Canticles...
Did you hear that President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the papers for the proclamation of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a terrorist organization? Really? So what will happen now to all the agitators asking for the Republic of Biafra?
They have to zip that thought forever. Nigeria cannot be fractionalized by people who do not even understand what life is. Henceforth anyone caught with all those IPOB insignia like Biafran flag, Biafran currency, Biafran passport, Biafran uniforms etc, will be heading to Gashua But they say they have the freedom for self determination
Yes, they do, but this must be expressed within the ambit of the law. Or does self determination mean having and bearing arms? Does it mean operating a parallel sovereignty within a sovereign entity? Does it mean having your own guards, your own secret service etc.? Does it mean constituting yourself into an arm of illegal government? What else is sedition?
Do they own and bear arms?
Are you asking me? With what were they attacking soldiers on the streets? Didn’t you hear a cache of arms was found in Nnamdi Kanu’s house? Who do you think is the importer of those arms being seized at the Tin Can ports every now and then? And to know those arms are coming from Turkey, the same country that seems to have some sympathy for IPOB. Or didn’t you hear that a certain Turkish “diplomat” was canvassing support for IPOB?
No, the Turkish embassy in Nigeria disowned that ‘Diplomat’ and restated its commitment to Nigeria’s unity.
Look, the proper process of declaring them (IPOB) as terrorist organization is now being followed and the Federal High court has declared it so.
So, why is the cart being put before the horse? Why didn’t they do this before declaring it a terrorist organization by the military? Why didn’t the same military declare the Fulani herdsmen a terrorist organisation given the avalanche of killings and crimes they have committed across the land?
Let me tell you, it is more than what you think. Did you not read that IPOB members worldwide stormed the United Nations General Assembly in New York protesting the killing of its members? Didn’t you hear the empathic words from the UN inviting IPOB for a meeting?
Don’t assume that the group will be suppressed and discarded just like that.
Hmm, you make me laugh. Ok. Let them protest in New York and also move on to Buckingham Palace, London. And even move on to other places. But let’s see where they will have that their Biafra nonsense, whether it is in New York or in Nigeria. The prisons are yet unfilled.
Leave those diplomatic issues. The government will deal with them all, including those funding IPOB from France and co., plus even the UK which has refused to shut down the illegal Biafra radio broadcasting from London.
How can I forget the diplomatic issues when that is the greatest anchor IPOB can bank on now? And was it not hypocritical for Mr President to be focusing on far-flung countries like Myamar, North Korea calling for dialogue and conciliatory moves whereas he is clamping down on IPOB at home. Is that not diplomatic hypocrisy?
The will of the people cannot be suppressed. Even if you succeed in gagging them now, it will resurge again at a later date.
You miss the point. Biafra is no licence to good life. Take it from me. What should be the focus is how to get Nigeria working again, so that our yesterday will not be better than our tomorrow. We should be concerned on how to bake a bigger national cake which will be equitably shared by all and sundry. That is why the advocacy should be towards restructuring the polity for equitable balancing and representation at all levels of government. No section of the country should be treated like second-class citizens. Every and all policies that support class and regional dichotomy should be abolished. Let the boy from Awkulobia feel as proud a Nigerian as a boy from Madagali. That is why the resounding anthem should be for restructuring and not Biafra agitation.
You talk as if it is that easy. Have you bothered to know who bakes the cake and who supervises the so-called sharing? Those are the issues. There is a notion that the Igbo will not get equity from the Nigerian state. It is like looking for fish in the rain forest. Fishes don’t live in forests. When there is a feeling and evidence of inequity like in the recent appointments in the NNPC where ten out of 15 appointments went to the north, three to the South south and two to the Southwest and none to the South east, one is left with the undeniable feeling of not being wanted in the Nigerian space. It is acts like that which fuel the separatist agitation. Or would you beat a child and forbid the child from crying?