Constitutional lawyer and Chairman of The Patriots, Professor Ben Nwabueze (SAN), has admonished pro-Biafra groups under the umbrellas of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), to have a rethink over their renewed calls for the State of Biafra.
Speaking on Monday, in Lagos, at a press conference to announce the 4th Goddy Jidenma Foundation (GJF) bi-annual Public Lecture, entitled: “Leadership, Responsibility & Good Governance,” holding on Wednesday, December 3, at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island, Lagos, Professor Nwabueze, who blamed the nation’s leadership problem, for the renewed agitations for the State of Biafra, however, stated that the answer to their genuine grievances does not lie in secession.
According to Nwabueze, who was flanked by the Principal Solicitor, Zik Chuka Obi & Co and Dr. Ije Jidenma, Executive Secretary, GJF and wife of the late Goddy Jidenma, clamping down on pro-Biafra protesters or sending them to prisons, is not the solution to the problem.
Nwabueze, who is the Chairman, Board of Trustee, GJF, however, opined that the renewed agitation for Biafra, showed the injustices meted against the South-East region under the leadership President Muhammadu Buhari.
Nwabueze said: “How can Nigeria with the kind of experience we had under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, elect another military commander and former head of the Federal Military Government as President. It doesn’t make sense. Have we ever sat down to reflect on this. It’s amnesia. Nigerians suffer from amnesia, loss of memory. We don’t have memory of the past. It’s possible the amnesia will repeat itself again after eight years, because President Muhammadu Buhari will go on for another eight years, and another military man will emerge and Nigerians will elect him.
“What we are experiencing now under the current administration shows you that our problem has been leadership. What Nigeria needs is a leader who will guide this country as one, and not one Northern Nigeria.
“Nigeria needs a leader who will regard all the ethnic groups as his constituency. We have 389 ethnic nationalities in Nigeria. How do you coalesce them into one. That’s what is called the national question, which is more challenging than corruption. Who can do it? It’s not impossible. I believe that it can be done. But not under the present process, where somebody with the kind of Buhari’s background and credentials could be elected and get imposed on Nigerians through this so-called electoral process.”
According to the octogenarian: “Biafra is certainly not the answer. We have tried it before and it led to a three years civil war. Where has it taken us to? The Igbos are scattered all over the country. You will find them everywhere. South-East youths are again asking for secession. But the question is, what is going to happen to all the Igbos scattered all over the country. This only exposes them to another mass killing.
“Between 1967 to 1970, when the war ended, millions of Igbos were killed. Is that what we want again. What did we achieve by that war? did we achieve Biafra? We didn’t. Is there any basis to think that it can be realised this time? Are we more prepared for it now than we were in 1967. Certainly not, we aren’t prepared for it.”
Speaking further, he said, “However, we must not condemn the people that are agitating. The present administration must look at the root cause of their protests. These people protesting are all young people. Some of them have not been employed for over 10 years after graduating from the university. In my own time, graduate unemployment was unknown. There was nothing like that. The unrest we are witnessing today is caused by this anomaly. Graduate unemployment is part of the basic root of this protest.
“Tied to this, the recent actions of President Buhari contributes to this unrest. Buhari made 24 key appointments, not a single one came from the South-East. What do you expect the youths from that area to feel. They will feel that they have been deprived of that sense of belonging. They will feel that they don’t belong to Nigeria. If by the President’s actions, he’s saying they don’t belong to Nigeria, then, they will start agitation for Biafra, where they can belong.
“People may describe this feeling as an illusion, but I must say that the feeling is already there. You can’t say to a man who is aggrieved that he has no right to be aggrieved. Address the source of the grievances. Correct your own approach to leadership. Make them feel that they belong. That’s the answer. The answer is not clamping them to prisons.”
The former Nigerian Secretary of Education, however, advised the leadership of MASSOB and IPOB to change their names, noting that the names they currently bare act as a clog in the wheel of their causes.
His words: “I have said it in the past that there is something wrong with the name that pro-Biafra groups are using for their cause. As the pioneer Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, a position I held for 25 years, I had meetings with the leader of MASSOB, Ralph Uwazurike, where I told him the honest truth, that look, you may have something up, but the name MASSOB, defeats your cause. Therefore, you must change the name.
“How can you be talking about actualisation of a sovereign state within a sovereign state. That’s treasonable. The name alone is treasonable. Take for instance if members of MASSOB and the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), burn down a police station, while the OPC member will be charged for arson, the MASSOB member will be charged for treason because of the name.
“Although, burning down a police station is not a treasonable offence, but burning down a police station under the name Movement for Actualisation for Sovereign State of Biafra is treasonable. The authorities will charge them for treason with the argument that they are burning down police stations because they want to actualise Biafra.
“You can see that the authorities are charging the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu and others for treason. Although, I have called for his immediate release and have asked that he comes to see me when he’s released. I want to see him. The name should be changed. MASSOB is there, IPOB is also there. So, which is which? The name should be changed,” he insisted.
Nwabueze added that “My advice to these youngsters is that they should not plunge Ndigbo into something that we are not prepared for. We are not prepared for another civil war. Ninety percent of the Igbo are not prepared for the civil war yet. I read recently in the papers that there are talks to declare a state of emergency in the South-East, I hope it’s not true.
“Ndigbo must not play into the hands of our enemies. It’s foolish to play into the hands of your enemies, people who are looking for excuses to solve the so-called Igbo problem. We must not forget that there is still the ill feelings of this Igbo problem. So, these youngsters must be advised that the answer to their genuine grievances does not lie in secession.”
But you should not have waited for it to get this bad before you open your mouth to say the people of biafra have been mistreated for all these years. So why have you been silent? Are you not an errand boy?
ReplyDeleteThe economic/political mess we find ourselves are caused by igbos who presided over the economy and as Secretary to the clueless but looting government. After fouling everywhere it ironical they are now agitating for a Biafran State. Prof are you not supporting the plundering? Abeg Ibos can go for all I care
ReplyDeleteThank you oh king of Egypt
DeleteProf Ben Nwabueze et al, are the real "Men behind the Mask" or the "Puppeteers" remotely instigating the youths as front for their parochial intentions. These so called "Igbo Elders" who were part and parcel of GEJ administration for the last six years and couldn't help influence the government to "right the alleged wrongs" he's mentioned against his kinsmen is not morally upright to advice anyone. However, immediately a democratic election was conducted and their benefactor lost, they went back to their archives to dust up ethnic and tribal sentiments of alleged marginalization against his Igbo tribe (as if the past govt that ruled for 6 years was from the North or South West). Let me be very clear, the few corrupt and selfish political elite with whom the “so called” Igbo Elders have been fraternizing with since 1999 have marginalized all Nigerians. Every Nigerian is “marginalized” and not Ndigbo people alone. You can see poverty everywhere in the country and not South East alone...It's like someone from the Niger Delta now crying that they have been marginalized and you will ask them who have been in power for the last six years? What has he (GEJ) achieved for his people except to stuff his and his cronies’ pocket with the sovereign wealth of the people, which he's supposed to be representing? It is an open secret that Igbos were dominant in GEJ administration and gave unalloyed support to GEJ, so why the blame game now. They say Charity begins at home, so it will be very pertinent for the Biafra agitators to first ask themselves what has their LG Chairmen, Governors, Ministers and Representatives done for the development and progress of their place and people?
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of irrational Igbos will think otherwise but the truth must be told or else it stinks. Igbos have been the most accepted tribe in most parts of Nigeria, with freedom to invest and thrive without ethnic bias…They own properties, trade, and even partake in the local politics of some of the states they live, all outside “Igbo Land” in such states like Lagos, Kano, Borno etc. The Igbos have enjoyed freedom to exercise their right as Nigerians in other states, as civil servants in some of these states, held political office in state and federal house representatives outside Igbo land (e.g. state commissioners, fed House of rep representing Lagos, also in Lagos an Igbo child won the opportunity to act as governor twice!! but the reverse is the case in Igbo Land and we all know this.
Very few if any non indigene can apply for and own shop in any of the markets in Igbo Land, nor be given title deeds such as C of O for properties in Igbo Land, nor allowed to exercise similar rights enjoyed by their kinsmen in other parts of Nigeria and hold political offices in Igbo Land, these are incontrovertible facts that are verifiable if anyone is open minded to check with their states INEC offices as well as states land and housing departments. (End of Part one).
(Part Two) If you say Igbos have been marginalized because they have not succeeded in becoming the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria post Civil War, then you may ask how does one become the leader or president of Nigeria. Let me answer and make it simple (1). Through the Ballot Box from a democratic process in an election of the majority vote. (2). Through the barrel of the gun by organizing a military coup.
ReplyDeleteLet me comment on the first example since a coup with ethnic colouration will not work and is out of the question from a Nigerian military perspective.
The various tribes that have taken the mantle of leadership of Nigeria Presidency through the democratic process has been through alliances, joint agreement, sacrifices, collaboration and reaching out in fellowship for political success. Going through the chronological decent of political parties in Nigeria, the NPN, SDP (albeit truncated), PDP (16 years rule) and recently APC, in all these parties, no one single major ethnic tribe has succeeded without the support of the others (e.g. AG, UPN, NPP, APGA, AC, CAN, CPC etc). GEJ from a minority ethnic group became president but with the conscious support of the other major tribes he failed in his second attempt because he made the mistake on not reaching out as explained and preferred to put all his eggs in one basket and stick with the Igbos alone and he failed. This is where the Igbo’s differ, as they believe they can “Go it alone” without reaching out to other tribes which truly makes them politically immature and will not work. It is not rocket science that politics is a game of numbers and if you do not have the numbers and is also unwilling to forge alliance with other major ethnic tribes, then the dream is dead on arrival. (To be contd. End of part two).