Introduction: It
is globally established that the primary responsibility of a sovereign state
encompasses the protection, security or safety of lives and properties and
creation of the right atmosphere where economic, social activities thrive. Decline
or complete absence of such prerequisites by acts of commission or omission implies
the sovereign state is inching towards a failed state. For clarity, a ‘’failed or
failing state’’, refers to ‘’a political entity or nation in which the
government is inept at living up to the basic tasks of a sovereign State, is on
the verge of losing or has already lost political authority, control’’. Some of
the unmistakable characteristics of a failing/failed sovereign state include very
weak institutions, culture of impunity, gross human right abuses, absence of
rule of law, unprecedented and entrenched corruption, incessant strife and
instability, geometrical depreciation in security, safety of lives and
properties, liberty and the standard of living.
In
one of his recent pieces of writing published sometime in February 2016 titled:
‘’Nigeria Is
Coming Apart at the Seams’’, Historian and Writer, Mr. Max Siollun inter alia postulates that, ‘’at best, a revitalized Biafran secessionist movement will
lead to mass bloodshed. At worst, it will trigger the country's unraveling’’. It appears history have a way of
repeating itself. On the downside, events relapse when an evil day is postponed
or when the symptom of a disease is hastily treated as against fixing the
causative agent(s). The first attempt by Biafra (Eastern region of Nigeria) to
secede from Nigeria resulted in the Nigerian civil war which lasted 1967-170. Millions
of lives were lost and the mission failed. Fifty six years later, the Biafran
project refuses to fizzle out. Fast-forward to 2016, an air of uncertainty,
frenzy beclouds Nigeria given the resurgence for secession by the ilks of the
Independent People of Biafra (IPOB), the Movement for the Actualization of the
Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Biafra Zionist Movement (BZM). Fifty years
after Mr. Isaac
Jasper Adaka Boro formed the secessionist Ijaw Volunteer Force and proclaimed the
Niger Delta Republic during the Kaiama Declaration of February 23, 1966,
battling Federal forces for twelve days before he was reined in by the Major
General Aguiyi-Ironsi’s regime, another dire militia – the Niger Delta Avengers
is threading the same path. Quickly bring to mind that the Niger Delta Republic
secession bid (1966) preceded the Biafran attempt led by Chukwuemeka Odumegwu
Ojukwu in 1967. Apart from the Niger Delta and Biafra, it is on record that Northern
Nigeria pioneered this secessionist hue and cry in the 1950/60s while Pan-Yoruba
group - Afenifere also ostentatiously bandied a secession grumble a while ago.
Recall
that in addition to his perceived integrity and
anticorruption demeanor, one other factor that favored President Buhari’s
ascendance to power during the 2015 presidential election was the impression
that his military background puts in him in good standing to fix the multidimensional
security challenges bedeviling Nigeria. However, save the largely localized,
pushed-back but resilient Boko haram insurgency, other national security
threats in Nigeria such as resurgence of secessionist agitation and militancy, sporadic
herdsmen attacks, armed banditry, kidnapping for ransom and extortion (KRE), amongst
others, are proliferating.
The international community is watching the renewed secession
agitation with keen interest. A recent
article on Canada’s Financial
Post says: ‘’Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with 180 million
people, and its largest economy with a US$1.1 trillion GDP, is imploding’’.
According to the Financial Post article, ‘’Nigeria’s cure will start when the historical
boundary cavalierly drawn on a map by Britain’s colonial masters dissolves’’.
Objective:
In a prelude to this essay titled: Niger
Delta Avengers And The Relapse To Militancy in Nigeria’s Niger Delta;
Connecting The Dots, this writer considerably analyzed
the regress to militancy in the Niger Delta as evidenced by the rampaging
attacks, bombing of crude oil and gas facilities by the Niger Delta Avengers. Current
essay looks at the broader picture. Starting with some hard questions and
progressing to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Movement for the
Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) angle. This essay will also
chronicle and dissect the potpourri militias that have joined the bandwagon. Some
of the remote and immediate fault lines that fan the embers of instability,
secession and implications will also be discussed and solutions proffered.
The Root of Secessionist Clamour: Is Nigeria Really ‘One Nigeria’?
It is common to hear some fanatical, hegemonic oligarchs who are currently
on top of the food chain or have benefitted and continue to harvest bountifully
from the status quo, ceaselessly proclaim this ‘One Nigeria’ mantra. Decades
after playing the Ostrich, rekindled quest for Biafra and rising militancy in
the Niger Delta is forcing a debate on restructuring in Nigeria. President
Buhari was recently quoted as saying, ‘’it would be better for the entire
country to commit mass suicide than to allow the breakup of Nigeria’’. Is Mr.
President the only one that is not cognizant of the level of detachment,
discontent and fragmentation in the country he leads? Moving on…
Answers
to the following question, some of which are paraphrased from my ‘’Much Ado
About ‘One Nigeria’’ essay will either attest to or refute the often bandied
‘One Nigeria’ construct. Can we say all Nigerian citizens feel as Nigerian as
other Nigerians from other parts of the country? For those who feel more
Nigerian than others, what could be responsible; because they have a good deal
from the current arrangement? If the dynamics are reversed and our uniting
force - crude oil resources were to be predominant in the North, are we going
to have ‘’One Nigeria” or practice the skewed federal system of government that
we currently have? Apart from sports (football) and perhaps on the negative, permeating
corruption that cuts across tribes and religion, what else unites us? Despite
the stark cultural, religious differences, why is it been rammed down our
throat that the unity of Nigeria is non-negotiable? One of the valid grounds
for divorce in a marriage is ‘irreconcilable difference’. If a woman is tired
in a marriage, why force her to remain in the marriage? Some of our so-called
Statesmen are divorcees; they amicably parted ways with their estranged wives
so why do they see it as sacrilege, treason when folks ask for the terms and conditions
of Nigeria’s existence to be re-negotiated? Sometimes our leaders cast the
impression that Nigeria is tantamount to their automatic teller machines (ATM),
a prized asset they must protect at all cost? Are we really ‘’One Nigeria or we
are double-dealing ourselves?’’ Why are many Nigerian citizens, youths and
folks from some part of the country not as passionate about Nigeria as some
others? Born decades ago in the north to parents of Igbo extraction, can this
writer realistically aspire to be the governor of the northern state where he
was born? My children are born in Lagos, can they claim to be Lagosians or will
they rather be as Lagosian as a typical Osun state (Yoruba) indigene that is
also born in Lagos? Of course you can reverse the scenarios by substituting the
various ethnic groups into the equation. So much for ‘One Nigeria’ and
supremacy of the Nigerian Constitution, as recently as May 2016, an Igbo woman –
Mrs. Bridget Patience Agbaheme, a Christian was beheaded by an angry mob in
Kano over alleged blasphemy, in broad day light. Prior to this, another Igbo
man, a Christian, Mr. Gideon Akaluka, was also beheaded in Kano over alleged
blasphemy sometime in December 1995.
Ever
come across the fierce tantrums, ethnic jingoism, unfeigned and mutual hatred conveyed
online amongst Nigerians courtesy of internet and social media anonymity? Say a
Nigerian is appointed to a position, commits a crime here in Nigeria or abroad and
it goes viral online, the first thing trolls a.k.a Name Checkers Association of
Nigeria (NCAN) does, is to establish the ethnicity of the Nigerian. Before you
say jack, chauvinism and jibes ensue. If such dispositions reflect how we see
or feel about one another, then the veracity of the much touted ‘’One Nigeria’’
mantra is highly suspicious. When Dr. Goodluck Jonathan held sway as President,
not many folks from the North openly condemned or castigated the Boko Haram
insurgency. Someone allegedly reasoned that an attack on Boko Haram is an
attack on the North. Similar scenario is playing out in the South-South and the
South-East where a good number of folks are taciturn; they either covertly or
overtly relish the bombardment of crude oil and gas installations by the Niger
Delta Avengers or clamour for secession by the Niger Delta Avengers, the IPOB,
MASSOB, amongst others. On the other hand, many Northerners are undaunted, vociferous
in affirming in Hausa language -‘na mu ne’, (their own), President Buhari. Does
this portend a united country? Without mincing words, we all know that Nigeria
is not yet a nation but one country peopled by many nations. We can still have
a ‘united’ country called Nigeria if we amicably work out the terms and
conditions of our existence other than a skewed federal system of government
that foists unprecedented power in the hands of one man ensconced at Abuja. The
tribal, religious permutation, political brinkmanship, underground maneuvers that
predate the election of the President of Nigeria and the griping cries of marginalization,
quest for resource control which ensues thereafter, are largely responsible for
the recurring instability in Nigeria. The tension was so high that Nigeria
almost came to a halt preparatory to the 2015 general election. Undoubtedly, it
would have been bloody if President Buhari was ripped off or outplayed.
Going
back to memory lane, the South-Westerners, Yorubas felt cheated when General
Babangida annulled the June 12 presidential election tenably won by Chief MKO
Abiola. Pro-democracy groups such as NADECO (National Democratic Coalition),
MAD (Movement for the Advancement of Democracy) led by one Mallam Jerry Yusuff,
Campaign for Democracy (CD), amongst others, started agitating. Demonstrations,
riots, bombings ensued in the Lagos or South-West axis. There was an exodus of
non-Yoruba speaking folks – Igbos etc. who started moving back to their states
of origin. At the peak of the turmoil, on October 25, 1993, four young members
of the Movement for the Advancement of Democracy (MAD) namely Richard Ajibola
Ogunderu, Kabir Adenuga, Bennet Oluwadaisi, and Kenny Rasaq-Lawal hijacked a
Lagos-Abuja bound Nigeria Airways plane which was later diverted to Niger
Republic. While the splurge of violence lasted in the South-West, other parts
of the country simply moved on since Chief MKO Abiola, a Yoruba man was not one
of theirs. The abovementioned scenarios were highlighted the apparent fault
lines and to buttress the fact that parts of Nigeria have felt screwed, marginalized at one point
or the other and have gone to extremes to show discontent. With Obasanjo’s
presidency, Ernest Shonekan interregnum and the vice presidency of Yemi
Osinbanjo, the South-West seem sufficiently appeased and sees no need to rock
the boat.
The Renewed Clamour For
Biafran Independence
One hundred years after the southern and northern protectorates of
the present day Nigeria were forcefully amalgamated by the British in
furtherance of their self-interest, 56 years after Nigeria gained independence
from Britain, and 46 years after the Nigeria-Biafra Civil war, the
centrifugal forces at play in Nigeria continue to outweigh the centripetal
forces. Salient issues that led to
the first military coup, the counter coup and subsequently the 1967-1970 Civil
war in Nigeria remain up in the air. In one of his essays,
this writer argued that the quest for self-determination or independence is a
global phenomenon. From Scotland to Quebec, to Catalonia, to Western Sahara,
the story is the same. Writer also argues inter alia, that bravado will not suffocate agitation for Biafra or
secession by other ethnic groups and that superior argument and reason is
important in resolving the thorny issue of secession.
Just
a while ago, Mr. Ralph Uwazuruike’s led Movement for the Actualization of the
Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) was the lone voice in the wilderness angling
for the balkanization and carving out the republic of Biafra from the present
day Nigeria. Other secessionist groups such Nnamdi Kanu led Indigenous People
of Biafra (IPOB), Biafra Zionist Movement (BZM) are bent on realizing the
Republic of Biafra, an unfinished business which late Chief Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu Ojukwu unsuccessfully tried to accomplish during the 1967-1970 civil
war.
In
his essay: Nigeria
is coming apart at the seams, Mr. Max Siollun queries, ‘’Why is the southeast once again considering secession when
the region’s last attempt resulted in such horrendous suffering?’’ He provides
an answer, saying, ‘’For three decades after the [Nigerian civil] war, military
dictatorships suppressed all secessionist talk, leaving Igbos to wonder
silently about what might have been. But after the country transitioned to
democracy in 1999, latent separatist inclinations began to resurface once
again. The resurgence of the Biafran secessionist movement is symptomatic of a
much deeper problem with the Nigerian state. The federal government’s chokehold
on states and ethnic groups is fueling multiple demands for autonomy and the
right to manage resources at a local level — demands that could ultimately lead
to a fracturing of the country. A deep disillusionment with the Nigerian
government also lies at the heart of the Biafran dream of independence. Igbos
have long felt marginalized and excluded from economic and political power by
the Hausa-Fulani and Yoruba ethnic groups, which have dominated national
politics and the bureaucracy since 1970. Many Igbos believe that the federal
government (and their fellow Nigerians) have never forgiven them for seceding
in 1967, and have discriminated against them ever since. Younger Igbos born after the civil war tend
to be more militant about Biafra in 2016 than their parents and grandparents,
whose memories bear scars from the previous attempt at secession.
The Niger Delta Avengers secession angle and proliferation of
militancy in the Niger Delta will be discussed in the sequel to this essay.
Click on this link read the concluding part of this essay
Click on this link read the concluding part of this essay
Written
by:
© Don Okereke
(Security
Junkie/Analyst/Consultant, Ex-serviceman, Writer)
Follow
me on Twitter: @DonOkereke
June,
2016
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