Obi Reacts To Nnamdi Kanu’s Conviction, Calls For Political Solution

Peter Obi react to Kanu sentenced,

He said, Kanu’s Conviction: At a Time Like This.
The news of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s conviction should compel every well-meaning Nigerian to pause and reflect. This is coming at a time when our beloved nation is facing severe economic hardship, insecurity, and the consequences of poor governance.

Rather than reducing tension, this unfortunate development may well only aggravate it.

I have always maintained that Mazi Kanu should never have been arrested. His arrest, detention, and now conviction represent a failure of leadership and a misunderstanding of the issues at stake.

For years, I have consistently argued that dialogue, constructive engagement, and inclusive governance offer the path to lasting peace. Coercion becomes necessary only when reason has been exhausted. In this case, I submit that the reason was not only not exhausted, but was probably not explored at all, or not fully explored.

The concerns Kanu raised were not unheard of. The issues for which he demanded solutions were not insoluble. It only required wisdom, empathy, and a willingness to listen. In any functional society, such grievances are met with dialogue and reforms aimed at strengthening unity.

The government’s approach has only deepened mistrust and created an avoidable distraction at a time when citizens are overwhelmed by harsh economic realities and insecurity. While some may insist that “the law has taken its course,” leadership often demands more than a strict, mechanical application of the law. Nations around the world resort to political solutions, negotiated settlements, and even amnesty when legal processes alone cannot serve the broader interest of peace and stability. Nigeria is not an exception.

The handling of Kanu’s case mirrors the government as a man trapped in a hole but who, instead of looking for a way out, keeps digging deeper. It worsens not only the government’s predicament but also the nation's collective condition.

If we truly desire a new Nigeria - a united, peaceful, and progressive one, our leaders must choose healing over hostility, reconciliation over retaliation, and dialogue over division. Only by addressing grievances with justice, fairness, and compassion can we move towards a future where every Nigerian feels heard, valued, and safe.

My ultimate call at this time, without prejudice to how anyone feels about the decision of the court, is for us to be optimistic for peace and reconciliation which will come in the end. I am also saying, thereby, that the Presidency, the Council of State and credible statesmen who love this country and who are interested in cohesion and inclusivity, should rise to the occasion, for a lasting solution.

- PO

#igbo

Oct 1 speech: Ohanaeze, Ezeife, others blast Buhari

By Emeka Mamah, Ben Agande, Dapo Akinrefon, Simon Ebegbulem, Gbenga Oke, AbdulSalam Muhammad, Peter Okutu & Dirisu Yakubu 


•Say he’s trying to push S-East out of Nigeria; full of excuses 
•Speech disappointing, empty —Ozekhome, Junaid Mohammed 
•He has opportunity to bring Nigeria back on track—Afenifere 
•He was rationalising failure
Osuntokun; 

• it’s laudable— ACF, Oshiomhole

LAGOS – President Muhammadu Buhari’s Independence Day broadcast elicited strong reactions from across the country, yesterday, with Ohanaeze Ndigbo and the Eastern Consultative Assembly, ECA, taking strong exceptions to the indictment of Igbo leaders over the escalation of agitation for Biafra. 
The President’s speech was, however, welcomed by the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, and some of the President’s political supporters, including Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
 However, critics from across the country, including Dr. Junaid Mohammed, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, Senator Roland Owie, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN; Mr. Akin Osuntokun, among others, flayed the speech for either being empty, sectional or lacking in imagination. 

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which was the object of criticism in the broadcast for allegedly superintending over what the President described as the years of the locust between 1999 and 2015, failed to articulate a reaction yesterday.

Warning against the sustenance of ethnic agitations, Buhari had in the broadcast said: “As a young army officer, I took part from the beginning to the end in our tragic civil war costing about 2m lives, resulting in fearful destruction and untold suffering. Those who are agitating for a re-run were not born by 1967 and have no idea of the horrendous consequences of the civil conflict which we went through,” he said.

Chiding leaders of the region involved, the President said: “I am very disappointed that responsible leaders of these communities do not warn their hot-headed youths what the country went through. Those who were there should tell those who were not there, the consequences of such folly.

” Buhari’s govt always has excuses — Ohanaeze 

Responding to the broadcast, Ohanaeze, responding through its National Publicity Secretary, Prince Uche Achi Okpaga, who described Buhari’s policies as sentimental, lopsided and sectional, advised the APC-led Federal Government to always take responsibility for the current situation in the country.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo said:  “The issue is that the Buhari administration has always found one excuse or the other for the challenges facing the country. They have never taken responsibility before (because) they were not prepared to rule Nigeria. 

“Hate speech started from Buhari and he has continued to implement policies against the existence of Ndigbo. The agitations did not come from oblivion; it is part of his policies which I describe as sentimental and lopsided. These policies had over time fuelled agitations and so, he should not blame Igbo leaders but his administration.

“We blame the agitation on his administration and not Igbo leaders.” ECA, in a statement said it was a regret that the President, helped by his kitchen cabinet, had continued to see Nigeria on  an ethnic prism.

ECA Secretary, Evangelist Elliot Ugochukwu-Uko, while reacting to the speech said: “Mr. President has finally confirmed to all and sundry that he is light years behind global trends and far away from the political reality of the Nigerian situation. This is exactly what happens when a leader surrounds himself only with his kinsmen.
 “They erroneously mistake their sectional worldview as the national interest. Gen Buhari has clearly misread the resolve of the younger generation to change their lot in Nigeria through any means necessary.
“His kitchen cabinet is obviously living in an ancient world where the fear of the inevitable restructuring forced them to take solace inside the cocoon of an outdated, unrealistic northern daydream of forcing Nigerians to head to a National Assembly which was created by a discredited military constitution. “The obstinacy of those scared of the inevitable new people’s Constitution, regional autonomy, and true fiscal federalism gave birth to the agitation for secession; this same obstinacy will ultimately destroy Nigeria. “As the agitation rebounds and resurges, time will unveil the price we all will pay for delaying the return of Nigeria back to regional format.”

Buhari trying to push S-East out of Nigeria —
Ezeife Former governor of Anambra State, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife on his part said President Buhari was trying to push the region out of the Nigerian State. “Buhari is the engineer of the problems. He is trying to push the South-East out of Nigeria by marginalising, dehumanising and humiliating them,” he said, adding that the development led to the agitations by the youths that has now morphed into a national concern. “The young ones couldn’t understand what he was up to and so they reacted as young people. “We didn’t have these problems under President Olusegun Obasanjo,  Umaru Yar’Adua or Goodluck Jonathan but immediately Buhari took the oath of office and swore to protect the Constitution, he reneged on such things as the federal character.

“He told us he belongs to everybody and to nobody but we have seen that he belongs to Katsina,” he added. Buhari’s speech disappointing, says Ozekhome Rights activist and constitutional lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, flayed the speech as not good enough. 

Describing the speech as “disappointing” Ozekhome noted that President Buhari left the real issues for trivialities, wondering why the Commander-in-Chief failed to say a word on the threats issued against the Igbo by the Arewa youths. He told Vanguard that the President’s perceived hatred for the Igbo, again manifested in his national broadcast, saying his description of the nation under his stewardship is far from reality.

Nothing interesting from Buhari—Junaid Mohammed
 In his reaction, Second Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, said the speech lacked substance, adding that there was nothing interesting about it. He said: “I feel very sad that Nigerians have found themselves in this quagmire and it is very unfortunate. “Unfortunately, he surrounded himself with family members who have no experience about government. So what do you expect from such government? “I strongly believe Buhari cannot take this country to the promised land and for him to be telling us his experience as a junior officer in the military when the country needs urgent attention is unbecoming of a leader.”

He has opportunity to bring Nigeria back on track—Afenifere 
For the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, the President has the opportunity to bring Nigeria back on track by restructuring the country. Afenifere’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said: “The only way Nigeria will not disintegrate under him (Buhari) is for him to begin to lead the conversations around the need to restore Nigeria to better federalism as promised in the APC manifesto. “He still has the opportunity to bring Nigeria back on track. The call for restructuring is the call for a better Nigeria, the call for restructuring is to avoid a breakup.

” Nothing new, says Yakasai
 Yakasai on his part, dismissed the speech as empty on the claim that the President did not say anything new. “From my own understanding, President Buhari did not say anything new, and there is nothing new about the speech most especially if you are conversant with his style,’’ he said.

 He was rationalising failure —Osuntokun 
Mr. Akin Osuntokun, who served as Political Adviser in the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, said there was nothing remarkable about President Buhari’s broadcast. He said: “First I am happy for the President that he looks well-rested and apparently in good health. There is nothing particularly remarkable, negative or positive about the speech. “It was all about exaggerating modest achievements and rationalizing failure. You can see the escapist argument he was making on the seeming intractability of the Boko Haram insurgency.” 

No hope in the speech — Owie 
Former Senate Chief Whip, Senator Roland Owie, also faulted the speech saying: “I see no hope in that speech. It is unfortunate that Nigeria has found itself in this situation under a government that has no direction. The anniversary speech does not give hope to anybody. “He was elected to preside over the country, but he is not doing that. When I compare what happened in 1983 when he came first and when he came now, nothing has changed.

” Buhari’s speech is way to go — ACF 
The ACF, however, welcomed the President’s speech as soothing, saying it was the way to go. The ACF in an email reaction sent to Vanguard through its Publicity Secretary, Muhammadu Ibrahim Biu, said the speech was  “a score card of the Buhari administration on securing, economy and corruption which was the hallmark of his campaign promises. “ACF advocates peaceful and meaningful dialogue on all issues of national importance and the use of our democratic institutions to achieve better results. Agitations that come with threats and intimidation have no place in our present democratic dispensation. ACF would, therefore, support any restructuring that comes with clarity of purpose and is just, fair and equitable to all sections of the country,” he said. 

Buhari deserves applause — Oshiomhole
Former Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, while also praising the President’s speech said:  “I think the President’s speech made it clear about what is being expected and the progress made so far. The president has emphasized that the unity of this nation is non-negotiable and that is the stand of most of us. “That is sending a message to all those who are plotting one evil or the other against this nation. The President also emphasized plans to create more employment for our youths to check restiveness. So I see hope because if you look at where we are coming from you will know that we are on the right track with President Buhari as President. He deserves applause for this” he stated.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/10/oct-1-speech-ohanaeze-ezeife-others-blast-buhari/

Nigeria: UN experts denounce ultimatum and death threats targeting Igbo minority

Nigeria: UN experts denounce ultimatum and death threats targeting Igbo minority

GENEVA (25 August 2017) – An ultimatum telling Nigeria’s Igbo minority in the north of the country to flee their homes is of “grave concern”, a group of United Nations human rights experts* has warned.

The experts also deplored a hate song and audio message being circulated on the internet and on social media. The Hausa-language audio message urges northern Nigerians to destroy the property of Igbo people and kill anyone who refuses to leave by 1 October, the same date given in the ultimatum.

“We are gravely concerned about this proliferation of hate messages and incitement to violence against the Igbo and their property, especially considering the previous history of such violence,” the experts said.

“The Government must be vigilant, as hate speech and incitement can endanger social cohesion and threaten peace by deepening the existing tensions between Nigeria’s ethnic communities.”

The ultimatum was issued on 6 June 2017 during a press briefing by the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum in the city of Kaduna. It called for sustained and coordinated campaigns to remove the Igbo population from the northern region.

The human rights experts noted that some local and national figures, as well as some media representatives, had publicly denounced any form of hate speech and incitement, but said other officials still needed to follow suit.

“We are deeply concerned that some prominent local leaders and elders have not condemned the ultimatum, hate speech and the perpetrators,” the experts stressed.

“We call on the Government, media and civil society representatives, and local and religious leaders, to reject and condemn hate speech and incitement to violence unequivocally and in the strongest possible terms.”

The UN experts said any incidents of hate speech and incitement to violence had to be investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted and punished. “This includes the people behind the ultimatum and those responsible for the creation, publication and circulation of the hate song and audio message,” they added.

(*) The experts: Mr. Mutuma Ruteere, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; Mr. Fernand de Varennes, Special Rapporteur on minority issues, and Ms. Anastasia Crickley, Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

ENDS

Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

For further information and media requests, please contact Ms. Karin Hechenleitner Schacht (+41 22 917 9408 / khechenleitner@ohchr.org / racism@ohchr.org) or Mr. Damianos Serefidis (+41 22 917 96 81/ dserefidis@ohchr.org / minorityissues@ohchr.org)

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by its State parties. For further information and media requests, please contact Ms. Nicoleta Panta (+41 22 917 9310 / npanta@ohchr.org)

UN Human Rights, country page: Nigeria

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts:

Xabier Celaya – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)

You can access this news release online

Concerned about the world we live in? Then STAND UP for someone’s rights

today. #Standup4humanrights and visit the web page at http://www.standup4humanrights.org

MUSIC LEGEND, ONYEKA ONWENU ( THE STALLION HAS SPOKEN)

Southeast, a peaceful region, a criminal silence of all southeastern governors, states assemblies,
senators and house reps. I say this to you, you
may hide under the altar of cowardice and
hypocritical silence, be assured we know why
you are silent. When we voted for you guys,
we entrusted our collective welfare into your
hands. In matters like this, we look up to no
one but you. Silence speaks one language
betrayal. Yes you betrayed our trust. We feel
abandoned. We will wait for you during
election time.

From the slaughter of our old men, children
and rape of our women by Fulani herdsmen, to
the beheading of Bridget and the acquittal of
the murderers, to the slaughter of pro Biafra
agitators praying, those celebrating memorial
of our fallen heroes to this final occupation of
our land, we tell you Biafra shall arise.
Biafra is our destination. The youthful spirit of
our ancestors. The eternal city of all who
desire to live in freedom for self actualization.

That day will come when the oja will sound,
the gong shall herald the rising of the Sun,
the victory of the wise men from the east.
That day as Martin Luther King Jr said, "we
will remember not the words of our enemies,
but the silence of our friends"

And for Nigeria, the grave of Biafra ingenuity,
keep your evil intent on the people of Biafra.
You must know that it is your hatred,
marginalization through policy of exclusion
and your murderous policies and impunity to
our people that fuels our energy.
We will not give up.

Biafra is all we ask and only that we shall
accept. No presidency. No restructuring......

Onyeka Onwenu

• 
  

Biafra: The Southeast Igbo Did Not Kill Ahmadu Bello

 Biafra: The Southeast Igbo Did Not Kill Ahmadu Bello By SKC Ogbonnia

The recent quit notice issued by the Arewa Youths to the Igbo (or rather the “South-Easterners”) residing in Northern Nigeria has provoked peppering opinions. But there is a cogent reason to take it easy on the innocent youths. They are plainly the victims of gross distortion of national history that began during the civil war but is today causing more harm than any good intended.

---

by SKC Ogbonnia Jun 28, 2017

The recent quit notice issued by the Arewa Youths to the Igbo (or rather the “South-Easterners”) residing in Northern Nigeria has provoked peppering opinions. But there is a cogent reason to take it easy on the innocent youths. They are plainly the victims of gross distortion of national history that began during the civil war but is today causing more harm than any good intended. 

First and foremost, the provocative quit notice would not have come to pass if the Arewa youths had any clue that the South-South zone, the thin thread that currently holds Nigeria together, boasts of many parts of Igboland, including such big cities as Asaba and Port-Harcourt (formerly Iguocha). The gullible youths were basically acting the script of the government of the day that is crudely attempting to re-write the history to decree the Igbo nation merely as the “landlocked” Southeast political zone—as if the Hausa-Fulani people are limited to the Northwest political zone.

Instead of inundating the polity with bogus threats of arrests, the government might as well make hay of the ignorant proclamation by the Arewa Youths to educate the younger generation the true Nigerian history. The true history will teach them that, besides the Southeast, there is a large natural Igbo settlement in the North Central and South-South zones. The gained knowledge can help them to come to terms with the objective fact that Ohaneze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural group in Nigeria, for example, is historically constituted and led by the native Igbo from seven states, including Delta and Rivers States.

The most nauseating duplicity, however, is that the Igbo political leadership aids and abets the federal plot to marginalize the Igbo nation squarely to the Southeast. Notice, for instance, how they succumbed to ensure that all consultations with the federal government since the quit notice were limited to the ‘red caps’ from the Southeast. But the raison d'être is not difficult to fathom. Such errant politicians are the prime beneficiaries of the Nigerian corrupt enterprise and thus afraid that perceived opposition to the federal conspiracy could draw the ire of the anti-corruption agency against them. The following but dizzying claim by the Igbo governor of Delta State, Ifeanyichukwu Okowa, adequately tells this story:

“Biafra agitation, we criticize it. Anioma land as it is said, was part of Bendel State; we were part of the Midwest State, we have not been part of the South East. So obviously, we cannot be said to be part of them (Biafra). We may speak a similar language, but we are not part of the South East. We were part of the Mid-West, now we are Deltans.”  Hmmm…
Okowa’s statement is not only furiously spacious but also grossly grotesque. This explains why it is imperative to educate the governor along with the Arewa youths by exhuming here the tragic history that Chukwuma Nzeogwu, the leader of the coup cited by the Arewa youths as the ringing reason for the deep hatred on the Igbo, and the very man most closely linked with the death of the political totem of the North in Ahmadu Bello, is not from the Igbo Southeast—but from the Igbo South-South in the present Delta State where Okowa himself is the governor. Needless to remind the moronic governor that the “Midwest” location of his “Anioma land” did not prevent the federal side from inflicting the most gruesome genocide of the war in the area. The Igbo was the Igbo then and still today. Thus, the long-standing scapegoating of the Southeast Igbo based on the Biafran experience is a paradox.

All these go without saying that the ongoing propaganda by the federal authorities to isolate the current Biafran agitation to the Southeast is a serious security gamble. The truth is that the Biafran struggle has never been a solely Southeast affair. Besides millions of Igbo South-South people, including Nzeogwu, the non-Igbo from the South-South zone naturally played or have continued to play important roles. The government must recognize that mere lies are not sufficient to dampen the stake of millions of ordinary South-South people who subscribe to the Biafran cause, including the likes of the spunky Ijaw High Chief Asari Dokubo.

It is no wonder, therefore, that the Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators swiftly responded to the quit notice given to the Igbo by issuing their own quit notice to the Northerners living in the South-South zone. Although the government is, interestingly, doing its best to undercut the Niger Delta threat, such counter ultimatum from the Niger Delta youths is whistling reminder that the attempt to separate the Igbo Southeast from their kith and kin in the South-South in the current crisis is gibberish.
Vladimir Lenin famously said that, “A lie told often enough becomes the truth”, which is sadly true. But a nation built on a cacophony of lies is a sizzling time bomb. Perhaps one can grasp the idea of implementing a divide and conquer policy—glossed with false history—to end the civil war. But to continue to peddle such fallacy as facts in the present-day Nigeria is a poisoned chalice.

Often said is that the younger generation from the East did not experience the war and thus ought to shut up. But that admonition is mistaken. The harsh economic condition and the obvious lack of equity in the land, which is attributed to the Biafra, have combined to push the Eastern youths to dig deeper in their research on the war. They are finding the bitter truth. They have found a pattern of state conspiracy to obliterate their history, which has become synonymous with Biafra. They are angry and rightly so.

They are angry at the mean-spirited strategies adopted by successive governments to undermine development and job opportunities in the East—from the Abandoned Property saga, man-made landlocking of the Southeast, and lack of viable seaports and international airports in the region. These Eastern youths are perplexed why the tribes in the entire South are being balkanized into hostile units while any semblance of bond in the Northern Region is religiously guarded.

Their findings thus far are right on the nose but obliquely incomplete. A further study will reveal to the Eastern youths that their worst enemy are the local politicians who connive with federal authorities against the region. Similarly, instead of targeting the Igbo who have contributed immensely in the development of the North, the true enemy of the Arewa youths are the Northern politicians who have for several decades hoarded political power as well as huge individual wealth; yet their region is the most impoverished in the country.

Clearly, both the Northern and the Eastern youths have a common enemy in the political elites. Therefore, instead of divisive rhetoric and vile hatred, the posterity beckons on the Nigerian masses—from east, north and west—to unite and explore democratic ways of ousting the corrupt oligarchy that has continued to cling onto power through mass deceit. True.

SKC Ogbonnia writes from Houston. You can reach him at SKCOgbonnia1@aol.com.
http://saharareporters.com/2017/06/28/biafra-southeast-igbo-did-not-kill-ahmadu-bello-skc-ogbonnia

QUIT NOTICE TO IGBOS: UNITED NATIONS CALLS FOR TOLERANCE

QUIT NOTICE TO IGBOS: UNITED NATIONS CALLS FOR TOLERANCE, COMMENDS NIGERIAN STATESMEN FOR CONDEMNING THE ACT

The United Nations has called for tolerance among the various ethnic nationalities in the country. This followed an ultimatum issued by an amalgam of groups from the north asking Igbos in the north to quit the region before October 1 or face attacks. In a release by the global body, it thanked the elders of the nation who have in one voice condemned the ultimatum. The statement read:

The United Nations has noted with concern media reports of an ultimatum issued by northern youth groups during a press briefing held at Arewa House on Tuesday 6th June 2017 in Kaduna calling for all Igbos to leave Northern Nigeria by 1st October 2017. This follows a sit-down-strike in the five States of South East Nigeria on 30th May purportedly meant to observe the 50th anniversary of Biafra.

‘We have to work together to resolve peacefully any concerns that different groups in the country may have,’ says the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Nigeria Mr. Edward Kallon. ‘I am heartened by reactions of leaders from all over the country condemning this ultimatum.’

The United Nations calls for tolerance and a spirit of togetherness in transparency to address the concerns of all the citizens in a peaceful manner, while ensuring that no one is left behind in the quest for sustainable development. The UN further urges especially cultural and religious leaders to play their part in guiding the youth to settle differences peacefully, while also calling for the re-invigoration of the National Peace Committee which worked tirelessly during the elections period in 2015 to play a role and address the current concerns that impinge on the peace of the country.

Nigeria is a great country with immense potential to build the welfare of its population and lead Africa in meeting the sustainable development goals. This can only be achieved in an atmosphere of the rule of law and peace, where all citizens live happily irrespective of their ethnic or religious backgrounds.

‘I commend the Federal and State Governments, youth and civil society leaders, security agencies, cultural and religious leaders for their efforts to promote peace in the country.’ Said Mr. Edward Kallon. ‘And the UN is ready to continue supporting Nigeria to build an enduring democracy in peace, prosperity and respect for diversity.’

 http://dailyglobewatch.eu/index.php?url=2017%2F06%2Fbiafra-quit-notice-to-igbos-finally-biafra-agitation-quit-notice-to.html#.WTnYZ6U5NvA.facebook

Root causes of the Biafra struggle

on December 01, 2015   /   in Femi Aribisala 1:40 am  

By Femi Aribisala
IN the eight years of Obasanjo’s presidency, there was no headline-grabbing demand for Biafra.   Ditto for the eight years of the Yar’Adua/Jonathan presidency.   However, within months of Buhari’s presidency, the Igbo demand for Biafra has become deafening.

Without a doubt, the blame for this new impetus must be laid firmly at the doorstep of President Buhari.   Moreover, rather than attenuate it, the president and the APC have exacerbated separatist tendencies in the country.

This was part of the reason why people like me did not support Buhari’s election as president of Nigeria.   I have written severally in Vanguard that Nigeria must remain a united nation.   In my column of 4th March, 2014 entitled: “Re-inventing Igbo Politics in Nigeria,” I maintained that: “Nigeria cannot survive without the Igbo.”   The following week on 11th March 2014, I wrote another article entitled: “Nigeria Cannot Do without the North.”

I remain persuaded by both positions.   But if Nigeria is indeed to remain united, there are certain things that must be said and done.   The problem with the Buhari administration is that it seems totally impervious to these imperatives.

Second-class  treatment

There is no question that, as one of the major ethnic groups in Nigeria, the Igbo have been hard done by.   Since the civil war 45 years ago, they have been treated as if they were a minority ethnic group in Nigeria when in fact they are one of the majorities.   No Igbo has been considered worthy of being head-of-state.   The South East of Ndigbo is the only one of the six geopolitical zones of the country with five states.   All other zones have six or more.   Indeed, the number of local governments in the North-East is virtually double that of the South-East.   As a result, the Ndigbo receive the smallest amount of revenue allocation among all the zones, in spite of the fact that some of the South-eastern states are among the oil-producing states.

The roads in the South-east are notoriously bad.   Government after government have simply ignored them.   Inconsequential ministerial positions are usually zoned to Ndigbo.   Time was when it seemed the lackluster Ministry of Information was their menial preserve.   It is also a known fact that every so often the Igbo are slaughtered in the North under one guise or the other.   Many are forced to abandon their homes and businesses and run for dear life.   The people who perpetrate these acts never seem to be arrested or prosecuted.

When a major tribe is treated procedurally as second-class in their own country, there will be a demand for self-determination sooner rather than later.   When a group of people feel unsafe in their own country, they cannot but be expected to decide to opt out.   It is not the responsibility of the government to imprison the Igbo in Nigeria.   It is the responsibility of the government to ensure and guarantee that they feel safe and are treated with respect.

Discrimination against the South: While these issues have been brewing under the surface for some time, the lop-sided tendencies of President Buhari have brought them all out to boiling-point.   In his first-coming as head-of-state in 1984, Buhari antagonised Ndigbo by locking up Vice-President Alex Ekwueme, an Igbo man, in jail in Kirikiri; while President Shehu Shagari, a Fulani man was only placed under house arrest.   In addition, Buhari arrested and jailed Ojukwu, another Igbo icon for no just cause.

As Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund, Buhari discriminated blatantly against the South and especially the South-east.   For example, his PTF built only 4,440 kilometres of roads in Southern Nigeria representing a paltry 24%; while 13,870 kilometres were built in the North representing 76%.   Of these figures, the Southeast and South-south combined only received 13.5%.

Under the PTF’s National Health and Rehabilitation Programme, NHERP, the entire South got 0% allocation, while the North got 100% in the tertiary programme. In the vocational programme, the entire South had only 3% while the North had 97%. The same was for the primary side where the South had only 12% but the North was allocated 88%. The secondary area was no different. While the North had 86% percent, the South had just 14%.

Disenfranchisement  of Ndigbo

These anomalies have been duplicated to date in the seven months of Buhari’s presidency.   In the first place, Buhari won virtually without Igbo votes.   In order to diminish Jonathan’s votes, a major assault was made against them; recognising that they are some of the staunchest Jonathan supporters.   INEC ensured that, far more disproportionately relative to other geopolitical zones, millions of South-East voters disappeared between 2011 and 2015.

Only 7.6 million voters were registered for the 2015 election in the South-east, and only 5.6 million PVCs collected.   Compare this with Buhari’s North-west, there were 17.6 million registrations and 15.1 million collections.   While in the South-west, there were 4.2 million votes in 2015, relative to 4.6 million in 2011: in the South-east, there were only 2.6 million votes in 2015, relative to 5 million in 2011; a drastic drop of 2.4 million.

While Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Jigawa and Bauchi posted their traditional humongous figures; Imo, Anambra and Abia posted relatively disappointing figures.   While the internally displaced Northerners in the North-East could vote; internally displaced Igbos from the North could not.   While the card-readers failed in many parts of the South-east, suggestive they were programmed to fail; they worked in most parts of the North.   In places like Lagos and Kano, many non-indigenes, including the Igbo, were not even given their PVCs.

Making of a hero: President Buhari then added insult to injury by stating on his visit to the United States that he could not be expected to treat those who voted for him in the same way as those who did not.

He said: “(Going by election results), constituencies that gave me 97% cannot in all honesty be treated, on some issues, with constituencies that gave me 5%. I think these are political realities. While, certainly there will be justice for everybody but the people who voted, and made their votes count, they must feel the government has appreciated the effort they put in putting the government in place.”

While his media assistants later tried to water down this disturbing statement, the reality was that, apart from the constitutionally-stipulated requirement that every state must be represented in the presidential Cabinet, Buhari has virtually ignored the Igbo in his appointments.

Two moves showed the level of insensitivity of the Buhari administration to these anomalies.   The first was the decision to move Boko Haram prisoners down from the North to the South-east; a move firmly resisted by the Igbo as it would have made them a target of suicide-bombers.   The other was the blunder of placing Nnamdi Kanu, the director of Radio Biafra, under arrest; charging him with treason and terrorism.

All the government has achieved by this is inflame passions in the South-east.   It has also made a hero out of Kanu.   Those who did not know about Kanu before now know him.   Those who were not disposed to Biafra before are now shouting Biafra.   For weeks on end, Biafra has become the biggest news item nationwide, with agitations, demonstrations, threats and arrests.

Agenda for action: The government needs to apply more wisdom here.   At the moment, it has become the biggest promoter of Biafra by the way it has gone about things.   The idea of Biafra cannot be killed with a sledge hammer, if at all.   What is required is to address the root causes that impelled Biafra.   Unfortunately, it would appear the Buhari administration is unwilling to do this.

As a matter of urgency, Nnamdi Kanu must be released unconditionally.   If the government persists in labeling him a terrorist, his supporters might decide to become terrorists.   Nigeria already has enough problem of Boko Haram conflagration in the North-east.   We cannot afford to light another fire in the South-east.

Kanu was living in England.   If he were a terrorist, he would have been arrested there.   The fact that he lived there without constraints or restraints shows he was not considered a threat, either to Britain or to Nigeria.

It is not a crime to fight for self-determination; it is a right.   The government must not give the impression that Nigeria is a prison where we must all live, irrespective of the living conditions.   The government needs to address the grievances of the Igbo.   Their roads and bridges must be built.   Their waterways must be opened up to the Atlantic Ocean.

Eastern sea-ports must be developed.   Railways must link their mercantile cities to the North.   Their coal resources must be profitably exploited for the benefit of their unemployed youth and citizenry. An additional state must be created in the South-east to bring it up to par with other geopolitical zones.

National  question

Moreover, we need to revisit again a critical issue addressed during the truncated National Conference: the issue of resource allocation.   This is a major gripe of the Igbo and it is a legitimate gripe.   It is not in the interest of Nigeria to continue in this age-old practice where all the states gather every month in Abuja for handouts, whether they are productive or not.   This gives the wrong impression that some states are insisting on being piggy-backed by others.   We need to develop a system that rewards and encourages productivity.

Those who produce should be allowed to keep disproportionately what they produce, instead of the current situation where they are required to share it disproportionately with those relatively less productive.   The truth of the matter is that every part of Nigeria is resource rich.   Every part of Nigeria has the requisite manpower.   Unfortunately, our current over-concentration on oil militates against the development of other indigenous resources.

A situation where national resources are distributed according to the number of local government councils, and where there is now supposedly only 96 local government councils in the South-East, relative to 186 in the North-west does not suggest equity and justice.

The disgruntlement in the South-east about the Nigeria project will not disappear by ignoring it.   It will not disappear by arresting Kanu.   It will not disappear by issuing threats.   Neither will it disappear by denying the youth of the South-east their freedom of speech and assembly.

Today, the demand for Biafra remains the demand of a minority of the Igbo.   If the root causes of their anger are not addressed, the minority will soon become the majority.   If that happens, Nigeria might unravel.   I repeat what I have stated before: the Nigeria of our manifest destiny cannot be realised without the Igbo.

 http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/12/root-causes-of-the-biafra-struggle/

 origin