Nigeria - Biafra on My Mind: We do not need another war!

NIGERIA - BIAFRA ON MY MIND: WE DO NOT NEED ANOTHER WAR!

NIGERIA - BIAFRA ON MY MIND: WE DO NOT NEED ANOTHER WAR!

Eni Sango t'oju eh ja, kii bawon bu oba koso - He who witnessed the anger of Sango, the mythological god of thunder in Yorubaland will not join in abusing Sango - called Oba'koso. Those who lived through the Nigerian civil war between 1967 - 1970 will not join in clamoring for another war.

The current agitation for Biafra calls for a lot of caution on both sides of the divide. I was born a few years after the war was over, but I have read and heard stories, and seen movies. The reason why the war was fought. RIght now, the same drama is playing itself out. Many people are not acting with caution. The reaction of government to activities of the so called Biafrans recruits, sending soldiers without following the rule of law, having soldiers torture alleged Biafran members is disturbing, and the retaliation that is going on by the Igbos who thought their leader has been killed could snowball. It all started like this in 1966 - 67, after the Aguiyi-Ironsi's coup.

I submit that the Igbo's problem is not because of marginalization. What is the problem? We can look at it 2 ways: the inability of the Igbos to produce a president 47 yrs after the civil war; second is the spate of poverty in Igboland. I had written about the former in another article. The issue of Igbo presidency remains with the political culture among the Igbos - they have never been in the opposition. They aways align with the power of the day. For 16 years when PDP ruled Nigeria, the East was predominantly PDP; now that APC is ruling Nigeria in the last 2 years, most Igbo top politicians have now defected to APC. They have been accepting the second fiddle role, and often portray themselves as a people that cannot be loyal to a cause. They are often not trusted because of their political prostitution. They need to learn from the example of the Yorubas during the 16-year rule of PDP - the Yoruba did not vote for Obasanjo during his first term, they did during his second term but when PDP poured salt on their wounds during the 2nd term of OBJ, they switched back to the opposition. This was not based on political or economic gain, it was purely ideological. I am sure with the performance of APC governors currently, APC will lose many states in the South West in 2019, except "man made miracle" (rigging) happens - just look at how Lautech's case is being handled, 30,000 students have been home now for about 13 months in the last 15.

On the second issue, the poverty in Igboland is not peculiar to South Eastern part of Nigeria alone. It is a consequence of the failure of the political system and leadership in Nigeria, and the uncontrollable state of corruption in the nation. If Biafra or the Odua or Arewa states were realized today, the problem of poverty will persist because none of the regions have made a concerted effort at the state level to combat corruption. In fact, the most corruption since Buhari became president is seen at the state (and local level if it still exists) level. What you see at the state level is what will obtain if Nigeria were to break into pieces. We need to hold our leaders accountable, especially at the state and local government levels.

Those who lived through the Biafran war will tell stories of pain, loss, and hardship. I lost an uncle to the war, which till today we don't know what happened to him - no return, no grave. Nigeria cannot afford another war at a time we supposed to be building for the future. Number is strength, we are stronger together. I call on those leading Nigeria today, and influential people to use their power and influence to ensure Nigeria does not go into another war. Caution, dialogue, and humility are what we need not to make the mistake of another war. There is a genuine need for Nigeria to re-structure. We need to deal with the lie that there are more people living in the North than in the rest of the nation, it defies all demographic principles - there cannot be more people living in the desert than there are in the coastal area, especially a rich coastal area. Former Kano state, now Jigawa and Kano states in 2017 are 150% bigger than Lagos, it is a fallacy. Why is it that 80% of the oil blocks are in the hands of the Northerners? There is too much power at the center (Federal govenrment level). We need to restructure our judiciary and purge it of all corrupt judges; our military and police force have to be re-trained - they need to know they are subordinate to the constitution and not above it, so they cannot act at will, torturing people in public as if they are brainless. There is a need for restructuring the current marriage of inconvenience in Nigeria, and we need to seek this opportunity now before we have another war at hand. Long live Nigeria!