By SKC Ogbonnia
\nOctober 8, 2019.<\/p>\n
The recent harassment or detention of human rights activist, Dr. Chido
\nOnumah, by state agents is not only a sign that Nigeria is drifting
\ntowards full-blown dictatorship, the incident also goes to expose the
\nhypocrisy of Nigerian leaders. Onumah\u2019s crime, according to the state
\nagents, is that he was wearing a t-shirt with the inscription: “WE ARE
\nALL BIAFRANS”, being the tittle of his best-selling book.<\/p>\n
In the book, Onumah analyzed the myriad of challenges facing Nigeria, to
\nposit that \u201cthe different manifestation of Biafra may well be a
\nmetaphor and, to that extent, we are all Biafrans as long as we seek to
\nconfront the clear and present danger.\u201d The book, of course, had been
\nlaunched since 2016, with the Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo, and a
\nnumber of government officials gleefully in attendance.<\/p>\n
Therefore, Onumah\u2019s ordeal is nothing but a growing sense of
\nintolerance or, rather, what Wole Soyinka referred to as an
\n\u201cunprecedented level of paranoia\u201d being witnessed in the current
\nregime, while he was condemning the unwarranted detention of another
\nactivist, the Nigeria\u2019s foremost anti-corruption crusader, Omoyele
\nSowore.<\/p>\n
Biafra re-emerged as a hot topic since a group from the eastern section
\nof Nigeria, under the aegis of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB),
\nheightened its demand for freedom from Nigeria, not long after Muhammadu
\nBuhari assumed democratic power. Central to their grouse is a history of
\nbad leadership in the Africa\u2019s most naturally endowed nation. Instead
\nof dialogue, as in the case of other recent insurgents in the country,
\nthe Buhari regime not only clamped down on the Biafran activists with
\nbrute force, it also branded them \u201cterrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n
Interestingly, however, as Onumah had long professed, all Nigerians have
\nbecome Biafrans, by consequence. This view is consistent with an ardent
\nadmonition by the venerable Balarabe Musa, which holds that the
\nperennial tendency to ignore the social challenges in the Biafran area
\nis tantamount to ignoring the Nigerian future. Today, most of the
\nproblems enumerated by IPOB for its agitation, including acute poverty,
\nmassive corruption, injustice, kidnapping, lawlessness and lack of free
\nspeech are now being felt by the generality of Nigerians.<\/p>\n
A perspective by the Afrobeat Prince, Seun Anikulapo Kuti, is profoundly
\ninstructive. In a recent interview, Kuti inferred that, like the Biafran
\nagitators, every Nigerian actually wants freedom from the country, due
\nto the worsening state of affairs. To nail the point, he asserted that
\nthe entire citizenry would not hesitate to \u201cescape\u201d from Nigeria, if
\nthe international community dares to leave its border wide open. And
\nKuti was on point! Today, there is mass exodus of Nigerians to both
\nricher and poorer countries, and they never hesitate to dump their
\nNigerian passports to acquire the citizenship of their host countries.
\nSome are even willing to embrace the harsh conditions in immigration
\njails in the foreign land as more hopeful than the situation in our
\nnative land.<\/p>\n
No person has demonstrated more fancy for freedom from Nigeria and its
\nfailing amenities than the country\u2019s president, Muhammadu Buhari. For
\nexample, though Nigeria has its own assortment of holiday resorts,
\nBuhari is always in hurry to vacation abroad. Though the country has a
\nnational hospital building, which can be equipped to an international
\nstandard within six months\u2014to also serve other Nigerians, President
\nBuhari readily opts for foreign clinics. Instead of Nigerian higher
\ninstitutions, he prefers foreign schools for his children. Instead of
\npromoting made-in-Nigeria automobiles, which can help spur employment
\nopportunities for the teaming youths, the country\u2019s president uses
\nonly foreign cars. Needless to mention that, to him, rule of law in the
\ncountry no longer means a thing.<\/p>\n
But Muhammadu Buhari is not alone.<\/p>\n
Other Nigerian leaders are equally guilty. In short, the sole reason
\nthey still associate themselves with the country is the unhindered
\nopportunity to loot the resources needed to sustain their affluent
\nlifestyles abroad. The worst is that these Nigerian leaders stash the
\nlooted funds in foreign banks, at the cruel expense of the masses. Only
\npeople who despise the citizenship of their country exhibit such
\npatterns.<\/p>\n
Even if the Nigerian leaders somehow happen to love the country, besides
\nits money, the phobia with Biafra is insincere. Progressive nations
\nwitness calls for secession from time to time, especially where some
\ngroups feel oppressed. What matters is how the leaders address such
\ndemands. Moreover, the history of secession in Nigeria did not begin
\nwith Buhari or Biafra nor will end with Biafra or Buhari. Groups,
\nparticularly, Oduduwa, Arewa, and Niger Delta had at one time or another
\nthreatened secession from the country. Yet, such terms have not been
\ndeleted from the human history. The truth is that Biafra has come to
\nrepresent a people. Its agitation has come to serve as a threat to the
\ngross misrule in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
At the same time, while the calls for equitable and just government
\ndeserve every commendation, outright secession is not the panacea to the
\nproblems; after all, the leaders of Biafran descent themselves,
\nincluding governors and legislators, have not been able to show the
\ndesired example within their states. Yet, the current approach where
\nanything associated with the term Biafra is disparaged with impunity
\nonly goes to grow the agitation. As Senator Ben Bruce once appealed at
\nthe floor of National Assembly, the dictatorial attempt to efface Biafra
\nor its history is far from the solution.<\/p>\n
The solution is an equitable, visionary and dynamic leader, who has the
\nzeal, the competencies and capacity to unleash the abundant potential of
\nNigeria to greatness. The solution is a true democracy where government
\ncan thrive through inclusiveness, free speech, and dialogue.<\/p>\n
SKC Ogbonnia writes from Ugbo, Enugu State, Nigeria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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