Research & Public Affairs Analyst, RALPH ANYACHO offers a blueprint for IPOB’s action on the road to the Promised Land of Biafra.
When, in about 2013, that Nnamdi Kanu began broadcasting online via a spectrum he called Radio Biafra, not many had the premonition that today there will be a phenomenon known as the ESN.
Not many expected that a whole Igbo nation would be encapsulated in fear of the unknown gunmen who are keeping the usually boisterous Igbo population away from their daily means of livelihood.
Not many knew that order will be issued by a non state actor that election should not be held in Anambra State and are enforcing it to the consternation of the State government that appears helpless.
Not many would have expected that hoodlums would snuff life out of a high profile personality, whose every day life on earth means service and upliftment of mankind.
It is possible that at this point in the analysis, many, especially the adherents of IPOB and followers of Nnamdi Kanu, will begin with their stock in trade, which is raining of abuses on anybody who has an opinion slightly different from their group viewpoint or mindset. But I know that it’s only the truth that can give us salvation.
There is no question that I am a Biafran-100 per cent. But my approach to Biafra is different from Nnamdi Kanu and his IPOB’s. What’s the difference between Kanu’s approach and mine.? I hope the IPOBIANS will hold their curse and listen.
- Nnamdi Kanu did not secure a buy in to his ideas from Igbo leadership: opinion leaders, industry leaders, traditional leaders, the religious, the “ana enwe obodo enwes“. ( Sunday Igboho didn’t make this mistake). The effect was that nobody took him serious in his project.
- There were so many untruths and deceptions in the Nnamdi Kanu approach. Many were told untrue stories about the date the new nation would be a reality. Many were told lies about progress being made, persons, bodies met and they believed in them. Many were promised positions in the new nation that would soon be announced by the UN and they believed and their followership received a reinforcement. How would a reasonable person accept and lend his support, knowing that a lot of the propositions are beclouded in fallacy?
- Nnamdi Kanu has not weighed the implication of all Igbos being ordered to return to their homeland if that becomes part of the independence package. Yes, this can happen because Nigeria will make everything difficult for the undesired new nation.
How would Kanu handle relocation logistics? What jobs will he offer to many whose jobs would be terminated by recalcitrant Nigeria? Will he sort out public servants and their entitlements and how? What of properties of Igbos scattered in nooks and crannies of Nigeria which the Nigerian government would frustrate them into abandoning?
In economic terms, how many industries are operating in the South East and how many of the new returnees will find jobs in them?. How many farm estates are available to offer employment to our brothers and sisters who will be returning to their father land in the new independent nation?
Road to Biafra Promised Land and IPOB’s diversion
I was a child during the civil war. There was no food to eat. The more the war dislocated and displaced the population in the cities, the more pressure the rural areas received. We lived in a rural area and my father was a trader and farmer. He had a large ban. The large ban did not survive pressure from refugees who came in groups and in turns to ask for food, shelter and water. My father wouldn’t say no, because saying so means giving consent to deaths. This is why the more elderly Igbos urge the youth to excercise caution.
I had promised my idea of a Biafra struggle.
- My own Biafra will make consultations and pay attention to opinions because nationhood is not an individuàl’s matter.
- I will secure the buy in of groups and their leaders. It will become an “ohazurumee” rather than a group of youths who lack skills in nationalism struggle lining up ready to rain abuses on any one who gives a contrary opinion.
- Engage in diplomacy. Reach out to neighbours for support. Throttle the globe to secure recognitioñ and trade
- Do a blue print of what the new nation would look like and the kind of government to run.
- Give a time frame for activities: this period the economic foundation of the new nation would be laid.
May I ask, which of these check list has Kanu and IPOB done?
Our quest for new nation must not push the Igbo to a mass suicide. We must not be held hostage by a group of people who act on emotion rather than reason. Our youths are acting on emotion. This is why they indulge in abuses rather than engage in intellectual discourse. This is why they will pickup arms as against dialogue.
A situation where they force citizens indoors when the people should be doing their daily struggle is not in the best interest of Biafra. Igbos are not known for blood letting. This may be reason that God treats us like his own people when we are troubled.
Finally, let’s restrategize the struggle to avoid pain and ruination of our own nation.
Road to Biafra Promised Land and IPOB’s diversion
Author
