“This
new nation called Nigeria should be an estate of our great grandfather Othman
Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly
prevent a change of power. We use the minorities in the north as willing tools
and the south as a conquered territory and never allow them to rule over us and
never allow them to have control over their future.”
– Sir Ahmadu Bello (Parrot Newspaper October 12, 1960).
– Sir Ahmadu Bello (Parrot Newspaper October 12, 1960).
| Director of Radio Biafra/Leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu in Court |
These were the words of
a supposedly nationalist; leader of the Northern Nigeria and Sarduna of Sokoto,
Sir Ahmadu Bello, just 12 days after Nigeria gained her independence from the
British colonial lords.
Does this sound like a country that truly wants to be ‘One’? I don't think so.
Does this sound like a country that truly wants to be ‘One’? I don't think so.
I wouldn’t want to go into the details of what has transpired in the entity called Nigeria since independence. It is a known fact that peace has eluded us and forging a common purpose of unity has been a mirage. Indeed a lot of books and articles have been written on the lack of cohesiveness and lattice bonding that exist amongst various ethnic nationalities in Nigeria, one of which is This House Has Fallen: Nigeria in Crisis written by an American journalist Karl Maier.
Even Chief Obafemi Awolowo warned in his first book Path to Nigeria Freedom (1947) that “Nigeria is not a nation. It is a mere geographical expression.”
There is no gain saying
that Nigeria is not one. It is on record that in March 2013, when Chinua
Achebe, Africa's foremost writer, died shortly after publishing his last book There Was a Country: A Personal History of
Biafra, nobody from the Hausa/Fulani and Yoruba stock attended the burial. Not even a representative. This was a burial that attracted
two sitting Head of States - then Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and John Mahama of
Ghana.
It seems like a conspiracy to boycott his burial. No reason was given for the massive boycott. But spectators believed that it might not be unconnected to Achebe's expose, in the book, of how Northerners and Chief Awolowo committed genocide against Biafrans during the civil war.
It seems like a conspiracy to boycott his burial. No reason was given for the massive boycott. But spectators believed that it might not be unconnected to Achebe's expose, in the book, of how Northerners and Chief Awolowo committed genocide against Biafrans during the civil war.
| Biafran Flag |
Today if the composition and structure of Nigeria trigger cries of marginalization by some ethnic groups, then President Buhari’s style of governance, which openly shows disdain for Igbos, inextricably complicated the situation. It is on this premise that Nnamdi Kanu’s idea of secession, which has been airing on Radio Biafra, over the years, was embraced by many, and the idea spread like wild fire by the people of old eastern region where Biafra once existed. Like a stick of match, lit and thrown into a bush during a harmattan season, the idea of secession has metamorphosed into a movement with its attendant protests and gradual revolution.
Mr Kanu, like Prophet
Daniel of old, understood that the desolation (captivity) of Biafrans by the
British-Nigeria governments should last for 100 years (Amalgamation period). It
would be recalled that in the bible, Daniel, “understood …that the desolation
of Jerusalem would last 70 years” (Daniel 9:2). Before then, Israel had been
conquered and taken into captivity by the Babylonian forces, and it was
divinely timed that their desolation or captivity would not last beyond 70
years. It took a man like Daniel to read and understand that their stipulated
time for freedom had already reached, and he stood up and fought for Israel
freedom through divine means. And God used him to restore the kingdom of Israel.
Likewise Nnamdi Kanu
has repeatedly told the British government to end the 1914 amalgamation of
Biafrans with Nigeria. The 100-year amalgamation was billed to expired 1st
January, 2014.
The
TB Joshua Angle
A popular Nigerian
prophet, T. B. Joshua, who is notable for his accurate predictions, had on July
14, 2013 warned Nigeria of an incoming great revolution. He revealed that at
the onset it will look like a protest but eventually it will snowball into a
revolution. In his own words:
“At the beginning of
that protest…I call it protest because at the beginning of every revolution it
looks like protests. It might be stopped at the beginning, eventually it will
become so big it cannot be stopped. This I see happen …I have said it. None of
this will go without being fulfilled. Read about me and my track record. This
is the voice of God.”
| Prophet T.B. Joshua |
Now, ever since Nnamdi
Kanu was arrested by the Department of State Security (DSS), there has been wide
protest in South East and parts of South South. The tempo of the protests is also
increasing gradually as the day goes by. And there are plans to further
mobilize more biafrans to enhance the formidability of the protest. The protesters
seized the opportunity to also call for the restoration of Biafra.
Therefore, it will not be surprising
to see Biafrans asking their God (Chukwuokike Abiama) the same questions that
the disciples of Jesus Christ had asked him when he was about to ascend to
heaven: “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel
(Biafra)?” (Acts 1:6), and He may answer them: “It is not for you to know the
times or dates the Father has set by His own authority.” (Acts 1:7).
However, it should be
noted that despite the delay from when the disciples asked Jesus the questions, the
Kingdom of Israel was later restored in 1948, after the Second World War. It
seems God used the years of Holocaust to bring back the Jews from around the
world.
Similarly, in 1967, the years of
pogrom of Igbos in the north helped in the return and creation of Biafra
Republic, Today, the incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu and killing of Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) members may be a catalyst for the return of Biafrans and restoration of the Kingdom of Biafra. Only time will tell.
Chike
Nnamani, a public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja Nigeria.
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