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Ojukwu may
head Biafra - Uwazuruike
By: ’Maro
Awhofawhori
Call him an
irridentist if you like, But Chief Ralph Uwazurike, the leader of
the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra
(MASSOB) is a very angry man, propelled by the desire to have his
people freed from years of perceived marginalisation and extreme
deprivation. He believes that the only way that the South East,
indeed Igbos, can be truly free is for the creation of a separate
republic from the entity called Nigeria. Against the backdrop of
recent calls for the establishment of a government in exile to run
the proposed Biafra Republic, Uwazuruike, a lawyer, in an exclusive
interview insists that the only credible candidate for the plum
job of interim president is former warlord, Chief Emeka Ojukwu.
But, he is circumspect
if Ojukwu, who led the insurrection against the Nigerian government
in 1966, leading to the formation of the breakaway Biafra Republic,
would be willing to take up the gauntlet a second time. Mean time,
the MASSOB boss, who is also the president of the United States
based Biafra Foundation insists that there is no going back on the
resolve to establish the daid republic. Reason? "There is no government
in Nigeria". He also says the proposed government in exile would
help in opening up greater vistas for the Igbos, who he noted, are
daily been confined to second place in the entity called Nigeria.
Excerpts: Motivation for joining the struggle Injustice against
Easterners and the Igbo race in particular. You know I am not a
politician. Even if I was to be a politician, it will definitely
not be in Nigeria, because majority of Nigerian politicians are
dishonest. They use the platform of the masses to climb to power
and as soon as they get there, they push off the ladder, so I wouldn’t
want to behave like them. I don’t have any interest in joining any
political party to pursue my agenda, because, politicians are not
people that can be relied on.
They are unreliable.
Difficulty of the struggle Of course, I anticipated that the struggle
would be very difficult. I went into the struggle conscious of what
to expect. Before doing so, I spent ten years in India studying
about Mahatma Gandhi. I read about the correctness of the struggle
that I decided to do something about it. I am not totally surprised
at the reception of the state to what we are doing because I know
you don’t get freedom on a platter of gold. That was the same point
echoed by President George W. Bush when he came to Nigeria. True
freedom goes with sacrifices, and it is only through sacrifices
that freedom can endure. Nigeria today is suffering because we got
our so-called independence on a platter of gold. That’s why there
is no cohesion. That’s why there is no agenda or unity in the country.
That’s why today, you see ethnicity instead of national agenda.
There was no principle that can be referred to as the basis for
the anti-colonial struggle. What we had was the Sardauna of Sokoto,
Sir Ahmadu Bello, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.
These people
were only championing the course of their ethnic group. Nobody was
talking about Nigeria. What we heard was North, East and West and
not Nigeria. If we got independence on the platform of national
unity, there would be no talk of Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba. All of us
would be talking about Nigeria as Americans talk about America.
Response from the Igbos The response from the majority of Igbos
has been very tremendous. But, we have a vocal minority that is
serving the Abuja oligarchy. They are the people who own newspapers,
the media set-up and are the fore-front of those saying that Uwazuruike
should be killed. However, I am joyed by the fact that 90 percent
of the masses are of the struggle. They want Biafra at all means.
Today, which is Sunday, is perhaps my less busy day. But, it would
interest you to know that I have had meetings with about seven groups
today. People have come from all over Nigeria. They are also meeting
in all parts of the country. All because of the MASSOB philosophy.
Almost everyone is in support, except for a few contractors whose
livelihood depends on the continued existence of Nigeria. They use
their media network to frustrate what we are doing.
But they know
that we are on the ground. The problem with Nigeria The Nigerian
State is essentially sick because there was no agenda ab initio.
Lord Luggard in 1914 simply brought the Northern and Southern protectorates
together in the interest of Britain. There was no intention of establishing
a country. The independence secured from the colonialists did not
meet with any identifiable or streamlined agenda. At least, before
I establish a joint business with you, there ought to be an article
of association and a memorandum of understanding. This was not done
when Nigeria was formed. There was no time we jointly agreed that
we want to be an independent State. Representatives of the ethnic
groups never came together to say that we want to stay together
and outlined the basis of the union. What we have done so far is
like trying to build a house of cards. Because, it lacked foundation,
there is no doubt that the system would collapse like a pack of
cards. There was no meeting of the minds. War against Igbos not
over The idea of the war was forced on the Igbos. The war was fought
because of the degeneration of the Nigerian State — the decaying
system. Independence was got in 1960 and the war started in 1966.
Igbos noticed a crack in the wall of unity that was erected in 1960
and decided to do something about it. After the war, we also noticed
that the factors that led to it in the first place are still there.
And there is no way Nigeria can stand.
The only viable
option is for the ethnic nationalities to become a republic. There
is no way Igbo and Yoruba can be the same. There is no way the Hausa—who
are fanatical can be the same with the Igbo. It is not workable.
We are only trying to ramify, to patch what has already collapsed.
Imagine, you go to the North and your arms are amputated, you are
beheaded and they say you cannot contest elections where you grew
up and live, yet you talk of one Nigeria. It is simply not workable.
What is the basis of our so-called unity when no Igbo man can become
governor of Lagos State, despite our population? We are only trying
to confuse ourselves. We are only living in delusion. Because one
side is benefitting over the other, they want us to accept it so.
They are trying to put up structures that are not tenable and call
it one Nigeria. Truth always over rides falsehood. Lies don’t last.
Since Nigeria is existing on lies, it would surely collapse. Nigeria
would definitely crumble once the people realise that they are being
deceived. Police clash with MASSOB activists The police is part
of the Nigerian system. The force is grounded on ethnicity. It is
the same thing with the armed forces – grounded on ethnicity. So,
who are the police and the army? Northern oligarchy. What interests
are they protecting? Of course, Northern interests. You talk of
Biafra and the Hausas are afraid. They are afraid because they are
benefitting from the oil that is in our back yards.
They know that
once Biafra comes into existence, they would lose the opportunity
of continued access to the oil. It is understandable that the Inspector
General of Police (IGP), Alhaji Tafa Balogun is doing everything
possible to undermine the polity. That is the problem that he has.
The police under Balogun has killed several of our members. So many
of them have been killed secretly. There are also many others in
the dungeon — police cells, without our knowledge. What the police
do as soon as they see MASSOB members is to whisk them away and
inflict all sort of atrocities on them. But, we are not deterred.
Ohaneze has derailed When you have a group of people with different
characters and objective, it is bound to fail. You can imagine what
happened when Ohanaeze came up with the agenda of an Igbo presidency.
The chairman of the political committee of Ohaneze instead was campaigning
for Obasanjo. That’s to tell you the divergent of interests. Definitely,
the president of Ohaneze, Justice Eze Ozobu is a fine gentleman,
and, he was the genuine interest of Igbos.
But you have
other chieftains of the group who have sworn to remain slaves of
the North and they cannot make any headway unless they attach themselves
to one ethnic group or the other. They are always working anti-clockwise.
Most chieftains of Ohaneze are there to pursue selfish interests.
They do not have the interests of Ndigbo at heart. So you can say
that the president of Ohaneze only have people who are out to feed
their family, instead of thinking of the larger interest of the
people. Threat to form a government in exile It is not a threat.
What we have said is that beginning from October, if Obasanjo fails
to convene a conference of ethnic nationalities within six months,
that we will form a government in exile. We are ready to form a
government that will run concurrently with that in Nigeria. You
see, there is hostility in Nigeria. This is not a civilised state
because of the kind of policies and governments that we have. What
we have in Nigeria is an ethnic government.
The army and
police are also ethnic based. That’s why the option of government
in exile is desirable. Do you know how many members of MASSOB have
been killed, even though we are non-violent? Then think of what
may happen if we decide to form a parallel government within the
country. They would finish us. But, a government in exile would
help us relate better to the rest of the world. Ojukwu to lead government
in exile? So many top Igbo leaders attended the conference in the
United States where the ultimatum was given. Even some of those
in Obasanjo’s government who believe in the cause of Biafra were
in attendance. You will be surprised to see those who would be part
of the government in exile when it is formed. It may be premature
to say that the government in exile will be headed by Ojukwu. But,
when you talk of Biafra, the first person you remember is Ojukwu.
As a matter of fact, no matter what he is doing today — campaigning
for Nigerian presidency —is only temporal. I essentially see him
as the president of Biafra.
Biafra is his
baby, and as long as he lives, he remains the father. Each day I
wake up, I see Ojukwu as my president. I think he is into Nigerian
politics because he wants the interest of the East to be protected.
Otherwise, Ojukwu is a grass-rooted person who behaves in what his
people want, and what they want is Biafra. Ojukwu is like Nelson
Mandela. If he wants to be president of Biafra who can stop him?
That will be our joy. That will be God sent if he accepts the position.
Performance of South East Governors I am not satisfied with the
performance of the South-East Governors. In any case, have they
told you that they are there in the interest of anybody? Who voted
them into office? Did they not rig to get to power? The system in
Nigeria is very bad, very corrupt. Did you not read of how Governor
Udenwa of Imo State allegedly gave money to some appeal court judges
to obtain judgement? That’s to tell you how corrupt the system is.
The political parties are corrupt, the judiciary is also corrupt
and the executive is not exempted from the same corruption.
The national
assembly is not different either. It was Transparency International
that said Nigeria is the second most corrupt country in the world.
But I think Nigeria should be number one. I don’t see any country
more corrupt than Nigeria in the world. Reaction to abduction saga
in Anambra Why should I react? I already told you that I have no
serious interests on issues concerning Nigeria. When you talk of
Anambra, I think that state should not be isolated. The entire East
is occupied territory. That is why we are considering forming a
government in exile. There was no election in the entire South East
and South-South. It was just allocation of votes that they refered
to as election.
People who never
contested election were declared winners. It’s really funny. What
happened in Anambra is only a reflection of the voting pattern in
the state. The so-called abduction of Dr. Chris Ngige (the governor)
is a reflection of the inner crisis among those who stole the peoples
mandate. Those who rigged felt it was best to remove the man for
whom they rigged. Imagine, the president had to be co-opted by those
who sponsored the rigging to carry out the plan. It’s a dance of
shame that took place in Anambra and those involved should hide
their faces. Why should I talk about nonsense? Nigerian leadership
is nonsense, the governors are no different, all nonsense. They
are thieves who shamelessly stole the mandate of the people. It
is not something I should bother myself with. Assessment of Obasanjo’s
government I find it absurd to be asked to asses Obasanjo’s government.
Is there a government in Nigeria? Which government? Go and ask the
masses whether they are happy with Obasanjo and his satanic policies.
If I give an assessment, people will not be surprised, knowing that
it is coming from Chief Uwazuruike. As far as I am concerned, the
presidency of Nigeria was stolen on April 19, 2003.
The election
was fraudulent. In law, you don’t build something on nothing. You
can’t say you are president when there was no election. What happened
was a shameful act and if Obsanjo was honest, he should have resigned
as a result of the perfidy and mass rigging that took place in the
elections.
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