pazienza:


I disagree that many Igbo would choose Nigeria over Biafra.
We had put this to test by continuously tasking our people to stay at home as a mark of allegiance to Biafra, and on each count, the outcome was positive for Biafra.

I think it's the Igbo political jobbers and office holders, their cronies, families and well wishers whose very sustenance is dependent on continue existence of Nigeria that abhor the very idea of Biafra because of purely selfish reasons.

Otherwise, a referendum on Biafra in Igboland would receive overwhelming majority support, especially a Biafra that offer 100% autonomy and resource control to all Igbo clans.

Obi1kenobi:


The last sit-at-home was a failure in Imo, Enugu and Ebonyi and places like Awka and Umuahia. It's main success was in epicenters of commerce like Onitsha and Aba where many interviewed traders, transporters etc said they stayed home due to "fear of the unknown". Banks did not even open - abi, you also think banks of all businesses would waste any good day of business for Biafra solidarity? The notion that these traders specifically stayed away as a mark of solidarity for the Biafran cause is naive. If I owned a shop in Nkpor, I won't go out on IPOB sit-at-home days, cos agahima acho akuko.

There is no doubt the Biafran cause has a lot of grassroots support among Igbos, but I have seen just as many (more infact) Igbos in opposition, so I believe you overstate the popularity of the movement. The nature of the agitation just means pro-Biafran Igbos are louder and more aggressive and their voices are more amplified while the average Okoro like me who don't care about it just go about our daily business. Abi, you think Igbos who don't care about the Biafran movement will go around holding rallies and waving flags about and organizing sit-at-homes?
I'm sure most Igbos want far greater autonomy for the SE. That is an entirely different matter from independence. Ndigbo b'anyi who are filling swamps all over Nigeria to build homes and business do not in anyway behave like a group that are serious about secession.

horsepower101:


Another problem is the need for the average Igbo person to appear one Nigerian more than its major beneficiaries.

So many igbos do not like the concept of independent nation and even join our enemies to speak against it.

People will continue to take us for granted in this Nigeria. Nigeria wil be nothing without igbos. People always think that it’s only about oil but the truth is that the average weak minded Nigerian cannot imagine being in a country where there no igbos.

It’s one of their biggest nightmares. And they are willing to commit another genocide just to make sure that igbos remain with them.

Igbos are the reason Nigeria remins one. Not Niger Delta oil as so many people think.

Obi1kenobi:


This pomposity attracts resentment. Stop it. Igbos haven't turned Nigeria to Norway or Switzerland. They haven't even turned Nigeria to Ghana. Northerners will always be the biggest obstacle to Igbo secession and let's not fool ourselves, the main reason for this is they don't want to set in motion a sequence of events that would take Niger Delta oyel from them. It's not because anybody gives 2 fucckks about Igbos. That's deluded. Northerners massacred us in tens of thousands during the pogroms that were the precursor to the '67 secession and the civil war. That's not what people who want you in their country do. They (and the British and Nigeria's other international imperialist supporters) fought to keep the Eastern region in Nigeria because of the resources in the region.

pazienza:


You are a liar. I was in Enugu during the last stay at home, and it was to a large extent, a success.
In Ebonyi, Umahi threatened market union leaders with severe punishments should they close markets, additionally, he threatened to revoke lease right of shop owners should they attempt to not open shop that day.
These draconian pro Nigeria policies by Umahi marred the compliance rate in Ebonyi.
Umuahia is a civil servants town and there were subtle threat of sack/query for civil servants should they miss work. Many went to work out of this threat, not because they have allegiance to Nigeria.
Private business owners who could afford to stay at home did so.

The compliance rate is usually higher in Onitsha and Aba because these are business areas where most people are self employed and hence can't be threatened with Sack, unlike the civil servants.
It does not mean that the Igbo civil servants who go to work that day are not sympathetic to the Biafran cause.

You and your ilk( anti Biafra Igbos) are minorities and a dying breed. As the Poverty rate in Nigeria increases and the Hunger in the land soar, your meagre percentage will continue to dwindle. As there are only so few of you that a dying poor Nigeria can continue to feed.

The bulk of the anti Biafra Igbos are usually misguided fellows or those driven by selfish interests hinged on survival that is directly dependent on patronage from the Nigerian government or assets imbedded in hostile non Igbo parts of Nigeria. These lots are less than 10% of the Igbo population and their voice would easily be drowned and rendered irrelevant in a well supervised referendum.

pazienza:


Another baseless drivel.

The area you call Niger delta was secured by Nigerian forces during the civil war quickly, yet they continued to March towards Igbo hinterlands. They had no reason to, if it were all about Niger Delta oil wells, like you claimed.

By the way, it's not just the North who wants to forcefully keep Igbos in Nigeria. In case you are trying to play a game of selective amnesia. The bulk of the opposition to Biafra on social media are usually from Yorubas, and not from the North.

Sure thing, the North wants to forcefully keep us in Nigeria, but they are not as vociferous about it as the Yorubas on social media.

Obi1kenobi:


Well, I was not in Enugu at the time, so why were the Enugu correspondents of all the credible media houses in the country reporting that it failed there:
https://punchng.com/ipob-sit-at-home-order-fails-in-enugu-ebonyi-others/
https://guardian.ng/news/ipob-sit-at-home-order-flops-in-enugu/
https://thenationonlineng.net/ipob-sit-at-home-fails-in-enugu/

Civil servants going to work does not mean they do not support the Biafran cause. I agree. Likewise, traders who do not open for trade does not mean they support the Biafran cause. It goes both ways. As I pointed out, if even banks shut down during sit-at-homes, then it is obvious that they are intimidated and "fear the unknown". There is not a snowball's chance in hell that banks will close during a sit-at-home because of solidarity with IPOB.

Again, there is no shred of evidence that "me and my ilk" are a dying breed. As I said earlier, IPOB supporters just tend to be louder voices and this gives them the impression they are a more popular movement than they really are. The reality is whether among work colleagues, friends, family, my peers in UNN etc, the comfortable majority of Igbos I know in my circle do not care about the Biafran movement.

And no, I don't agree that those who oppose Biafra are misguided at all. I could just as easily say supporters of Biafra are misguided and when I hear many of them talk, the spew a load of misinformation, show no grasp or devote no attention to the complex issues we face (making it out like Biafra will solve all the structural problems of poverty, maladministration, corruption etc) and are generally intolerant of opposing views as you display when you denigrate the loyalty of those who believe differently. I can speak for my own motivations which are for the greater good of Ndigbo, and not "selfish" interests.

1) Believe me, I have heard many Yorubas that wish we could get our Biafra paradise to stop hearing our insufferable whining, conspiracy theories, hate speech etc. I have enough self-awareness to understand how Igbos are perceived, rightly or wrongly, by other Nigerians and a lot of people are just fatigued with the ceaseless rancour and bitterness.

Of course, the Nigerians forces kept marching to the Igbo hinterlands. They knew they had broken our spirit and will, so why the hell wouldn't they finish the job? You might as well ask Americans why they delivered 2 atomic bombs to Japan even after crushing the Japanese fleet on the seas, and liberating all their colonial strongholds through East and South East Asia. Why did the Biafran forces march as far as the West before the setback at Ore? Was Lagos or the Western region in Biafran territory. I could apply your naive rationale to teh Biafran forces too. The notion that Nigerians care so much about Igbos that they desperately want to keep us united with them is deluded nonsense.

And yes, on the internet, Igbos are bigger enemies with Yorubas than Northerners. This is not a reflection of real life. Our real enemies in the real world have always been the North, but the 2 loudmouth groups in the South with Nigeria's greatest media representation like to squabble on the internet. Yorubas as a people are as desirous of devolution of power from Nigeria's all-powerful Federal Government as Igbos are. The North are our main enemies in this who wouldn't give a quarter concerning any agenda of restructuring.

pazienza:


I wouldn't take Nigerian biased media houses report on the sit at home compliance rate serious. They have always been unprofessional and brown envelope houses.
The Ipob observers were satisfied with compliance rate in Enugu. I was in Awkunanaw that day, Afor Awkunanaw, aka Gariiki market was deserted, like wise the popular Mayor market along Agbani road.
Premium times reported it as partial compliance. Enugu has large civil servants population as it hosts most regional headquarters of FG parastatals in South East. It was expected that the civil servants would go to work and that some cash trapped commercial vehicle drivers would ply the road that day. It doesn't mean they are pro Nigeria.

No one intimidated anyone into sitting at home. IPob doesn't have the numbers to effect such, even if they want. Banks depends mostly on commercial activities for cash deposits and not civil servants. Since most markets didn't open that day, it was expedient for banks not to open as well, as there wouldn't have been much for them to do anyway. It's just common sense.
The only ones trying to use intimidation were Nigerian government who through the Igbo state governors threatened punishments for civil servants who fail to attend work and market leaders who close shop.

Those in your circle are likely those of similar mindset as you.
The fact on ground is that majority of Igbo people are Biafra sympathizers, especially those whose very life sustenance is not dependent On Nigerian government patronage. I was born and raised in SE, I had lived in Enugu, Abakaliki, Owerri, Okigwe, Onitsha, Ogidi all my life. And I know this for sure, the Igbo commoners are in the majority pro Biafra and anti Nigeria. To claim otherwise is to be either ignorant or plainly self deceiving.

Igbos who are pro Nigeria are misguided. Nigeria has remained retrogressive since its birth. It has proved to be a monumental failure of irredeemable proportions. Future projections also show that it can only get worst.
It's also an Igbo hating country whose very foundation in 1970 was built on Anti Igbo agenda which it and it's citizenry had maintained till today.
To unite a people, you present to them a common enemy. Ndiigbo became a common enemy for warring Nigerian groups to unite upon in 1970.

Nothing unites other Nigerians than shared Igbo hate, we know and have seen this made manifest in many forms.
The only reason an Igbo would be pro Nigeria is either willful ignorance or sheer selfishness. For you in particular, I think it's a mixture of both.

pazienza:
Obi1kenobi

If you believe what Yorubas say and not what they actions say, then you must be naive.
Yorubas don't like Ndiigbo just as we don't like Yorubas, but Yoruba want us in Nigeria more than any other group. Not out of love, but out of their strategic interests.

1. If Igbos leave Nigeria, Nigeria will become a predominantly Muslim country with Yorubas about 60% Muslim in composition, and the North at least 70% Islamic entity.
Igbo exodus would upset the dynamics of power in Nigeria. It will effectively make Nigeria a Muslim country.

2. If Igbos leave, the Niger delta would most likely demand for total resource control as a condition to stay. This would defeat the very essence of Nigeria attraction for Yorubas and the North.

3. Should Nigeria disintegrate, Lagos will lose its current importance with the loss of its port and airport monopoly. It's service sector will suffer too as multinationals would have to move headquarters to New countries of operations and not stay in Lagos.
Worst still, an Oduduwa country will not be able to incorporate Kogi and Kwara Yoruba, as the Caliphate one indivisible North mantra would mean that they wouldn't let go of those territories.
To put it mildly, Nigeria disintegration is simply at the present perceived not to be beneficial to Yoruba, by most Yorubas. This is going by their actions and futuristic projections taking cognizance of undercurrent conditions , and not by their words.

The truth on ground is that Yorubas constitute the very arrow head of the media anti Biafra campaign. They are intrisincally wired to antagonize Biafra independence, and this is for a good reason too.

I hope you know you are not making sense here. You said Nigeria didn't need the Igbo, that they only needed the Niger delta, now you are shifting narratives to cover your gaffe.
When you don't need a people, you expel them from your country like Malaysians did to Singapore, or you build a wall around them, like USA is planning under Trump to do to Mexico. You don't incorporate them into your union. To do so, it means there is a need that is vital they are serving for you, and this need outweighs whatever disadvantages incorporating them into your country might possess. This very concept I suppose should be common sense, but this is Nigeria where common sense is no longer common.
Nigeria needed Igbos, that's why they forced us back into Nigeria, and they still need Igbos, that's exactly why they go green in envy, jealousy and anger whenever they hear us mention Biafra, it's as simple as that.

It's not in internet alone. It's in real life as well. By the way, I believe internet is the best place to guage a people intentions and character, as the anonymous mask the internet provides, often give people the chance to unveil hidden parts of themselves , that they might otherwise not display in real world, because they are trying to act civil and could face sanctions for showing such unpalatable parts of them.

Awolowo was a Yoruba man who devised and fully implemented the Starvation policy in Igboland. Gowon and the North were but willing accomplices.

Adekunle the black scorpion it was who shot at any thing that moved in Igboland, including women and Children. No Northern soldier demonstrated such degree of Igbo hate during the war.

Achebe noted the unsavory remarks they were greeted with by Yorubas in Lagos during the advent of the war when they were forced to leave Lagos for Igboland.

Foreign neutral reporters during the war noted that Yorubas were the most vocal in inciting Igbo hate during the war.

These are real events, not mirage like your mindset would want to wish away.

Every reporter I read there is Igbo. And they were reporting from Enugu. There is no grand conspiracy to report falsehood from teh media. I posted the links cos you called me a "liar" for reporting what on-ground reporters did.
Intimidation does factor in the considerations of traders who abandon their shops. If truly, the sit-at-home was a gesture of solidarity, even Igbos in Trade Fair, or Computer Village, or Ladipo, or Balogun or traders in Kano etc would all equally observe the sit-at-home. Onitsha and Aba are the epicenter of the resistance cos traders there fear it may get "hot" on the streets. I have uncles who trade in Nkpor and Onitsha and they close their shops on the day for the simple reason they don't want to be harassed or see their shops and property damaged or looted by touts or vigilantes. Denying that people don't feel safe going out during the sit-at-homes seems ridiculous to me.

Banks shut down on those sit-at-home days for safety reasons, not just to their property, but the safety of their commuting workers. Even with anticipated reduction in commercial activity, there is no shortage of work for bank staff to do if they get to work. I've worked in a bank before and know your spin on bank closures is unrealistic.

That is not a "fact" though. It's a supposition, or assumption or at best, an educated guess. Biafran supporters always over-estimate their support. I remember the Anambra elections that was supposed to be "Ofe Nsala day" that would be boycotted to irrelevance, which ended up with a bigger voter turnout than the previous gubernatorial election. If Igbos were majority pro-Biafra, the movement would have coalesced into a true political force with legitimate representation at the highest levels of Nigerian politics. As long as shouting loudest remains the only evident sign of this majority Biafran support, there is no reason to think it is a serious populist movement with a majority.

Any Biafran supporter who has never focused his activism to improve governance where he is from is a "misguided" supporter. It simply seems laughable to me that an Abia resident for example would live through arguably the worst governance in Nigeria since 1999 (the 2 main architects of that disgraceful misgovernance now representing them in the hallowed halls of the Senate ), but channel his energy to a convenient boogeyman (the Federal Republic) as the source of all his state's problems. That just seems laughable to me. It seems strange to me that a resident of Ebonyi, which gets well over 90% of its budget funding from the FG, would be crying about Biafra.

The point is not about whether Nigeria is retrogressive or not. It's about whether we are any more progressive than the rest of the country. Frankly, I see little sign of that. What would be the point robbing ourselves of the contributions of wealthier regions (SW and SS) that funds our state budgets for an uncertain future based on some utopian Biafran dream when we can't even get the basics of state governance right?

1) Why would a Yoruba Muslim - in the slight majority in Yoruba land - care whether the departure of Igbos would leave Nigeria more Muslim? Surely, that would be what they want?

2) This is the very point I am making. That the main reason other groups woudn't want Igbos to secede is the simple fact it would undoubtedly inspire a Niger-Delta uprising. There is no getting away from this. Northerners often conflate the SE and SS and would see the departure of one as the departure of the other too.

The oil multi-nationals leaving Lagos is the only thing I see them losing in a schism of Nigeria. Lagos will always be a major West African port city (just like Djibouti's status in East Africa, or Cotonou is a major port hub in West Africa) and hub of commerce and industry. ALWAYS. It's a status it will never lose until it is swallowed in some dystopian future by the surging Atlantic. The notion that it would somehow collapse is a fantasy. For one, it would always be the main port serving Northern Nigeria and in future, countries like Niger and Chad. Secondly, import freighters/international shipping firms dislike Nigeria's Eastern ports, complaining about the depth and militancy and robbery in the waters which give them a high risk rating that significantly increases prices of imports.

It's strange that you can conveniently find so many reasons why the SW will be harmed by Nigeria's disintegration, but can't seem to find any why a far less naturally endowed SE (very tiny landmass, no coastal gateway, little in mineral resources, the 2nd least productive region in agriculture after the SS etc). Strange indeed.

This is like Yorubas that like to ask why Igbos brought their fight to the Western region and ask what were they looking for in Ore and beyond. Again, the Nigerian forces saw strategic need to defeat the Eastern region and accept their unconditional surrender and reshape the region politically as they saw fit. It also wasn't only Igbos fighting in the Biafran army for starters. You also seem to forget the part where the North wanted to massacre Igbo civilians into extinction (the people you claim need you so badly). Or the part where Igbo property were declared abandoned and expropriated in some territories that would have been more than happy not to see any Igbos come back to their lands. But really, the speculation of the strategic interests of the Nigerian high command is pointless. I just find it juvenile conceit to claim people want you because they can't do without you. That's just rubbish and this is why people mock us with the term "developer" (which has gone from Nairaland lexicon, and I have even heard it on teh streets). I guess in the liberal prism through which I view the world, the supremacist nonsense I hear from many Igbos irritates me: and in some ways, helps me understand some of the resentment that Igbos attract to themselves with pomposity like that

Not really true. I have said a lot of things on the internet that I wouldn't dare say in real life. A lot of coarse discourse on the internet is not sincere, but simply reactionary. I pride myself on being de-tribalized because I hate generalizations being applied to me, so I try not to be a hypocrite and make gross generalizations about people. I know a Yoruba friend of mine who does a lot of tribalistic trolling on Nairaland (secretly went through his phone and saw his Nairaland moniker) but I grew up with this nigga in Festac and his wife is Igbo and most of his groomsmen at his wedding last year (including his best man) were Igbo. There is no way in hell he means half the crap he types even if he might hold some prejudices (who doesn't).

And some of these narratives about the civil war are just strange. War is absolutely brutal. Absolutely brutal and full of terrors. I don't blame Awolowo in the slightest for his conduct during the war. Blockading your enemy in warfare is as old as human civilization. I might only blame him for pauperizing the Igbo middle class after the war with the £20 policy. And no, Adekunle didn't come close to committing the worst war crimes during the war. He was the Nigerian army's most competent commander who loved to talk tough in the foreign media. To say no Norther soldier displayed such hate is weird. Ever heard of the atrocities of Murtala Mohammed in Asaba?

Obi1kenobi:

I guess in the liberal prism through which I view the world, the supremacist nonsense I hear from many Igbos irritates me: and in some ways, helps me understand some of the resentment that Igbos attract to themselves with pomposity like that.

Crayola1:


I agree that I get why such behavior would be annoying. But I've always believed that there's a reason why such behavior is exhibited in the first place.

The Civil War was a very brutal experience that was essentially designed to make sure Igbo people stay in place of penury and etc. But despite such a harrowing experience Igbo by and large climbed out of a dark place on their own with only each other to rely on.

Compare it to the NE that largely bred and cultivated the Boko Harem problem and they are receiving funding and support from the federal government with no strings attached.

To survive a war that claimed close to a million (or more) of your countrymen and still have a level of success (by Nigerian standards at least) would instill a sense of pride, both the good and bad kind. The good kind being that we survived and are here to tell the story. And the bad kind being of the "we're developers" variety.

Maybe I'm rambling, but I follow you and see you mention this a lot. And I notice there are Igbo people who (I hope at least) say tongue in cheek that they find Igbo people annoying or they are so noisy and I feel that on some level they have bought into the Nigerian mentality that "Igbo people are the other" to be chastised or mocked. Or they are uncool or etc etc.

And I just think that people should be a bit more sympathetic, that doesn't mean that you dont call people out on foul BS that do because they are Igbo like you. But to be a bit more forgiving and sympathetic that Igbo people have a lot of baggage that they still carry around some 50+ years later and they way it presents it self can be inspiring and down right irritating at times. It's the same mentality that makes an Igbo man sponsor all the young people in his community's education and at the same time fuel IPOB or the no man's land comments.

Achebe himself admitted that Igbo people have the ability to toot their own horn a little to hard. Not necessarily out of maliciousness, but a general sense of pride in their own accomplishments especial when they are at a severe disadvantage.

I don't how this relates to anything other than I wish Igbo people would internalize that drive into more positive avenues other than arguing up and down about who developed what, who needs whom, which place is no man's land, and etc. Abia at the very least would benefit from that zeal to be the best.

IPOB would be worth its weight if Kanu spent more time focusing on creating a voting bloc that would throw out politicians who were not performing their functions. If they started here they would at least build a base of politicians that would be sympathetic to them instead of aiding with the NPF and Nigerian Army.

Let me be going then lol

Obi1kenobi:


This pomposity attracts resentment. Stop it. Igbos haven't turned Nigeria to Norway or Switzerland. They haven't even turned Nigeria to Ghana. Northerners will always be the biggest obstacle to Igbo secession and let's not fool ourselves, the main reason for this is they don't want to set in motion a sequence of events that would take Niger Delta oyel from them. It's not because anybody gives 2 fucckks about Igbos. That's deluded. Northerners massacred us in tens of thousands during the pogroms that were the precursor to the '67 secession and the civil war. That's not what people who want you in their country do. They (and the British and Nigeria's other international imperialist supporters) fought to keep the Eastern region in Nigeria because of the resources in the region.

ifyboy60:


u are trying too hard to explain to people who have refused to understand.

Igbo land is less than 40 thousand sqr kms, how on earth can that take 30million people.

SS have made it clear that they don't buy into this Biafra narrative but they still won't listen.

The best we can hope for is for a more autonomous SE. coz I don't see us beating the rest of Nigeria with British support in war. the hoolabaloo of NK's Israel and Trump support is a fool's dream.

Crayola1:


I agree that I get why such behavior would be annoying. But I've always believed that there's a reason why such behavior is exhibited in the first place.

The Civil War was a very brutal experience that was essentially designed to make sure Igbo people stay in place of penury and etc. But despite such a harrowing experience Igbo by and large climbed out of a dark place on their own with only each other to rely on.

Compare it to the NE that largely bred and cultivated the Boko Harem problem and they are receiving funding and support from the federal government with no strings attached.

To survive a war that claimed close to a million (or more) of your countrymen and still have a level of success (by Nigerian standards at least) would instill a sense of pride, both the good and bad kind. The good kind being that we survived and are here to tell the story. And the bad kind being of the "we're developers" variety.

Maybe I'm rambling, but I follow you and see you mention this a lot. And I notice there are Igbo people who (I hope at least) say tongue in cheek that they find Igbo people annoying or they are so noisy and I feel that on some level they have bought into the Nigerian mentality that "Igbo people are the other" to be chastised or mocked. Or they are uncool or etc etc.

And I just think that people should be a bit more sympathetic, that doesn't mean that you dont call people out on foul BS that do because they are Igbo like you. But to be a bit more forgiving and sympathetic that Igbo people have a lot of baggage that they still carry around some 50+ years later and they way it presents it self can be inspiring and down right irritating at times. It's the same mentality that makes an Igbo man sponsor all the young people in his community's education and at the same time fuel IPOB or the no man's land comments.

Achebe himself admitted that Igbo people have the ability to toot their own horn a little to hard. Not necessarily out of maliciousness, but a general sense of pride in their own accomplishments especial when they are at a severe disadvantage.

I don't how this relates to anything other than I wish Igbo people would internalize that drive into more positive avenues other than arguing up and down about who developed what, who needs whom, which place is no man's land, and etc. Abia at the very least would benefit from that zeal to be the best.

IPOB would be worth its weight if Kanu spent more time focusing on creating a voting bloc that would throw out politicians who were not performing their functions. If they started here they would at least build a base of politicians that would be sympathetic to them instead of aiding with the NPF and Nigerian Army.

Let me be going then lol

pazienza:
Obi1kenobi
Their report is false, as I was on ground too. I'd rather take my own assessment to compromised Nigerian media position. https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/270341-biafra-sit-at-home-call-grounds-onitsha-aba-fails-in-abakaliki-enugu-awka.html

Above is premium times, another Nigerian media outlet reporting that it was a partial success in Enugu. Who are we to believe. I'd rather believe in my own live witness report. Additionally, I remember it was reported in Enugu NL thread then by live reporters on ground with pics.

No trader abandoned their shops out of intimidation or fear, you are simply making it up. As there are clearly some people even in Onitsha and Aba who opened shop that day. I don't know about your imaginary uncles in Nkpor and Onitsha, but my take is that you are simply making them up as you go, as no such intimidation happens in Nkpor and Onitsha. It's usually the heavy presence of Nigerian Army and police on ground and the Air Force on air, who scare the few pro Nigeria Igbos from coming out, and not the other way round.

I don't know much about Igbo traders in Lagos, so I wouldn't say much about that. Would rather leave it open for those who do to come and comment.

Yes I bet issues of difficulty for commuting bank workers to get commercial vehicles to take them to work places, seeing as most transport unions in Igboland are controlled by Biafra sympathetic leaders and are often on break during the sit at home exercise, was a contributing factor to banks staying closed.

The safety issue was caused by huge number of intimidating armed Nigerian Army and police members, deployed in major roads and streets of Igboland during that period. Add the constant menace of low flying Nigerian fighter jets circulating the major roads and streets, and you have a clear war zone situation, created by Nigerians, which in turn scared people aware from the streets into their homes, as Nigerian military and police are synonymous with accidental discharge of stray bullets. Consequently, not even pro Nigeria Igbos trust them enough to be out in the streets under such circumstances.
So in essence, the intimidation you speak of, is strictly caused by heavy presence of Nigerian military and not by Biafrans.

Well, I don't know much about banking job, but I know that cash deposit collections, issuing and cashing of cheques, drafts, etc, constitute the bulk of the banking hall transactions in the East. With most commercial centres closed during sit at home, I wonder how busy the banking halls would be under such circumstances to warrant the risk I had mentioned above to bank workers.

Election boycott was an IPOB agenda and not a Biafran one. Many Biafrans both Ipob and non Ipob members were against such as they felt it would be counter productive. Personally, I was on the fence during the issue.
The election boycott agenda nearly tore Ipob apart, so much that Nnamdi Kanu had to give in and rescind the agenda in the lead up to the 2019 presidential elections.
So clearly, I don't know how you are linking the election boycott to acception or denial of Biafra. My people back home participated in the elections, even though we are all pro Biafra, they believed IPob and Kanu were misguided in the election boycott thing. Ndiigbo are not other nations that bow to the dictates of a single man, if they don't consider it helpful.

As for why the Biafran movement has not gone political? Well, it's a question for Ipob and the rest to answer.
A Nigerian political office holder, eg governor is entitled to a lifetime of pension and other ridiculous annual allowances. I wonder why such persons would work to have their cash cow (Nigeria) killed in the name of Biafra?
There is every reason to believe that Biafra is a populist movement in Igboland.

The Nigerian states are microcosms of the Nigerian state. They are hardly truly independent. It's a unitary system In Nigeria, so the poverty in Katsina would always be shared by all, since most things are highly centralized.
Holding Igbo leaders back home to be accountable is good and dandy, but it must also be recognized that these leaders are at the arrow of pro Nigeria unity campaign in Igboland as well, they represent everything wrong with Nigeria. Looking at the quality of leadership we evolved in Eastern region when we had a large degree of independence from the rest of Nigeria, it's highly doubtful that these lots could find themselves in leadership positions in an independent Igbo nation,free from Abuja controlled influences.

Ebonyi will do just okay without FG monthly allocations, if they are allowed to explore their own natural resources and keep the proceeds from such to themselves, tax their citizens and keep the proceeds to themselves. Prune down on redundant government expenses by reducing the number of government officials at all three tiers of government.
Eastern region survived without monthly allocation from FG, and before oil boom. Biafra will do same. Rwanda is leading the way.

That Nigeria is retrogressive is the main point, you can't hope to progress while staying glued to a backward entity. It's akin to Usain Bolt trying to win a sprint by chaining himself to a heavy caterpillar vehicle.

That Ndiigbo will be fine without Nigerian monthly allocations is something we already proved in the Eastern region, when without oil, we built one of the fastest growing economy in the world, we know fully well that left in full control of our destiny in an independent Igbo nation, like Rwanda is doing, we can replicate such.
We were much better without being entangled with Yorubas and the North in the past. Same still holds true till today.
Either way, the current monthly allocation template has no sustainability on the long run, as more and more countries discover crude oil, advent of efficient green energy sources, depleting Nigerian crude oil reserves, implosion in Nigerian population, would all mean that sooner than later, we would need to look inwards to generate wealth throw prudent and competent governance, like we did in the Eastern region days,as the monthly allocations would become useless or non forthcoming in coming years.

So why wait until then? Why not now?

There's no point further arguing about the situation in Enugu. I read what I read from multiple sources. You claim to have seen different. That's fine. It's futile disputing it and it isn't that important to my point. You have a knack of getting side-tracked by minutiae. You will notice I didn't say your claims are "made up" or "imaginary" when they contradicted most news reports, but in your typically intemperate attacks, you have said anecdotes of mine are "made up" or "imaginary". It's needlessly coarse and needlessly provocative and doesn't say much about your ability to argue like an adult. Yes, I do know relations that trade in Nkpor and Onitsha. Yes, they do close their shops on sit-at-home days to avoid akuko and do not feel the need to gamble with their goods and property. The fact this seems a fabrication to you is only revealing of the insular world of delusion you inhabit.

Regardless of who precipitates the intimidating atmosphere, the point you have missed while quibbling as always with minutiae is that many people who don't go about their daily activities on sit-at-home days is not because of their solidarity with pro-Biafran movements. I have conceded either way that many go to work against their wishes and many don't go to work against their wishes. What are we still arguing about on this point?

The point isn't about whether the election boycott had unanimous consensus among pro-Biafran Igbos. The point was that as always, those pro-Biafran people overestimated their influence. Like your unfounded claims of how Biafran support has the overwhelming majority of Igbos. Your "imaginary" people all support Biafra. Coincidentally, my own imaginary people do not. Hell, I've even sounded out my in-laws for their takes and it's funny how majority in my circle do not support the movement. My Whatsapp group of my graduating set in UNN once debated the issue on our group and the overwhelming majority of us were in opposition to the movement. Many Igbos in my office in Lagos once debated it and pro-Biafrans were in the comfortable minority. Usually, what you have is a minority of very loud, aggressive supporters who think their loudness, aggression and intolerance means they control the narrative. Like my sister who you know on Facebook in my family happens to be very fanatical about her pro-Biafran stance and would usually look to shout us down when arguing about her beliefs and is in the habit of telling us how ignorant all of us that disagree with her (including my parents) are, despite her penchant for disseminating IPOB fake news.

IPOB and other pro-Biafran movements has no serious political traction in Igbo land, simply because many of its supporters are yet to confront the reality of the beliefs and seriously test its substance in the political arena. The movement's popularity is only a function of its Disney fantasy appeal. It's easy to simply speak in the abstract about a paradise that awaits us in our Biafran utopia when we are yet to confront the political realities of the agitation. The way we debate Biafra is not the way Scottish people or Catalans debate independence. I followed the Scottish independence referendum very closely and the debates were entirely about substantive issues on economics and fiscal policy and budgets and immigration and customs unions and national security etc. The pro-independence SNP had to convince Scottish voters to the minutest details of policy how their lot would be better off on their own than under the British umbrella. Until we have serious policy debates like this, the Biafran movement is just a circus show selling fantasies.

The emboldened simply can't hold up to any logical scrutiny. If you can't hold OUK, or TA Orji to account for misgovernance, then your domestic politics is already broken and there is no reason to believe there would be a revolution in mentality once the Biafran utopia is made a reality. Nigeria's unitary system does not in any way obstruct anyone's capacity to hold his state government to account.

Your Ebonyi comment looks a fantasy to me. Look, you can take many balkanized countries as examples and these things often fail as much as they succeed. Of the 15 former Soviet republics for example, there are only a few that are better off than under the Soviet Union. Russia after an initial precipitous economic crash recovered strongly from the late 90's after it stopped subsidizing the poorer regions of the Soviet Union. The small Baltic states, Estonia and Latvia, joined the EU and had a big influx of Western capital and thrived. Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are well endowed with oil and natural resources and doing comparatively well. Most of the others from Ukraine to Belarus to Armenia to Georgia to Tajikstan etc are all shiitholes who are worse off today than they were under Soviet communism. Our future might be like Ukrainians. Very proud, highly nationalistic people who hate Russians and saw Russians as the root of all their problems. Yet, Russia was subsidizing their barren country in the past and all their hostility to Russia has not borne them any fruit. You can see how they've fared since the Soviet days:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14489883

To simply say that once you cut the umbilical chord of FG allocation feeding Ebonyi, Ebonyi would magically transform itself is just a fantasy that doesn't square with reality.

You're comparing apples and oranges here. I don't mind a governance structure that preceded Nigeria's unitary system. That is infact what I support: devolution of power from the center and greater autonomy for geopolitical regions. I believe we can thrive as a geopolitical region with greater autonomy in our affairs. I don't believe we would be better off as an entirely independent country. Comparing us with countries like Rwanda who have been independent for almost 60 years hardly seems a good comparison. Rwanda's GDP per capita is still only $750, so it's hardly like they're performing any magic. They will not be an economic powerhouse anytime within your lifetime cos they are a landlocked country with little in natural resources. They are just "trying" small to have maintained peace and stability after a genocide and civil war.

Obi1kenobi:


The emboldened is the crux of the matter. The resilience we've shown to recover after the civil war is commendable and something to be touted as a positive, but not the revolting pomposity that we have come to be stereotyped with. And there is a bit of truth in every stereotype even if not "entirely" true.

As I said earlier, I'm someone with a liberal mindset who believes every human being is an individual onto himself who should never be judged or evaluated as part of a profiled collective. Hence, I neither believe our adversaries to be resolutely evil (the same thing extremists among them think about us), nor do I buy into supremacist speech. Pazienza and I have disputed this specific matter of supremacist belief and he's entitled to his opinion, but from my experience, Ndigbo are the most annoyingly pompous, conceited, supremacist loudmouth Nigerians you'll ever meet. Especially ndi Anambra b'anyi. I believe that mentality to be toxic and far from being a virtue, and breeds resentment in others. This is why many Igbos are obsessed with the fantasy myth about us being Jews. They believe Jews to be superior people and believe themselves just like Jews to be superior people. And again, this is why other groups mock us as "developers". They ridicule us with it sarcastically because they heard it from our own mouths. Those typical loudmouths that go around telling everybody how they "developed" everywhere. They think they impress other people when they do it, but they only breed disdain. And when they attract the hate that they are looking for, they claim it's because of envy and jealousy at their accomplishments and material wealth.

Funny enough, I think the generation of our parents and grandparents who actually witnessed the war are far less bitter than the generations long after them who have never seen war. The most bitter Igbos I see when talking about the civil war tend to be young people with very skewed mindsets about the war and its aftermath, while the older generations are actually more keen to move on rather than wallow in the victimhood and persecution complex and reliving the horrors of the war. An observation that I find very weird.

OreMI22:
In my elementary school, my English teacher taught us a lesson called "Summary Writing". I wonder why many people here didn't attend that class?

Umunnem,
Bikonu, writing book chapters and writing summary are two different skill sets. Yet both are important when writing a book or writing a comment. Unless you don't care if people read or not.

Unbiased1:

[s]
What did you mean by "how on earth can 40,000sqkm take 30 million people"? Lagos has about 22 million people in its small landmass of slightly of over 3,500 sqkm of which 22% of it is the lagos lagoon and there is still space. If Lagos can handle over 22 million people, what makes u think Igboland of over 40,000sqkm can't handle 30 million people?

You are talking about an autonomous SE, is it this Nigeria that will make that possible? A country where it took the grace of God for ordinary south east development commission bill to pass 2nd reading and took 2 years, is it that same country that will make the SE autonomous? Maybe in the next 60 years.

As for the SS, there is nothing wrong if the SE gets independent alone without the SS. All the Igbo people from SS are free to become citizens of a SE nation. We currently have 1 working international airport in Enugu which will be under our care when the time comes, we have another one at Owerri which will commence international flights anytime soon and is currently the 4th busiest airport in Nigeria, we also 2 proposed airport projects in Umueri and Abakaliki. A multi billion dollar loan from the Chinese government to dredge and build the proposed Seaport in Abia will also go a long way. Let the Chinese build it, manage it, and take a large share of the profit for 25 years. Which have the IMO river which can link the Abia Seaport to the proposed river port in IMO and the Onitsha river port through the Niger River.

Our problems are the greedy and vision-less cowards we have at the Senate and House of reps who are scared of presenting a bill for the implementation of a referendum and a constitutional amendment to that effect.

For you believe that the current UK will support Nigeria in a civil war in this era is laughable. UK itself is no longer the Superpower it used to be. When last did UK buy or Produce any weapon of warfare for it's own military talk less of selling weapons to Nigeria? Is it the current Nigerian soldiers dying in the hands of Bokoharam that will start another war against Ndigbo and win? Last time I cheeked, the Jet propelled fighter in the Nigerian Airforce have reduced significantly from 9 to about 4 or 5 of even less due to several crashes recorded within the last 4 years. During the last independence celebration, Nigeria lost 2 of those fighters during flight parade practice. The new planes they are even ordering from US, the US government has said it will not be offering their engineers to Nigeria to maintain those planes, is it this same US that will also support Nigeria heavily if a civil war breaks out? As we currently speak, Ndigbo have more wealthy individuals who will secretly contribute financially together with the masses to fund a Igbo military which will be many times better, bigger and stronger than what we had in 1967. In 1967, UNN was a major research centre, this time around, we have better companies and craftsmen in Nnewi and Aba that can handle research and weapon fabrications and deliver better products than we had in 1967. As we speak, the SE states got about 40 billion naira as IGR, when a civil war starts, u can just imaging what only 5 billion naira will do if used to fund the fabrication of weapons locally. People Import container loads of guns, bullets and other weapons into Nigeria with less than 100 million naira, then imagine what 5 billion or 40 billion naira will do. The Nigerian military will have to contend with Bokoharam and still a civil war at the same time that is if the herdsmen and other dangerous armed bandits in the NW do add to the list of the problems the military will face. [/s]

Unbiased1:


What did you mean by "how on earth can 40,000sqkm take 30 million people"? Lagos has about 22 million people in its small landmass of slightly of over 3,500 sqkm of which 22% of it is the lagos lagoon and there is still space. If Lagos can handle over 22 million people, what makes u think Igboland of over 40,000sqkm can't handle 30 million people?

You are talking about an autonomous SE, is it this Nigeria that will make that possible? A country where it took the grace of God for ordinary south east development commission bill to pass 2nd reading and took 2 years, is it that same country that will make the SE autonomous? Maybe in the next 60 years.

As for the SS, there is nothing wrong if the SE gets independent alone without the SS. All the Igbo people from SS are free to become citizens of a SE nation. We currently have 1 working international airport in Enugu which will be under our care when the time comes, we have another one at Owerri which will commence international flights anytime soon and is currently the 4th busiest airport in Nigeria, we also 2 proposed airport projects in Umueri and Abakaliki. A multi billion dollar loan from the Chinese government to dredge and build the proposed Seaport in Abia will also go a long way. Let the Chinese build it, manage it, and take a large share of the profit for 25 years. Which have the IMO river which can link the Abia Seaport to the proposed river port in IMO and the Onitsha river port through the Niger River.

Our problems are the greedy and vision-less cowards we have at the Senate and House of reps who are scared of presenting a bill for the implementation of a referendum and a constitutional amendment to that effect.

For you believe that the current UK will support Nigeria in a civil war in this era is laughable. UK itself is no longer the Superpower it used to be. When last did UK buy or Produce any weapon of warfare for it's own military talk less of selling weapons to Nigeria? Is it the current Nigerian soldiers dying in the hands of Bokoharam that will start another war against Ndigbo and win? Last time I cheeked, the Jet propelled fighter in the Nigerian Airforce have reduced significantly from 9 to about 4 or 5 of even less due to several crashes recorded within the last 4 years. During the last independence celebration, Nigeria lost 2 of those fighters during flight parade practice. The new planes they are even ordering from US, the US government has said it will not be offering their engineers to Nigeria to maintain those planes, is it this same US that will also support Nigeria heavily if a civil war breaks out? As we currently speak, Ndigbo have more wealthy individuals who will secretly contribute financially together with the masses to fund a Igbo military which will be many times better, bigger and stronger than what we had in 1967. In 1967, UNN was a major research centre, this time around, we have better companies and craftsmen in Nnewi and Aba that can handle research and weapon fabrications and deliver better products than we had in 1967. As we speak, the SE states got about 40 billion naira as IGR, when a civil war starts, u can just imaging what only 5 billion naira will do if used to fund the fabrication of weapons locally. People Import container loads of guns, bullets and other weapons into Nigeria with less than 100 million naira, then imagine what 5 billion or 40 billion naira will do. The Nigerian military will have to contend with Bokoharam and still a civil war at the same time that is if the herdsmen and other dangerous armed bandits in the NW do add to the list of the problems the military will face.

ifyboy60:


how many large farms are in Lagos?
how easy is it for the average man to get land in Lagos? compare that to nearby ogun.

Research and weapon fabrication, lol
no wonder Achebe said we igbos exaggerate a lot.

When last did uk produce weapons?
oga read more and spend less time on NK.
the UK is among worlds largest weapons manufacturers.

ndigbo have wealthy people who will finance NK war?
only gullible poor people follow NK. No reasonable person will contribute a kobo to NK war effort.

NK can only flatter to deceive

Unbiased1:


U mentioned Civil war now you have changed it to Kanu's war? Was the last civil war an Ojukwu's war? You said only gullible poor people follow KANU, that means the day KANU visited Onitsha and the city was shutdown, the traders of Onitsha are also poor abi?

You asked how many large farms are in Lagos? Many investors prefer to invest in other sectors of the economy than Agriculture in Lagos due the small landmass of the state and cost of purchasing land in Lagos compared to the low turn over from Agriculture compared other sectors. Have you asked yourself what if the current landmass occupied by the Dangote refinery was actually set aside to plant tomato, don't you know the effect it will have on the yearly production of tomatoes in Nigeria? We haven't even started talking about Badagry, Epe, and the massive Lekki peninsula area that is still virgin. What about Ikorudu? So you want to tell me that Enugu state alone is not large enough to meet up to our rice demands in the east when only Ayamelum LGA of Anambra is producing over 300,000 metric tonnes of rice yearly? Ebonyi state has a population of barely 2.5 million people and landmass of over 5,500 sqkm. Do you know the massive size of land available for farming in that state? Just because we are not the current leaders in Agriculture in Nigeria doesn't mean our landmass is too small to satisfy our Agricultural needs ( the staple foods ).
Another point you made is "how easy is it for the average man to get land in Lagos". When last did you check the list of ease of doing business in Nigeria? Lagos has the highest number of housing units in Nigeria and most the houses are owned by the "average man". You need to visit Ikorodu and see how people are buying up land at an alarming rate. So how difficult do you think it will be to get land in the SE of over 29,000 sqkm?
If you want an autonomous SE, that's fine, everybody cannot have the same opinion or share the same view. The truth remains that they are more Biafran sympathizers than the one Nigerists in Igbo land. The success recorded during the 1st and 2nd sit at home protests was a clear indication that most Igbo people are fed up with anything that has to do with one Nigeria. Some of you have been saying that the last sit at home was a failure. Even I myself did not observe it because, that was the second sit at home protest in 2018 alone. Why would IPOB call for another Sit at home protest in September after a successful one was conducted in May of the same year? The people felt it was too much which resulted in the partial failure. I have witnessed a Biafran protest in Alaba Market here in Lagos, we once organized a Biafran meeting in Tejuosho market in 2013 or thereabout. Those are signs that Igbo people outside Igbo land who will bare the greatest effect of breakup of Nigeria are also sympathetic to the Biafran movement.

Yyeske:
I read some of your posts and found some things not so true.

You said last year's sit-at-home was successful but if you go through my posts on a thread created on May 30 2018, you'd see where I uploaded pictures when I boarded a keke from Nkpor area where I lived then all through Awka road and up to Egerton junction along old market road, traffic was light no doubt and commercial activities light too but there was free movement, not even a single policeman or soldier or aircraft hovering around as you said so where did you get your information and were you in Onitsha then?

Do you know what Nigerian territorial water and airspace mean and have you factored it in your position, what if Nigeria decides you can't use it, do you violate it?

Just one country in ECOWAS can veto the entry of any country and since Biafra would be a new country, have you asked yourself what if Nigeria vetoes her entry?

Nigeria still has the alien land act where a foreign individual can not acquire land or property in Nigeria today, what happens to millions of Igbos with houses spread across the country?

What if Nigeria now requires you to get a visa before entering the country and your stay could be limited and if you succeed in getting a visa and land in Nigeria and decide to stay longer, you may be required to renew your stay.

What if Igbo students in Nigerian universities are now required to pay higher fees than their Nigerian counterparts.

Lagos alone has more Igbos than any Igbo state, what if Nigeria decides to make their stay in Nigeria more strict and millions of Igbos have to migrate back including you and others from other parts of Nigeria, what efforts have been done to cater for the millions?


These are some points I want you to ponder over.