By
Muhammad Ajah
The month
of June has remained a memorable one in the history of Nigeria for decades,
though no day of it is declared a public holiday by the federal government of
Nigeria in commemoration of any democratic event. Since the memorable past,
particularly in the year 1993, June 12 become an unofficial recognized day by
Nigerians especially from the southwest geopolitical zone. The day has been
revered as a democratic day because, as it is believed, it was the day the
first transparent free and fair election was conducted in Nigeria won by MKO
Abiola and annulled by then military President, Gen. IB Babangida.
Since
1993, though many democratic events have often occurred within June, 12 June is
celebrated for that singular event and public holiday for that day is yearly
declared by governments of states of the southwest of Nigeria. Yet, it has been
impossible to name University of Lagos (UNILAG) after MKO Abiola. Many
politicians and civil right groups have canvassed for June 12 to be celebrated
nationwide as a democracy day rather than May 29 which commemorates the final
transition of governance from the military to the civilian in 1999.
That is
by the way. The significance of the month of June in Nigeria has been
reminisced in 2017 with many declarations, all seeking relevance at the
national political stage. In Nigeria, it happens that political declarations
are often interwoven with intertribal sentiments cum individualistic
collocation. This time, it was a drama of witticism and suspense. It was like a
confusing play, an aimless travesty that many of the dramatic personae lost
their bearings. It was not merely a monodrama as it used to be whereby single
persons would craft words on leaves and pass them on to the press. It was
organized controversial reciprocals. And the Nigerian youths were in the center
of all.
The
Nigerian youths in the month have displayed the glut of patriotism in them as
the real builders and leaders of the nation. They have used June to tell
themselves that the destiny of Nigeria is in their hands and that they must,
without subjugation, exert all their youthful force to reclaim their fatherland
from some few individuals who derive pleasure from inflictions on the people
and the nation. Again this time, the youths organized themselves in coalitions,
holding meetings and issuing out press statements as threats, as warnings, as
retributions and as cautions. At the end of all these, all the Nigerian youths
are winners. Or let’s borrow the words of former head of state, Gen. Yakubu
Gowon: “No victor, no vanquished”. Nigeria is one and will remain united. It
is, therefore, clear that it is a duty on the Nigerian youths to preserve their
motherland against any internal manipulations.
Yes,
there has been the agitation for self determination; the agitation for resource
control; the cry over marginalization; the feeling of political exclusion and
the call for cessation especially the most currently pronounced struggle by the
Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for the realization of Biafra. Nigeria has
witnessed a civil war. Those who witnessed it are not ready for a recurrence.
Several civil disturbances all in the name of regional agitations, equity
and fairness in governance have replayed themselves from time to time, and from
region to region. And until June 2017, the youths have never taken a twist in
all the political conundrums.
Just like
a joke, the political stage was tensed up with the first declaration by the
Arewa youth in Kaduna, asking the Igbo to vacate the north within three months
– till October 1, 2017 – or face forceful eviction. Tagged “Kaduna
Declaration”, the youth on Tuesday June 6, 2017 claimed to have reviewed the
position of the north over the call for secession by groups the Igbo. The
declaration by the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) stated that the North
will never partake in any contrived arrangement that would have the Biafran
Igbo as a component. “We reiterate our call on Nigerian authorities and
recognized international bodies to hasten the initiation of the process for the
final actualization of the Biafran nation and with it the excision of the Igbos
out of the present federation”, threatened.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) had, many times, threatened to declare
Biafra as a sovereign state. Once, IPOB declared that no part of the defunct
Biafra Republic would be left behind in its quest for self determination. A
statement by IPOB’s spokespersons Barrister Emma Nmezu and Dr. Clifford
Chukwuemeka Iroanya, claimed that both the South-South and the Middle Belt were
still part of the Biafra territory and would not be allowed to remain in
Nigeria. Also the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra
(MASSOB) ordered immediate vacation of the North by the Igbo population
following the Kaduna Declaration. Uche Madu, MASSOB leader, said the quit
notice did not come as a surprise. “We pledge our total support towards this
divinely approved quit notice,” Madu had declared inter alia.
But a day
after the Igbo quit notice, a Niger Delta group known as South South Youth
Volunteer Force (SSYVF) gave Northerners in the South-South three month ultimatum
to vacate their region. Its spokesman, Tamunosisi Japhet in a statement said
that the South South and South East are one, same way the North East and the
North West are one. The youths also warned their Arewa counterparts that the
South South will not accommodate them should they carry out their threat.
Another group has declared August deadline for northerners to quit Igboland.
In a
swift reaction, the Middle-Belt Youth Council (MBYC) condemned the quit notice.
The President of the council, Emma Zopmal, in a statement said the middle-belt
region has no problem with the Igbos who are very enterprising people. “The
Middle Belt region of Nigeria believes in one Nigeria. This is because
Northerners are living in many parts of the South-East without molestation.
Middle Belt has been a home for the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, South-South and the
South-West without any form of discrimination against anyone. We’ve
accommodated every Nigerian for centuries now. We deserve respect and
commendations.”
On June 6, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide,
on its own stand, lashed out at the Movement for the Actualization of a
Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) for including the Niger Delta region in its
Biafra map. The group’s spokesperson, Barr. Henry Iyalla, said that the Niger
Delta agitation predates the Biafra struggle. The group said: “We wish to state
clearly that the Ijaw and Niger Delta struggle for self-determination predated
the Biafra agitations. It is on record that even before the Biafra declaration
of independence in 1967, Major Jasper Adaka Boro during the twelve days
revolution declared a Niger- Delta Republic in 1966. This was before the advent
and struggle for the actualization of Biafra.”
Solomon Chukwu of MASSOB had claimed that those who
say South South or Niger Delta was not part of Biafra were ignorant “Most of
them are politicians in the South South zone who are saying it out of mischief.
History has it that people like Ojukwu’s second in command, Gen. Philip
Effiong, fought for Biafra till the end. Was Effiong not from Akwa Ibom State?
Another
group on June 7 followed suit by declaring what it called the Region of the
Niger Delta (Rondel), through Rondel Solidarity Movement (RSM). Its
spokesperson, Efe Edet-Tamuno, in a statement urged all the intellectuals,
groups and associations in the Niger Delta to fuse into RSM to demand shift
from resource control to Independence Movement. “No inch of Rondel in the six
states of Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Cross River, Edo, and Rivers States shall
ever be ceded to any other people or nation for any reason whatsoever and all
those people drawing maps up and down are hereby warned to desist forthwith or
risk our disproportionate vengeance including present and future social and
economic sanctions..The Igbo people, and indeed all Africans and foreigners,
are heartily welcome to visit, stay, live in or do legitimate business
unencumbered anywhere in Rondel now and in the future.”
Furthermore,
the Oodua Nationalist Coalition (ONAC) and the Oodua Liberation Movement (OLM) also
warned against any act that will lead to collapse of the country’s security and
disintegration of the country. Gbenga Awosode, Sunday Akinnuoye
and Mallam Suleiman Musa Akintunde, in a joint statement on behalf of the group
proclaimed: “Nigerians should be alert knowing that this threat is coming few
days after rumours of a coup became widespread”.
Besides, on June 10, the youths of the Southwest of
Nigeria issued what they described as Oduduwa Republic Lagos Declaration
(ORLD). The
Secretary General of the group said the Southwest of Nigeria has become tired
of the generational threats of the Igbo extraction of a forced union, thus the
violent threats for Biafra, threats that have outlived the youths. They
expressed dismay with cohabiting the Igbo who are even dominating their
political arena. They described as madness the tolerance granted the Igbo in
the region despite the Igbo have been intimidating, harassing and defrauding
the Yoruba nation with their empty calls for Biafra. “As from today, the 10th
day of June 2017, any mention of Biafra again on our soil will automatically,
without recourse to any other warning, earn the Igbos an eviction notice from
all of the six states that form Oduduwa Republic namely, for the avoidance of
doubts, Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ondo and Ekiti. We shall within three months of
such act of agitation for Biafra do everything possible to chase the Igbos out
of our land so we all can live in peace and regain our dignity as human race”,
ORLD proclaimed.
In their
reaction, Igbo resident in Oyo state said no amount of provocation would incite
the people to fight any form of war again. The Onyendu Ndigbo of Ibadanland,
Chief Aloy Obi, said those agitating for war against Igbo should be prevailed
upon to allow the people to reside in any part of the country as provided by
section 42 of the 1999 constitution. In the same vein, the Eze Igbo Kano, Dr
Boniface Ibekwe said northerners are tolerant and well-mannered toward other
ethnic groups living in their midst. According to him, Kano remains their state of
origin where most of their children were born and brought up. He urged the Igbo
in the state to continue to pursue their legitimate businesses without fear of
harassment.
Ohanaeze
Ndigbo Youth Council (OYC), the youth wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, opted for status
quo ante on the grounds that the Igbo cannot leave over 44trn naira of their
investments to develop the north. National President of the OYC, Mazi Okechukwu
Isiguzoro, said the ultimatum issued by the Northern groups was a call to arms
and should be treated as such by security agencies. Also the South East/South
South network, SESSNet, has asked security agencies to immediately swing to
action and arrest the situation. The group said that the threat was evidently
as a result of the unity displayed by the Igbo in the Southeast and the
Southsouth to obey a “sit at home order” to mark 50 year anniversary of
Nigeria-Biafra war that claimed the lives of over three million Igbo.
I must
laud the quick response by the federal government in assuring the citizens of
safety of their lives across the country. It is noteworthy that the Acting
President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has taken control of the situation. The
initiative for a series of consultative meetings with leaders of thought from
the North and South-East parts of the country will go a long way in striking a
mutual deal for peace and stability. He has once again warned against call to
civil disorder in any disguise and against promotion of hate speeches that are
capable of inciting violence or disruption of lives and property in the
country. He acknowledged that living in diversity was with unique challenges
and issues and noted that most important landmarks in the history of Nigeria
were mixture of tragedy and joy. He recalled the loud agitations about
secession from some groups of young people in the South-East, IPOB and groups
affiliated with them, as well as the call by a group of young persons from the
North, who gave an ultimatum to the Igbo in the North to vacate the region.
“These days, wars do not end and I am sure that all
of those who have seen or experienced war in any form would not wish it on
their worst enemies. This is not the time to retreat behind ethnic lines. As a
government, we are determined to ensure the unity of the country along the
lines of our constitution. I want to
say that hate or divisive speech, or divisive behaviour, where it is illegal,
will be met with the full force of the law”, he further warned.
Minister
of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, has urged the Igbo and other Nigerians to go
about their businesses without fear of molestation. In a statement by his Press
Secretary, Ehisienmen Osaigbovo, the call for separation was unwarranted. He
assured that government would bring to bear the full weight of the law on any
individual or group violating the rights of citizens of the country. Also, the
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the security
agencies have been placed on red alert to ensure safety of Nigerians anywhere
they live in Nigeria.
Governor
Nasir El Rufai urged the Police to arrest all signatories of the declaration
and directed his Attorney General and commissioner for Justice to prepare
charges of incitement against leaders of the groups. And following
El-Rufai's directive, the police said a manhunt has been launched for the
culprits.
Police
boss, Ibrahim Idris has ordered top officers to keep the peace nationwide after
a meeting of the top brass in Abuja. He said threats by some tribal and
regional groups have become of concern, adding that when the IPOB came out last
month, the police adopted a procedure which they are adopting also with this
new group. “I want us all to be alert and stop anybody, group or individual
that attempts to prevent any Nigerian from carrying out his daily activities.
The threats constitute a subversive activity against the security of the state
and we cannot allow that to happen.”
On their own part, the governors of the nineteen
northern states disowned the Arewa Youths. Borno Governor and Chairman of the
Northern States Governors ' Forum, Kashim Shettima said they are in touch with
heads of security agencies to guarantee the rights of all Nigerians to live in
of the 19 states. The Governors demanded arrest and probe of the youths. “We
wish to call on the security agencies to beam their lenses on these groups, and
unearth the faces behind the mask. Some months back, there were cases of
importation of arms, illegal importation of arms intercepted at the ports, then
we started hearing rumours of a coup d’etat. Now, a group, or a bunch of groups
that do not have the mandate of the people came up with remarks capable of
destabilizing the north and the country as a whole. We are one nation tied to a
common destiny, the governance of Northern Nigeria is not in alignment with
those pronouncements, and we will take whatever measures that is necessary to
safeguard the lives and properties of Nigerians living in any part of the
North,” Shettima said.
The Emir
of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir, said that Nigeria will continue to remain
one in spite of its multi-ethnic diversity. “Here in Katsina, I am ready to
sacrifice my last drop of blood to ensure peace and protect all Nigerians
residing in the state,’’ he said.
All said,
it is of more significance the position of the South East Governors who have
assured northerners resident in the zone of their safety. Governor of Ebonyi
State and Chairman of South East Governors Forum, Engr. David Nweze Umahi, in a
statement reiterated its commitment to and preference for the existence of a
virile, united, prosperous and progressive Federal Republic of Nigeria where
justice, fairness, equity, mutual respect and equality of opportunity to all
citizens regardless of creed, ethnicity or gender. He said that the statement
by the South East Governors is intended to accomplish a couple of objectives,
one of which is the expression of the governors’ deep appreciation to all
Nigerians on the unity and oneness of the country.
Of relief
is the fact that all Nigerians including members of the Senate, House of
Representatives, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and other regional
organizations have condemned any attempt to break up Nigeria.
