Few weeks ago Dr. Nkwocha and I published Biafra Foundation response to the Ohaneze document detailing its stand on behalf of Ndigbo with regard to Nigeria Constitution Review. Several people reacted both privately and publicly to the BF response. So many people including some non-Igbo agree with the view expressed in the document that it is time for the Igbo and other Easterners to start thinking and working towards post Nigeria rather than wasting time beating the dead horse called Nigeria. However, there were a few misgivings depicting feelings of pessimism, despair, and even resignation. It is these feelings that I want to address and also use the opportunity to reiterate that it is imperative for the Igbo to begin immediately to think and work towards post Nigeria. Delay will be dangerous.
It is becoming increasingly obvious that almost all Igbo share the belief that they have suffered and continue to suffer terrible degradation, deprivation, and devastation at the hands of Nigerians and as a result of being part of Nigeria and so want to get out of Nigeria. But a tiny sliver of Igbo politicians and elite believe that the Igbo should do nothing to remove themselves from this devastation and that even if by some magic Igbo people are extracted or ejected from the scourge that is Nigeria they must strive to get back in because Nigeria is the only hope and future for them. This absolutely incomprehensible and nonsensical logic pervades the thinking of this tiny piece of Igbo elite. Their belief may partially account for the fact that you always find them positioned prominently in the vanguard of every silly and futile effort at “fixing Nigeria”. I believe that if suddenly crude oil is discovered in commercial quantities in Northern Nigeria and the Northerners slaughter massive numbers of Easterners and drive the rest out of Northern Nigeria, then declare an independent “Republic of DanFodio”, the same tiny piece of Igbo elite will preach to Ndigbo and other Easterners to beg the government of DanFodio State to admit them into their country, even as slaves.

. That's how low some Igbo have sunk. In the past fifty years Ndigbo and other Easterners have been slaughtered in massive numbers all over Northern Nigeria; their property and goods have been burned, looted, and smashed; their homes, businesses, churches and schools have been demolished and bombed to smithereens; their children have been orphaned; wives and husbands widowed and families torn apart. They have been told in clear, unmistakable language: “You are not welcome here; we don't want you here.” Why do these Easterners keep begging the same people who massacred them in tens of thousands, looted and destroyed billions of dollars worth of their property, destroyed many of their families, rejected them as infidels, and are hell bent on converting them to radical Islam by force – why are these Easterners begging these same people to accept them into a country that the same Northerners see as their private estate bequeathed to them by Allah through the instrumentality of Uthman Dan Fodio? Why?
One person wrote, “I believe no honest African can deny the humongous loss (both in terms of lives and wealth) the Igbo have suffered for being citizens of Nigeria. I do not think any statistician can give accurate facts as to the details of loss which ethnic hatred has led other Nigerians to cause on Igbo people for more than four decades now. The grand design has been to put Igbo down in any possible way everywhere including their own natural enclave.” The question I keep asking myself is, “what would a reasonable human being expect of someone who finds himself in this situation?” Fold his hands and do nothing? Crawl on all fours in submission to the oppressor? Be on his knees twenty four hours every day praying to God and ancestral spirits to magically deliver him from this hell called Nigeria? Stand up straight and firmly demand his freedom, and work to liberate himself from this persecution, and tyranny? What will you think of a person who chooses the first three options but not the last one? What will his neighbors think of him? What will the world think of him? And finally what will his oppressors think of him? Really, what will you think of this person?

Another comment ran thus: “The fact that the entire SE is bereft of federal government investment, has the lowest number of states, local governments and consequently representation at the national assembly is a clear pointer. This is irrespective of the fact that Igbo clearly are the most populous single ethnic group in Nigeria …..” This statement is very correct and the point is well taken. However, anyone trapped in the web of systematized oppression and tyranny and who at the same time expects his oppressor to shower him with liberty, justice, equity, and fairness is a fool, or an irredeemable coward. Even children will tell you that the best way to stop the ceaseless haranguing of a bully is to banish fear, take the bully on, and give him the fight of his life. You may be bruised and battered, but thereafter, you will have your freedom. Crawling on hind legs and sweeping the floor with ones butt never buys freedom from bullies whether internationally, inter-ethnically, or interpersonally. Go back in history to Yar A'dua, Obasanjo, and Abacha; then back to Gowon, Ironsi, and Balewa; then back to 1945 and earlier. You can even go further back to before the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates. See if you can point at one Nigerian government constitutional arrangement that transparently guaranteed freedom, liberty, justice, equity, and fairness for the Igbo and other people of Eastern Region. Mention just one political arrangement that guaranteed these and produced acceptable outcome. Was it the Census, Federal Elections, representation in the House of Representatives, Revenue Allocation, Federal Government Establishments, Federal Character, Northernization, and even Sports? In the early 1990's General Muhammadu Buhari was put in charge of a huge reservoir of funds by General Abacha, then Head of State of Nigeria. The fund was called “Petroleum Trust Fund.” Buhari was charged with the responsibility of using this vast resource to develop infrastructure in the six geographical zones of Nigeria. Which zone benefited least from this fund? It was the South East. Which was the second least beneficiary? It was the South-South. These are the two zones where infrastructure was decimated during the Nigeria-Biafra war. Yet they received the least funds and least infrastructure benefits from the PTF. Interestingly these two zones also produce 80% of the resources that fund Nigeria's budget every year. Strangely, you hear some Igbo begging that Buhari be made president of Nigeria. Strange, isn't it!

There is a handful of Igbo elite that have deeply entrenched financial interest in Nigeria. They know that Nigeria is not and will never be a just, free and safe place for the Igbo but they are blinded by their slavish attachment to their financial interests in Nigeria. They constitute the tip of the “fix One Nigeria” arrow. They are the ones that are very quick to accuse anyone talking about separation from Nigeria of planning to instigate another war. They pretend to love Easterners so much they would rather have them live as slaves in Nigeria than struggle to separate from their oppressor. When you point out to them that the situation Igbo and other Easterners find themselves now in Nigeria is worse than being at war, their eyes glaze over and they pretend not to understand what you just told them. But come to think of it, how many Igbo were slaughtered in Northern Nigeria between 1980 and today? I know you don't have an accurate count, but just guess. You will be shocked when people who have kept fairly accurate records give you the number. It is in the tens of thousands. President Obasanjo ordered military campaigns at Odi and Onitsha during his latest administration. Do you know how many innocent civilians were massacred in these two military campaigns? What is the total number of Easterners recklessly killed every day in towns and cities all over Eastern Region by the Nigerian police and army? What do you think will be the total number since 1980? How about JTF's repeated invasion of communities around Warri and other parts of the Delta – how many innocent civilians do you think perished in those invasions? And while you are at it, try imagining the number of Easterners who die every day on the death traps we call roads, and morgues we call hospitals, all because of purposeful underdevelopment and tyrannical, oppressive governance. And now if you care, imagine the cost in billions of dollars, of houses, businesses, goods and property belonging to our people and destroyed in those incidents. Many of those who survived these massacres were made to “start afresh”. Without a doubt we have been at war for a very long time but some people just can't see it.

The most common comment you often hear is this: “Biafra will be nice but you know our people, they can't govern themselves; and they are always arguing among themselves.” Horrible! This is what Nigeria has done to the Igbo and indeed other Easterners. Nigeria has made the Igbo lose faith, and trust in themselves, their relatives, community and Igbo land itself. Nigeria has made the Igbo lose faith in their talent, ingenuity, creativity, competence and abilities. It is shocking, but it is true. Fear and doubt are now our bedfellows and our greatest enemies. Our people have been programmed to believe that they cannot govern themselves successfully and effectively; in fact that they cannot live together peacefully. Our people have been programmed to hate themselves, their children, their extended families and their communities. This poison has been fed not only to the Igbo but also to other ethnic groups in the Eastern Region. In many of our communities, especially in Cross River State people are torturing, and killing their children, calling them witches. False prophets are making money branding innocent children witches and programming parents to believe that these children are responsible for their poverty, hardships, and illnesses. Thousands and thousands of Igbo people troop to Lagos and Ogun State to hand over millions of hard earned dollars given to them by their relatives to charlatans and con men who claim to be prophets and evangelists. The con men then “prophesy” to them that it is members of their families, and their best friends who as witches are the cause of their poverty, joblessness, suffering, failure to have a husband, failure to have a baby, illness and other misfortune. Then they go back home and literally set their families ablaze. We have become a society that is cannibalizing itself. The elders are selling our youth up North for money. The youths are kidnapping the elders and demanding huge ransom money. This is the tragedy that has befallen Igbo society. It breaks my heart to watch magnificent Igbo Nation become degenerate in just one generation. Nigeria has almost destroyed the Igbo and her sister Nations in Eastern Region.

Our people have lost contact with the reality of their history as they are continually fed garbage by Nigeria. In 1965 and just before the first coup, there were four regional governments and the federal government of Nigeria. Of these five governments the government of the Eastern Region was the most stable, politically and fiscally. The next was the government of Mid-western Region. Don't take my word, check the records for yourself. Who said that our people cannot govern themselves? Ask your elders about Igbo Union and Ibibio Union Organizations dispersed all over West Africa. These Unions organized our people wherever they lived all over Africa, channeled resources home and became one of the engines of development throughout the Eastern Region. Most of our political leaders Michael Okpara, Akanu Ibiam, Mbonu Ojike, E.O. Eyo, Dennis Osadebay, H.U.Akpabio, Eyo Ita, Jaja Wachuku, Alvan Ikoku, Nwafor Orizu, M. C. K. Ajuluchukwu, Nyong Essien, Margaret Ekpo, Oyibo Odinammadu, Muokwugo Okoye and so many others were men and women of vision, and transparent honesty who transformed Eastern Region into an enviable model of political stability and economic empowerment.
Fast forward into Biafra; the Biafran government was never a dictatorship even in war time. General Ojukwu stated very clearly that his government will never be a dictatorship. This is why at every turn of the war he consulted regularly with the Eastern Region (Biafran) Consultative Assembly and the Advisory Committee of Chiefs and Elders representing all the communities in Biafra. The administrator of each province in Biafra was a native of that province. Think of the marvelous job done by the administrators of the twenty provinces of Biafra as well as the Biafran cabinet. Check the records and see for yourself. Yakubu Gowon on the other hand never consulted representatives of the peoples of Nigeria even once or sought their input into any matters whatsoever. During the war, Biafra was blockaded by land, sea, and air by Nigeria. Biafrans went ahead and built their own armored cars, petroleum refineries, refined their own salt, manufactured break fluids, automotive lubricants, batteries for running radio and other electronic equipment, etc. Biafrans manufactured their own rockets and rocket launchers as well as the famous Ogbunigwe (missile) which they eventually refined to be launched. Biafrans even tried to build their own airplanes. Read the report of the ingenuity and efficiency of the Biafran government and people by a team of experts from the United States led by senator Goodell that visited Biafra during the war. That report is in the Congressional Record in the United States, February, 1969.

Yes, we argue and criticize our leaders. But so does every progressive, open, democratic society. Legendary Israelis are reputed to argue endlessly about anything and everything more than anyone. But they have the only stable democracy in the Middle East. Threaten their freedom by attempting to undermine the State of Israel and they take your head off. Why? “Freedom!” All said and done, it is the same Igbo, Efik, Ibibio, Ijaw, and Ogoja who did all these things before and during the war that still inhabit Eastern Region today. The only thing that has changed is that Nigeria has corrupted their values, beliefs, attitudes, confidence, and culture; rendered them impotent, and ground them into self-doubt, self-loathing, and self-hatred. Remember this wise saying: “A person who stays too long in a garbage dump starts feeling and smelling like garbage.”

pazienza:
Interestingly these two zones also produce 80% of the resources that fund Nigeria's budget every year.

mr man what do you mean by this nonsense? Stop attaching yourself to the south south,what you are saying up there is just like me saying that,the south south and the North west zone produce 80percent of the resources that fund Nigeria's budget every year

[b] Here is how Father Joe, one of the Irish Rev. Fathers who worked in Igbo land for a long time and stayed in Biafra throughout the Biafra-Nigeria War, described the Ibo (Igbo) to a team of reporters from Life Magazine in 1968: “Life (Magazine) has been dispatching teams to Biafra since June 1968, and now September, the beginning of the hot season, was on hand, we noticed a profound change. Wherever we went, people tugged at our sleeves and held out their hands, hoping for a coin, a cigarette, or a kola nut. This begging was altogether new.” “The Iboman never begs.” Father Joe said. “He's much too proud, he wants to pay for what he gets. The Ibos are wizards at saving money. When one of them gets a job, he starts saving right away; first for a bicycle, then a transistor radio, and next a bit of land. Then he builds a house on it, gets a wife and before the first child is born, he is already putting money by for the kid's school fees. The Ibos are mad for education.” He continued, “Ach, you should have known the Ibo before the war, shrewd, clannish, competitive – exasperating and proud. Some called them the Jews of Africa and others said they were as bad as the Irish, and I'd consider it a compliment either way. You know that we Holy Ghost Fathers all ran schools here before the war? The way we played on the Iboman's competitive instinct was absolutely shameless.” “What kind of parish is this? I would say to the elders. The school of the other village has an upstairs – Ibo talk for a second story – so they'd build me an upstairs and then I'd say, how can I be the Father here? There is a village not five miles from here that has a primary school and a secondary school as well. Do you expect me to spend the rest of my life rotting in a village that has no secondary school? So, up would go the new school and then I'd really put the screws to them: There is a settlement down Owerri-way that sent one of their boys to a university in Europe. Wouldn't it be a grand thing to have a university graduate of our own? And by God, somehow the village would scrimp and save until they had one: All that seems a long time ago now.” The determination and resourcefulness that once characterized the Ibo also preoccupied Father Joe. We were driving out for a last look at Emekuku Hospital when Father Joe remarked: “There was a time when it was impossible to have a car breakdown in Iboland. You'd find yourself stuck somewhere way out in the bush and first thing you know, three loafers – two of whom had probably never peeked under the bonnet of an auto in their lives – would saunter up to see what was the matter. In no time at all using rags and string they'd have you on your way again.” Father Joe shook our hands before we boarded the flight out through the flak and said, “Remember now: however this thing is settled militarily, somehow, somewhere, something called Biafra will continue to exist.”(Breadless Biafra). This is the Igbo the world used to know and which has been destroyed by Nigeria.
[/b]


This is the thing that will make Biafra a great country. It isn't mineral resources, it's the human resources, it's the reason we are confident in viability of Biafra, the innate "can do" spirit in every Easterner that is being suppressed and denatured by Nigerian factors.

That father Joe submission on who we are got me the most.

Omololu007:
mr man what do you mean by this nonsense? Stop attaching yourself to the south south,what you are saying up there is just like me saying that,the south south and the North west zone produce 80percent of the resources that fund Nigeria's budget every year

You have been noticed, now can you move? *grins

Ibos keep talking about the old eastern region,they believed in the eastern region that was created by a white man,yet they will call Nigeria a zoo because it was created by a white man..

pazienza:


You have been noticed, now can you move? *grins

I will move when you stop lying omo nna

” Father Joe shook our hands before we boarded the flight out through the flak and said, “Remember now: however this thing is settled militarily, somehow, somewhere, something called Biafra will continue to exist.”

Now this is a perspective it only takes a pure in heart to see. It was not the father that was speaking, it was the universe that was speaking through him. *cool

All perverted by selfish interests, be they Igbo or non Igbo can never see this.

Omololu007:
I will move when you stop lying omo nna

lol. This one carry Biafra matter for head like Gala. *grins

Let me borrow from RB. No lies, " we are whiter than white".

pazienza:

lol. This one carry Biafra matter for head like Gala. *grins
Like me borrow from RB. No lies, " we are whiter than white".

k

Omololu007:
Ibos keep talking about the old eastern region,they believed in the eastern region that was created by a white man,yet they will call Nigeria a zoo because it was created by a white man..

funny enough, they also include Delta state in as part of their defunct Eastern Region when in actual fact Delta state was part of the old Western Region before the MidWest Region was created in 1962.

Edo state and Delta state were later carved out of what was then known as Bendel state but we never hear the Yoruba's or the Bini's claim Delta state. It is only the greedy, covetous and landgrabbing ibos who always claim what does not belong to them

CreampieAngela:
funny enough, they also include Delta state in as part of their defunct Eastern Region when in actual fact Delta state was part of the old Western Region before the MidWest Region was created in 1962.

Edo state and Delta state were later carved out of what was then known as Bendel state but we never hear the Yoruba's or the Bini's claim Delta state. It is only the greedy, covetous and landgrabbing ibos who always claim what does not belong to them

Lol! Ever heard of Dennis Osadebey?

Moreover, Delta was not the focus of the article, that much is obvious.

Yoruba nightmares.

CreampieAngela:
funny enough, they also include Delta state in as part of their defunct Eastern Region when in actual fact Delta state was part of the old Western Region before the MidWest Region was created in 1962.

Edo state and Delta state were later carved out of what was then known as Bendel state but we never hear the Yoruba's or the Bini's claim Delta state. It is only the greedy, covetous and landgrabbing ibos who always claim what does not belong to them

a lot of ibos on Nairaland do tell lies a lot.biafra is not an ibo name,the portuguese refer to people living in d old eastern region of Nigeria,gabon,equatorial guinea etc...ibos now say the capital of these biafra was in igbo uku(am not sure I got the spelling right).....one thing ibos must understand is that,if Nigeria divide,ibos will only get a country made up of ibos alone

Omololu007:
a lot of ibos on Nairaland do tell lies a lot.biafra is not an ibo name,the portuguese refer to people living in d old eastern region of Nigeria,gabon,equatorial guinea etc...ibos now say the capital of these biafra was in igbo uku(am not sure I got the spelling right).....one thing ibos must understand is that,if Nigeria divide,ibos will only get a country made up of ibos alone

Until a few decades ago, Igbo-Ukwu used to be known as Igbo-Nkwo. The excavated sites at Igbo-Ukwu usee to belong to Ora-Eri.
Igbo-Ukwu was never the capital of Biafra, and it is an attempt at historical 419.

Secondly, igbos have a justifiable interest in the so called SS, especially as more than 2 million Igbo-speaking people are in that zone

Omololu007:
a lot of ibos on Nairaland do tell lies a lot.biafra is not an ibo name,the portuguese refer to people living in d old eastern region of Nigeria,gabon,equatorial guinea etc...ibos now say the capital of these biafra was in igbo uku(am not sure I got the spelling right).....one thing ibos must understand is that,if Nigeria divide,ibos will only get a country made up of ibos alone

My people have become too cowardly in this nigeria. They are now clowns, ibos have become their nightmare, that they even see ibo giants in their dreams...

My people has turn the sophisticated odua nation to laughing stock...they have shown the world that they are weaklings and O'yes to the Hausa / Fulani muslims. ..it is shame that my sophisticated and progressive people are a bunch of confused people who have no aspiration whatsoever. ..

It seems musiwa and I are the only brave people among our kins. ...musiwa want a western nigeria and I want a sophisticated and progressive Odu'a. ..but my coward folks want to keep being slaves to their Hausa / Fulani masters. ..

Let us that agitating for odua republic where there be no ibos, where lagos will not be no man's land...yorubas wake up. ...we can't remain cowards

My people should stop behaving like clowns ....God can deliver my people

Nice thought provoking piece. But I have to say that it is lace with lies and half-truths
How can u generalise and say that the igbos are the main targets and victims of bombings in the north or that it is only igbo businesses that are suffering as a result of d carnage in the north.
I know the author is trying to engender unity within the igbos,but that does not mean that he has to wickedly twists facts and try to whip up ethnic hatred between igbos and other tribe. I'm not sure what Obasanjo did in Onitsha but can vividly remember what happened in Udi. Is Udi Igboland? Why is the writer crying more than the bereaved? Besides I can't remember any prominent Igbo group speaking for Udi during that period. Is it because Obasanjo was a pdp man then? And now a party you rejected is now in power, u guys can't play opposition politics?
I was born and brought up in the ss and 70 percent of my friends are igbos but i have never heard anyone saying they are being persecuted for being igbos. Neither have I heard them saying their relations in part of the country is targeted. They all live like the average Nigerian suffering the effects of bad leadersip at every level.
Though I have to say, the Igbos are special. They have amazing entreprenuer abilities and are always ready to work. But I have to say their problems are not peculiar neither is it caused by the Nigerian state. The problem the Igbos have is visible in all of Sub Saharan Africa. It is the problem of bad leadership. Peter Obi and t.a Orji received the same allocations during their tenures,but compare Abia and Anambra. Aba has the potential to become not just the manufacturing hub,but also the no1 marketplace in W Africa. They have the potential to generate enough revenue to fund projects. But what happened?
This is already too long. But if majority of Igbos feel that biafra is the only way out,let their leaders start looking for diplomatic means to exit. Not war
I believe in Nigeria

clevadani:
Nice thought provoking piece. But I have to say that it is lace with lies and half-truths
How can u generalise and say that the igbos are the main targets and victims of bombings in the north or that it is only igbo businesses that are suffering as a result of d carnage in the north.
I know the author is trying to engender unity within the igbos,but that does not mean that he has to wickedly twists facts and try to whip up ethnic hatred between igbos and other tribe. I'm not sure what Obasanjo did in Onitsha but can vividly remember what happened in Udi. Is Udi Igboland? Why is the writer crying more than the bereaved? Besides I can't remember any prominent Igbo group speaking for Udi during that period. Is it because Obasanjo was a pdp man then? And now a party you rejected is now in power, u guys can't play opposition politics?
I was born and brought up in the ss and 70 percent of my friends are igbos but i have never heard anyone saying they are being persecuted for being igbos. Neither have I heard them saying their relations in part of the country is targeted. They all live like the average Nigerian suffering the effects of bad leadersip at every level.
Though I have to say, the Igbos are special. They have amazing entreprenuer abilities and are always ready to work. But I have to say their problems are not peculiar neither is it caused by the Nigerian state. The problem the Igbos have is visible in all of Sub Saharan Africa. It is the problem of bad leadership. Peter Obi and t.a Orji received the same allocations during their tenures,but compare Abia and Anambra. Aba has the potential to become not just the manufacturing hub,but also the no1 marketplace in W Africa. They have the potential to generate enough revenue to fund projects. But what happened?
This is already too long. But if majority of Igbos feel that biafra is the only way out,let their leaders start looking for diplomatic means to exit. Not war
I believe in Nigeria

The first bolded; There is no generalisation in his statement. If you will be truthful to yourself, you will understand that most upheavals and massacres in the north have their primary targets as Igbos or Easterners. Any other group involved are most times collateral.
And if those groups feel they dont need raise alarm, goodluck to them.

The second bolded; Isn't it obvious that majority of Igbos don't feel belonged in Nigeria and wants out? Isn't it people of your nationality that is crying more than the bereaved and insisting we remain in this contraption with you?
Incidentally, the OP talked about the few political elites of Eastern region who feel we must remain here cos their bread is buttered somehow, and you want same people to "look for diplomatic" means of exit. Tell me, Clevadani, how is that really possible?

OfoIgbo:


Until a few decades ago, Igbo-Ukwu used to be known as Igbo-Nkwo. The excavated sites at Igbo-Ukwu usee to belong to Ora-Eri.
Igbo-Ukwu was never the capital of Biafra, and it is an attempt at historical 419.

Secondly, igbos have a justifiable interest in the so called SS, especially as more than 2 million Igbo-speaking people are in that zone

republic of igbo will be made up of ibos from d SE and SS