How The Biafrans Lost Me

Dr. Abdussamad Umar Jibia

Nigeria is 101 years old or is it 55? The story of Nigeria as we were told in school is that some white men called Britons came and overpowered our great grandparents to establish what they called Northern and southern protectorates. After sometime, specifically in 1914, the two protectorates were merged to form what is now called Nigeria. The country was given its name by the wife of one of her colonial masters who ruled her up to 1960 when it was declared independent. Independence meant the colonial masters will leave but all the structures they established including their language, their laws, Nigeria itself, etc. will remain unchanged. That is exactly what happened. Immediately they left there was a series of political crises that led to a self-declared secession by one of its constituent regions to form another country called Biafra. This led to a bloody thirty months civil war. The war began the year I was born and ended when I was still a baby. Thus, what I know about the Nigerian civil war and the crises that led to it is what I was told either by those who wrote on it or people who were there when it happened.

But right from my childhood, not any of the Nigerians who told me the story of Biafra found it easy. The questions I always asked were intimidating for any Nigerian nationalist. For example, what sin had Ojukwu and his people committed to warrant the reaction they got from Nigerians? If a wife who loved her husband at the time of marriage turns back one day and says she no longer loves the man and declares him an enemy, is it not in his own interest to part with her? Only a foolish man will be sleeping on the same bed with his enemy and calling her his wife. Now, what of if the marriage was imposed on them in the first place? The people who came to this part of the world and colonized us did not have our interest at heart. Their mission was to plunder our resources and reduce us to their perpetual slaves that we have become. That is why they did not consider our diversity before the 1914 amalgamation.

Another question I always asked was whether Ojukwu was interested in taking any part of the North or West along with him to form his new country or he was simply interested in going his way along with his own people. The answers I got were not convincing enough for me to hate Biafra. This is even more so after I read some of his speeches which did not indicate any desire on the part of the Biafrans to take any part of the Nigerian territory.

Now, did Ojukwu have the support of his people? The frank discussions I had with many Igbos later in my life showed that majority of the Igbos were with Ojukwu in the Biafran struggle. But if they were not sure, why did our leaders not organize a referendum? This is another question I have always asked. Or since Nigerians love religion, is there any portion of the Quran or Bible which says Nigeria as created by the British must continue to remain “a single indivisible entity” as the politicians always put it? Many questions without answers, and when you get the answers they are always funny.

Thus right from the beginning of my life I have always seen south easterners as a cheated people, a people forced to be the citizens of a country against their wish and all that I needed to openly declare my support for the Biafran struggle, even as a core northerner, was a transparently honest and sustained struggle by them for their course. Unfortunately this has not been the case. Recent happenings have left no one in doubt about the evil motives of those struggling for the establishment of the nation of Biafra. The reasons are not farfetched.

The Biafran agitators have not been consistent. The intensity of their struggle depends on the Government in power. If the person in charge is one of their own, there is no Biafra; when they lose out, the struggle for independence begins. This is not the trait of a sincere people struggling for freedom. In fact, the direct opposite is supposed to be the case. For example, since the end of the Nigerian civil war the Igbos had never had it politically rosy like they did during the last PDP administration. The president was half-Igbo; at least his middle name is Igbo. The SGF was an Igbo man; the powerful Finance minister was Igbo. The Army chief was also from that tribe. In short, Nigeria was ruled by the Igbos. If the Igbos were honestly interested in innocuously going their way, there was no better time to agitate and in fact maneuver a referendum. However, what we saw was the polarization of Nigerians along ethnic and religious line by the Government and an approving silence from those currently calling for secession.

My sympathy for the Biafrans was completely obliterated in Onitsha last week. There was what was supposed to be a demonstration to further the struggle for freedom. Even if the demonstration was to be violent, the primary target would have been Nigerian symbols. However, what we saw was destruction of Islamic places of worship and property belonging to private entrepreneurs. The question here is, assuming Nigerians let go of Biafrans and allowed them to have a separate nation, what would be the fate of Muslims in the new country? Even in Israel which is a country built on race, there are provisions for minority. However, the message we got from Biafran agitators was that there will be no provision for mosques in the new country. Biafrans who would be interested in worshipping the Islamic way must go on exile to do so. Another thing to ask is whether there will be provision for foreign investors in the new country. Absolutely NO. That is the message from Biafrans. Or perhaps if there is going to be a foreign investment it must not come from any of the neighboring countries like Nigeria. The Dangote that is invited by almost all African countries will not be welcome in the new country.

My final question here is what should I do? Should anyone expect me to continue to have the same feeling for the Biafrans that I had before? Certainly no. The Biafrans have lost my lifetime sympathy and potential support. If there is any war, I will be on the Nigerian side.