For several days in November, Onitsha, Aba and other major cities in the South East and South South were shut down by protesting members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who are seeking the actualisation of a Sovereign state of Biafra.
The protests continued up to December, as members of the group staged a protest in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.
The protesters were also demanding the release of their leader, Mr Nnamdi Kanu. Kanu, who is currently standing trial for alleged treason is being detained by the Department of State Security (DSS).
Although two courts have ordered his release, the security agency is still keeping him.
The protests,which shock the political landscape brought once again, the age-long cry of marginalization by the people of the South East zone, to the front burner of national discourse.
The campaign for the actualisation of Biafra, which had existed during the Nigeria civil war from 1967-1970, is not a new one.
The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra(MASSOB) had been at the head of the clamour since 1999, when the organisation was formed by Raph Uwazurike. In its 16 years history, MASSOB had had several protests geared towards attracting attention to its course. But the country has never seen anything like the current protests by members of IPOB.
Not a few believe that the renewed agitation is a fallout of the much talked about marginalisation of the South East zone.
The zone is said not to have gotten its fair share in the Nigerian. For instance, the South East is the only zone in the country that have only five states, against 6 states in the other zones and seven states in the North West.
This inequality in the number of states has had far reaching political and economic implication for the zone.
Analysts say one of the implications is that whereas other zones have 18 senators, with the North West having 21, the South East has only 15 senators. Same thing applies for any other appointments that is done on the basis on number of states in a zone. Even when appointment or anything is done in the country on the basis of the federal character principle, the zone never gets it favour share. On the economic angle, the zone get less resources from the federation account.
A former governor of Anambra State, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, lays the blame for the current agitation for the actualisation of a sovereign state of Biafra on the door-steps of President Muhammadu Buhari.
He told Daily Sun that President Buhari through his body language is pushing the Igbo nation out of Nigeria.
“Any time you beat somebody, the person is likely to cry. The South-East feels neglected and ignored. There are six principal political offices in the country as there are six geo-political zones. Each political zone should get one of those offices. They include the president, vice president, Senate president, chief justice, speaker and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and the least of them is the SGF”.
“. The body language of the president has confirmed so much hatred for the South-East and what you are seeing is a reaction to President Buhari and his governance.
“He is pushing the Igbo out of Nigeria by his actions. But I must say that every Igbo wants to be part of Nigeria. There are people like me who do not think only about Nigeria but the black man and God’s assignment for Nigeria.”
Like Ezeife, the President of the Igbo Youth Congress(IYC),Bright Ezeocha said that most of those currently involved in the current agitation were young persons who were not born during the civil war, but that what they see in the South East reminds them that a war was fought and the zone was defeated.
“They (agitators) did not witness the war. But when everyday, they are reminded that there was a war fought when they were not born and their people were conquered, they were humiliated. And this same people will walk round the Southeast seeing evidence of a conquered people. It calls for anger,” Ezeocha said.
The youth leader added: “Go to the South East, if you can paint a picture of a conquered people, that is the picture of the South East. Look at Onitsha-Enugu express road, is it motorable? Look at Onitsha-Owerri express road, before Ihiala, erosion is about to eat off part of the road. It is just like that.”
He said that the statement by President Buhari that areas where he got five per cent votes in the last general election, will get five per cent attention has increased the feeling of neglect by the people of the zone. The South East zone had voted massively for former President Goodluck Jonathan and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last general election.
However, senator representing Kaduna North senatorial zone, Kaduna state, Shehu Sani, alleges that the renewed agitation for the sovereign state of Biafra was being sponsored by pro-Jonathan forces.
According to him, their aim is to destroy the administration of President Buhari by igniting a national conflict, chaos and confusion in the country.
“The Biafra agitation is a new attempt to destroy the Muhammadu Buhari administration and to ignite a national conflict and cause chaos, pandemonium, confusion in the country. I see it as a plan B action of the pro-Jonathan forces, who lost election in the 2015 national elections. I will also say that the agitation is not reflective of the generality of the interest of the Igbo people of the south-east,” he said.
Second republic governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Baralebe Musa disagrees. He told Daily Sun in a telephone interview that the “careless” decision to exclude the South East from President Buhari’s kitchen is the key factor responsible for renewed agitation for a sovereign state of Biafra.
“The main issue is the marginalisation and the failure of the President to appoint anybody from the area to his kitchen cabinet. It was that careless atitude to exclude the Igbo from Buhari’s kitchen cabinet that is fueling the agitation. There was a promise that the South East would be compensated. But when the ministers were appointed, we didn’t see any compensation.
“What do you think would have happened if either the core North or the South west were excluded from the kitchen cabinet?,” the former governor queried.
However, The Convener of the Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms, (CODER) Chief Ayo Opadokun, said secession is not a solution to the alleged marginalisation of South East, noting that marginalisation is a national problem.
“What the Igbo people are agitating for is a national problem. Young Niger Delta people are complaining of the same issue. I have been involved in reconciliation efforts between the Yoruba and the Igbo race and so far, what we need is good leadership and how to achieve true federalism,” he reportedly said in a recent interview with a national daily.
Ezeocha says the way forward is for the federal government to speedily address the marginalisation of the South East as way of taking the sail off the agitators. According to him: “Any nation which takes freedom, equality, equity, justice and fairness for granted must brace up for the manner of challenges confronting ours at the moment.”
Musa said the marginalisation of the South East needs to be corrected immediately especially in the area in the number of states in the zone. The second republic governor wants additional state created in the South East as a matter of urgency.
He said since revenue allocation to each geo-political is based on the number of states in the zone, the South East would always feel cheated as the zone has the least number of states in the country.
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