thoughtT:
"A people have the right to decide and determine whatever becomes of them, self-actualisation included, yes! But when this becomes a culture without any social implication if not for selfishness, greed, divisive ways and hindrance to a balanced development, then it becomes a misnomer and an intolerable evil for that matter. Not until now, I used to be in support of the self-actualisation of the eastern people. In fact, I have argued vehemently in their support, although with no substantial evidence at my disposal, maybe the arguments were partisan and one-sided all this while. But recently, when I took a vivid look at the whole concept, what it has cost Nigeria, the recent flippant demands and most irritatingly, the foul cry that pervades the air, I believe that supporting such a cause is just opposing the common good of Nigeria and our future.

Someone may quickly point out that what does my voice amount to or what does my support or opposition to a cause like Biafra mean to the whole concept. Yes, you are right only because it is your right to hold your personal opinions and not because your sanity tells you that every human has a stake in every national issue. If not money, property or resources, what of relations and one’s own life? The last civil war took away over 2 million lives, how many of them do you know. They were nobody like me too but who paid ultimately with their bodies. Their destinies were shattered and hopes of their families and loved ones dashed into the thin air. War is better imagined than experienced. Today, Ojukwu is remembered and celebrated even in the post-humus form but the other millions of people he led to their untimely death are never mentioned. He is celebrated today because he led millions of people to die. Shall we conclude then that you get celebrated in a faraway but nearby land when you lead ignorant, innocent and unsuspecting souls to death?"

http://eckovibes.com/2017/05/20/biafra-a-directionless-people-fighting-an-aimless-battle/

It will only amount to self-deception to accept the claim that Biafra had started decades before amalgamation as purported in some quarters. If it had started and was really existing as claimed by our dear elders, then, the country wouldn’t have been merged with the then newly formed Nigeria. After all, it was a forceful fusion of different components and never different countries of the world. We are only being deceived by calling it forceful fusion though, because if not for greed and self-centredness of people who have had the opportunity to rule us, the country would have fared better than this. They knew/know that the only means they can perpetually keep us under their feet and in penury is to apply the divide and rule method. No wonder Fani-Kayode and Fayose cheaply click into the divide and live method and unfortunately, people bow to their devilish way of living. Before digression becomes the main issue, may I reiterate that Biafra is a concept or even an ideology found on greed and frustrations of some man and unfortunately rebranded and sold to all. He used the injustice to one is an injustice to all mantra to make the issue looked as if we are all involved. Today, people have died and are still dying, yet, the purported nation is not receiving its identity.

Gullibility seems to have pervaded the air and blocked the sight of my people over there. Some have ignorantly boasted that they were ready for the 1967-1970 experience without giving it a second thought. O ye Biafra agitators, for what shall it profit you to cut off your own soul untimely and by implication, your generation, and yet what you labour(ed) for does not gain expression? Truth be told, this fight for a new country out of the existing entity is not holistic, rather it seems to be the work of opportunists who are not concerned about what becomes of their people. They take joy in using the lives of their people as sacrifice in getting the undeserved fame and attention. Unfortunately, the Federal Government as usual fail to manage the issue of Kanu well and through that, birthed a non-existing hero out of him.

If truly the call for the creation of Biafra republic is holistic devoid of some personal interests, where did the agitators go during the five-year tenure of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan? Didn’t they think it could have been easy for a kinsman to support their cause in that capacity? The numerous people who looted the nations to a coma that were part of the last Executive council and government, what did they achieve for the people? The governors that receive nameless and unpronounceable allocations compared to many other states, what do they use them for other than sponsoring of thugs and turning their states to no-go-areas? Do they prepare for the awaiting child at all? It seems those that will make it happen are un-expectant. The renewed strength of the different components that claim to be fighting for the actualisation of Biafra is just like a dedicated war against the current administration. A mere antagonism for a dispensation that seems to have little passion for the average Nigerian.

The public outcry of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) on Wednesday, May 10 on the alleged plan to disenfranchise the people of Eastern region is irritating and to an average sane mind, nauseating! For times without number, you’ve proclaimed that you are not part of the entity called Nigeria and yet, you still cry of being cheated at every instance of national issue. That is not the best way to seek relevance for a particular group in a country that seems to be bleeding from all points. There was an administration where your notable kinsmen and kindred don’t knock before entering any room in the villa, not even the other room, what is the effect of this golden opportunity on the people of Eastern Nigeria? Was it not just a means of self-enrichment and careless vibrations?

An average Nigerian should be happy that many people from the east now believe that there is no need for such war as civil war again. It is not just worth it to start afresh after watering the land with the blood of humans coupled with the negative effect of oil spillage in a world market that is fast rejecting the oil and its owners in a like manner. An attempt to go for another self-determination through force will only amount to another ignominious defeat for aggrieved few with the negative impact on unimaginable numbers of people. Just recently, I saw a message composed by a Biafran accusing the Federal Government of marginalising the Eastern part of the country from the planned modernised railway projects in the nation. Once again, an average sane mind may be forced to ask, who is the minister in charge of the ministry that awards such projects? Evil antagonism only makes a man kill himself without his needed consent.

Going nude or incessant protests without any direction will not birth a country that will solve all your problems. After all, it has been discovered from the world happenings that it’s only few nations’ fortunes that change after using the whole of their lives to fight for self-determination and actualisation. Apart from the government providing a fertile ground for development to take place, followers must also be committed to making it happen in the same manner. That is how the developed states of the world made it and not through incessant cries, distractions, tribal antagonism and baseless accusation of authorities. It would be better if the call for the creation of Biafra can be a holistic one, a fight geared towards liberating a consenting people in a civilised way at the appropriate time.



OKE BABAWALE SIMON