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Biafra not possible again -EMU
felix ofou kolawole ojelabi
Assistant Editor, Politics Assistant
Editor, News
Agitations for the resuscitation of
the defunct Biafra Republic out of Nigeria may be a pipe dream, as one of the
groups that fought for the restoration of democracy, the Eastern Mandate Union
(EMU), has dissociated itself from the plan, pointing out that it was no longer
possible to realise the objective.
In continuation of its plans to
realise a Republic of Biafra, the Movement for the Actualisation of the
Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) had asked Igbos across the nation to stay at
home on Thursday in solidarity with the Biafran cause.
While also decrying the Federal
Government’s clamp down on members of the organisation, the group warned
that no force could distract it from its avowed objectives.
The sit at home order was largely
observed in the eastern part of the country where commercial activities were
severely paralysed.
But in an interview with its
National Co-ordinator, Chief Chuba Egollum, EMU declared that it was no longer
possible to achieve a Republic of Biafra, and advised MASSOB to abandon the
current agitation for the excision of the South-East zone from the country to
form a new republic.
Egollum who gave the advice against
the backdrop of the stay at home order by MASSOB last Thursday pointed out that
the agitation for a Biafra Republic contradicted the popular expectation for an
Igbo president in Nigeria come 2007.
The EMU chieftain described the stay
at home order as unrealistic, wondering how MASSOB hoped to enforce such a
decision, especially in places like Kano, Port Harcourt or Abuja.
“Sometimes, people say things
that I wonder how enforceable it can be. Perhaps the stay at home order may
have been feasible in the East but I don’t know how possible this can be
in other city centres, especially when people have subsisting business
commitments”.
While conceding that MASSOB members
had constitutional rights to hold views, no matter how extreme, the EMU coordinator
doubted the possibility of realising the objective, moreso when most Igbos do
not understand the basis or import for the present agitation.
“Agitations can go on, but how
well has it been articulated? Is everyone being carried along? They need to say
whether the Biafran Republic is for every Ibo man or for a select few. In any
case, what happens to the expectation for an Igbo president in 2007?” he
asked.
Egollum cautioned against the
confrontational stance of MASSOB, in the face of attempts to consolidate the
gains of democracy by ensuring that the twin virtues of equity and fairness are
enthroned as the bedrock for distributing national cake.
“MASSOB chairman, Ralph
Uwazuruike, needs to tell people what they are doing rather than seek
confrontation. This, to my mind, is not the time for confrontation”, he
counselled, while also calling on all Ndigbos to come together to chart a
common cause.
From the legal point of view, Dr.
Tunji Abayomi, said there would be no nation if groups continue to make demands
that were not achievable, saying the ‘right to self-determination is not
a volunteered freedom. There is no
freedom that is not subjected to some form of limitation.’
Noting that no government is elected
to break Nigeria or to consent to breaking up Nigeria, Dr. Abayomi asked;
‘if you grant self determination to MASSOB, in what context will it
be?’
While describing MASSOB’s
agitation as a folly that is not based on any deep thinking, the lawyer
explained that the whole of the Eastern part of the country did not support the
agitation, saying that ‘self-determination is to have a territory and a
constituency that is subject to some authority.’
He observed that the plethora of
agitations in the country was a function of having too many clowns in the
government of this country, ‘otherwise MASSOB should be engaging in
serious adventures such as politicking on how to send ‘our children to
school, improve agriculture, and pursue legislation that will make housing
affordable to the mass of the people among others.’
As a nation, he said, Nigerians needed to do a little bit
more reflection on the country.
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