The unending quest for the sovereign state of Biafra (1) vanguardnews
A protester brandishes a banner as he takes part in a demonstration in Durban, South Africa, on May 30, 2019 during a freedom march for Biafra held worldwide and organised by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.As an Igbo, I feel deeply about Biafra because, inter alia, although I was a toddler when hostilities broke out between Nigeria and the eastern region over fifty years ago it is impossible to erase completely the horrendous memories of that conflict.
Still, you do not have to be an Igbo or belong to the defunct eastern region to understand the significance of the very day that Lt. Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu declared the independence of Biafra from Nigeria. The new Biafran nation comprised the states in the present south-east and south-south geopolitical zones.
Now, British colonial administrators and prominent Nigerian politicians across the country during the nationalist agitation for independence knew that forging a truly united nation from the multiple ethnic nationalities of Nigeria was a very difficult task. The most formidable was how the north with its rustic conservative emirate system based on Islamic theocracy could be blended seamlessly with the largely variegated Christian communities in the south.
Unfortunately, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe played into the hands of both the British and the north by working hard to create a centralised Nigeria. Dr. Azikiwe’s naivety stemmed from two sources. One, he thought that given the meritorious preeminent position of Ndigbo in key areas of the new Nigeria, the people can hold their own in a united country where merit and excellence prevailed in public life and determined who gets what at all levels of governance.
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