Biafra: To Be Or Not To Be. Sunday and Father's Day Musings

Let me start by wishing all men, Happy Father's Day! We should always trust God to give us wisdom to be godly fathers and to show love to our wives, who God used to make us fathers, and to our children, who are proof that we have become fathers. So, on this special occasion, I want to thank all wives, especially my darling wife, and my mother, without whom, it is impossible to talk about Father's Day. I cannot forget my own Father, who made it possible for me to be born in the first place. The conundrum about whether my Father or my Mother or my Wife who should get the glory for this day is easily solved by remembering the greatest and the only Father, who deserves all the glory for Father's Day and Mother's Day; our Almighty Father, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, to whom be honor and glory forever and ever, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. The other conundrum,which is the subject of this piece, is Biafra: To be or not to be? Is Biafra a mental concept or geographical concept?  I was reading a WhatsApp report of an interview given by Nnamdi Kanu, the Leader of IPOB, who was alleged to have said that after Biafra is carved out of Nigeria, the different ethnic groups [from the Middle Belt of Nigeria through the South East and South South] will decide whether to be part of Biafra. If that is truly what Biafra is about, shouldn't the different ethnic groups first have a say whether or not they want to be carved out to join Biafra? Additionally, is it already assumed that all Igbo speaking parts of Nigeria will automatically be included in Biafra? Will the Anioma part be allowed to choose whether or not they will be part of Biafra before Biafra is carved out of Nigeria? I refer to Anioma, because believe it or not there is usually a fierce debate about whether or not Anioma people consider themselves part of the larger Igbo tribe. So how will the later referendum in Biafra concerning the ethnic groups be applied to Anioma? Or should Anioma people be allowed to first choose whether or not they actually want to leave Nigeria or be their own separate nation if the break-up of Nigeria becomes inevitable? I read the fierce exchanges here on line between some Igbos and some indigenes of River State about whether or not parts of River State belong to Biafra, and the almost overwhelming attack on such indigenes of River State who say that they are not part of Biafra. If Biafra is free volition of peoples, how will differing opinions of ethnic people who don't want to be part of Biafra be accommodated? My other concern, which I expressed to Nnamdi Kanu, when he visited Los Angeles, was how in light of the fact that many decades after the civil war ended, and how Igbos have integrated into all parts of Nigeria, Igbos in other parts of Nigeria will be uprooting and moving to Nigeria? I can't say that I got a satisfactory response, but that is still a very pertinent question. Does Mr. Nnamdi Kanu for example have a home that is not in Afara-Ukwu, in any other part of Nigeria? How many Biafran agitators in Nigeria and Diaspora have homes or businesses in other parts of Nigeria that are not in Biafra? Or has this become a situation where our people will be asked to abandon everything again and return to a small land mass ad begin again? Where will those abandoning their lives, homes and businesses in Nigeria and returning to Biafra be able to make up their losses? Surely, laws of Economics will make it almost impossible for our returning people to recoup their losses from a small land mass that may be landlocked if all the pieces don't fall in place. Because this piece is a brain teaser, I will like those responding in favor of creation of Biafra to let us know in advance whether they have homes, businesses and lives in the part of Nigeria that will not be Biafra, and whether or not they are willing to abandon those things in favor of Biafra. Which brings me to the question about whether Biafra should be a mental concept. By mental concept, I mean a new way of thinking against oppression against anyone in Nigeria. Why for example, do we hear that Judges and Justices in Nigeria have in their possessions, millions of dollars and other foreign currencies that cannot be justified by the salaries they earn over a lifetime? Under what conceivable system of fairness can just amassment of wealth be justified? Under what conceivable system of justice can such judicial officers be allowed to return to work in the judiciary? Those are the kinds of mass movement that Biafra should represent. How can civil servants in Nigeria have more wealth than business men and women in Nigeria? How can former heads of state of Nigeria justify the great wealth that follows them in and out of office? How can our legislators at the State and National level justify the salaries they receive timely, while the greater mass of Nigeriasn receive peanuts by way of salaries that are not paid timely? I have heard of Nigerian doctors who are owed five months salaries, yet are supposed to do their best daily to care for the sick in Nigeria? Is it any wonder that our leaders including President Buhari travel abroad to receive treatment from doctors who receive their due salaries on time. The shame of the whole thing is that after these leaders and dignitaries see what obtains abroad, they have no mercy on those who can't afford to travel abroad, and try to have in place some of the things that they experienced while abroad. How do we justify a situation where clerks and ministry officers have houses in choice parts of Nigeria, when they cannot point to any obvious means of wealth to justify such possessions? These are mental problems that need solving in Nigeria and which Biafra as a mental concept can begin to change. Biafra should not be about whether or not Mr. Nnamdi Kanu should be a senator, governor, or contractor receiving money from government of a country that he detests. Biafra should not be about whether an Igbo should be next President of Nigeria. The crying shame is that in the parts of Nigeria that will be Biafra, Biafrans have governed themselves but have not justified their self-governance. If leaders from Biafra have demonstrated at the local or state level that they can be trusted, I am sure that all Nigerians will be fighting to have such a person and like-minded people govern Nigeria. But alas, Biafra has no such great leaders. Speaking of Biafra, we have the situation where a portion of Biafra are rebelling because another Biafran (not Hausa or Yoruba) was made a Bishop in that part of Biafra, is that what we can expect in Biafra? How come we have not heard or read a single statement from the leader of Biafra against such rebellion to remind all of us that we one Biafra? Or is the leader of Biafra in agreement with such rebellion? Make no mistake, there is a lot of injustice in Nigeria. I cannot understand a situation where someone who lives in Zamfara State, pays taxes in Zamfara State, probably votes in Zamfara state should be treated differently in educational and work opportunities simply because they come from a different part of Nigeria that is not Zamfara State. These are honest issues for agitations and which Biafra should champion as a new way of doing things, and having lawyers as catalysts for change take such cases through the legal system and effect change. It should never be justified that because Zamfaara State people may not be willing to live in other parts of Nigeria, that other Nigerias in Zamfara .S.state should be treated differently. I have used Zamfara State as an example but I am sure the same obtains in all parts of Nigeria, but we should be changing this way of thinking. How can we continue to justify federal character when we are all part and parcel of the same federation? Nigeria has been independent since 1960, and we are still giving incentives to have people go to school. That is a failure of government in those parts of Nigeria and if they are making money available in that portion of Nigeria, every Nigerian living in that part should be benefiting from such largesse. What about oil wealth? How is that the people whose land produces oil suffer while others enjoy the largesse of such oil production? These are the kinds of new thinking that Biafra as a concept should be championing across Nigeria and which will make the majority of Nigeria, Biafrans in mind. The problems of Nigeria are many, but the poor remain the same in Nigeria irrespective of their town of origin. The corruption in Nigeria is gross, and we all look forward to a sweeping change where all Nigerians must declare their wealth and show how they obtained such wealth. We also look forward to manageable government that works without corruption, and where perhaps we can all say we are Biafrans for a new change in our thinking and actions. Happy Father's Day, and may Nigeria change for the best for everyone in Jesus' name, Amen. So long: George E. Omoko, Esq. Emilondon@yahoo.com Los Angeles, CA