OPINION: Why Biafra Cannot Be Defeated, By Fr. Chika Okpalike

Those in the public sector especially at the administrative domain most times appear to be bereft of logical clarity and distinction about issues of public concern. Sometimes it could also be a deliberate turning of a blind eye to existential issues of unnerving intensities or fostering agenda that are not promoting unity, social justice, integrated and integral development across board. It is pretty difficult to tackle a problem when it is not understood.

Mr Buhari, his surrogates and collaborators, most especially need to get these clarifications into their stream of thought, that way they may keep from unforced errors which culminate into the loss of lives and property; hatred, rancour and total chaos in the Nigerian society. South-Eastern governors should wake up to the responsibility of defining the society they govern and the social-political-economic activities there in and shun decades of buying into extraneous narratives that continually misrepresent the Igbo in all national affairs.

All Igbo, young and old, who by birth have different roles in this theatre of events must read the script properly and interpret their individual and corporate characters well enough to act their parts excellently. They should engage and be engaged more actively and constructively in the discourse going on about restructuring, unity or otherwise of Nigeria; shunning the “Okuko” character, who in one popular Igbo folklore shied away from the congress of animals where it was to be decided which of them would be recommended to humans as more suitable for sacrifices to the gods. In his absence the rest decided to give him up for that dreadful exercise; a fate “Okuko” has been subjected to forever.

In the quest for this clarity, it will be gross misunderstanding to lump together in one definition all the individual components of the south-east socio-political dynamics. Such misunderstanding may lead to very wrong policies and positions about matters and things concerning a region that is a major stakeholder in the Nigerian enterprise. The components that come to mind in this exercise are: South-East, Ndiigbo, Biafra, Biafraland, MASSOB (Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra), IPOB (Independent People of Biafra), Oha-na-Eze and APGA (All Peoples Grand Alliance) among many other interest groups.

Clearly “Operation Egwu Eke II” and the declaration of IPOB as a terrorist group has shown that the federal government does not have a clue as to what they are tackling and sadly the south-eastern governors who are waking up to their responsibility, even as they do so from the wrong side of their comfort, do not seem to have a grasp of who or what they represent; hoping it is not too late even to wake up. Below are suggested definitions that will help the federal government, the South-Eastern governors and all others who should take responsibility as this drama gradually unfolds.

South-East
The six geopolitical zones is the legacy of Gen Sani Abacha’s regime, the purpose of which is to put a structure on ground for the “equitable” sharing of the nation’s resources. This exercise would neither want to go into the rigours of the equitability of the so-called “equitable” nor would it into the structurized corruption and schemed marginalization it portends; with hindsight we now know the real purpose of the geopolitical arrangement. Suffice it to say then that the south-east is one of the six geopolitical zones of the Nigerian political architecture. It comprises of five states which are presumed to be related by culture and language. These five states are: Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo. This is the theatre of the macabre dance “Egwu Eke II” whose first act has been staged in Abia State. The south-east is a geographical creation of a military junta who understood Nigerian economy as a consumer economy and designed the country from an existing structure already put in place by his compatriots and predecessors who in their turn had deliberately balkanized the unity and peaceful co-existence of the regions with the instrument of state creation as a strategy of domination.


Ndiigbo
These are part of the Nigerian people who own and speak the Igbo language. They are the most spread in the country, living and interacting with every culture and people in Nigeria and beyond. They are made up of a number of culture areas and dialects. Ndiigbo constitute more than 90% of the inhabitants of the south-east. They also form parts of Rivers, Delta, Edo and Bayelsa States with cultural affiliations to parts of Cross Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Benue and Kogi States. Ndiigbo are much more than the circumventing political arrangement which the Nigerian polity confine them to. Ndigbo are not identified by their language and culture alone, but also by their spirit; which is the strongest binding force among them.

Biafra
 Deriving from the old “Biafara”, a region formerly parts of today’s Nigeria and Cameroun, Biafra is a “Sitz im Leben”; it is an existential ideology. In Nigeria, and for very weird reasons, the south-easterners connect to this ideology very easily. It stands for emancipation, liberty, egalitarianism, competitiveness, fairness, justice, equitability and equality. Outside the south-east, some great and liberated minds connect to it too. No one can fight Biafra because it is spirit. No matter the number of people killed for the sake of Biafra, its life goes on; a lifetime into seven incarnations will not be enough to obliterate Biafra. It can be decimated or suppressed, not annihilated. It is an existential reality that demands expression in a geographical location. The whole of Africa nay Nigeria can be Biafra any day that society becomes emancipated, liberated, egalitarian, competitive, fair, just, equal and equitable; every agitation will cease because Biafra would have been realized.

Biafraland
Biafraland is nowhere and everywhere. It is nowhere because it is an ideology seeking for an area of expression, but because most of the people who connect to the spirit of Biafra are occupying the south-eastern part of Nigeria, many think that the major part of it will be made up by the south-east geopolitical zone. It is everywhere because it can be sustained anywhere there are humans who sincerely lives its principles. Wherever the Igbo settle, they crave for Biafraland. Once they find it, they settle and relax; not finding it, they settle and fight to have it. The world of the Igbo must be Biafraland.

MASSOB (Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra)
Ralph Uwazuruike initiated this movement in 1999 with the aim of resuscitating the spirit of and realizing a physical area for the expression of Biafra dreams. This movement was duly registered and employs non-violent means for the realization of its objective; though its activities are no longer hyped as before, its spirit is sustained among its members and beyond. Membership to this movement is 100% voluntary. It is merely a pressure group that fosters the Biafra ideology through non-violent engagement with Nigeria and international communities.

IPOB (Independent People of Biafra)
In 2012 IPOB was founded by Nnamdi Kanu in collaboration Uche Okafor-Mefor. The organization was launched into the international scene and its consciousness spread through Radio Biafra; a communication outfit in the UK. It is an international non-violent civil movement which fosters and drives the dream and realization of an independent Biafra located in the former East-Central part of Nigeria. For the moment the group is very active; having a vocal and dogged leader who understands negotiations in the Nigerian political scene as verbal combat just like Donald Trump does in America. Most importantly, IPOB is a voluntary organization that created opportunities for our teaming jobless youths to be heard in their quest for a better society.

Ohanaeze ndi Igbo
This is a socio-cultural Pan-Igbo group which represents all Igbo at home and in Diaspora. This group was formed in 1976 after series of experiments. It has been through various forms of leadership styles and crisis; losing and gaining the confidence of the Igbo people. It is a response of the Igbo to sustained socio-political hostilities against the Igbo in the post-war Nigeria. Its aim is to give the Igbo a united front and a voice in the Nigerian bargain. Ohanaeze is not partisan; it does not foster the idea of a geographical expression of Biafra, but is animated by the spirit of Biafra.


APGA (All Progressives Grand Alliance)
This is a national political party founded by Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu in 2003 as political expression of progressive agenda for Nigeria; moving Nigeria beyond its common ethnic and sectional narratives and moving into a society ruled by emancipation, liberty, egalitarianism, competitiveness, fairness, justice, equitability and equality. It is not surprising that it is the Igbo of the southeast who may quickly connect to the ideology of the party. Left with only one state after the breakaway of one led by Rochas Okorocha into APC (All Progressives Congress) and with a very weak leadership, it seem to be losing its political relevance even among the Igbo; but that will be for a while.

I propose these definitions to add a voice to the solution we seek to the Nigeria discourse. As is shown, the south-east has a concentration of the Igbo, but more than 30% of its citizens are living outside that territory. Those who live outside it are the most powerful, exposed, civilized, connected, wealthy and global; those who live within are the most resilient, witty, tough, ebullient and nationalistic. Nigeria must learn that no war waged in that territory can defeat the Igbo; you can only wound them deeply enough to make them strategize all the more. Biafra is larger than the south-eastern Nigeria; locating it there is underestimating its spread and downplaying its existential influence which is far-reaching beyond the south-east, extending even to non-Igbo. Biafra is the domain for an inevitable negotiation for a better Nigeria. It is possible to disagree with Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, terrify Ralph Uwazuruike or attack Nnamdi Kanu, but the voice of the demand for Biafra cannot be silenced until Nigeria becomes characterized by emancipation, liberty, egalitarianism, competitiveness, fairness, justice, equitability and equality