–By SKC Ogbonnia<\/p>\n
October 18, 2017<\/p>\n
Nnamdi Kanu of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has been declared wanted
\nfor not showing up in court. That is normal. But if the truth is told, the
\nmain culprit for the Biafran crisis are the politicians\u2014not Kanu. The
\nauthorities should be knocking at the doors of the seven Nigerian
\ngovernors of Igbo extraction, namely: Nyesom Ezenwo Wike (Rivers); Ifeanyi
\nOkowa (Delta); Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu); Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia); Rochas
\nOkorocha (Imo); Willie Obiano (Anambra); and David Umahi (Ebonyi). These
\ngovernors, one after the other, openly inflamed and fueled the Biafran
\ncrisis to a sadistic state. Given that Nigerian governors are immune from
\nprosecution, it is incumbent upon the masses to send them packing.<\/p>\n
For sure, the history will not forgive President Muhammadu Buhari for his
\nmulish leadership in the current Biafran crisis. But the role of the
\nPeoples Democratic Party (PDP) is obviously worse. Then in fervent fear of
\nthe probable consequences for their corrupt deeds post-Jonathan regime,
\nthe leaders of PDP from the East unleashed a montage of separatist
\npropaganda against the incoming Buhari government. The following innuendo
\nfrom Nyesom Wike in the waning days of his governorship campaign in 2015
\nsays it all:<\/p>\n
\u201cI will lead a war against them (Nigeria) like Ojukwu. Am not joking, I
\nknow am on air, and I am warning them now. Any attempt to rob us the way
\nthey rob our brother (GEJ) the battle will start from Rivers State. We
\nwill remain opposition state like Lagos. In fact, we from the South-South
\nand South-East we remain in PDP. We leave the South-West and North to run
\nAPC. That is how they tactically shared the Country. And we will not
\nallow them use our resources to develop their States\u2026I want all
\nSouth-South and South-East to remember this…\u201d<\/p>\n
The youth from the area have since answered Wike\u2019s call, and that is your
\nBiafra. Today, after gaining power and obviously still panting, thanks to
\nthe Buhari anti-corruption phobia, Mr. Wike is interestingly grandstanding
\nas an arrow-head of Biafran opposition. Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta
\nState is, of course, guilty of similar shenanigans, but the shaming detail
\ndoes not need to be retold here. Instead, see my piece: \u201cBiafra and
\nCorruption: When a Judas Becomes a Muhammad\u201d.<\/p>\n
But the most shameless yet is the activity of the five stooges who operate
\nunder the aegis of South-East Governors Forum. From the time President
\nBuhari polluted the Nigerian electoral history with his infamous gaffe to
\nmarginalize the states that did not vote for him in 2015 elections, these
\ngovernors wasted no time to inundate the polity with harrowing tales of
\ninjustice towards the Igbo. The propaganda was widely insurgent. Even
\nGovernor Rochas Okorocha, a fellow member of Buhari\u2019s party, had the moxie
\nto make the statement that follows:\u00a0 The Igbo \u201chave nothing to show that
\nwe are part of the Nigerian project; neither do we have any sense of
\nbelonging in the present government at the national level.\u201d<\/p>\n
This perceived marginalization, not surprisingly, escalated the Biafran
\nagitation to a global proportion. More poignantly, the situation drove
\nPresident Buhari to naively join a group of Igbo governors to declare
\nmillions of innocent Nigerians agitating for Biafra worldwide as
\nterrorists, thereby further damaging the image of the country worldwide.<\/p>\n
The quagmire above is nothing compared to what you are about to read below.<\/p>\n
With the damage already done, Buhari decided to do what he had refused to
\ndo from the start: Dialogue. The date was Friday October 13, 2017. The
\nvenue was the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The attendees were the president
\nhimself and South-East politicians, controlled by their governors. And the
\nworld waited anxiously.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The \u2018wise men\u2019 from the East finally emerged from the meeting. To the
\nchagrin of a mopping society, the South-East governors had done a complete
\nU-turn, saluting General Buhari as the fairest and most equitable leader.
\nFor avoidance of doubt, here are the exact words of David Umahi–the
\nspokesperson for Southeast Governors Forum–to President Buhari: \u201cYou have
\nno hatred for any state. You have treated all states with equality. What
\none state gets in the north, the other gets in the south.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, what changed before the face-to-face meeting with President Buhari?
\nWhat of the well-chronicled lopsided appointments? What about the fact
\nthere is no Igbo man or woman in the leadership of the nation\u2019s security
\napparatus? What of the recent postings in NNPC that drew the attention of
\nan elder statesman like Edwin Clarke to write Mr. Buhari to reverse for
\nthe simple reason that the Igbo are marginalized? What about the hoopla
\nthat Buhari treated the Fulani herdsmen and the Arewa Youth of the Quit
\nNotice jazz with kid gloves while blowing the Biafran agitators with iron
\nhand? What changed?<\/p>\n
The simplest answer is that we, the Nigerian masses, are not fools. These
\nIgbo governors, all of whom are the ground goons of the Nigeria\u2019s corrupt
\noligarchy, have been exploiting the Biafran crisis to a selfish end. The
\naftereffect of this mass deceit has been grave. Many lives as well as
\nbusinesses were lost, nationhood questioned, and democracy betrayed. More,
\nwith Boko Haram terrorism in the North, and the Biafran terrorism now
\nbeing promoted in the South, Nigeria might have inadvertently acclaimed
\nherself as a terrorist nation. But there must be consequences for bad
\nbehaviour. Thusly, instead of the teetering threat of election boycott by
\nIPOB, the masses must rise to ensure that none of these Igbo governors
\nreturns to power, starting from the forthcoming Anambra election in
\nNovember. Please.<\/p>\n