The Biafra Within: It is Time for Ndi Igbo to Move Forwards

By Ebuka Onyekwelu

Fifty years after the Nigerian-Biafran Civil war, many Igbo people of Nigeria are yet to get over the psychological damage suffered from the devastation of that war. Although by sheer courage and enterprise, Ndi-Igbo have been able to rise from the ruins of the war, and have gone ahead in many respects with enormous success in academia, commerce and industry, much to the chagrin of the entire world. Rising from the shackles of about three years war against a stronger Nigerian side, is only a testament to the ingenuity, dexterity and tenacity of the Igbo man.

Despite these successes, the Igbo nation has remained traumatized evidenced in its disposition, pattern of response to national issues and reluctance, weariness even, towards strategic positioning for utmost benefit from the Nigeria project. The Igbo nation has a main place in the Nigerian scheme; a position it nearly fully occupied pre civil war days which sharply contrasts against today’s reality and this is without prejudice to the feelings of marginalization and victimization which forms the underpinning support to the emergence of pro Biafra groups, since Nigeria’s 4th republic.

The fact of this matter is that the Igbo nation’s dream can be realized in Nigeria, with or without Nigerian federal government’s assistance. But because the political imagination of the Igbo nation has shrunk and apparently not as open to innovations on governmental issues as it once was, and as such not ready for new attitudes that will make it distinguished within the context of its political marriage with Nigeria, a pattern that does not favour the Igbo has persisted. The Southeast predominantly inhabited by Igbo suffer major infrastructure deficit, which has been sustained through very poor leadership by no other but the Southeast leaders themselves. In fact, the storyline that blames southeast’s infrastructure deficit on Nigerian government alone, only but tends to fan the embers of crooked leadership in the southeast, who, arising from the foregoing, ride on such narrative to continue to deny the people the quality of governance they deserve and demand through diverse agitations. Indeed agitations in the southeast must be construed also as clear signs of government’s failure. Matter of fact is, government has failed Igbo people, not just Nigerian government but also the state governments and this failure is at the foundation of Biafra protestations.

A conjuncture of civil war fatality and devastation, and the apparent government malfunction in perpetuity, laced with malfeasance; Igbo people of southeast Nigeria have been unrelenting in their war time hostility and paranoid, and these further damages any glimpse of hope at the Igbo galvanizing and leveraging on its vast material and human resources to reclaim its lost stake or redefine the prevailing order of leadership in the region.

Biafra offers some hope on the basis of a promise or an assumption, that the republic holds something more honourable for the people. Yet, the republic of Biafra really is not necessarily a geographical area that needs political sovereignty to achieve set goals. Instead, Biafra represents a state of responsible and responsive leadership, of respect for the dignity and rights of man, where people live free with absolute confidence in their government and without fear or uncertainty. This is the Biafra people are clamoring for, right from pre civil war times.

Nonetheless, many people have remained completely oblivion that the just and fair system ingrained in Biafra’s DNA as it were, is achievable under the Nigeria arrangement. The import of this is that rather than hold southeast governors to account or for these agitations steadily provoked by crass government ineptitude to prioritize good governance virtues and creed in the region, so that an oasis of superior and high-quality governance is consciously created; indeed a Biafran template of what government ought to be. Instead, these agitations use propaganda lacking depth, stratagem, and serious intellectual content to drive the people farther away from realizing their full potentials within. What we have is mere noisemaking with no concrete impact or implication on the scheme of things, to reposition the southeast for its best and glorious days. At best a gratuitous fixation on Biafra as a geographical area. All these further escalate the perception of danger as well as increased intolerance on both sides.

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Many have become false alarmist with an inclination to supposed populist posturing which does not help ndi Igbo. To buttress even further, Igbo nation is the most itinerant nation in Nigeria; travelling within and outside Nigeria the more than others. In most northern cities, there are thousands of Igbo people living in those cities.

Most of these northern cities also have what they called Sabon Gari to accommodate Igbo people and the Igbo have turned these Sabon Gari into cities of their own rights within northern states. In comparison, what is obtainable down the southeast is called ama Hausa; an otherwise filthy and disorganized self emergent Hausa quarters in make-shift shanties. Wouldn’t a better approach in which southeast government maps out living quarters for northerners, be the panacea to the fears of insecurity associated with frequent migration of northerners into the southeast? With this, government can easily have and keep records of visitors; this will also add revenue to government coffers. An incontrovertible fact is that ama Hausa possess incredible danger to security of lives and properties and are highly unsustainable. What southeast governments must do is to plan and characterize these movements that are often received with utter uneasiness so that it can be regulated, that way; it becomes easier to fish out any trouble maker.

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Nevertheless, one must accept that it is not clear how the Igbo will receive any attempt by government to put things in order in this regard, considering the profundity of misinformation. The apprehension is nearly electrifying. Fear and trepidation have gripped many Igbo people much so that the sight of cow and herdsmen can keep sleep away from people’s eyes. Nimbo herdsmen attack is still fresh in the hearts of the people. But beyond that, the mistrust and pogrom of the civil war is still taking its toll on the psyche of Igbo people who live in continuous panic of possible attack at any time.

But then again, after these years of apprehension, fright and retreat, the Igbo nation must now act and conduct its activities more strategically. Inclusiveness must now be embedded as part of the Igbo nation’s conceptualization of the path to a progressive future, moving forward. There should be more deliberate effort to promote inclusive attitudes across the southeast. Importantly, more attention must be paid to political leadership in the region and agitations by the people must be channeled to placing demands on southeast governments to provide strong governance. Agitations must in fact be directed at nothing other than possible replacement of non performing leaders throughout the zone. Tangible results are unassailable and beyond reproach and that should be the central focus.

With good leadership; pace setting leadership, intense cooperation and synergy in the southeast, strengthened with inclusive policies, leveraging on its material and human capital, the southeast will not only attract the entire Nigeria, it will set the tempo and template for economic and social transformation throughout Nigeria and Africa. But to get there, ndi Igbo must leave behind the psychological shock of the Biafra war.