“To answer the Igbo question is to answer the Nigerian question, the emancipation of the Igbo is the emancipation of all citizens from inequality and injustice”.–Prof Nimi Wariboko
Nnamdi Kanu the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, who had been on the run from Nigerian authorities for about four years after jumping bail in 2017, was rearrested last Sunday. In this article Ike Obi and Gabriel Udeh examines the activities of the separatist agitator within the context of the Igbo question in Nigeria. After nearly four years of jumping bail, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, was arrested under questionable circumstances and extradited to Nigeria recently. Daybreaknews recalls that for several years while residing in the United Kingdom, Nnamdi Kanu was a torn on the flesh of the Nigerian government as he doled out propaganda daily attacking the Federal Government through his Radio Biafra and social media. He used Radio Biafra, a registered radio station in the UK, to propagate his separatist agenda and to attack anyone who stood on his way including South East leaders. Operating from London, his words were law and dutifully obeyed by his followers. Only recently he shut down the South East when he announced a seat at home order to commorate Biafra Day. Notably the angst of, IPOB supporters, against the Federal Government have always been against Igbo marginalization, inequitable resource distribution, lack of Igbo representation at the centre and heavy military presence in the South-East among others. IPOB gained significant government and media attention as a result of frequent and forcefull crackdown on its members through military operations. The clashes between the IPOB members and security agents had led to deaths, destruction and apprehension in the South-East. On Sunday 27 June the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), announced that Kanu had been rearrested.The IPOB leader was subsequently charged to court again and remanded in the custody of the DSS.His rearrest and subsequent detention raises fresh questions about the Igbo nation, their age old agitation for Biafra and place or otherwise in the Nigerian federation.The ghost of the Civil War has refused to go away and the IPOB leader has come to represent an ideology in the views of many South Eastern Leaders who identify with the course of Nnamdi Kanu but may not necessary agree with his methods. speaking with our correspondent, some analysts aired their views about the Igbo question and offered a way out to the Federal Government. Reasoning that the Igbo question equates to the Nigerian question, Nimi Wariboko a professor of economics at Boston University believes that the country has not set up an enabling environment which permits all citizens to realise their potential”The Igbo question is the whole question about Nigeria. The Igbo question is not only an ethnic question, but it is also the metonymy of the Nigerian question” .In his submission ” to answer the Igbo question is to answer the Nigerian question, the emancipation of the Igbo is the emancipation of all citizens from inequality and injustice”. He said. He identified the Igbo question as a network of six fundamental issues that Nigeria has failed to adequately address, and the Igbos have become the poster face of them. “At the root of the Igbo problem are one, failure of the democratic principle of “rule and be ruled” in the governing of this nation; two, nature of politics that ultimately denies egalitarianism, but accents domination; three, absence of a proper definition of citizenship; four, absence of fairness and justice in every sphere of this nation; five, lack of a clear definition of the character of the autonomy and cooperation of the federating units in the republic, and six, aborted character of self-determining regional economic development, the freedom of the federating units to use their own God-given resources and talents to develop their own areas of abode without undue interference from the center”.He opined that the agitation of the South East and the rise of separatist groups not just in the South-East is a response to these six issues which can be adressed through restructing. Also weighing in on the issues a human rights activist, Gbenga Emmanuel reasoned that at the end of the Civil War in 1970 there were genuine attempt to reintegrate the Igbos into the mainstream of Nigerian politics. “This mainstreaming of the Igbos ensured that barely 10 years after the Civil War an Igbo man, Alex Ekweme was elected as the vice president of Nigeria” . “His election was the high point of the Gowon policy of no Victor no Vanguish. Today most of the gains of that policy has been lost” . He noted that since the dawn of the present democratic era the Igbos as one of the three major ethnic groups in the country have lost significant leverage. “After Azikiwe and Alex Ekwueme, the political influence of the Igbo has reduced, this has led to cries of marginalization and the rise of separatist movements in the South-East”.However Chioma Daniel a public affairs analyst believes the the inability of the Igbos to play a pivotal role in national politics is self inflicted. “With the return to democracy in 1999 the Igbos have not been able to put their house in order for a coordinated push to grab power at the centre. There have been pronounced disunity and infighting among the Igbos such that consensus has been lacking. Bad politics and divisiveness has ensured that they remain at the fringes of national political reckoning While the Husa Fulani and the Yorubas have schemed to dominate political power, the Igbos are lagging behind”. She believes that the South-East has failed to build consensus or produced consensus leadership that can contest for power at the Centre. She however reasoned that It is this atmosphere of a lack of leadership that has given rise to separatist agitations and the rise of characters like Nnamdi Kanu. “The pro-Biafra agitation was largejy supported by South Easterners because it drew attention to the marginalization of the zone. “The idea was to bring the Igbo question to the fore-front and many supported them, but along the line, it was clear the agitation became a personal business enterprise. The leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mr Nnamdi Kanu had a good cause but shot himself on the knee when he left the Igbo question to start addressing inconsequential ethnic issues, and then transformed himself into a god that his followers bowed down to kiss his feetIf Kanu had a good cause, he didn’t package it well”. She observed. In the views of Fredrick Nwanbufo, a newspaper columnist and public affairs analyst, “Kanu lost himself to hubris. He defied the elders; he spat on the leaders, ignored warnings and entreaties, made an enemy of associates, attacked critics, and unleashed his bloodhounds of hell on citizens and security agents in the South-East. He became defiant to reason. He became too powerful for himself. No man should wrestle with his Chi.”He noted that by inciting and allegedly sponsoring deadly attacks on citizens and security agents in the south-east – through the Eastern Security Network — he lost those sympathetic to the Biafra cause. Kanu lost the plot when he took up arms against the state. He lost whatever meaning to his agitation, which is not in the interest of the Igbo by the way, when he provoked bloody attacks against citizens in the south-east. He lost it there. The culminating incidents are a consequence of arrogance, lack of tact, irrationality, and ignorance on the part of Kanu. He however appealed to the federal government to ensure that due process is followed in the trial of Kanu. “Despite his offence, the government must be seen to be fair-handed and not punitive. Resorting to vengeful measures could provoke unintended reactions. There should be no room for arbitrariness. Let the law take its course. Let the court decide”
“To answer the Igbo question is to answer the Nigerian question, the emancipation of the Igbo is the emancipation of all citizens from inequality and injustice”.
–Prof Nimi Wariboko
Nnamdi Kanu the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, who had been on the run from Nigerian authorities for about four years after jumping bail in 2017, was rearrested last Sunday. In this article Ike Obi and Gabriel Udeh examines the activities of the separatist agitator within the context of the Igbo question in Nigeria.
After nearly four years of jumping bail, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, was arrested under questionable circumstances and extradited to Nigeria recently.
Daybreaknews recalls that for several years while residing in the United Kingdom, Nnamdi Kanu was a torn on the flesh of the Nigerian government as he doled out propaganda daily attacking the Federal Government through his Radio Biafra and social media.
He used Radio Biafra, a registered radio station in the UK, to propagate his separatist agenda and to attack anyone who stood on his way including South East leaders.
Operating from London, his words were law and dutifully obeyed by his followers. Only recently he shut down the South East when he announced a seat at home order to commorate Biafra Day.
Notably the angst of, IPOB supporters, against the Federal Government have always been against Igbo marginalization, inequitable resource distribution, lack of Igbo representation at the centre and heavy military presence in the South-East among others.
IPOB gained significant government and media attention as a result of frequent and forcefull crackdown on its members through military operations.
The clashes between the IPOB members and security agents had led to deaths, destruction and apprehension in the South-East.
On Sunday 27 June the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), announced that Kanu had been rearrested.
The IPOB leader was subsequently charged to court again and remanded in the custody of the DSS.
His rearrest and subsequent detention raises fresh questions about the Igbo nation, their age old agitation for Biafra and place or otherwise in the Nigerian federation.
The ghost of the Civil War has refused to go away and the IPOB leader has come to represent an ideology in the views of many South Eastern Leaders who identify with the course of Nnamdi Kanu but may not necessary agree with his methods.
speaking with our correspondent, some analysts aired their views about the Igbo question and offered a way out to the Federal Government.
Reasoning that the Igbo question equates to the Nigerian question,
Nimi Wariboko a professor of economics at Boston University believes that the country has not set up an enabling environment which permits all citizens to realise their potential
“The Igbo question is the whole question about Nigeria. The Igbo question is not only an ethnic question, but it is also the metonymy of the Nigerian question” .
In his submission ” to answer the Igbo question is to answer the Nigerian question, the emancipation of the Igbo is the emancipation of all citizens from inequality and injustice”. He said.
He identified the Igbo question as a network of six fundamental issues that Nigeria has failed to adequately address, and the Igbos have become the poster face of them.
“At the root of the Igbo problem are one, failure of the democratic principle of “rule and be ruled” in the governing of this nation; two, nature of politics that ultimately denies egalitarianism, but accents domination; three, absence of a proper definition of citizenship; four, absence of fairness and justice in every sphere of this nation; five, lack of a clear definition of the character of the autonomy and cooperation of the federating units in the republic, and six, aborted character of self-determining regional economic development, the freedom of the federating units to use their own God-given resources and talents to develop their own areas of abode without undue interference from the center”.
He opined that the agitation of the South East and the rise of separatist groups not just in the South-East is a response to these six issues which can be adressed through restructing.
Also weighing in on the issues a human rights activist, Gbenga Emmanuel reasoned that at the end of the Civil War in 1970 there were genuine attempt to reintegrate the Igbos into the mainstream of Nigerian politics. “This mainstreaming of the Igbos ensured that barely 10 years after the Civil War an Igbo man, Alex Ekweme was elected as the vice president of Nigeria” .
“His election was the high point of the Gowon policy of no Victor no Vanguish.
Today most of the gains of that policy has been lost” .
He noted that since the dawn of the present democratic era the Igbos as one of the three major ethnic groups in the country have lost significant leverage.
“After Azikiwe and Alex Ekwueme, the political influence of the Igbo has reduced, this has led to cries of marginalization and the rise of separatist movements in the South-East”.
However Chioma Daniel a public affairs analyst believes the the inability of the Igbos to play a pivotal role in national politics is self inflicted.
“With the return to democracy in 1999 the Igbos have not been able to put their house in order for a coordinated push to grab power at the centre. There have been pronounced disunity and infighting among the Igbos such that consensus has been lacking.
Bad politics and divisiveness has ensured that they remain at the fringes of national political reckoning
While the Husa Fulani and the Yorubas have schemed to dominate political power, the Igbos are lagging behind”.
She believes that the South-East has failed to build consensus or produced consensus leadership that can contest for power at the Centre.
She however reasoned that It is this atmosphere of a lack of leadership that has given rise to separatist agitations and the rise of characters like Nnamdi Kanu.
“The pro-Biafra agitation was largejy supported by South Easterners because it drew attention to the marginalization of the zone.
“The idea was to bring the Igbo question to the fore-front and many supported them, but along the line, it was clear the agitation became a personal business enterprise. The leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mr Nnamdi Kanu had a good cause but shot himself on the knee when he left the Igbo question to start addressing inconsequential ethnic issues, and then transformed himself into a god that his followers bowed down to kiss his feet
If Kanu had a good cause, he didn’t package it well”. She observed.
In the views of Fredrick Nwanbufo, a newspaper columnist and public affairs analyst,
“Kanu lost himself to hubris. He defied the elders; he spat on the leaders, ignored warnings and entreaties, made an enemy of associates, attacked critics, and unleashed his bloodhounds of hell on citizens and security agents in the South-East. He became defiant to reason. He became too powerful for himself. No man should wrestle with his Chi.”
He noted that by inciting and allegedly sponsoring deadly attacks on citizens and security agents in the south-east – through the Eastern Security Network — he lost those sympathetic to the Biafra cause.
Kanu lost the plot when he took up arms against the state. He lost whatever meaning to his agitation, which is not in the interest of the Igbo by the way, when he provoked bloody attacks against citizens in the south-east. He lost it there.
The culminating incidents are a consequence of arrogance, lack of tact, irrationality, and ignorance on the part of Kanu.
He however appealed to the federal government to ensure that due process is followed in the trial of Kanu.
“Despite his offence, the government must be seen to be fair-handed and not punitive. Resorting to vengeful measures could provoke unintended reactions. There should be no room for arbitrariness. Let the law take its course. Let the court decide”
