- Sit-at-home: Massive discontent, elite hypocrisy fuelling Biafra agitation
- My aim is civil disobedience until we get a referendum – Nnamdi Kanu
- Biafra Heroes Remembrance Day: IPOB observes sit-at-home May 30
- Nnamdi Kanu weeps at Nkpor
_________________________________________________
Sit-at-home: Massive discontent, elite hypocrisy fuelling Biafra agitation.
As written by Chioma Gabriel, Emeka Mamah, Clifford Ndujihe,Chidi Nkwopara, Anayo Okoli, Henry Umoru, Emman Ovuakporie, Dapo Akinrefon, Gbenga Oke, Ugochukwu Alaribe, Dennis Agbo, Chimaobi Nwaiwu, Chinonso Alozie & Peter Okutu
~Vanguard Nigeria. Thursday, June 1, 2017.
…Say Afenifere, Junaid Mohammed, as normalcy returns to S-East
…Igbo commend Nnamdi Kanu
…Total compliance has convinced me of Biafra’s restoration -Kanu
…We did not arrest any IPOB or MASSOB members - Imo CP
Tuesday's successful lockdown of the Southeast is indicative of a massive discontent with the Nigerian federation, Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-cultural group warned, yesterday.
While the group warned that the issues raised by the lockdown must be addressed in order not to foreclose a negotiated settlement of the Nigeria question, Second Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, traced the success of the lockdown to what he described as the hypocrisy of the Nigerian elite class and the tribal tendencies of President Muhammadu Buhari.
In addition, National President of the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum,Alhaji Yerima Shettima on his part said the action showed the need to address the national question, adding that the "elite have hijacked this country."
"There is nothing new about what they have done, they did not compel anybody to sit-at-home but people voluntarily sat at home. Their action is a form of sensitization that the national question must be addressed.
"If we, in the north, are tired of Nigeria, we might also decide to go because some people have held the country to ransom. If they want to go, they are free to go. We, in the north, will also decide to pull out of the country because some of us in the minority are being marginalized. The elites have hijacked this country."
Also reacting, the Southeast Senate caucus, members of the House of Representatives were among other groups that yesterday also opined that the lockdown had brought the issue of restructuring of the country to a point of no return.
Meanwhile, the Southeast opened to business, yesterday, after the 24-hour lockdown of the zone and neighbouring Igbo-speaking areas effected at the instance of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
Meanwhile, Igbo groups across the country, yesterday, praised IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, for the success of rallying the Igbo nation towards their plight with different groups pledging loyalty to him.
Kanu, on his part, said the success of the sit-at-home protest had convinced him of the good prospects of the restoration of Biafra.
FG blind to realities on ground-Afenifere
Reacting to the success of the sit-at-home directive, the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere said it showed that the Federal Government was blind to the realities on ground.
Afenifere's National Publicity Secretary, Mr Yinka Odumakin, said: "It is interesting the total shut down happened the day the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, was bragging that restructuring would not happen, it is a clear sign that the government is blind to the realities in the land.”
Elite at fault - Junaid Mohammed
Kano based Second Republic lawmaker, Dr. Mohammed on his part said yesterday:
"What has happened should not surprise Nigerians who know the history of Biafra. What is happening has the support of the Igbo elite and this further confirms the irresponsibility of the Nigerian elite all together."
"The elites of this country from all the geo-political zones do not believe in Nigeria. However, in all these, it is an average Nigerian that suffers. I maintain that those who are calling for these agitations did not experience the civil war and they do not know the consequences of what they are doing" he added.
Continuing, he said: "I can say with all sense of belonging that Nigeria as a nation is not prepared for this crisis because the President and co workers are tribal and the country lacks leadership right now. So such directions will be strongly obeyed because of the agitation by the South-East zone".
Lockdown indicates discontent
Senators and members of the House of Representatives also affirmed that the success of the lockdown was indicative of discontents within the polity which they said should be urgently addressed.
South-East senators who spoke through the chairman of the South-East Senate Caucus, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said the success was also an indication that the time for negotiation and restructuring of the country cannot be further wished away.
"It is an indication that a large number or percentage of our people from the South-East actually feel marginalised and rejected by the larger Nigerian entity and the import of it for Nigeria is that there is need to be an engagement sooner rather than later for us to form a better union in Nigeria.”
The Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Rep Leo Ogor, speaking in the same vein said the development in the South-Eeast meant that Nigeria, as presently configured, cannot be sustained without restructuring.
"It shows clearly that there is a major unity among the Igbo. And I think this issue should not be treated with the same levity it had been handled in the past.”
Rep. Ossai Nicholas Ossai (PDP, Ukuani Fed Constituency, Delta) said the success showed the solidarity of the Igbo on the issues affecting them.
Rep EJ Agbonayinma (PDP, Edo) on his part said the success of the lockdown was mainly because the Igbo had been shut out of national affairs.
Total compliance convinced me of Biafra restoration-Kanu
A statement by IPOB Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, quoted Kanu as thanking IPOB members across the world for their tenacious efforts that made the Heroes Day sit-at-home order a resounding success.
Kanu was quoted to have said: "Following the total compliance with this sit-at-home order I issued when I was still in Kuje Prison Abuja, it has proven to me, IPOB members and other Biafra agitators, and lovers of Biafra and freedom beyond every conceivable doubt that Biafra restoration is a priority to all and sundry.
"Since you have not let me down with your compliance, I promise never to let Biafra down even upon the pain of death. We must join hands together, with all genuine and sincere individuals and groups, to restore Biafra with truth and honesty.
"We also thank politicians who defied all odds and pressure from Aso Rock to make our sit-at-home order a memorable and resounding historical event.
“I will not hesitate to congratulate the people of Abia, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo and Rivers states, including the good people of Igbanke in Edo State, Igala clan in Kogi State and Idoma/Igede/Agatu in Benue State for sending a clear and unmistakable message to the whole world that this Biafra self determination effort driven by IPOB and other agitators is uncompromising."
MASSOB hails participants
MASSOB also congratulated all those who contributed to the success of the lockdown.
MASSOB Director of Information, Comrade Samuel Edeson said: "You have proven to the world and Nigeria that your desire for Biafra remains unshakeable, no matter the threat from Nigeria’s security agents. MASSOB says thank you all Ndi Biafra.
"The world has seen that Biafra is greater than any individual. This is evident that our referendum will be 100 percent victorious. This is just the beginning of what is about to happen to Nigeria because we are going to cripple Nigeria economically because all Biafrans in northern and western Nigeria will join the next move.”
Commercial activities resume in Aba
Meanwhile, commercial activities have resumed in the entire region, yesterday.
In Aba, as early as 7am, Vanguard observed that traders at the Ariaria International and other markets in the city opened for business while motor parks were a beehive of activities as transport companies resumed operation.
Normalcy in Umuahia
Normalcy also returned to Umuahia, the Abia State capital, as shops, schools, offices, markets and other businesses opened fully in all parts of the state capital and environs.
However, a police helicopter continued to hover around the city but the State Police Command said it has been on aerial surveillance since last Sunday and would continue to ensure that the peace of the state was not threatened.
Spokesman of the Abia State Police Command, Geoffrey Ogbonna, a Superintend of Police, said the helicopter meant no harm.
…Enugu, Imo too
Activities also resumed in Enugu and Imo where the sit-at-home order was completely complied with.
Banks witnessed long queues after a long break that started last Friday, given that Monday was also a public holiday to mark Democracy Day in the country.
We did not arrest any IPOB or MASSOB members - Imo CP
The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Mr Chris Ezike, yesterday, said no member of IPOB or MASSOB was arrested as a result of the sit-at-home order by the groups, affirming that they were not visible during the protest.
"While my men were patrolling, we did not see anybody protesting. So, we did not arrest any MASSOB or IPOB member," Mr. Ezike told Vanguard, yesterday.
-------------------------------------------------- Nnamdi Kanu weeps at Nkpor
From: Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
~The SUN Nigeria. Tuesday, May 30, 2017.
…Onitsha deserted, looks like ghost city
…’Give us Biafra, we are tired of Nigeria,’ say residents
Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was in tears at Nkpor, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, on Sunday night, when he visited St. Edmund's Catholic Church/ Primary School where hundreds of Biafrans were allegedly murdered by Nigerian military and security operatives on 30th May 2016.
Kanu arrived the site at about 5:30p.m in the afternoon on reaching the site prayed to God Almighty (Chukwu Okike Abiama) for their souls to keep on fighting for the restoration of Biafra, which was the main reason why they lost their lives.
A statement by the IPOB Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful said the visit was in line with the initial plan announced by the leadership of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB for Kanu's visit to the sites and the families of those of their members who were killed by the Nigerian Army at Nkpor and other places in Biafraland during the peaceful protests and rallies in Biafraland two years ago.
Powerful said the journey was made ahead of the May 30th Sit at Home orders for the honour and remembrance of their fallen heroes and heroines who paid the ultimate price for Biafrans to live today in the contraption called Nigeria.
He said the observance and commemoration of the gallant heroes and heroines is a memorable event in the history of Biafra and the world at large noting that those who gave their lives in the course of the struggle must be immortalised.
Meanwhile, the entire commercial city of Onitsha was completely shut down as there were no commercial activities in markets and streets as well as absence of vehicular movements as the residents observed the sit-at -home order by IPOB.
Security agents who had earlier, on Saturday and Sunday, patrolled major areas of Onitsha in Armoured Personnel Carriers and other vehicles were seen idling away in various road junctions as there was nobody on the road to control or arrest for any disturbance of peace.
The popular and ever busy Upper Iweka looked like ghost town as there was total absence of the usual bustle and hustle of people and commuters within the area. The nearby Ogbaru Main Market was empty even when security operatives guarding the markets opened the gates but no single soul turned up to either sell or buy goods.
Other major roads, streets and markets in Onitsha were virtually empty. From Oguta road, Old and New Market roads, Onitsha Main Market, Ochanja market, Nkpor, Ogidi and Bridge Head.
Some Biafran enthusiasts who were reading newspapers at Old Market road went into frenzy when they sighted some foreign journalists accompanied by Nigerian reporters. They chorused "All Hail Biafra" and chanted Biafran songs proclaiming that they are tired of Nigeria and needs to establish a Biafran republic.
Victor Ofoegbu, a local vigilante who spoke to reporters said "We are tired of Nigeria. This is the 3rd Richest Country in Africa but majority of its citizens are Okada riders because there is no job. One Nigeria is a joke, this people in the North, we don't have anything in common with them. Their religion, language, culture and every other thing is different from ours. When we remember the number of souls from Biafra who perished during the civil war, tears drop from our eyes and nothing can be said to be too much to honour their souls" he said.
Another respondent, Friday Aleychenu from Benue State told Daily Sun in Onitsha that the struggle for a Biafran Republic has gone beyond the Igbo people to include those from the middle Belt and parts of the South South. He said that the Nigerian government will only delay its actualization for a while but every indication points to the fact that `there is no going back in actualising a sovereign state of Biafra.
Emmanuel Ihemeje, an Onitsha based journalist who spoke to Daily Sun on phone on the situation report from Nkwere , Orlu, Anara , Mbano in both Nkwere and Nwangele Local government Areas said the entire people of the area complied fully with the sit-at. home with every business and vehicular movement paralysed.
Unconfirmed report as at the time of filing this report said an articulated vehicle crushed a young man riding a motorcycle to death along Onitsha-Owerri Road as the cyclist tried to stop the driver for not obeying the sit at home order.
------------------------------------------------------------------
My aim is civil disobedience until we get a referendum – Nnamdi Kanu
~AFP.
Nnamdi Kanu walks slowly across the courtyard of his family home in Umuahia, southeast Nigeria, as a crowd of supporters in the red, black and green of the Biafran flag hail him as their saviour.Eighteen months in custody does not appear to have affected his fight against Nigeria.
“I am more determined than ever,” Kanu, who heads the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement, tells AFP calmly.
Kanu, who was released on bail at the end of April, still faces trial on treason charges.
But there is no question of his remaining silent as a key date approaches on Tuesday: the 50th anniversary of the declaration of an independent Republic of Biafra.
The secession of the Igbo people in the southeast sparked a bloody civil war that lasted nearly three years until 1970. More than one million people died of the effects of war, famine and disease.
Kanu says his aim is “civil disobedience until we get a referendum (on self-determination)”, calling it “the only way forward”.
– ‘Deliberate’ retribution –
After the war, Biafra was reintegrated into Nigeria, an ethnic and religious hotch-potch of nearly 190 million people where sectarian tensions regularly flare.
But in “Igboland”, the dream of independence never really disappeared, fuelled by a sense that the Nigerian government had abandoned them — perhaps deliberately — after the conflict.
Veterans and young supporters crowd around in turn to hear the bespectacled Kanu speak.
In the living room where he receives guests, a life-size painting covering an entire wall depicts the prodigal son in military uniform.
He variously denounces what he says are the “killings” and “rapes” of Igbos by the security forces, and President Muhammadu Buhari’s “deliberate policy to impoverish the people”.
Kanu, who is in his 40s, spent his childhood in Umuahia, which was the former Biafran capital, a stone’s throw from the separatist forces’ bunker, and was clearly no stranger to politics.
He refuses to give his exact age but as the eldest of five children, he grew up from a young age with stories from his father, who gave logistic support to the resistance.
– ‘Demi-god persona’ –
Unknown to most Nigerians even two years ago, Kanu had long launched virulent diatribes against Nigeria from London, where he settled after his studies and founded the pirate radio station Radio Biafra in 2009.
He worked in real estate and campaigned on the airwaves at night. For a time he was a member of another pro-independence group, the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra.
He left MASSOB and founded IPOB in 2013.
Two years later at the World Igbo Congress in Los Angeles, Kanu crossed a line with an apparent call to take up arms. “We need guns and we need bullets,” he said.
He was arrested at his hotel during a visit to Nigeria in October 2015.
Fred Anibeze, a Nigerian political scientist, called the arrest “unwarranted and uncalled for”.
“He is using the Biafra struggle to garner cheap publicity for himself via broadcast from Radio Biafra, and this has been further buttressed with the demi-god persona he has been getting since his release,” he told AFP.
Kanu’s detention caused widespread anger among Igbos, and a series of protests calling for his release ended in bloodshed.
According to Amnesty International, Nigerian security forces killed at least 150 IPOB supporters in 2016. Abuja flatly rejects the claim.
For Don Okereke, a security analyst, Kanu “embodies aspirations of a new generation, more activist, more radical” than their elders, who fought in the war.
“He tells people just what they want to hear,” he added.
– Lost tribe of Israel –
The extent of Kanu’s support in the southeast of the country is difficult to gauge but his followers have virtually worshipped him since his release on bail.
Kanu does not do anything to stop the myth-making and is protected round the clock by an impressive security detail, who thoroughly search all his visitors.
Religion is ever-present in his speeches, and Kanu now wears the talit (Jewish prayer shawl) and observes the sabbath.
IPOB followers also wear the kippah (skullcap).
It all dates back to a “divine revelation” Kanu says he had during a trip to Jerusalem: the Igbo — most of whom are Christian — are descendents of a lost tribe of Israel, he says.
Biafra is the “promised land” and it is his mission to restore it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Biafra Heroes Remembrance Day: IPOB observes sit-at-home May 30
~Culled from otimestv.com. Friday, April 14, 2017.
Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has declared a sit-at-home order on May 30, 2017 for all Biafrans to mark the 50th anniversary of the declaration of Biafra State by the Late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and to honour Biafran fallen heroes of 1967 to 1970 Nigerian/Biafran civil war.
The group noted that it found it imperative to honour and remember those heroes and heroines who lost their lives during the war.
A statement by the Media and Publicity Secretary of IPOB, Emma Powerful said this year’s remembrance day would be extraordinary, as it marks the Golden Jubilee of the restoration of the kingdom of heaven on earth which is Biafra.
“May 30, 2017 sit-at-home and heroes remembrance Day will be the 50th year of the divine declaration of Biafra by our eternal leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu who, by the grace of God announced the coming and independent state of Biafra which we are still on today.
“Therefore, every family in Biafraland, both men and women who lost family members or relatives during that war of 1967 till date, either through starvation or bullet shot by security agents should write down the name of the person and pray over it to God Almighty on that day.
“Moreso, if you know your family, village or community lost anybody during the war, May 30 is a date to honour and remember them with a two-minute silence. It would be a day of sober reflection and renewal of faith in the supremacy of the Will of Almighty God in our lives.
“The civilised countries of the world remember and honour those that died for them and because we Biafrans are civilised people, we must honour and remember those who fought and died for us to live.
“We also call on traditional rulers, town union presidents general, women associations, youth leaders and associations, church leaders, clergymen and women, community heads and elders all over Biafraland to honour and remember those who died and contributed immensely in one way or the other for our people to live today in Nigeria,” he stated.
No comments:
Post a Comment