What is your take on the People of Biafra?

The renewed struggle for the Independence of Biafra is being championed by a mass movement, tagged Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by the now estranged Nnamdi Kanu and his London-based colleagues from where they run Radio Biafra and Biafra Television. This  has become a serious cause of concern to the federal government of Nigeria and to the general public.  The movement has grown so rapidly that it has a following at home and abroad made up of Biafrans in diaspora in nearly every country in the world. Recently, the agitation has generated serious tension all over the nation; from the October 1^st quit notice by the Arewa youths to the Igbos residing in the North and the retaliatory quit notice by the IPOB to the northerners residing in the east and then joined by the quit notice given by the Niger Delta Avengers to the northerners residing in the south. These have thrown the entire country into serious confusion leaving the Government to ponder how to calm this ugly situation amidst the economic hardship currently been experienced.

We all know that the indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) are agitating for their own state because they feel that the Nigerian Government is being unfair to them in the sharing of the national resources.

In line with this, Tozali sampled people’s opinions on the issue.

Mr. Yusuf M. Tsakani

My opinion on the self-acclaimed “People of Biafra” is that they need to understand one key thing in their struggle/agitation. Let them first have genuine love for themselves and be patriotic to Nigeria first before they can think of having their own Biafra Republic. You cannot learn patriotism after independence which is what they are lacking now. Patriotism include unity amongst themselves which is obviously lacking. Finally, there is nothing wrong in having a state of your own, rich in mineral resources but if the thirsts for control of  the resources is the central key for their agitation, then I will suggest to them that they should look out for what happened to the people in southern Sudan.

James Owan

My take on the people of Biafra is that though the civil war is over, the Federal Government has done nothing to address the root cause of the war which was injustice, call for restructuring, devolution of power, true and fiscal federalism. Exactly 50 years later,  these imbalances have begun to raise its head again which is what resulted to the renewed agitation.

Truly some of the Igbos are not after their own country but a restricted Nigeria where region can control its resources and the reduced power of the Federal Government power. Their struggle is an ideal one which is rooted in injustice and to conquer them, the Government should address those injustices by restructuring the nation.

Military actions won’t help but lead to secession. Finally the character of Nnamdi Kanu scares me. He acts like a lunatic and that is scary because lunatics have led many nations to senselessly kill themselves in the name of fighting for justice. Nonviolence by the government is the approach that will resolve this agitation. The Government should ignore every provocation by Biafra and quietly restructure the current federal system to reflect true and fiscal federalism.

Usman: My candid opinion is that; the people of Biafra should just dialogue with the Federal Government of Nigeria if they feel isolated or think they are being marginalized. Let them say whatever the thing is; that is my own opinion. Because look at the case of south Sudan today that wanted their own freedom and it was given to them. They keep on fighting and killing themselves because they did not really know what they wanted before even going into it and now they find it very difficult to come back. That is my own opinion for some few Igbo people that want their own state. I will also tell you that this Biafra agitation is political and they are not fighting it whole heartedly.

The person that seriously fought for the Biafra was the late Emeka Ojuku that was not fighting it for any selfish purpose compare to Nnamdi Kanu that is just parading some people that don’t even know what they are after disturbing the peace of Nigeria here and there. So to me I think they should just tell us what their problem is so that we can be one, because I can tell you categorically that the eastern part of the country cannot stand on their own because they are seeking for a way the South South part of the country will join them. But the south South are not ready to join them in their agitation and the eastern state are too small to be a country own their own and definitely there is going to be a lot of fighting among them and is going to degenerate to many negative things that will never come to an end. They are also in a solid hand of Mr. President Muhammadu Buhari because he is not a leader that does not listen, he is always ready to listen and will provide a lasting solution to all this Biafra agitation.   

Alex Agaba:   Restructuring is an  elusive concept to me  depending  on the angle you are viewing it. The basic minimal structures required for a country to lay claims to the practice of federalism include a political system in which there is power sharing under a written constitution with a Government consisting of at least two orders: a Central or Federal Government; and the Governments of the constituent units. Each order of government receives an allocation of financial resources tailored to their specific requirements. Nigeria has been a federal state since 1954, yet even this basic requirement of federalism has not been attained in the real context. It is observed that there are a lot of issues in the practice of Federalism in Nigeria, which make the practice far removed from true federalism. Constitutional amendment as the need arises is part of the typical dynamism of constitutional order to meet the aspirations of a Federation. Nigeria is presently going through a constitutional amendment process, which is hoped will deal with some of the issues in the re-structure of the Nigerian federalism. I support restructuring but it shouldn't be bias, it should be devoid of sentiments and greed. It  should be on the basis of unity and progress  

By Mercy Kukah