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| Western Sahara: A Biafran writes open letter to Moroccan Government |
An open letter to the Moroccan government from Biafrans seeking for your
total support in our quest for self-determination.
Following the recent total support and recognition of Nigerian government to the SADR in your country, we the embattled indigenous people of Biafra who have been seeking for self determination and total freedom from Nigeria over the past 50 years ,here by solicit for your recognition and total support.
Our current quest for freedom is through the rule of law using the United Nations instrument on the rights to self determination for indigenous peoples as stated in part one articles 1-5:
Article 1
Indigenous peoples have the right to the full and effective enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms recognized in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights law.
Article 2
Indigenous individuals and peoples are free and equal to all other individuals and peoples in dignity and rights, and have the right to be free from any kind of adverse discrimination, in particular that based on their indigenous origin or identity.
Article 3
Indigenous peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.
Article 4
Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinct political, economic, social and cultural characteristics, as well as their legal systems, while retaining their rights to participate fully, if they so choose, in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the State.
Article 5
Every indigenous individual has the right to a nationality.
While we make this solemn appeal to you through your foreign missions world wide, we present to you the press release of the meeting between the leadership of SADR and the president of Nigeria verbatim.
‘’President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria has pledged Nigeria’s support for the people of Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) on the country’s right to self determination and independence.
The President stated this when he received the minister of foreign affairs of SADR, Ould Salek at the State House in Abuja on Friday, March 11.
In a statement made available by the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, President Buhari noted that decision was in line with several resolutions of the African Union. He assured Salek that outstanding issues on self-determination for the country would be scrupulously attended to.
“The issue first came up when I was in office as military head of state. After I left government, Nigeria remained steadfast on it. “In my maiden outing at the UN General Assembly last September, the issue of Sahrawi was in my speech. You have no cause to doubt our commitment. We stand with our African Union colleagues on this issue. Nigeria will maintain focus till everything is finally resolved positively,” the President stated. In his remarks, Salek noted the role Nigeria and its then military head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari played in recognizing his country in 1984, when it sought self-determination from Morocco. “It paved the way for the UN to adopt several key resolutions on Western Sahara, elaborating a peace plan. History is now repeating itself, as you are the President of Nigeria at a time the Sahrawi issue is being put on the front burner again,” he said. He stressed that Nigeria helped a lot of African countries achieve independence, noting that SADR is the only pending matter on the continent.’’
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-M.M.Mbanaja
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