (IPOBs can relate better). These, among others makes me cringe on his idea of Biafra.

Going by recent events, and threats coming from Arewa Youths, I think its high time Igbo intellectuals converge and chart the way forward. Yes, I support the idea of crafting a new entity for the Igbo people. My entire existence, I have learnt to tell myself the truth, void of pretense. Base on historical data and events over the years, I can categorically say, the Igbos are the most hated group in Nigeria. So need to keep lying to ourselves that all is well. All is not well. Its only in Nigeria that a call for self-determination breeds hate and threat to existence. If not, why should the issue of referendum call for expulsion from Northern territory? Will Nigerians be stopped from owning properties and business in Biafra if its actualized? The answer is no. Nigerians will always be Nigerians.

Where are people like Charles Soludo, Pat Utomi, Ben Nwabueze.... etc? time to take the bull by the horn. The need to converge and create a new destiny for our future generation is now. Kanu has played his part. Visionaries and pragmatic minds need to take over and chart a new course for the Igbo nation. We need Biafra, and we need it on platter of peace and tranquility. #referendumLoading.

God Bless Ndi'Igbo
God Bless Biafra.


cc: ngozi123, pazienza, igboid, nonaira, ikechukwu, freemancipation, afam4vever, joeprince123, hammer06, agumbakembu, and all Igbo son on this forum. Share build the momentum. Let it get our people to act now.

- Our greatness lies in our being together and I believe very strongly that as our royal fathers, you will ensure the message is clear to all, that the greatness of any people lies in their ability to work together despite our differences, despite the types of offense that have been caused between each other, the greatness of any community lies in unity.


- I trust that you, our royal fathers, will give us the right directional advice to ensure that our country remains together.


http://www.newshelmng.com/2017/06/summary-of-acting-presient-osinbajos.html

cc lalasticlala mynd44