Sometime in May 2014, I was at Lekki Beach, a place we like to call CLASS
OF WIZARDS or CLASS for short. It’s a place where young men and sometimes
women come to chill out and share ideas on every topic there is to
discuss.
On this day, one class member, Celestine seemed hyper happy. He kept
smiling for no apparent reason. This prompted the rest of the class to ask
what the happiness was about. Soon enough he began telling us about Radio
Biafra, gave us the dial and started telling us about a demonstration
scheduled for May 31, 2014. I calmly told him to relax on the pro-Biafra
enthusiasm as although that dream was not dead, it was quite far from
realization. I even placed a bet that the May 31 demonstration would be of
no national significance. I won the bet.
Soon after the 2015 election and I was in Enugu, one of my favourite
places to relax and I was having drinks with several young, enthusiastic
and politically conscious Nigerians with whom I started a non-political
movement – the Peoples Liberation Congress (PLC) – a movement seeking a
working Nigeria with the full involvement of the youth population.
We were having drinks and discussing several issues and the issue of the
late senator Chukwumerije came up, we compared his death to that of Oronto
Douglas and majority of us were of the opinion that the latter would be
remembered more than the aged former because he dedicated his life to a
humanitarian cause. At a point I stood up to get drinks for a member of
our movement who had just joined us. Just then I was stopped by a bearded
man who I must say bore a striking resemblance to the late Biafran leader,
Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu. He asked if I was an Igbo man, given that I
was wearing my trademark Yoruba native caps. I replied “Yes, abu’m nwa
Aba” meaning I am from Aba. He then showed me his phone, claiming he had
made some calls for us to be dealt with for insulting Chukwumerije in
Biafra. I then got into a discussion with this man, explaining certain
things.
The man later joined our table and introduced himself as a member of the
Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).
After several minutes, we took his contact and promised to be in touch. As
he left, we laughed over the fact that he was still thinking of Biafra
seceding via violence.
That discussion made me embark on more research about the Biafra movement.
I was to find out that the Radio Biafra my friend Celestine had told me
about had started gaining the attention of the public in the East. I
started asking random people I met in Enugu bars about what they felt
about the whole Biafra thing. Their response was divergent. Many wanted
Biafra, but a bloodless secession. Others wanted Biafra, and claimed to be
ready for bloodshed too. The rest did not even want to hear of Biafra
anymore.
Soon enough I was back in Lagos, although I had my ears on the activities
of Radio Biafra and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Enugu and
other parts of the east. From what I was told, the director and major
broadcaster of the pirate radio, Nnamdi Kanu was busy feeding his
listeners with hate speeches and vulgarity. I was also told that he was
spreading the propaganda of violence to his listeners. I have a problem
with this. I, for one have undertaken a long study of Adolf Hitler, who
led the most successful “tribe/race based” onslaught in history. One thing
I learnt from Hitler was the power of sustained propaganda. Even though
Hitler had violence as the means to carry out his plans, it is worthy to
note that he spent about 20 years spreading the propaganda of love for
“folk and fatherland.”
Now, Nnamdi Kanu has one of the most powerful propaganda medium ever –A
RADIO STATION. But in my opinion, he is not spreading the right
propaganda. Inciting people towards violence when you live in the UK and
hold British citizenship is not a true revolutionary move. At least that’s
not what I learnt from Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King and
Nelson Mandela, not even Hitler. These men all led their revolutions from
the front, not from a remote location. I insisted that if Nnamdi Kanu was
in anyway serious, he should leave the UK, return to Nigeria and say those
things he has been saying, so when he is picked up, his followers can
“Mandelarize” him.
Radio Biafra kept waxing strong until they caught the attention of the
Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government, who, in typical Buhari fashion
began a clamp down on the station and IPOB members.
In October 2015, I took a week to visit Enugu again. This time around, I
had IPOB and Biafra as one of the key reasons for this visit. Soon enough,
I had several meetings with members of IPOB. Some were planned while some
others happened by chance. We discussed at length, I needed to know the
direction the IPOB movement was going. From my findings, Kanu was still on
the same track. I was disappointed. But on the flip side, I was greatly
impressed.
I was impressed because he had succeeded in planting the idea of ending
this Royal Niger Company experiment, this Nigeria that has failed to live
up to a quarter of its potential, as a result of a host of factors,
including a host of factors (lol). I was impressed because Kanu had
succeeded in making people in the South East and South South realize that
there is a possibility for them to “leave.” This is okay, but I do not
agree with the propaganda that is foisting marginalization as its primary
argument and violence as its primary weapon. There is a greatly violent
marginalisation happening in the Middle Belt, but… let me hold that
thought for another day.
During my stay, I met with these IPOB people and I saw the enthusiasm they
had, but it was blind enthusiasm. They did not know the consequences of
such an unplanned, violence based secession. How not-so-good-an-idea such
a move would be from a diplomatic perspective. And by diplomatic, I mean
international relations.
More worrisome was the disdain the IPOB members and their sympathizers had
for MASSOB members and any Igbo indigene that refuses to tow their train
of thought. That is wrong, from a media perspective; it simply means your
propaganda is not sinking in. Anytime I tell any IPOB or MASSOB member
that I’m from Aba, they get angrier and I laugh some more. Aba is seen as
one of the strongest hold, if not the strongest hold of the Biafra
movement, but I’m not a fanatic person, I’m analytic biko.
Take the Buhari case as an example, I always ask people why they never saw
Buhari as this incorruptible saint in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 presidential
election? The answer is simple; a well-orchestrated propaganda was
stringed together within a couple of years which made it possible for him
to appear squeaky clean.
In addition to this, Radio Biafra and IPOB are not putting into
consideration the millions of Igbos and South South indigenes that are
living outside the “Biafran” territory. In plain English: Biafra is not a
topic of popular discussion in many, many places in Nigeria. Again, Let me
hold the thought I had… But Kanu needs to reach out if he knows what he is
doing… which I mostly doubt.
Going back to Lagos, my idea of the realisation of Biafra remained the
same: Biafra is a good idea, but Biafra is very far from being ready. I
told one pro-Biafran friend of mine, “If Biafra is actualized without
years of thorough planning, dem go fight the true true Biafra war within 6
months”
Not soon after I got back to Lagos, I heard that Nnamdi Kanu had returned
to Nigerian and was arrested. I swallowed saliva. Things just got
interesting!
As I write this, Kanu is yet to be released, I read that his bail
conditions are yet to be met or something of that nature. There have been
protests in Rivers, Delta, Enugu and Anambra states. There have also been
solidarity marches in several countries around the world. But to what end?
I have since told people to leave me out of the Biafra argument, for now.
Let us see how Kanu and his cohorts plan to use the event of his arrest to
the advantage of their cause. But, if I am to give Kanu just one advise,
only one… I will advise him to change the direction of the propaganda.
Kanu should imagine the kind of global support the IPOB movement would
have garnered if he had continually pushed for a referendum.
That’s the kind of thing that would sell without having to gain
unnecessary enemies in the international community before his dream is
even actualized. No smart revolutionary goes to public domain to solicit
multi-billion dollar funds to acquire weapons. I’ve listened to Kanu
several times on Radio Biafra and watched a few video clips. The young man
is smart. But not smart enough in my opinion. In every revolutionary
move, military tactics can never be overlooked. In fact, it is the most
important thing to put into consideration, but you do not bring it to the
front burner. It is left in the background while diplomatic strategies are
employed and explored to the fullest.
The wiser solution in my opinion is to go back to the drawing board and
begin pushing the idea of a referendum. A referendum will have a large
majority of people from Southern Nigeria voting in favour of secession.
In case Kanu is not aware, some Yoruba people are also getting very tired
of the Fulanis.
But, what do I know?
Ephraim Adiele is the Associate Editor of The Trent Online. He can be
reached by email: babarandom@gmail.com and Facebook:
www.facebook.com/tatafoboy
—
Adiele Ephraim O,
Associate Editor, The TrentOnline, Lagos Nigeria
(Nigeria’s Online Newspaper)
Twitter: @TheTrentOnline