Biafra has come to stay NO DOUBT. Nobody can stop it now - Igwekani

Biafra has come to stay NO DOUBT. Nobody can stop it now - Igwekani

Former Director, Youth and Sports, Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, Ndubuisi Igwekani, tells TOBI AWORINDE of Punch that the Federal Government has rejected the Igbo

The agitation for Biafra has been viewed by many as a threat to Nigeria’s sovereignty. Do you think your agitation is worth another civil war?

That is the mentality that is disturbing some people. Before the amalgamation of 1914, the eastern people had their customary laws and government. We had our autonomy; the same applied to the North and the West. If you talk about sovereignty, who are the sovereigns? It is the people that have the sovereignty. Everything is skewd. Look at the local government structure for instance. The local governments in two states in the North are more in number than those in the entire South-East and South-South. That is an abomination. That is what we call corruption and injustice. The Yoruba started the issue of a Sovereign National Conference after the death of (MKO) Abiola. Where is the Sovereign National Conference today?

(Former President Goodluck) Jonathan convened a National Conference and when he was leaving, he submitted the report to (President Muhammadu) Buhari. But will Buhari consider it? No, because if you balance this country, some regions will lose their autonomy against others. If you are now saying that my agitating for Biafra is against the sovereignty of Nigeria, then I think I will agitate till I die. I will continue to break that law that makes me to remain under perpetual bondage. It is time for Biafrans to stand up and demand for what belongs to them. We will explore all the necessary means to get our separation.

If we say a Briton, who came from afar because of his trade and other things, felt that the easiest way to do his trade was to bring us together, and our forefathers accepted, there is nothing bad in it. But along the line, if the survivor of that union is bent on destroying my people’s properties in the northern part of the country, killing pregnant women, cutting off my people’s heads and denying me of my rightful position in the Nigerian federation, and instead of having a true federalism, there is one set of nonsense government that I cannot understand, it is not acceptable.

There is an indigenous right in the United Nations constitution. That indigenous right gives us the power to say this is what we want. That indigenous right gives me power in the union of Nigeria to say I want to be the president of this country. Then, I will aspire and there will not be any barrier.

What is stopping people of the South-East from becoming President?

It is the way Nigeria is constructed. How many states do we have in the South-East? Five. What stops us from having equal number of states? The National Population Commission is one-sided, so is employment into the military and the police. Do you know that as an Igbo man, if I attended the same military or police school with a northerner and we graduated together, the northerner would be made a full lieutenant while I would be a second lieutenant? Is that a true democratic system? A similar scenario obtains in the admission into universities. How many federal universities are there in the South-East? There is a lot of injustice that is depriving an Igbo man from reaching the position of President.

If the Peoples Democratic Party had wanted to nominate from the South-East, all they needed to do was to say, ‘This is our candidate.’ Was it the westerners that nominated (former President Olusegun) Obasanjo? No! They just used Obasanjo to compensate the Yoruba for June 12. And the military surrendered and accepted Obasanjo. The same thing happened in Buhari’s case; it was the powers that be that gathered together to say ‘We want Buhari to become the president’ and they made him the president; whether through crooked or normal process.

What do the ‘powers that be’ have against the Igbo?

They believe the Igbo should not be allowed to aspire to the position of President because they (the Igbo) fought a civil war which was instigated by the Federal Government. The Igbo didn’t cause the civil war. It was the army that caused it. But (General Yakubu) Gowon took the war to our territory.

Are you saying you will backtrack on the agitation for Biafra if an Igbo is made president?

I told you I am a Biafran and nobody can deny me the right to bearing ‘Biafran.’ Just like the Yoruba are Oduduwa living in Nigeria and the Hausa are Arewa living in Nigeria. The issue of bearing ‘Biafran’ or fighting for Biafra can never be stopped by anybody. When I was born, my father gave me the name ‘a Biafran.’ If the solution is for us to stop mentioning Biafra, then they’re making a great mistake. I want Nigeria to address us as the south-eastern Biafran people of Nigeria. We are in the process of getting our republic. It is the Nigerian people that will convince me that they need me in Nigeria. Right now, I am a Biafran fighting for my independence according to the rule of law. That is why the Supreme Council of the Indigenous People of Biafra is already in the Federal High Court, Owerri with the Federal Government. On December 5, there will be a hearing between Nigeria and Biafra. We want the Nigerian court to interpret to us whether or not we have the right to call ourselves Biafrans and wear anything indicating we are Biafrans; whether or not we have a right to demand for our republic.

If you are in court, why are there pro-Biafra protests in the South-East and South-South, with some turning violent?

Do you see any of the demonstrators carrying guns? Now, I am a Biafran living in Nigeria. I am not breaking the law of Nigeria; I am demanding my right. It is left for the Federal Government of Nigeria, under the leadership of Buhari, to address my case according to the constitution and my fundamental rights granted to me by the United Nations under the indigenous rights. That is why we are in court. Going to court means that we are not violent; it means that we are peacemakers. If we are in court and the government, through the backdoor, uses the SSS (State Security Service), police or army to kill any of our people, then we will ask the court, ‘Why should this thing happen when we are already in the court?’ If that continues, we will then write the International Court of Justice to alert them that these people have left the rule of law to start using the ‘rule of gun.’

What if the legal approach does not work and the Federal Government wins the case in court?

We know that it will not work but if you have a case with somebody, you go to the nearest police station. We have a case with Nigeria and the first place to report it is within the Nigerian territory; that is why we are in the High Court here. We know that, along the line, they may not give us justice, because giving us justice is for Biafra to go. If they strike it out, we will take it to the International Court. But we must start at home.

What then happens if the International Court does not rule in your favour?

No, that is not the way to see it. The United Nations has its constitution just as Nigeria has its constitution. So if they (Federal Government) are coming through a shortcut, we will raise the alarm.

Recently, Biafra supporters were recorded tearing up their passports and renouncing Nigeria. Are you in support of this?

I don’t know why they are tearing their passports, so I am not going to say anything in that regard. Even Jesus Christ said, ‘Give to Caesar what belongs to him and give to God what is His.’ I don’t know the laws guiding Nigerian passports because I don’t have one. If the people that tore their passports felt that they paid dearly for them with their money, that is their business; they were the ones who went to collect the passports. Maybe they thought they were Nigerians and when their eyes were opened, they knew they couldn’t survive with the Nigerian identity.

What is your reaction to allegations that the Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has been exploiting the Biafra agitation for personal gains?

When I joined Biafra and I saw the massacre of my people in the North, I used all the money I made as a young man to enter into this struggle because I wanted the freedom of my people. When I started working with (leader of MASSOB, Ralph) Uwazuruike, I was the Director of Sports and Youth; I held a Biafran sport festival in Lagos. When I began to see abnormalities and corruption and when the elders invited me under Ohanaeze, I decided that we would work in accordance with our fathers to ensure that the Igbo interest is protected in Nigeria, and in a way which nobody would later say I embezzled money in the struggle. Then, when I raised the issue of corruption in the system, Uwazuruike started threatening my life.

Along the line, he had a problem with Nnamdi Kanu and Kanu succeeded. Our elders told us to come together to be given advice so that one would not be delivered into the hands of the Nigerian security, who were looking for any opportunity to massacre our people. I saw sense in the advice of the elders and became obedient. Then the elders called Nnamdi and advised him. Nnamdi was invited as a director of information.

When Radio Biafra started, what he was expected to do was to channel the energy towards the court, so that our people would troop to the court en masse and our number would send a signal to the international community that Biafrans are in court with the Federal Government so that when the case would get to the International Court, it would be an international matter. Instead, it was the other way round. In fact, some Biafrans didn’t know that we were in court. Kanu refused to dialogue with the elders of the Supreme Council, thus he was the only one doing all those activities. The IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) was already in court with the Federal Government. And there could not be another IPOB outside of the one in court. That is where I have a problem with him. In the area of alleged embezzlement, he too accused Uwazuruike of same. If he embezzled money, then the land of Biafra will judge him when the time comes. All I am saying is that if he had used Radio Biafraaccording to the guidance of the elders, he would not have found himself in this mess.