Biafra: Tinubu Should Consider Atiku’s Suggestions (EDITORIAL)
The issue of Biafra has been on ground since 1967 when the former Eastern Military Governor Odumegwu Ojukwu declared a republic of Biafra for the Igbo people. The country was thereafter plunged into a serious civil war in which millions of people lost their lives.
That particular failed secession move has become an ideology. At least a half of Igbo people prefer to have a republic. The federal government of Nigeria dares not carry out a referendum to know the opinion of the eastern people. Then, since it has become an ideology, any attempt to use gun (weapons) to suppress the agitation would fail because the people would be ready to also carry arms as they are doing right now.
For a while after the war (1967 to 1970) there was a calm as the whole country counted its loss and worked on rehabilitation. However, there has been a rise in the agitation. The Igbo people also feel cheated by the fact that since the return to democracy in 1999 the people have yet to have a son or daughter of theirs occupying the seat of the president.
The approach of the federal government to handle the situation at the eastern region has also, unfortunately, fuelled the issue of insecurity. Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, the acclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is facing his second stint behind the bar. He was rearrested and extradited from Kenya during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The court has done its part to allow a bail for the secessionist leader. However, the federal government is reluctant to let him off the hook. And that fans ember of insecurity in the area. The IPOB has been declaring a sit-at-home order, which regularly paralyzes socioeconomic activities in the five states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo.
On 30 May, the proscribed group along with the Eastern Security Network declared a sit-at-home. They wanted to honour the “fallen” heroes that day. Therefore, they asked all and sundry within the perimeters of eastern part to stay at home.
The Nigerian Army deployed troops to every nook and cranny of the region that day. The IPOB then launched an attack on the 144 battalion in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State. Five soldiers died in the attack and their patrol vehicle was set ablaze.
The particular attack made the ex vice president Alhaji Abubakar Atiku to advise President Bola Tinubu to have a political resolution for the issue. Although both Tinubu and Atiku are political opponents, it’s crystal clear that the former vice president is patriotic. And that’s commendable.
Use of force cannot end the spate of attacks on military personnel and their hardware in the region. The method would rather escalate rather than dousing tensions. And that’s what it’s doing. What has the federal government been able to achieve? How much blood would be shed to bring about peace and tranquility?
If use of force has not been able to restore normalcy to the restive region, isn’t it now imperative for the federal government under President Bola Tinubu to change its tactics? The other option is Atiku’s.
The federal reserve needs to note that a political resolution, a negotiation with the people and the groups representing them will go a long way to fully reintegrate the Igbo people to the larger country. Nigeria is a democratu state and there should be a room, a table for negotiation with agitators and secessionists.
The wanton destruction of properties, senseless killing of people cannot stop in as much as the Tinubu’s government thinks it’s normal to use force. A political resolution is the way to the crisis.
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