Biafra: Call for caution

Since the arrest of Mr Nnamdi Kanu, the Director of
pirate, foreign-based Radio Biafra, youths have been
staging daily protests for his release in many cities of the
South East and South-South. The agitators, under the
platforms of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) and
the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State
of Biafra (MASSOB) are also calling for the granting of
their demand for a separate country called Biafra.
Though the demonstrations have remained peaceful, they
appear to be gathering traction, as more and more youths
are joining, with the risk that matters could boil over and
threaten the peace and stability of the country.
We call on all concerned to exercise caution and ensure
that we do not get into yet another security mess. The
country has just recovered from the militancy in the Niger
Delta, which ended when the government of the late
President Umaru Yar’ Adua packaged a comprehensive
amnesty deal for repentant militants. We are yet to fully
overcome the threat to the stability of the country posed
by the Boko Haram Islamist terrorists in northern Nigeria.
We cannot afford to add to it another uprising, this time
from the South East.
We call on the Biafra agitators to jettison the idea of
compromising the unity and territorial integrity of Nigeria.
Igbo leaders should rein in their angry youth and
persuade them to seek solutions within the Nigerian
platform which belongs to all of us. The Biafra issue was
settled forty five years ago when the nation successfully
reasserted the indivisibility of Nigeria. We do not want a
re-enactment of that sad chapter which occasioned
massive loss of lives and property and brought untold
pain and misery to millions of our countrymen, women
and children.
We believe that the complaint of marginalisation, which is
often used to justify the call for secession, can be
addressed through the political process, good governance
and good leadership. The funny thing about the cry of
marginalisation is that virtually every group in the country
is complaining. This is why we have so many national and
constitutional conferences, in the last 38 years. Perhaps,
it is time for us to start implementing some of the
resolutions from these confabs to enhance greater citizen
participation in their own affairs.
We must devolve more political and economic power to
the people and ensure justice and fair play in the
distribution of the political and economic resources of the
country. We must eliminate all sources of injustice, create
more opportunities for the full employment of the youth
and make all Nigerians happy and proud of their country.
Nigeria must remain one united entity.