BY
(MkpisiEdemede)
The
President of any country, the Governor of any State, the Leader of any
Organization does not have the monopoly of knowledge to address issues in the
course of leadership. Any wise leader who wants to succeed should preoccupy his
or her self with receiving sound ideas from others on governance and
development otherwise the reverse will be the case.
The
agitation for the creation of a Separate Republic of Biafra from Nigeria which
has now aggravated to agitation for the creation of a Separate Niger Delta Sovereign
State is a central and burning issue in Nigeria’s public domain today.
If
the unity and corporate existence of Nigeria will be sustained, wise steps
based on sound ideas should be taken by our leaders to resolve the issues that led
to these vociferous and separatist agitations. But if our leaders keep
advertizing ignorance, committing blunders here and there and refrain from
resolving issues that led to these bitter agitations, surely the break-up of
Nigeria may be imminent.
It
was Prof TaofeekLadan, an erudite
scholar in Law who stated that conflict resolution is all about addressing the
root causes of the conflict and resolving these causes through the
establishment of justice. There is no way the agitations for separate countries
by South-East and South-South activists will be eliminated without first and
fore-most resolving the major issues in their agitations.
I
once wrote and published an article titled “PMB Voodoo Theories and Resurgence
of Biafra” where I cautioned against the use of military might against the
agitations. I picked holes in some of the negative theories adopted by PMB in
addressing the agitation for Biafra which include Vindictive and Exclusion
theory involving the punishment of Ibos for not voting for Buhari and which of
course sparked off the renewed agitations; the Underestimation and Under-Rating
Theory where PMB dismissed the agitation for Biafra as a non-threat;the Non-Negotiability
of Nigerian Unity Theory where PMB argued the separatist matter cannot be
discussed which I knocked off with the referenda for separate countries in
areas like Southern Sudan and Scotland and Solidarity Theory for Palestine LiberationOrganization
where PMB supported PLO’s movement which I argued was a signal to separate
movements in Nigeria to intensify their own struggles.
Finally,
I warned Nigeria leadership that if the right steps were not taken, the
agitations would catapult to Notoriety. As I predicted, the agitation for
Biafra has intensified despite the extra-judicial killings of Biafran
agitators. To worsen the matter, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) an armed
militant group has threatened to declare a Sovereign State of Niger Delta in
October 2016 if their demands were not met. These agitations may continue to
expand and worsen if Mr. President does not take the right steps to curtail
them in the few days and weeks ahead, perhaps that is the way God wants it. Who
knows?
The
igniting force of this article was a declaration by PMB in his home state of
Katsinathat “I am ready to fight back to defend the country from those
agitating for the creation of Biafran State, even if we will get drowned”. PMB
further states that the current agitators for Biafra were not born when Nigerian
fought the internecine conflict where over 2 million people were killed to keep
Nigeria one and united. He vowed that his government was ready to fight again
if need be to secure the unity of Nigeria. Before now, the Federal Government
had ordered the military to crush the agitators which was why many peaceful
protesters for Biafra had been allegedly killed by Nigeria’s military.
Similarly, the Federal Government had reportedly ordered the military to crush
the armed members of Niger Delta Avengers threatening the secession of the oil
rich region.
That
Katsina declaration tends to portray Mr. President as a great patriot who is
committed to the oneness, unity, indissolubility and indivisibility of Nigeria.
Mr. President further promised to ensure justice in the country.How can Mr.
President guarantee the unity of Nigeria when his policies and programmes are
highly discriminatory which make some parts of the country feel as if they are
second class citizens? The agitators for separation feel their regions are
oppressed, enslaved, maltreated, imprisoned, and unfairly treated for too long
in Nigerian project.
To
many analysts, that declaration in Katsina soil was like an ethnic conspiracy
to establish the superiority of one ethnic group over others and to crush the
ethnic groups classified as inferior in Nigerian Project.This resulted in
vitriolic responses by some groups against Mr. President.
The
use of military to crush agitators for justice in Nigeria is counterproductive
and the resort to war to overcome the agitation is a blunder. In the case of South-east,
the agitators are peaceful, non-violent and not armed. How can a government
which is preaching for peace and unityunleash organized violence against its
non-armed citizens? War is usually the last resort when all avenues of dialogue
and peaceful negotiations have failed. In this context, Mr. President is
introducing war as the first resort without any form of dialogue and peaceful
negotiation and this is why I refer the use of war here as a blunder. The
so-called Nigeria-Biafra war which Mr. President and past leaders like Gowon
and Obasanjo are always talking about was preceded by intensive peaceful
dialogue.
The
Federal Government should equally realize that the use of military could not
quench the former armed militancy in the Niger Delta region until Late
President Ya’ Raduagraciously introduced the Amnesty Programme.
One
fact to be noted is that these agitations are spiritual, psychological,
socio-cultural and historical, which explain why the agitators are daring,
bold, courageous and non-relenting in their struggles. NnamdiKalu, the leader
of Indigenous People OfBiafra (IPOB) who is being incarcerated in the prison
declared that he preferred death to renouncing Biafra. Most of these young men
and women who did not witness the Nigerian-Biafra war and are currently
agitating for Biafra grew up and witnessed hatred, injustice, oppression and
wickedness by Nigerian state against their people.
If
Nigeria will remain united as Mr. President has vowed, it should be operated on
sound principles of equity, justice and fairness and compromising these
principles will pronounce doom on the unity of the country. President Buhari
should reposition himself so that every Nigerian particularly the aggrieved
groups should see him as the true and caring father of all. Henceforth, his
policies, programmes and projects should not be selective and discriminatory.
The current marginalization and alienation of the Ibos in his government because
they did not vote for him should cease.
The
Federal Government should set up a high powered team made up of detribalized
and bridge building Nigerians to study, negotiate and dialogue with these
agitators so that sincere and implementable solutions can be applied to the
agitations. Mr. President should stop supporting secessionist bids of Western
Sahara and PLO because it is giving wrong signals and fuelling bid for
self-determination in Nigeria.
Ideas
rule the world.Mr. President should select six academically and ethically sound
Professors of political science from each of the six geo-political zones to a
brain-storming meeting so that pragmatic solutions can be brought out and
applied to these agitations. Mikhail Gorbachev midwived the peaceful
disintegration of former United USSR into separate countries.
Why
do we always think that the forceful marriage called Nigeria that is bringing
so much pains and agony is the best for us?
Comrade
Innocent EbirimOkadigbo (MkpisiEdemede) a Pro-democracy activist and Media
Practitioner writes from Abuja via innoebirim@gmail.com
PHOTO: NNAMDI KANU
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