₦airaland Forum

NonsoWow:
Biafra has really damaged pazienza's brain. Please this thread is not a biafra thread. Chino do something

pazienza:
The way I see it.
The Nigeria that will include Niger delta, post Biafra exodus, can only be one with lesser control over Niger delta.
That way,Ndiigbo can negotiate sea access issue with Niger delta, independent of the Yoruba +Northern Anti Igbo current Nigerian centralized government stance.

An autonomous Niger delta would want to keep Biafra on friendly terms, as an insurance against possible Nigeria aggression or withdrawal of their autonomy.

It will also be a region with significant Igboid speaking people.

pazienza:
Why have you conveniently left out SW in your analysis? They too depend alot on Niger delta oil. The entire service sector of SW( Lagos) basically depends on petrol dollars the FG makes from Niger delta. Not to mention the demystification of Lagos that would follow when autonomous Niger delta countries (Yes! Niger delta cannot become a single country, it will fracture along ethnic lines,into multiple smaller countries like Yugoslavia), open up their ports and move oil coys and their service sector to their own countries.
SW reckon they need Niger delta as well. Don't you dare try to pretend they don't and won't fight to keep Niger delta attached to Nigeria. Many of them are too comfortable working in oil coys headquarters stationed in Lagos. They have alot to lose too, and won't just fold their arms.

Well, back to the scenario you painted.
A Northern Nigeria and SW hell bent on keeping Niger deltans In Nigeria without granting them autonomy and total resource control will lose the war.

They will not have the advantage of sea blockade. No starvation policy. No Combined USSR and UK support. The world is so much digital now. There is a limit to war crimes you can engage in.

Ndigbo will not allow them pass through our borders to Niger Delta. They would have to redeploy soldiers from Boko Haram war fronts to Niger delta, allowing the jihadists chance to unseat even the sultan in Sokoto
Maybe by the time they had lost the war in Niger delta,, they would discover that the Boko Haram jihadists have hijacked the entire government apparatus in the Caliphate.

With no control of the crude oil wells, since the militants would block it, how exactly can Nigeria hope to make trade for weapons. The militants would easily use the crude oil to make trade deals in the arm deal black market. It's much easier now and there are many players as well, than there were in the 1960s.

Forget it, Nigeria cannot be fighting Boko, and Niger delta same time, with Biafra being a hostile neighbor to Nigeria.

They will lose. Their only option post Biafra is to persuade Niger delta to stay in Nigeria by offering them total resource control and autonomy, then go back and focus on their own regional strengths in SW and North to raise revenues to run their own government, just as Biafra knows she would have to look beyond Abuja monthly allocations coming from Niger delta crude oil.

Obi1kenobi:
The SW are eminently diplomatic people and wouldn't join a civil war except it threatened them, or they perceive the war to be easily winnable on favorable terms. They are as open to regional autonomy as anyone else in Nigeria and Awolowo, their most venerated figure, is basically the godfather of regional autonomy. The SW masses only favored the '67 Civil war when their elites successfully portrayed their region as being under siege from Eastern invaders. Before that, only a few elites of theirs favored the war and the war was perceived as a North vs East conflict. Many Igbo people here like to portray Yorubas as "unity beggars", but I honestly have never met a single Yoruba person who didn't favor regional autonomy and resource control. I've never met even one. Like Igbos, Yorubas are proud people who believe in their own capacity and competence and believe they will always thrive in any fair system of meritocracy.

I'm not sure why you think the Nigerian Armed Forces can't blockade the Niger Delta, just as they did the former Eastern region. If they obtain either the cooperation or even the neutrality of the SW (and maybe a state like Edo) and use their shores as a base for operations against the Niger Delta , utilizing most of the armoury of the Navy, Army and Airforce, there is no reason they can't enact a similar blockade. And who says a world power like the UK or China wouldn't support the North (perceived by outsiders as the real power in Nigerian politics) to maintain the status quo? It is certainly possible. Global powers are not big fans of separatist movements as they are perceived to create instability - except it can be demonstrated the schism would provide any or all of them with advantages.
A limit to war crimes? Tell that to Yemenis getting the shit bombed out of them by Saudis with massive civilian casualties. Or tell that to Syrian rebel zones bombarded by Assad killing hundreds of thousands and forcing millions to march on foot to neighboring countries and Europe.

If the North had to offer the Niger Delta "total resource control", then there is no point in the unity. At best, they might raise their derivation from 13% to something like 30%. But total resource control for the Niger Delta is a fantasy. That will only happen when their oyel dries up. In all this, you've also discounted the disunity factor among the Niger Delta groups which might not even enable them put up a united front against invaders. Wetin concern Edo with Bayelsa when they hate Ijaws? Are Cross River people going to put themselves at risk fighting for resources that they don't own?

meccuno:
this obi1kenobi guy. are you sure your are really igbo? too negative.

Obi1kenobi:
I'm a pragmatist/realist - not negative.

Obi1kenobi:
I'm a pragmatist/realist - not negative.

Obi1kenobi:
Many Igbo people here like to portray Yorubas as "unity beggars", but I honestly have never met a single Yoruba person who didn't favor regional autonomy and resource control. I've never met even one. Like Igbos, Yorubas are proud people who believe in their own capacity and competence and believe they will always thrive in any fair system of meritocracy.

Afam4eva:
I laugh how some of us like to romanticize the Yorubas. it just shows that they're the smartest of all Nigerian groups, not the Hausas as being touted. The only difference is that the Hausa/Fulani were/are able to control most of Nigeria because the military regimes dominated by them put it in motion. Have you asked yourself why the Yorubas were forming freedom fighters all the years that they were not at the center or should i say, that their accepted party was not at the center. Have you heared anything from those groups that used to protest during Jonathan's tenure? Was Jonathan's regime more tyrannical than Buhari's. While will they protest when they are currently at the table.Tinubu that was one of the proponents of regionalism has totally gone quiet. That tells you that all the regional autonomy shebang were simply an act. I'm sure if we Igbos were somehow benefiting a ot from the center, we won't be fighting so much for Biafra either. Everyone seems to be fighting for their lives in Nigeria, we Igbos just happened to be close to the bottom of the pecking order owing to our history.

meccuno:
you are neither. Probably an Idealist. If you are what you say you are,you would know that Nigeria as a Nation cannot work. If your pragmatism is all the post that you have written that I have read,then you are one of the problems of the Igbos . Better go and read up how countries like the former Yugoslavia broke up. Or better still check out Singapore. I have friends like you who speak the same way. It's not reaslim. It's myopia.

Obi1kenobi:
My argument has not been about whether Nigeria can work or not, but whether we're well placed to secede from Nigeria and whether Nigeria's failures are bound to be replicated in our Biafran paradise. Whether we've paid enough attention to the failure of leadership in our own states before blaming Nigeria for all our problems. I don't think I have ever praised Nigeria as a country before. Obviously you haven't read my comments well enough. My comments have always been about the Biafran agitation itself and all its contradictions.
And former Yugoslavia has more in common with the potential divisions within Igbos than Nigeria as a whole. Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Montenegrin, and Macedonians are all kin who speak Serbo-Croat with dialects that are less divergent than Igbos. Who knows - when we have no more common enemy outside our ethnic groups, we may channel our resentments inwards to fight ourselves. And the Balkan nations are still some of the poorest in Europe so I wouldn't say they are doing that much better than before as a united nation. Only Croatia and Slovenia have really progressed and these 2 were already the most prosperous of the Yugoslav republics and became even more prosperous when they stopped subsidizing the poorer Yugoslav regions. I would say in your analogy, the SW and SS who generate most of Nigeria's wealth would be Slovenia and Croatia and the North and SE who take far more from Federal coffers than they contribute would be more like Serbia or Bosnia.

Obi1kenobi:
My argument has not been about whether Nigeria can work or not, but whether we're well placed to secede from Nigeria and whether Nigeria's failures are bound to be replicated in our Biafran paradise. Whether we've paid enough attention to the failure of leadership in our own states before blaming Nigeria for all our problems. I don't think I have ever praised Nigeria as a country before. Obviously you haven't read my comments well enough. My comments have always been about the Biafran agitation itself and all its contradictions.
And former Yugoslavia has more in common with the potential divisions within Igbos than Nigeria as a whole. Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Montenegrin, and Macedonians are all kin who speak Serbo-Croat with dialects that are less divergent than Igbos. Who knows - when we have no more common enemy outside our ethnic groups, we may channel our resentments inwards to fight ourselves. And the Balkan nations are still some of the poorest in Europe so I wouldn't say they are doing that much better than before as a united nation. Only Croatia and Slovenia have really progressed and these 2 were already the most prosperous of the Yugoslav republics and became even more prosperous when they stopped subsidizing the poorer Yugoslav regions. I would say in your analogy, the SW and SS who generate most of Nigeria's wealth would be Slovenia and Croatia and the North and SE who take far more from Federal coffers than they contribute would be more like Serbia or Bosnia.

Maduawuchukwu:
It's Lagos that is well off abeg and not SOUTH-WEST.

meccuno:
i doubt if there were many countries who separated that sat down and planned for it. most do that out of the circumstance at hand. the Igbos contribute immensely to the economy of this country. what exactly is the contribution of the SW outside lagos that is so immense that you grouped them to those who generate Nigerias wealth. please. oil is the only thing that sustains this country. Lagos is and has always been a false economy in the sense that others with similar potential had to be killed for it to survive. i dont want to start writing long epistles but know one thing. whether planned or unplanned. the igbos can do well without Nigeria. how do you know your capabilities when you havent even tried? no matter how you see it, the igbos have what it takes they are very resilient people. when that day comes which it would eventually. you can jolly well stay outside the SE. its not by force. please stop being negative. it doesnt help you one bit. as far as i am concerned, your type is in the minority. i used to be like you, but several events have drastically changed my mind. the SE is not living up to its potential and it can never be done in a united Nigeria.

meccuno:
abeg help me tell the guy. what the other states benefit from is just proximity to Lagos. nothing spectacular.

The SW are eminently diplomatic people and wouldn't join a civil war except it threatened them, or they perceive the war to be easily winnable on favorable terms. They are as open to regional autonomy as anyone else in Nigeria and Awolowo, their most venerated figure, is basically the godfather of regional autonomy. The SW masses only favored the '67 Civil war when their elites successfully portrayed their region as being under siege from Eastern invaders

Before that, only a few elites of theirs favored the war and the war was perceived as a North vs East conflict. Many Igbo people here like to portray Yorubas as "unity beggars", but I honestly have never met a single Yoruba person who didn't favor regional autonomy and resource control. I've never met even one. Like Igbos, Yorubas are proud people who believe in their own capacity and competence and believe they will always thrive in any fair system of meritocracy.

I'm not sure why you think the Nigerian Armed Forces can't blockade the Niger Delta, just as they did the former Eastern region. If they obtain either the cooperation or even the neutrality of the SW (and maybe a state like Edo) and use their shores as a base for operations against the Niger Delta , utilizing most of the armoury of the Navy, Army and Airforce, there is no reason they can't enact a similar blockade. And who says a world power like the UK or China wouldn't support the North (perceived by outsiders as the real power in Nigerian politics) to maintain the status quo? It is certainly possible. Global powers are not big fans of separatist movements as they are perceived to create instability - except it can be demonstrated the schism would provide any or all of them with advantages.

A limit to war crimes? Tell that to Yemenis getting the shit bombed out of them by Saudis with massive civilian casualties. Or tell that to Syrian rebel zones bombarded by Assad killing hundreds of thousands and forcing millions to march on foot to neighboring countries and Europe.

If the North had to offer the Niger Delta "total resource control", then there is no point in the unity. At best, they might raise their derivation from 13% to something like 30%. But total resource control for the Niger Delta is a fantasy. That will only happen when their oyel dries up. In all this, you've also discounted the disunity factor among the Niger Delta groups which might not even enable them put up a united front against invaders. Wetin concern Edo with Bayelsa when they hate Ijaws? Are Cross River people going to put themselves at risk fighting for resources that they don't own?

Obi1kenobi:
SW states are more endowed than the SE due to their advantageous geographical location. I've not implied that it is because Yorubas are somehow better than Igbos in anything (I don't care for all those silly chestbeating), but their region will always economically thrive more than the SE. The new rising economic giant of Nigeria is Ogun state - which is a very endowed state with international borders, sea access, proximity to Lagos, thriving agriculture and soon to eclipse Lagos as Nigeria's industrial capital, and the biggest non-oil minerals output in Nigeria. This is another reality you Biafran agitators have to face. The SE is the least endowed region in Nigeria. By far. By far the smallest landmass; landlocked; the only region with no international borders and the most disadvantageous, strategic location; little in mineral resources. Some point to countries like Israel to prove we can cope with these disadvantages. But we're not like Israel. Israel has 12 Nobel Prize winners. We don't. They're natural born geniuses there that can squeeze water out of a rock with innovation and resourcefulness.

NonsoWow:
Biafra has really damaged pazienza's brain. Please this thread is not a biafra thread. Chino do something

Obi1kenobi:
SW states are more endowed than the SE due to their advantageous geographical location. I've not implied that it is because Yorubas are somehow better than Igbos in anything (I don't care for all those silly chestbeating), but their region will always economically thrive more than the SE. The new rising economic giant of Nigeria is Ogun state - which is a very endowed state with international borders, sea access, proximity to Lagos, thriving agriculture and soon to eclipse Lagos as Nigeria's industrial capital, and the biggest non-oil minerals output in Nigeria. This is another reality you Biafran agitators have to face. The SE is the least endowed region in Nigeria. By far. By far the smallest landmass; landlocked; the only region with no international borders and the most disadvantageous, strategic location; little in mineral resources. Some point to countries like Israel to prove we can cope with these disadvantages. But we're not like Israel. Israel has 12 Nobel Prize winners. We don't. They're natural born geniuses there that can squeeze water out of a rock with innovation and resourcefulness.

pazienza:
This is not true.
SW is heavily reliant on Niger delta crude oil.
Last time during The recession With dwindling FG allocations, SW states were worst hit than SE states. We have a massive private sector that could absorb such shortage in FG allocations than SW.

Lagos like some one noted is a carefully crafted monopoly, totally dependent on continual existence of Nigeria as a united nation, with Niger Delta fully attached but without Total resource control or autonomy, to thrive.

I had addressed this Lagos and SW issue the last time we started this discussion. Lagos as you know it today, and the phantom SW economy will not exist post Biafra with Niger delta regaining total resource control and autonomy that would position it to retrieve the oil service sector and port monopoly from Lagos. Ogun is simply benefiting from the spill over of Lagos monopoly. Take out Lagos Monopoly and Ogun goes. Nothing spectacular about ogun other than coys maximizing on its proximity to Nigeria port city and main international airport for ease of business, oweing to cheaper land resources.

SE is the most endowed in Nigeria. Human resources is what maketh a nation successful and we have it in enough quantity and quality. Landmass has nothing to do with a nation's success or failure. Netherlands, Denmark, Iceland, etc are all doing better than bigger Kazakistan. In Africa, Rwanda is doing better than Big Congo DR. Your ideas are simply myopic. Botswana is landlocked as well yet doing fine. Those two countries especially Rwanda doesn't seem to have Nobel Prize winners as well.
We have abundant natural gas in Imo state and Anambra that will be explored and exploited if need be. Where exactly you got your poor in mineral thing, I wouldn't know.

SE being landlocked is still not even absolute as we still have many cards to play to rectify that, as someone had pointed out.

The reality you don't want to face, is the SW will struggle alot post Nigeria Break up, this is because :

1. They are not really prepared or looking forward to it. In contrast,, Igbos have had Biafra before, we had tasted this independence before, we know our obstacles, and would be more than well prepared and motivated to face them head on.

2. They have always been a people who struggled to accommodate or tolerate each other. They always laboured with peaceful resolution of conflicts. History shows that any time they had to deal with only each other in an enclaved space, they go on each other throat. This happened in precolonial era and Western region when they fought each other brutally in Kiriji war. And in Western region, they couldn't conduct themselves in unison, nor could they manage their political disagreements amicably, which led to Wild wild west, operation wetie and co.
Igbos in contrasts are naturally republican in nature and have mastered democratic processes and the art of peaceful resolution of conflicts, this was why Eastern region was the most relatively peaceful region In Nigeria post independence, despite being multi ethnic, we managed the Eastern minorities agitations amicably.

3. Yorubas would ultimately have issues with two religious ideologies (Islam and Christianity) Co existing in their domain in nearly equal percentage.
I know they always claim it doesn't matter and that they are fluid when it comes to Religion. But we can already see cracks appearing in their farce of religious fluidity with the events occurring in Osun and other parts of SW. It will only get worst in an independent Odua republic.
https://punchng.com/hijab-dss-invites-religious-leaders-looming-crisis-osun-schools/
https://dailypost.ng/2018/09/26/osun-rerun-adeleke-taking-muslims-ride-muric-blows-hot/

In contrast, Igbos are majorly Christians, and this offers further point of unity,inter denominational Christian conflicts in Igboland are usually benign and well managed.

mktinsight:
The only advantage the brown roofed republic of the SW has is Lagos. The Lagos port is what made it a center of activity even against all odds (narrow harbor, erosion). The SE is more endowed because it has the main resources that power Nigeria and that is energy and human capital. The problem with the SE and why its childrens are perpetual nomads is that none of those resources have been harnessed for its development.

You mention Ogun which is now the largest industrial zone in Nigeria. How did that happen? Obasanjo in his last week in office financed a gas pipeline spur off the West African Gas Pipeline that carried gas to Ota/Agbara. That meant that all industrialists needed to do was buy a gas power plant and generate power for themselves at a cost cheaper than PHCN. Ogun was also close to the sea port so any inputs could be brought in easily. So any and all factories attempting to supply goods to Nigeria located there.

Now the question is why did this not happen in Aba or Onitsha? These cities are less than 3 hours from the sea ports. All are close to Nigerian gas pipelines. All are pre-industrial cities with loads of smart traders. But where is the connecting infrastructure? Only Aba has shell gas pipelines and at a point it was an emerging industrial hotspot before the Kalu's destroyed the place. Onitsha no plan.

Frankly, the SE could get bigger economically pretty fast if the industrial plan was put into place. The SE dominates trade and knows what the margins become with industry.

Curlieweed:
I’ll feel sorry for those Igbos trapped in that region. I won’t envy them in any the slightest.

You do know oyel or no oyel, the Western region has always been Nigeria's most productive region since amalgamation. You know that, right? Cos this whole oyel matter is revisionism. Lagos is the city it is because it was Nigeria's main gateway since the colonialists arrived and existed as Nigeria's cosmopolitan economic hub long before oyel. Its former status as capital and Nigeria's major port city contributed more to its development than oyel. And this whole matter of trying to exclude Lagos from the SW is a rather pointless exercise. Yorubas guard Lagos jealously as their common patrimony and will always dominate the power structures of the city, and yes, other Yoruba states like Ogun will enjoy the benefits of proximity to Lagos. Oyo will also join the enjoyment of this proximity once the Lagos-Ibadan rail is finished to convey goods straight from Apapa/Tin Can ports to Ibadan dry port. I don't share your opinions about this rapid "demystification" of Lagos in the event f a Nigerian schism. Sounds more wishful thinking than reality. Cities do not die like that. Lagos will always retain advantages over other Nigerian cities. Even Abuja being made the capital and receiving billions of dollars in special Federal funding for almost 30 years hasn't turned Abuja to Lagos. The already present infrastructural base that Lagos has accrued as an advantage for a hundred years will always make it Nigeria's destination city.

No, the SE are not rich in minerals. Our oil reserves is minuscule and combined, can't even match only Ondo state's reserves. I've told you to stop citing Rwanda as a model. One, they're a highly impoverished country and an overrated success story. Just because Kigali is clean and green doesn't make Rwanda an economic hub. Secondly, they've been independent since 1962 and have a much bigger head-start in nation-building. Botswana is a weird example. It's a pretty large country of only 2 million people that is very rich in gemstones and precious metals that contributes 40% of the government's revenue and a massive tourism industry due to its wildlife parks. We are nowhere near as naturally endowed as Botswana. What do you think I've been trying to say since? Our land is comparatively barren.

The only point I'd say you have is that we have "human resources". But the SW has human resources too which is no worse than our human resources. Yorubas are learned, competent professionals in the organized private sector and the civil service - well represented in any profession. They're good farmers. They're skilled artisans. They're creative artists. When I'm talking of natural resources, I'm not talking about humans, but the natural endowments of our land. And the fact is if I could swap the SE for another region's land in Nigeria , I would. Infact, forget regions, I would trade the whole SE for only the endowments of Benue or Kogi's land, if I could. We inherited the crappiest land in Nigeria. Admit the facts.

I personally think Yorubas are one of the model societies of religious tolerance. Not just by Nigerian standards, but global standards. It's rare to find a society where Muslims and Christians freely interact and intermarry the way Yorubas do. Ordinary Catholic-Anglican wedding na ala Igbo na war. I come from a Catholic family where 2 of my sisters married Anglican men and it caused serious katakata among my kinsmen, and my parents at a point were barred from receiving Holy Communion in the church for permitting this alu. If I came home with a Muslim woman, my mum will die instanta from a heart attack. My hometown Oraukwu has a long tradition of mutual resentment between its Catholics and Anglicans. Sure, that Ishaq Akintola dude from MURIC seems to be a paid purveyor of religious division among Yorubas, but the overwhelming majority of Yorubas see themselves as Yoruba first before anything else.

I don't see any relevance of the Kiriji wars to 21st century Yoruba relations. Majority of human civilizations have long histories of armed conflict.

But I'm not even sure why we're discussing this. Yorubas never advocated secession. If some have, they are a minority. They believe they can thrive in a country with a similar structure to the First Republic and that is what their intelligentsia advocate. I'm focused on our own aspirations and all its contradictions. And the contradictions are many

pazienza:
Obi1kenobi



This is not true. The Lagos colony was struggling prior to 1906, and wasn't so productive, which was why the British under Sir Walter Egerton decided to almagamate it with the greater productive Southern Nigeria (SE and SE) in 1906.
People talk alot about 1914 almagamation and why the North had to be merged with Southern Nigeria in 1914, but nobody talks about how barely productive Lagos colony was merged with Southern Nigeria in 1906,with the capital city of Southern Nigeria moved from Calabar to Lagos, and all the resources of Southern Nigeria, channeled towards Lagos development by the British.
Without this,Lagos was no different from other British coastal cities in Africa Like Abidjan, Lome, Monrovia, Conakry, etc.
What set Lagos on its current path was it's attachment to Southern Nigeria and was subsequently consolidated by being made the only gateway to African most populous country. Decouple Nigeria and Lagos cannot even compete with Porto novo who are already out punching it in marital business. Lagos enjoys the monopoly of Nigeria market, which it would'nt have post Nigeria.
For more on these, read this topic :https://www.nairaland.com/1019602/dont-blame-1914-amalgamation-rather

All Lagos has today is as a result of Nigerian unity.

You talk about Abuja,but she has only been Nigerian capital for just 28years,and is already looking more beautiful than Lagos, despite having to share the attention with Lagos and lacking sea port monopoly.
In contrast, Lagos had benefited from Southern Nigeria from 1906-date, and as Nigeria capital for 105 years received undivided attention and development using collective Nigerian resources mainly from original Southern Nigeria,, firstly by the British and now by the FG. 105yrs of undivided attention! Look at Abuja with just 28yrs of shared attention, a barren empty piece of bush today. Imagine what it could look like in 2096, if Nigeria continue existing. Let that sink in!




We are rich in natural gas. And enough crude oil to meet our domestic needs. Exploration in SE hasn't been intensive as well. I'm sure we could find more with better exploration funding.
https://www.nairaland.com/826279/imo-over-7.8-trillion-scf
Anambra still has substantial natural gas reserve.

Ondo oil wells were mostly ripped off Delta state by OBJ, while SE oil producing lands were strategically removed and added to Rivers state by dubious boundary adjustment program in immediate post civil war era. I have no doubt that a future Niger delta autonomous region would challenge most of Ondo current crude oil control areas.

Furthermore. Coming from Nigeria, the country with highest poverty rate in Africa, you have not earned the right to slate Rwanda that is doing relatively better. With also Better future forecast.
We have highly skilled artizans in our twin cities of Aba and Onitsha. A Biafran government financed natural gas pipe line and electricity to feed those small scale industries there, and we could have an industrial revolution. SE currently receive the least power supply in the country and pay more than most regions for power.

Our land is very much fertile. I don't know where you got the barren thoughts from. Northern Anambra, entire Ebonyi and Southern Imo and Abia are very rich/fertile and sparsely populated areas. Agricultural output in modern world depends on value of human resources and not on land mass. This is why Netherlands,Israel and other smaller nations are agriculturally more productive than Nigeria.

Ndiigbo who grew in Igboland will not exchange our beautiful rain forrest with lush green trees and shrubs for anything in the world. Only people brought up outside Igboland utter such talk.

And I don't really care to compare us to any Western European countries like Netherlands or Denmark or whoever. We're like centuries away from them - as are all other sub-saharan African nations, so I can't even bother with that comparison.



Well, Igbo natural human resources shine brighter than all, considering we suffered a civil war set back but are current on Par with any other Nigerian group, if not better. Yorubas inherited the Nigerian private sector after the well marshalled Heist of indigenization policy. Wealth is generational, the children of these Yoruba aristocrats who took those companies are currently the ones still controlling many of them today, which gives the false impression of Yoruba on the whole doing well. Read this:https://www.nairaland.com/2516282/before-forget
In contrast, the Igbo wealth is fluid and not crystallized in the hands of aristocrats.



I think you are biased. You underestimate the obvious cracks in the Yoruba religious tolerance tales, while exaggerating the squabbles in Igbo inter denominational Christian divisions.
Oraukwu progressive union is very united and had worked well for Oraukwu progress. Our people are very able to unite over denominational differences and hardly do open confrontations ensue as a result.
Muric wasn't paid by anyone. He is a typical Yoruba Muslim. I had lived in Yoruba land too, and personally know that like every narratives they tend to manufacture and push, the Yoruba so called religious tolerance is overrated.



It has big significance. It highlights a culture incapable of peaceful resolution of conflicts. This reared its ugly head in western region too, when the region broke down in political turmoil,despite being solely mono ethnic then. You can't just wish away the fact that in checkered Yoruba history, they have not done a great work when they had to just deal with each other and not unite against other groups in bigger Nigerian union. It is a pointer to the fact that a Yoruba only country will be full of political turmoil and instability, so much that it could hinder it's progress.



Exactly my point. Yorubas despite what they say, dread Nigeria disintegration. Contrary to the narrative you are pushing, Yorubas are not neutral as far as issue of Nigeria unity is concerned. They are firmly for a United Nigeria and would work for it, this I'm sure of. Anyone who wants out of Nigeria must factor Yoruba as a viable threat to counter.
I refuse to believe they believe they can thrive outside Nigeria as a country. Their lips service to wanting regionalism is treacherous at best. Their actions say otherwise.

I doubt you are focused about Igbo aspirations, you are more interested in worshipping your Yoruba benefactors, friends and in-laws. Which is why I'm more inclined at bursting your bubble on them.

Curlieweed:
The way Obiora regurgitates propaganda is scary. It’s difficult to believe that an Igbo person is unaware that the Lower Niger was the real estate that attracted the British to form Nigeria in the first place. If it was not very valuable, the Royal Niger Company will not have received the Royal Charter in the first place.

I am also surprised that he’s unaware that the low oil production in Igboland is engineered. The military government kept the oil fields in the Anambra basin unexplored because they wanted to use that as “strategic reserves”, while fruitlessly searching for oil at the Chad basin. They also carved huge chunks of oil bearing communities from the SE into Rivers State. We are not even talking about oil bearing Igbo communities west of the Niger.

In any case, I have always felt that the argument about natural endowments is misplaced because there are many examples of countries with the great natural advantages that are literal basket cases.

There are also many nations with very serious disadvantages that have been able to turn their proverbial lemons into lemonade. The important thing is a strong and shared will to succeed. Our people say, “onye kwe, chi ya kwe”. This is also true in the collective.

Obi1kenobi:
Funny enough, you have articulated my position perfectly. When any group benefits from an arrangement, they look to exploit their advantage. Yorubas have probably profited more in infrastructure and even key appointments in this administration than anyone (including Buhari's own core North) and to top it all off, they are very well placed to take over when this admin concludes its tenure in 2023. No group in their position would squander such an advantage in pointless agitations. Similar to when IPOB's madness reached its crescendo when Buhari won in 2015, but many of the hypocrites who became IPOB's biggest supporters were silent throughout GEJ's tenure. So yes, everybody displays the same hypocrisy and flexible value system when it suits their agenda. Everyone. But we're the ones who like ascribe pure motives to ourselves while portraying Yorubas as backstabbers and betrayers because of our bad-belle that they have outmaneuvered us in politics.

Ad far as public agitation goes, Afenifere and just about every Yoruba socio-cultural group have always been at the forefront of agitation for devolution of power from the centre and regional autonomy. If we are looking for obstacles to our quest for autonomy, we should first start with our own politicians who don't represent our interests. Then ally with the rest of the South who all share our desire for regional autonomy. Then try to fracture the North by targeting the Middle Belt to support our cause. But Yorubas are not the obstacle to any of our aspirations.

Unbiased1:
Igboland is not actually barren like that guy has being saying. Ebonyi state has as much Limestone as neighboring Cross river, the state is also endowed with Zinc and Lead ores. Ibeto once used to mine Lead ores in Ebonyi to produce his car batteries. The crude oil reserves in Anambra, IMO and Abia are enough to provide for our fuel needs. It is not compulsory we export our natural resources, we can process them to take care of ourselves. We have large gas reserves in IMO and Anambra which can be processed to meet our cooking gas needs, produce synthetic oil for the automobile industry, methanol for the chemical industry and a whole lot of other things including powering thermal power plants. We have enough land to meet up with the agricultural needs of over 5 staple foods we consume. We have Palm oil which can also be used to produce palm olein ( which we wrongly call groundnut oil because it is not red like normal unprocessed palm oil lol ), we have yam and cassava and can meet up with our rice, tomato and maize demands if we are serious.
The major reason why we shouldn't attempt to leave or break out of Nigeria now is because, we lack the most important things that can make Biafra survive even up to a year. Before we intensify our quest to disintegrate, we need to have our own source of electricity, telecommunication/internet, fuel supply, food, at least 1 international airport and a working seaport and shipping line. We currently receive electricity from Niger state and Afam power plant in Akwa ibom, we get access to telecommunication from companies based in Lagos, we get food from the north and we buy refined petroleum products from NNPC. The Nigerian government will cut supply of these things to us as the first step in punishing us if we misbehave too much. Imagine the first 2 months of Biafra without electric, fuel, internet, food etc. We need wealthy sons and daughters of Igboland to invest in those sectors I mentioned above. We already have 2 international airports even though its only one that is working, we can simply take control of the Onitsha river port if we break out but the issue there is which airline or shipping line we come to the east? Air peace may save us much stress with air travel but what of the shipping lines for import? Those foreign shipping companies cannot be relied upon. I also mentioned food. How can we separate when we don't have a final solution to rice, tomato, sugar and salt? Thank God we are currently trying in Yam and oil production. These issues should be at the front burner and not the issue of whether Yoruba are productive or not. Even if our IGR is 2 million naira per year, once we have the things I mentioned above, the negative effects of the disintegration of Nigeria will be less on people.

For the guy claiming that Igbo land is barren, let me clear that if there is a mass exodus of Igbo out various parts of Nigeria, it will spell doom for the progress of Lagos, Abuja and the entire country at large including Igbo land. Most of the companies in Lagos and Ogun are foreign companies and will hesitate to shutdown operations in any part of the country if things go wrong. Take what happened to P&G company as an example. When the country became unfavorable to them, they shut down most of their plants in Ibadan and Ogun including their newly completed 300 million dollar plant. Only the plant that produces pampams diaper is currently functioning at full capacity. If you have ever been in Lagos during December period, you will know how largely empty Lagos becomes. Most markets remain shut and business activities drop. If Lagos remains that way for at least 6 months, the foreign companies will begin to lose revenue. The target of most of these companies is Lagos and by the time there is a mass exodus out of Lagos, the companies may start looking for alternatives. Unilever once realised a manual or book of some sort containing a list of their distributors, management etc. That was when I discovered that the Obi of Onitsha was the Chairman of the non executive board of directors and after Lagos, Anambra, Abia and the east in general produced most of their distributors. Even the distributors from Lagos were mainly Igbo owned marketing companies. Imagine Unilever losing all its Igbo distributors, what do you think the company will do? Remain in Ogun state and suffer the loss like that? When the Arewa youths ordered Igbo out of their land, why were some northern leaders condemning the statement in its entirety? The governors of Kano, Kaduna and Plateau were are the fore front of making sure the Igbo never left the north. Same with the Sultan of Sokoto and Emir of Katsina, you can Google search their comments/statements to confirm.
The only form of restructuring that will benefit Igbo land is that of full autonomy, if Nigeria can't be restructured that way, let the country break up. We can't continue to be in a country that does everything possible to make sure a particular region does not progress due to hatred. As for our sons and daughters who are still investing heavily outside Igbo land, I don't blame them because, the country has made the east one of the least attractive places to invest in Nigeria. Our governors now have to visit companies, discuss and discuss just to attract barely 2 foreign companies in a whole year. The bitter truth is that as long as Igbo land remains part of Nigeria, it always be over shadowed by the west and will never achieve it's full potential.