irepnaija4eva:
SETTLING down to articulate
these thoughts through and
commit them into writing was
an herculean task.
Primarily, this was for the
swirling speculation in the
popular media that some
overzealous and unpatriotic
Presidency officials had in the
last few days convinced the
Acting President Professor
Yemi Osinbanjo to order the
re-arrest of the Director of
Radio Biafra and the leader
of the indigenous peoples of
Biafra -Mr.Nnamdi Kanu.
The interrogatory that
flashed through my mind is
what the motivational force is
that has pulled these so-called
presidential aides to seek to
railroad the Acting President
Professor Yemi Osinbajo into
ordering the re-arrest of the
pro-Biafra chief protagonist
if he insists on encouraging
the boycott of the November
18thAnambra governorship
poll.
This question becomes more
imperative and urgent given
that this same presidency
stood by, did practically
nothing by way of law
enforcement whilst a bunch
of unruly youth under the
aegis of Arewa Youth Forum
were busy dishing out illegal
quit notices to Igbo to exit
the 19 Northern States or face
the consequences of forced
removal by October 1st 2017.
Why are the aides of the
Acting President urging him
to go for another illegal arrest
and detention of Nnamdi Kanu
only because he exercised
his constitutional freedom
of expression by asking his
supporters to boycott the
Anambra governorship poll?
In the light of the above
emerging information that
filtered into the media recently,
it became even much more
difficult for patriotic writers to
formulate workable panaceas
to the ongoing heightened
state of agitations with specific
reference to the peaceful
agitations championed by
over 35 million registered
members of the Nnamdi
Kanu-led indigenous peoples
of Biafra Worldwide for self
determination.
That notwithstanding, whilst
advising the president to go
for dialogues constructively
and avoid the temptation of
unduly stoking another serial
street protests that could elicit
the brutal crackdown by the
military-the type that led to
the extra-legal executions
of over 500 peaceful IPOB
demonstrators last year as
documented by the London
based Amnesty International
and several other local human
rights groups. The rumoured
order or plots to clip the
wings of Nnamdi Kanu is
a toxic idea that is dead on
arrival unless the government
is programmed to instigate
extralegal killings because
the fanatical and die hard
supporters of Nnamdi Kanu will
surely embarked on sustained
mass actions which are bound to
create instability in the system.
If the government heeded the
so-called security reports given
to it by the Pro-North Security
hierarchies not to pick up the
bellicose Northern youth who
ordered for the eviction of Igbo
from the 19 Northern states why
then is it tinkering with the time
bomb of needlessly arresting
Nnamdi Kanu who is simply
exercising his constitutional
right to free speech and peaceful
assembly?However, this writer thinks
that one amongst the best
panacea towards reducing the
severity of the agitations is for
the Nigerian State to introduce
a Marshall rebuilding and
reconstruction plan for the
former Eastern region so as to
fix the broken and devastated
public and private assets which
characterized the 30-Months
persistent bombardments by the
then Federal Forces.
This is asides the urgent
need to balance the systemic
imbalances in the governance
styles of the current government
which are adversarial to the
South East of Nigeria.
It is a well-known post-war
reality that rebuilding and
reconstruction process are
integral aspects of ending any
civil war.
But in the case of the
Nigeria/ Biafra War, the
region which suffered almost
98% of the destruction during
the 30-Months War period –
Eastern region was left without
reconstruction. Was it no longer
a civil war or was it a war of
conquest?
The deliberate failure of the
then General Yakubu Gowonled
dictatorship to rebuild the
Eastern region after so much
damage was unleashed on it
amounts to a war crime.
A critical look at the history of
Warfare globally shows that war
ravaged entities have always
received special reconstruction
projects from both within the
polity and the international
community.
The examples of Palestine,
Iraq, and Afghanistan suffices to
demonstrate the validity of the
aforementioned claim.
Cory Doctorow wrote that the
government of the United States
of America has spent more in
rebuilding Afghanistan than it
spent rebuilding Europe under
the marshall plan.
“The US spent $120 billion
which lifted the war stricken
European nations out of disaster
and launched them into postwar
prosperity. But the USA
spent $70 billion in rebuilding
Afghanistan’s security forces
and $8.5 billion to battle
narcotics”.
Coming closer home, the
North East of Nigeria has in the
last five years faced unrelenting
bombing campaign by the
home- bred Islamic terror group
known as boko haram.
In the devastation that has
followed this needless war by
these terror gangsters, both
the indigenous communities
and persons from the South
resident in those places have
lost their entire assets. The
Federal Government has
however championed the
advocacy for the comprehensive
reconstruction of the devastated
North Eastof Nigeria. There
is however no mention of any
compensation packages for
Southerners displaced from their
settlements in the North East of
Nigeria by armed boko haram
terrorists. However, the central
government is going ahead with
the rebuilding agenda for North
East.So with the reduction of
attacks and the seeming victory
or so we are told, of government
over the terrorists, the Nigerian
government has only just rolled
out a Marshall plan to rebuild
that region.
The question to ask is why was
the old Eastern region which
suffered a worst fate with over
3 million fatalities criminally
neglected, but the North East
has just bagged preferential
treatment which in any case is
in line with global best practices.
Acting President Yemi
Osinbajo on Monday this week
met with service chiefs, Borno
State Governor, Kassim Shettima
and notable citizens in the State
House on federal government’s
reconstruction agenda for
North-east destroyed by Boko
Haram insurgency.
A statement by Osinbajo’s
media aide, Laolu Akande, said
although the agenda would
be implemented in the entire
region, it would be kick-started
in Bama Local Government Area
of Borno State.
According to him, the initiative
would involve the construction
of 3,000 housing units, 10
police stations, 18 primary
and secondary schools, health
centers, creation of Special Bama
Squad for security operations
and the recruitment of 1,500
local hunters to be known as
Agro Rangers, among others.
Under the arrangement,
Akande added that the federal
government would contribute
67 per cent of the funds while
Borno State would provide the
balance of 33 per cent.
“Under the Bama Initiative,
covering towns such as Bama,
Banki, Gulumba Gara and
others, the federal government
in partnership with the Borno
State government is expected to
carry out actual re-construction
of houses for the return of
Internally Displaced Persons
(IDPs) as well as provide
infrastructure such as roads
for Bama town and adjoining
communities.
“The initiative will also see to
the kitting and deployment of
thousands of police officers and
officers of the national security,
civil Defence corps who are
expected to be trained for the
special task.
“Equally, 20 doctors, 100
nurses and other relevant health
officers are to be recruited to
provide essential health services
for the town, in addition to
employment of teachers who
will be deployed to 18 new
schools to be constructed in the
areas.
“Road re-construction projects
are also featured under the
Bama Initiative which is now
under exploration, including the
re-habilitation of Maiduguri-
Bama-Daral Jamal-Banki road
network.
“The welfare of returnees
is also a major priority of the
plan, ensuring a comprehensive
support programme for IDPs
as they return. It is expected
that the implementation of the
plan will kick-off in weeks,” the
statement stated.
Besides service chiefs and
Shettima, also present at the
meeting were the Inspector-
General of Police, Ibrahim Idris;
Ministers of Defence, Mansur
Dan-Ali; Interior, Abdulrahman
Dambazau; Budget and National
Planning (State), Zainab Ahmed
and the Power, Works and
Housing (State), Mustapha Baba
Shehuri.
Also present were the Chief
of Staff to the President, Abba
Kyari, National Security Adviser
(NSA), Baba Munguno and
Director-General of National
Emergency Management
Agency (NEMA.)It must be noted that in the
last three years the billions
of public fund voted and
released to National Emergency
Management Agency have been
swallowed by humanitarian
crises in the North East. This
preferential treatment is
offensive to natural law and
justice except the Nigerian
government can work out a
distinct reconstruction plan for
the devastated infrastructures of
old Eastern region.
The National Assembly seems
to be more proactive in this
aspective much more than the
Executive arm of government
which seems more consumed by
the passion to rebuild the North
East.
Although the attempt by the
legislators isn’t far reaching
enough.
The National Assembly
has introduced the South
East Development Bill which
seeks the establishment of a
commission that would handle
the development of the states of
the region through a joint states’
plan.
But there is an aspect of the bill
that many people have not seen
or refuse to look at, according to
Senator Enyinaya Abaribe from
Aba.
He stated that the bill which
was shot down at the Federal
House of Representatives
never provided that the federal
government should fund the
plan. The funding will come
from the allocations given
to the states from which a
certain percentage goes into
the commission to handle
development plans of common
interest to the region so that,
if you have to develop, for
instance, a river basin scheme
that flows across some states
in the region, there should be
a commission to handle the
By Emmanuel Onwubiko
Marshall plan to end Biafra agitation
project without waiting for
the individual states.
Abaribe spoke more thus: “It
also wants to start from where
the ‘three Rs’ pronounced
at the end of the civil war
in 1970 stopped. According
to that proclamation,
there was supposed to be
Reconstruction, Rehabilitation
and Reconciliation.
Reconciliation was done but
not the two other Rs and they
need to be done because that
gap is what has been causing
the South East to lag behind
others and there is the need to
bridge it and make the people
feel that they belong to this
country. The intention is to
complete the full reintegration
of the South East to Nigeria.”
“Regarding the position of
the South East senators on
the government of Buhari, the
Deputy Senate President and I
led the Senate Caucus to meet
the President in September
2016 and we explained to
him the fears of our people
because they are being
rejected by him, sidelined
by his administration and
also the fears that the feeling
is compounded every day
by the lopsidedness of his
appointments. We also
brought to his attention the
moves by President Yar’Adua
to assuage the feelings of the
Niger Delta region and how
successful they were”.
“It is just sad that today,
close to a year after that visit,
we haven’t got the benefit of
any response in action and
rather an insistence by the
government that what it does
is right. They are the reasons
for the problems we face
today.”
The Senator shared the
similar opinion being
expressed in this piece that
nobody in the South East
wants to leave Nigeria because
he thinks there is a better
country somewhere. The
entire situation is expression
of hopelessness at someone
that never wanted to treat our
people like part of the nation
and the youths express it in
agitation. We have every need
to review things and give
justice to all. Restructuring is
the surest way to that.”
It is the submission of this
writer that aside the Soutg
East Development bill the
Nigerian state owes the old
Eastern region the obligations
of rebuilding the public
infrastructures which were
destroyed by the federal
forces during the war. If this
is implemented i believe the
heightened state of agitation
for self determination would
be mitigated meaningfully.

paschu:
Wow, wow, wow!

CC:

MrVitalis - the fake igbo man
NgeneUkwenu - the latest extremist in town
Abagworo - the anciant hypocrite
Saraki - the dumb BMC robot
Madridguy - the severely hesitant double minded dude
Omenkalives - the lost case
Nwaanambra1 - the wayward son
Amarabae - the hesitant queen

etc, etc.

You guys crave peace, but too weak to stand for justice. Please learn from this author. You can never have lasting peace without entrenching the true concept of Justice, Equity and Fairness.

neoShinto:
Please call on Buratai already

Let him come and wave his magic wand gun

nwaanambra1:
paschu pls stop sounding like an ambulance!

....