The Cattle Rearer Chronicles — The Enduring Biafra Perplexity

There was a country. Chinua Achebe’s personal memoir that deals extensively with Biafra as he saw it, a first hand eye witness and insider who had a role as a Biafra emissary. It is poignant and subjective, the kind of book everyone should read to truly understand the dynamics from all points of view, given the ubiquity of the Nigerian point of view. However, this is not another review of Achebe’s book (there are several out there and I particularly like Chimamanda Adichie’s, see here), it is more of an attempt to probe the unending consternation and perplexity with Biafra seen among Nigerians of non Igbo origin.

And this starts right at the top. Muhammadu Buhari’s stance towards the Igbo people is nothing short of antagonistic; ranging from blatantly telling them they can expect nothing from his government in his famous 97% vs 5% remark to excluding them repeatedly from positions of national significance (not one of the security forces is led by anyone of Igbo extraction and recent list of NNPC appointees buttresses the point), to giving the army the nod to invade the South East in an Operation tagged Python Dance in spite of hardly any provocation. Not for Buhari the magnanimity shown by some others who also emerged victorious from the Civil War (Gowon’s No Victor, No Vanquished stance case in point). He still seems to have an axe to grind perhaps borne out of political defeats he has suffered, even though he tried to ally himself with the token Igbo politician for 2 of his 4 presidential runs.

While perhaps Buhari’s stance is understandable, even if absolutely unacceptable (a President should embrace the entire nation and not divide further), the behavior of everyday Nigerians is quite bewildering. The issue of Biafra has come to the fore in recent times firstly due to the activities of the group called Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) led by Ralph Uwazuruike which was formed in the early 2000s, in response to perceived marginalization of the Igbo people after the return to democracy. MASSOB would have run-ins over time with successive governments as it sought to implement its 25 point agenda, but try as much as it did never quite made it to mainstream. In recent times, a new group called Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by Nnamdi Kanu has taken the centre stage. Kanu’s claim to fame is as Director of Radio Biafra from his base in the United Kingdom, a platform he used to espouse ridiculous and inflammatory statements that did nothing to further the cause of the people he purports to represent now.

Unfortunately, the Nigerian government contrived to give “legitimacy” to Kanu and his agenda by detaining him in October 2015 and then refusing to honor court ordered bail until April 2017, enabling his “legend” to grow. Since his release, Kanu has milked his burgeoning popularity and has taken his push for Biafra up several notches. IPOB has asked the people of the South East to refrain from participating in elections and to keep protesting until a Referendum on Biafra is allowed. In response, the Nigerian Army recently launched Operation Python Dance II across the South East, ostensibly to keep in check a group that has yet to use violence as a means to further its objectives (in May 2016, the army is said to have killed about 150 unarmed IPOB protesters which was reported by Amnesty International, see here). The Nigerian Military has followed that up by declaring IPOB a terrorist organization (see here), a laughable and actually illegal declaration since they didn’t follow the letter of the law. Governors of the South East decided to throw in their lot with the Federal Government and joined up to proscribe IPOB, see details here. Suddenly, a rather nondescript organization has fully taken centre stage in national consciousness, a legacy of Buhari’s well known intransigence.

However, none of the foregoing explain the anxiety the mere mention of Biafra and an agitation that remains confined to the South East creates from Lagos to Lafia. Why do others from the North and South West feel threatened when a people from the South East ask to leave this contrived union? Why do they respond with condescension at best and malevolence at worst? Igbos make up less than 20% of Nigeria’s population (about 32 million people) and if Wikipedia is right, covers less than 5% of Nigeria’s land mass. It is largely landlocked, which explains why it was difficult to hold on during the war and why the Obafemi Awolowo inspired blockade that caused millions to starve to death worked so effectively. The Biafra secession that led to the Nigerian Civil War between 1967 and 1970 was brutally put down and the people well defeated. The Igbo people came out of that having lost everything and since then have been systemically excluded from positions of national significance, with the promised integration just that, a promise. Truly, to the victor went the spoils. It is to the credit of the Igbos that they have remained relevant, their resilience and intelligence helping them to rebuild lives and fortunes and remain a vital 3rd leg of the tripod on which Nigeria sits.

Given this context, it is ludicrous that other Nigerians continue to view the Igbos with anxiety and mistrust yet in the same vein claim to be nationalists. How does your nationalism lead you to exclude a segment of the population and continue to put them down and seek their “decimation”? What is it about Igbos that causes so much consternation by a group that supposedly won and kept Nigeria together? What’s with the determination to keep these want-away people anyway, why not just let them leave if they are so troublesome. The United Kingdom let Scotland have a referendum, why can’t Nigeria let Biafra have the same? Why aren’t legitimate complaints of marginalization being looked into rather than subscribe to the agenda of a few who are still hell bent on defending the status quo having fought and won a dastardly war? Why do generations of Nigerians who have no business carrying the same hate and who can point to no grievance find it easy to jump on the anti-Igbo band wagon? These questions do not in anyway seek to paint the Igbos as victims or to absolve them all of blame (there are those with extremist views who need to be called out). They are being asked to truly understanding a point of view that seems more and more befuddling, the further it is probed.

Nnamdi Kanu does not represent the prevalent Igbo view. However, he is being allowed to shape the narrative because rather than address issues based on merit, non Igbos choose to toe the line espoused by the government of today, castigating all Igbos thereby radicalizing moderates and people who even had no interest in Biafra at all in the first place. It is time other Nigerians begin to take an active part in ensuring the Igbos get fair treatment in this country, if they truly have a nationalist point of view. And if they do not, perhaps they should join in the call for a referendum and let’s have this out once and for all. More importantly, non Igbos should stop allowing themselves be used to fight proxy wars by those for whom the Civil War and all that went before never came to an end. Ask yourself if you truly have a genuine reason for harboring anti-Igbo sentiments or simply feeding off what you have been fed by others. The funny thing is many non Igbos have great relationships with Igbos but when push comes to shove will for no reason take a hard line stance against Igbos and pooh pooh their genuine calls for their fair share. It truly defies reason.

We can do better as a nation and come together to call out the government of Muhammadu Buhari and its oppressive behavior towards Igbos, without seeming to support Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB and/or a Biafra secession. It is simply about choosing to be decent human beings with an understanding that allowing tyranny go unchecked puts all in danger. When a government thinks it is appropriate to send out troops to confront civilians and to surround the home of a civilian with no provocation, that should bother EVERY well meaning Nigerian. Under this government several unarmed members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria were murdered and buried in mass graves and not one culpable person has been brought to book. We live in a militarized state but we allow meaningless divisions be used to keep us from focusing on the real issues.

It is not too late to turn things around and try to be Nigerians 103 years after we were first brought together and 57 years after we won independence together and chose to go forward together. I am non Igbo and believe we stand a better chance of building a successful nation as one entity. However, I also believe that we all have the right to decide if we want to stay together. I choose to defend that right above any nationalistic fervor, I hope more of us will choose this too.