THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE RESURGENCE OF THE BIAFRA MOVEMENT

  In the year 2001 or 2003, I can not quite remember exactly, I was on the road traveling between Umuahia and Aba in Abia State when we were forced to make way for a convoy of vehicles, mainly buses carrying young men, many literarily standing on the doors and roofs of the vehicles. I was wondering who these 'crazy' people were who pushed us out of the road as they blazed their siren and horns. I was startled when I saw in each of the vehicles, fluffing in the wind, flags bearing the Biafran coat of arms- the rising sun. I shook my head and told myself that these men were crazy. What the hell did they mean by flying the flags of the defunct Biafra brazenly in the face of all of us. When I enquired who these people were, my driver told me that they were the MASSOB-the Biafra boys. I shook my head again, and told my self that these guys did not know what they were doing. If they knew what we suffered in trying to actualize Biafra between 1996-1970, they would not be searching for trouble in broad day light. I finally concluded that it could be a rush of midday madness that would soon cool off as the dusk arrived. To be truthful, I even thought this was the handiwork of a desperate politician who had decided to ride to power on the blood of innocent job seekers.

  Subsequently, rather than fizzle out, I began to hear of the activities of this movement for the Actualization of the sovereign state of Biafra( MASSOB) more frequently. They observed the Biafra day in May of each year and often got markets across the country to close for the observance. Every once in a while, I would hear they had clashes with the Police and some people arrested and charged to court. Often I read that the leader of the movement, chief Ralph Uwazurike was arrested, held in detention, then he would be released. They carried on with their sundry activities and passive resistance through out the years Olusegun Obasanjo was President, they continued through the regime of Umaru Yardua and to my utmost wonder they remained active through out the reign of Goodluck Jonathan. To butt, a group known as the indigenous Peoples of Biafra emerged and took the Federal Government of Nigeria to Court making sundry demands including reparations for the losses they suffered during the Nigeria-Biafra war. I was amazed and alarmed that this matter was getting thicker by the day. Sometime last year, I read that MASSOB threatened to seize a radio station in Enugu. Towards the end of Jonathan's administration, I began to hear of Radio Biafra and one Mr Nnamdi Kanu who was the director and regular voice on the radio and who seemed to be unhappy with everybody and constantly criticized and abused many Nigerian leaders, including prominent Igbo leaders, especially those who opposed the radio or who said anything unpleasant or who disagreed with his modus operandi.

  But since the coming of President Muhammadu Buhari, the encounter between MASSOB and the promoters of the Biafra radio on one hand and the security forces on the other hand has increased, resulting in several fatalities. Beyond the police, the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Army have joined in the effort to quell the agitation or suppress the movement. Recently I heard that the Radio has been knocked out of service and the director arrested. But I was shocked to my bone marrow when a few days ago, I saw on Prime Television a mammoth crowd of young People protesting and demonstsating  in Portharcourt against the arrest of Mr Kanu. I was amazed that the radio Biafra man and his project has such a large following and support in PortHarcourt in Rivers State. I then began to imagine what will be their support base in Onitsha, Aba or Owerri. I further began to wonder what could be driving these young men to take the risk of exposing themselves to great danger in their protests, though one of the young demonstrators when interviewed said, they were being discriminated against and were being pushed to the margins.

   From my narrative above, it must be clear to those who may not be aware, that the Resurgence of the Biafra movement was not a reaction to the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari as some mischief makers have tended to present it. But its intensity seems to be growing across the regimes. And every regime seemed to have devised its method of containing the movement. But what I am not sure about is, if anybody in government has engaged these people to find out what their grudge against Nigeria is. To attempt to suppress the movement by strong arm tactics may be counterproductive and to dismiss it with a wave of the hand as I saw General Gowon do a few days ago may just be too simplistic. He may think that the Biafra issue has been settled, but from what we see and read, that may not be the true situation on the ground. With all due respect, I think General Gowon and the Nigerian Nation seem not to have learnt enough lessons from the Nigerian civil war, nor do we understand the current dynamics of passive resistance or self determination in the global setting. In 1967 after General Gowon threw away a golden non-violent chance to bring back the hurting Eastern Nigerians fully into the national fold, he declared a 'Police action' to bring down the Biafran 'rebellion'. We soon found that the matter was not a simple matter like a riot that the Police could quell with tear gas and water canisters. The Nigerian Army, Navy and  Airforce had to solicit the support of Britain, USA and Russia to bring the war to an end, aided by blockades and starvation.  With the current military and warfare technology, it would cost us much more money and blood to bring down a similar 'rebellion'. And when we throw in the emerging and growing unconventional war tactics successfully employed by the Niger Delta Militants and currently in use by the Boko Haram insurgents, it will be clear that another Biafra war or such similar war can not end clean as the one that ended on January 15, 1970.

   At the 2005 Political reform conference, the South South delegates walked out when they could not get an increase of the deviation formula, I was in a committee that was put together to reconcile their position with that of the North that firmly opposed any increase. At the meeting with our Northern compatriots, I made a passionate appeal that we should move the derivation from 13% to  at least 15%. When i saw that there was no willingness to make any concessions, I added in desperation, that it was better we made some concession to the Niger Delta than to face a situation, where they could block total access to the oil and gas in their region. To my utter consternation an elder of the Nation and past Minister of  Transport in the 2nd Republic, looked me straight in the face and retorted, " we shall send the military after them". Unfortunately what I had  predicted happened and the Niger Delta Militancy became real which threatened the prospecting and marketing of our crude oil. Also as the late Minister projected, we sent the military after them! What happened? Were it not for the wisdom of Umaru Yardua, who used the Amnesty programme to bring peace, I do not know where we will be today in the Niger delta. With the amnesty and the establishment of the Ministry of the Niger Delta Affairs coupled with the Niger Delta Development Commision( NDDC), the region is certainly getting more than the 13% derivation, perhaps even more than the 15% I had

suggested to avert all the trouble and losses that followed.

 Today, after all the mayhem which Boko Haram has visited on this Nation, we are looking for their authentic leaders to negotiate with them. I do not know how much the Jonathan administration spent on the '419' peace accord which they reached with alleged Boko haram leaders in order to ' bring back our girls'. If we had had the opportunity to avert the national calamity we have faced and continue to face from  Bokoharam by finding out what their grouse was and working to reach a compromise, would it not have been cheaper for our Nation. Also I am told that the group was originally largely benign until their leader, one Yusuf was killed extra judiciously and that transformed the group virulent and malignant. Let it be known that I am not a spokesperson for any of the groups currently agitating for Biafra, but my patriotic zeal compels me to draw attention, that rather than vilify them or repress them or kill them extra judiciously, we should find out what their grouse is and set in motion some mechanism to negotiate with them and assuage them. First is, that unlike the Niger Delta Militants, they are neither armed nor militarized and unlike Boko Haram, they are not terrorists and neither they do prepare IEDs nor produce suicide bombers. They have known leaders with whom we can enter into genuine discussions and negotiations. 

   This proposition of mine will apply to any other group,be they Arewa or Odua that has genuine grouse against this Nation. As I have said and written severally in recent times, this Country is at best a work in progress when it comes to National Unity and until God blesses us with  leaders who have the wisdom and determination to work for a truly united Nation, we will by acts of omission or commission continue to discriminate against some sections of the Country, sometimes so terribly that they may either opt to find succor somewhere else or insist on destroying the house. We must nip in the board anything that has the potential to disturb our social cohesion or economic development. History teaches that the best way to deal with any political situation, dispute or even conflict is through free speech, dialogue, compromise and concession, no matter how long it takes. Any other method only ends up in postponing the evil day. I just pray that we can be wise to adopt the better option in dealing with this mass resurgence of the Biafra Movement. May be a full review and implementation of the report of the 2014 National conference would be helpful.

Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa OFR