The coalition of northern youth
groups that recently gave Igbos resident in Northern Nigeria three months
ultimatum to vacate the region has urged Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to
allow Biafran secessionists succeed through peaceful means.
The group, in an open letter to
the acting president, urged him to take “steps to facilitate the actualization
of the Biafran nation in line with the principle of self-determination as an
integral part of contemporary customary international law.”
The coalition commended Mr.
Osinbajo for initiating series of discussions with leaders from the north and
south-east. The signatories, however, said they believe the talks would not
yield any positive results.
The letter, which was signed by
five leaders of the group and sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Monday, said the
principle of self-determination has, since World War II become a part of the
United Nations Charter which states in Article 1(2), that one of the purposes
of the UN is “to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for
the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples”.
“We submit that this protocol
envisages that people of any nation have the right to self-determination, and
although the Charter did not categorically impose direct legal obligations on
member States; it implies that member States allow agitating or minority groups
to self-govern as much as possible,” they said.
Read full letter below:
June, 19th 2017
His Excellency,
Professor Yemi Osinbajo,
Acting President,
Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Aso Rock Presidential Villa
Abuja
OPEN LETTER
Your Excellency,
APPRECIATION
On behalf of this coalition and
all the peace-loving people of Northern Nigeria, we begin this letter by
commending your efforts towards finding a lasting solution to the
lingering Igbo-induced crisis that is undoubtedly overheating the polity.
We sincerely believe Your
Excellency’s good intentions as shown by your prompt and genuine actions
towards ensuring peace and stability in holding talks with leaders of the North
and the South-East.
Though we do not doubt Your
Excellency’s bona fide concerns for the peaceful resolution of the
crises, we nevertheless have reservations as to the efficacy of this
approach in ensuring lasting solutions.
Our doubts are informed by the
following historical antecedents that have characterized the behaviour and
conduct of the Igbo in Nigeria and previous efforts at containing them.
PAST EXPERIENCES
The Igbo of Eastern Nigeria
manifested their hatred for Nigeria’s unity barely five years after we gained
our independence from the British when on January 15, 1966, their army officers
carried out the first-ever mutiny that marked the beginning of a series of
crisis which has profoundly altered the course of Nigeria’s history.
By that ill
motivated, cowardly and deliberate action, the Igbo killed many northern
officers from the rank of lieutenant colonel upwards and also decapitated the
Prime Minister and the political leadership of the Northern and Western regions
but left the zenith of Igbo leadership at the Federal level and the Eastern
region intact.
In line with the Igbo plan,
General Aguiyi-Ironsi took advantage of the vacuum and, instead of returning
power to the remnants of the First Republic government; he appropriated the
coup and attempted to consolidate it for his people.
Army officers of the Northern
Region were eventually compelled to execute a counter coup on July 29, 1966
following a coordinated series of brazen provocations from the Igbo who
taunted northerners on northern streets by mocking the way leaders of the
region were slain by the Igbo. This unfortunately resulted in mob action which
resulted in the death of many Igbos.
And when Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon,
from the North took over as Head of State following the counter coup, the Igbo
through Lt. Col. Ojukwu, characteristically refused to recognize Gowon.
Ojukwu declared the secession of
the Igbo people from Nigeria and the formation of the republic of Biafra on May
30, 1967 resulting in a civil war that led to the tragic deaths of more than 2
million Nigerians.
It is important to note here that
the Igbo eventually capitulated and conceded defeat in an unconditional
surrender, not an armistice, on January 15, 1970 which renders any talk
about Biafra at any other time, a repudiation of the terms of that surrender
signed by Phillip Effiong and other Biafran leaders.
BIAFRA REINCARNATED
In a shot out of the blues, the
Igbo have over the last 2 years regrouped and fiercely and openly started
discussing Biafra again under Ralph Uwazuruike of the Movement for the
Actualization of the Sovereign State Of Biafra MASSOB.
This was given greater impetus by
a more furious Igbo rogue group called the Indigenous People Of Biafra
IPOB under Nnamdi Kanu who even operates an illegal radio
station spreading hate and war messages across the nation, calling other ethnic
groups all sorts of names and threatening them with violent extermination.
The activities of the Igbo
under Kanu’s IPOB has grown exponentially ranging from ordering people of
other regions out of the South East – particularly the Yorubas and Hausa
/Fulani from the South West and the North respectively, to open declaration of
the amassing of arms and forceful total shutdown of the entire South-East.
KANU and IPOB have declared full
allegiance to a “Republic of Biafra” and continue to preach hatred and war
virtually every day, and not for once did any Igbo leader call them to order.
Instead, many of the leaders including Mr Ike Ekweremadu, the deputy senate
president, the most senior elected Igbo, pay Kanu courtesy calls to prove that
he is speaking for the entire Igbo. It is glaring to all that Kanu has serially
breached all the terms of his stringent jail conditions in total disregard to
the sanctity of our justice system.
Even the latest statement by
the South-East Governors Forum signed by Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi
State in a response to the Northern reaction, did not condemn Kanu and Uwazuruike
but characterised their action as “peaceful”.
While all this is going on,
neither the Igbo political and cultural leaders nor other regional leaders of
the North or West nor the international community or any religious
body ever found it necessary to call these renegade groups to order or in the
very least admonish their leaders to do so.
Furthermore, none of the Igbo
leaders holding various positions in this government ever disowned IPOB or
condemned its operations until lately with Governor Rochas Okorocha’s mild
condemnation after the Kaduna Declaration by our Coalition.
GROUNDS FOR SUSPICION
Given the unrepentant antecedents
exhibited by the Igbo as highlighted above, we strongly believe that the
gruesome picture that the Biafran agitation represents is beyond a few people
showcasing to Your Excellency that the Igbo will eventually heed the call for
peace and desist from their dangerous campaign against Nigeria.
The seed of hate planted in
the name of Biafra is evidently so deep that the ongoing interaction
between you and the leaders from the South East cannot in our well informed
opinion douse or address the underlying deep seated underlying problems.
We base our concerns on the
following grounds.
Despite the fact that the Igbo
have been the most accommodated and tolerated of all the ethnic groups of
Nigeria, the renewed incessant, spiteful and vile threats and insults on
Northern leaders and their people, culture and religions that are the targets
of this venomous agitation for Biafra, can hardly be addressed through a series
of two hours dialogues.
As if to prove this, barely hours
after Your Excellency’s meeting with the South-East leaders, the Biafran
Igbo openly disowned the leaders and dissociated themselves from the
meeting.
More disturbingly, Kanu has
openly claimed that the Biafran agitators have amassed arms in readiness for a
war of secession which is quite conceivable given the fact that since 2009,
catches of dangerous weapons routinely smuggled into the country and
occasionally intercepted by the Nigerian authorities, were all traced to
Igbo sources.
The situation continues to be
baffling and alarming and therefore unacceptable – especially with the Igbo
political and opinion leaders openly legitimizing the violent comments,
insults, threats, hate speeches and call to anarchy that the Biafrans led by Nnamdi
Kanu are making against the North and the Nigerian state in general.
South-East leaders have instead,
enthusiastically given Kanu the platform, patronage and symbolic legitimacy
through an ignominious display of homage, reception and open embrace.
OUR CONCERNS
Concerned by the fact that the
Biafrans have confessed to arming themselves for a violent breakup, we feel
that it is risky for the rest of the country particularly the North to go on
pretending that it is safe for us to co-habitate with the Igbos given how
deeply they are entrenched in our societies.
And since evidently the Igbo have
not been sufficiently humbled by their self-imposed bloody civil violence of
1966, we are strongly concerned that nothing short of granting their Biafran
dream will suffice.
And since the Igbo have virtually
infiltrated every nook and cranny of Northern Nigeria where they have been
received with open arms
as fellow compatriots, we
strongly believe that the region is no longer safe and secure in the light of
the unfolding threats and the fact that for a long time, the Igbo have gone to
extra ordinary lengths to ensure that in their domain in the South East, Northerners
and Westerners are as much as possible disenfranchised from owning any
businesses whereas in Kano alone, they own not less than 100, 000 shops
across all the business districts.
That since the younger generation
of Nigerians makes up for more than 60 percent of the nation’s
population, it is our hope that they inherit this country in better shape
so that they can build a much better future for themselves and their offsprings
in an atmosphere that is devoid of anarchy, hate, suspicion and negativity that
characterize the polarized, and clearly irreconcilable differences forced on us
by the Biafran Igbos.
To make a bad situation even
worse, their leaders have continued to show support for this treacherous cause
and thus giving credence to our concern that what they say against us is what
they truly mean and intend – “Kill everyone in the Zoo” (North). Your
Excellency, we cannot afford to discard this as mere mischief as the utterances
that caused the terrible Rwandan genocide still resonates in our minds.
Lastly Sir, it is quite
impossible to expect that other nationalities would simply stand by and watch
while a certain ethnic group perpetrates all the above heinous misconducts that
involve threats, call to violence and extermination, insults and songs of war
without responding.
OUR STAND
While we unequivocally restate
that we are not waging war or calling anyone to violence, we nevertheless
are also not willing to continue tolerating the malicious campaign and threats
of war that the Igbos have continued to wage against us.
Neither can we afford to continue
giving the keys to our cities to a people whose utterances, plans and
arrangements are clearly geared towards war and anarchy.
We therefore demand that the only
enduring solution to this scourge that is being visited on the nation is
complete separation of the states presently agitating for Biafra from the
Federal Republic of Nigeria through a peaceful political process by:
Taking steps to facilitate the
actualization of the Biafran nation in line with the principle of
self-determination as an integral part of contemporary customary international
law.
The principle of
self-determination has, since world war II become a part of the United Nations
Charter which states in Article 1(2), that one of the purposes of the UN is “to
develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of
equal rights and self-determination of peoples.
We submit that this protocol
envisages that people of any nation have the right to self-determination, and
although the Charter did not categorically impose direct legal obligations on
member States; it implies that member States allow agitating or minority groups
to self-govern as much as possible.
This principle of
self-determination has since been espoused in two additional treaties: The
United Nations Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and the United
Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Article 1 of both international
documents promote and protect the right of a people to self-determination.
State parties to these international documents are obliged to uphold the
primacy and realization of this right as it cements the international legal
philosophy that gives a people the right to self-determination.
As the Igbo agitations persist
and assume threatening dimensions, we submit that there is need to ensure that
they are given the opportunity to exercise the right to self-determination as
entrenched under the aforementioned international statutes to which Nigeria is
a signatory.
PRAYERS:
Aware that the right of
self-determination in international law is the legal right for a “people” that
allows them to attain a certain degree of autonomy from a sovereign state
through a legitimate political process, we strongly demand for a referendum to take
place in a politically sane atmosphere where all parties will have a democratic
voice over their future and the future of the nation.
The Igbo from all over the
country and in the Diaspora should be advised to converge in their region in
the South-East for a plebiscite to be organized and conducted by the United
Nations and other regional bodies for them to categorically to decide between
remaining part of Nigeria or having their separate country.
That government should at the end
of the plebiscite implement whatever is agreed and resolved in order to finally
put this matter to rest.
Lastly, we pray His
Excellency to study the references forwarded with this letter dispassionately
and decide who is more in the wrong between those who openly pledge allegiance
to a country other than Nigeria backing it up with persistent threats of war
and those of us whose allegiance remains with the Nigerian state but simply
urge that the secessionists be allowed to actualize their dream peacefully
throw universally entrenched democratic options.
CONCLUSION
Your Excellency, we want to
reiterate our high respect for your office and acknowledge the efforts you are
making to lower tensions. We assure you, as well-brought up northerners, we
listen to the advice and cautions of our elders, and in particular, their
concerns that we do not create the impression that any Igbo or any Nigerian
will be harmed in the North. We assure you that we will defend the rights of
every Nigerian to live in peace and have their rights protected.
While we do not see this clamour
for Biafra as an issue over which a single drop of blood should be
shed, we at the same time, insist that the Igbo be allowed to have
their Biafra and for them to vacate our land peacefully so that our dear country
Nigeria could finally enjoy lasting peace and stability.
Long Live the Federal Republic of
Nigeria.
SIGNED:
Amb. Shettima Yerima
Joshua Viashman
Aminu Adam
Abdul-Azeez Suleiman
Nastura Ashir Sharif
OK. Any plans to take igbos properties in Abuja? This is the 21st century so we are waiting to see if Nigerians are civilized
ReplyDeleteThe Igbos can carry their properties along. Looking forward to their exit.
DeleteI hope this is not a pretense?
ReplyDeleteI think I like this motion. The Igbos should now ride on this and have their nation peacefully. No need for violence. Nagode.
ReplyDeleteif at all this is not pretence, i will pray that God will bless those that put this ideas together, to allow the igbos to leave the zoo in peace......all hail BIAFRA
ReplyDeleteCREATING A SOVEREIGN STATES OF BIAFRA, WILL BRING A LASTING PEACE IN NIGERIA AND ALL THE SURROUNDING REGIONS. PLEASE LET THERE BE PEACE IN THE LAND, AND LET THERE BE BIAFRA
ReplyDeleteGaskiya ne, if igbos are really in need of Biafra they should join hands with this call so that they will achieve their dreams a peaceful referendum. So that they can develop their biafran to be like United States of America or United Kingdom.
ReplyDeleteHmmm#Interesting
ReplyDeleteThe igbos are there own enemy,they wanted BIAFRA and the north wanted to accelerate there movement they are complaining we in the west will definitely kick them out of our land too.Pls notify us here who ever want to sell their houses and cars cash is available .thank u
ReplyDeleteNow that Arewa Youths backed by their elders have maintained their stand, will Igbos and Biafrans living in the North listen and go back to their home country Biafra? Will the corrupt and selfish politicians listen to the youth and peacefully divide this un-workable and murderous nation called Nigeria, where nothing works or do they want to see another pogrom and genocide of the 21st century. This time, it'll be different and hellish.
ReplyDeleteThanks for finally writing about >"Allow Biafra Republic - Northern group calling for exit of Igbos, writes Osinbajo" <Liked it!
ReplyDeleteRidiculous story there. What happened after? Thanks!
ReplyDelete