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Who leads
Biafra Nation in 2004?
By ’Maro
Awhofawhori
On October 18,
2003, a non-profit organisation, the Biafra Foundation, hosted an
international conference in Maryland, USA, which attracted elites
from the Igbo ethnic stock, South East, Nigeria, from home and abroad.
The conference also had in attendance, the leaders of the Movement
for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB),
and the Pan-Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohaneze. The Igbo National
Assembly, the Igbo World Congress and Aka Ikenga, similarly had
representatives. Key note addresses and papers were delivered by
leading Igbo academics and others, regarded, as part of the Igbo
Intellegensia. Top most among the decisions reached by the conference
was that a government in exile within six months if Nigeria’s Federal
Government fails to convene a forum for the ethnic nationalities
in the country to negotiate the continued basis for their stay under
a single entity. Governors of the South-Eastern states of Abia,
Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo as well as their agents were also
warned to desist from molesting members of the frontline revolutionary
group known as MASSOB. Above all, the Nigerian State was asked to
guarantee the safety of MASSOB leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike whose
life is said to be under threat by government agents.
Following the
notice that a government in exile may be formed in the event that
a conference of ethnic nationalities is not convened in six months,
beginning from October, we can authoritatively reveal that plans
are on to ensure that the ultimatum does not translate to an empty
threat. Consequently, one may not have to wait beyond the six months
before the government in exile is formed. Already, names of top
Igbo sons and daughters are being bandied about as likely appointees
in the proposed government.More importantly,the race for who will
become the Biafran president has also started. The expectation is
that with the establishment of the said government, a new zest would
have been injected in the battle to create a separate republic from
what today constitutes the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Why government
in exile In 1993, the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (M.K.O.)
Abiola won Nigeria’s presidential election on the platform of the
defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP). However, the results were
annulled by ex-military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida
(IBB). The option that faced the opposition was whether to get Abiola
to declare himself president or to form a government in exile. He
opted for the former.
But, it turned
out to be a costly mistake as Abiola was subsequently arrested,
detained, and died in the cell while fighting to actualise his mandate.
It is therefore instructive that participants at the Biafran Conference
opted for a government in exile. However, several issues may have
made the call for a government in exile desirable, beyond the safety
consideration. Reports of continued attack on Igbos have been a
source of concern to Pan-Igbo groups and others in the diaspora.
This is because each time there is a crisis in any part of the country,
the Igbos are always first targets, irrespective of whether they
were part of the conflict that resulted in a fraca. Similarly, the
dearth of relevant social infrastructure in the South East had tended
to give the impression that there is an official policy to keep
them perpetually marginalised. What with the inability of the zone
to produce a president, 43 years after Nigeria’s independence. Relatedly,
the reaction of the state to MASSOB activists has not helped matters.
Unlike the South West based militant Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC),
Uwazuruike’s group is demonised and hunted by security agents. Apart
from threats of extra-judicial killing, MASSOB activists face long
stay in police cells, often cramped into dungeons where hardened
criminals are kept. Again, the feeling of being treated as second
class citizens re-echoes. However, the performance of the All Progressive
Grand Alliance (APGA) in the April 19, 2003 presidential elections
has further buoyed agitations for autonomy and self-rule among Igbos.
From relative obscurity, the APGA, which was the ralling point for
the emergence of an Igbo presidency, dusted other well known political
parties to be rated third by the federal government controlled Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC). Of course, there are credible
evidences pointing to the fact that APGA won the governorship in
Anambra, Imo and Enugu states.
The Ikemba Nnewi,
Chief Odimegwu Ojukwu, the APGA presidential candidate is presently
in court seeking to invalidate President Obasanjo’s victory at the
April polls. The cummulative effect of all these is a renewed consciousness,
coupled with the desire to ensure that an Igbo man assumes control
of his destiny in an entity like Biafra, where there is guarantee
that the group would not be barred from the corridors of power.
After all, there is no way a Hausa/Fulani or Yoruba could dominate
the Igbo in a Biafran republic. Beside, recent revelations of distortions
in Nigeria’s history and the need to correct them has made the need
for a structure like a government in exile imperative. For example,
the impression had been sold to the world that the 1966 military
coup was targeted at the Hausa/Fulani oligarchy, simply because
majority of the officers involved in that putsch were Igbos. However,
it has become known that even though the officers were predominantly
Igbo, their mission was to install Chief Obafemi Awolowo, a Yoruba,
as executive president of Nigeria. Nothing is said to the fact that
it was the then Lt. Col. Odimegwu Ojukwu who, foiled the coup attempt.
Neither was it made public that the same Ojukwu was opposed to Col.
Yakubu Gowon succeeding General Aguiyi Ironsi, who was killed in
a counter-coup, on the ground that he (Gowon) was not the most senior
officer in the army at that time. Ojukwu reportedly opted for a
Yoruba who was clearly Gowon’s senior on the ground that military
hierachy should be followed in all respects.
The need to
present Igbo history from the correct perspective and to consolidate
on the gains made in other fronts, we learnt , made the government
in exile, a viable option. Such gains include the Biafra House in
Washington D.C., USA, the Voice of Biafra, the Biafran national
anthem and flag, Commissioning of maps delienating the socio-political
order of Biafra, e.t.c. Perhaps, of less political significance,
but of historical importance was the sudden death of former senate
president, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo who until his death was the vice presidential
candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). Again, the Igbo
elites were said to have expressed anger, after it was suggested
that Okadigbo was teargased to death. The theory was further expanded
by ex-presidential aspirant, Dr. Nnia Nwodo who claimed that there
was a plot to exterminate notable Igbo sons to make the emergence
of an Igbo president an impossibility. Of course, it is not surprising
that those who believe that there is an official policy of seeking
to annihilate the Igbo race are in the forefront of the move to
enthrone a government in exile. Top contenders for the presidency
Even though participants at the Maryland conference in America are
agreed that a broad based government should be formed, of key importance
is the question of who heads that administration.
Who heads the
interim government in exile? Investigations showed that certain
prominent names have been mentioned as likely contenders for the
top job. They include Chief Odimegwu Ojukwu, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Chief
Ralph Uwazuruike, Chief Chekwas Okorie, Chief Rochas Okorocha, Dr
Phillip Emeagwali, among others. It would seem as though the leadership
of the Biafra Foundation that pioneered the Maryland conference
is favourably disposed to an Ojukwu presidency. Indeed, they hold
the former warlord in high esteem, so much that he was invited to
commission the Biafra House on September 29, 2001. The fact that
the Nigerian government sponsored INEC could recognise Ojukwu’s
worth by conceding the third position to him in the presidential
polls has further helped to raise the concept of his invincibility.
It is therefore logical to say that Ojukwu would be the natural
choice of delegates to the next conference where the decision to
appoint the government in exile would be taken. However, it may
be worthwhile to consider other extraneous issues that may encumber
Ojukwu’s ability to take the job. For one, it would mean that he
had resolved to forgo his stay in Nigeria and return once again
to exile. With this would also come a resolve to take up the gauntlet
from where he stopped in 1969 when the Nigeria-Biafra war ended.
What of the anticipated persecution and possible threat to his life
by the Nigerian government? He may also want to reason whether his
stay in the country would not be of a greater value, at least until
such a time when the battle may have been won.
Additionally,
it is doubtful if the Ikemba would be willing to lead such a revolution
at 70, considering the dictates that would be associated with such
an office. The case of Dr Ekwueme is of tremendous interest. He
is till date, the only Igboman to have been elected vice president
of the country. Even though Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe was IBB’s number
two man, it is right to indicate that his position derived from
concessions made a military clique desperate to consolidate its
hold on power. This explains why it was easy for Ukiwe to be replaced
without anyone batting the eyelid when he sought to challenge the
military oligarchy. Yet, Ekwueme’s profile has continued to nosedive
in spite of his imposing academic and political profile. His decision
to contest for the presidency a second time on the platform of the
ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) further dealt him a hard blow.
But, there are those who believe that he has the acumen, sagacity
and intellect to lead the interim government in exile. The only
snag is that the former veepee is not likely to be disposed to going
into exile for any assignment, no matter how important it may be
to his kinsmen. The fact that he is very quick to balk under political
pressure also make Ekwueme undesirable for the job, more so when
he cannot be counted among the frontliners of Igbo cause. As for
Chief Uwazuruike, he is definitely a first choice of the rank and
file of those agitating for a Biafran republic. His resilience and
doggedness, they believe, stands him in a good stead. A lawyer with
a revolutionary spirit, he is also refered to as the Biafran spirit
having helped in reviving the feeling of oneness among Igbos and
stirred desire for self-determination as well. But, there also those
who believe that the Uwazuruike myth may be destroyed once he allows
himself to be goaded into taking the top job right now.
The feeling
is that it may be better for him to remain at the background, helping
to put the necessary structures in place, while preparing for the
presidency, after the Biafran dream might have become a reality.
On the other hand, many people are surprised at the height that
Chief Okorie has climbed within a short time. The APGA national
chairman made a name when he told the world that his party would
adopt Ojukwu as its presidential candidate, disregarding any pretences
to a national ethos. For him, it was the turn of the Igbos to produce
the presidency and nobody more eminently qualified than Ojukwu for
the job. Because of the accuracy of his prediction, and the vindication
that came for APGA with the party’s performance at the polls, Okorie’s
rating instantly shot up. It is on account of his rather bold and
courageous stance that the APGA boss is considered fit for the job.
However, there are fears that he does not possess the necessary
clout to propel a government in exile towards achieving the set
objectives.
Beyond Nigeria,
whoelse does Okorie know to engage in the vital diplomatise associated
with the job? Of course, mention of Okorocha elicits mixed feelings.
Here was a young man sufficiently endowed with a passion to help
the masses. Since his foray into politics, the Imo born former presidential
aspirant of the ANPP has endeared himself to the Igbos at home and
in the diaspora, doling scholarships, empowering the unemployed
and widows through soft loans, and providing a vital link between
the older generation and the young elites that are thirsty for power.
Indeed, many have argued that the official rigging associated with
the last ANPP convention where the party’s flagbearer was chosen,
went the way it did because of the orchestrated plot to stop him.
Sadly, Okorocha’s decision to accept a presidential adviser’s job
from Obasanjo put paid to any hope that he could be considered to
head the government in exile. Definitely, no one would want to nominate
a man regarded as being inordinately ambitious. Without any doubt,
the man that could be regarded as best suited for the job is Emeagwali.
This renowned and internationally recognised professor of computer
science has blazed a trail, perhaps only comparable to the computer
giants, Bill Gates and Tony Allen. Since coming into limelight,
Emeagwali has made conscious efforts to plough back some of his
resources to free his people of the Igbo race from the clutches
of poverty, extreme deprivation and political obfuscation. He has
also committed huge resources into ensuring that a data bank on
Biafra is on the internet for the propagation of the philosophy
and to create greater awareness about what it is all about.
For a man who
chose to identify with his kith and kin, not for political gains,
he is seen as a professional motivated by altruistic purposes. But,
it is yet to be seen how he would react to an offer of presidency
of Biafra. Would he take the offer? The fear is that he may turn
down the offer, having not possibly prepared himself for public
office. In which case, he may be content in his role as financier
and intellectual motivator of the Biafra Foundation.
By and large,
it may be safe to conjecture that Ojukwu, Uwazuruike and Emeagwali
are top gunners for the presidency of the government in exile of
the republic of Biafra. But, the coming days would determine which
of them would emerge victorious, even though analysts would want
to caution that the job is not a tea party.
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