Secession- A Mission Impossible.
The Igbo people who are campaigning for Biafra are mainly brainwashed to do so, because when we begin to ask them pertinent questions about Biafra they end up telling me to go discuss with Nnamdi Kanu. 99% of the young Igbo men don’t know where the place called Biafra is located, many of them can’t even tell you the reason why it’s Biafra they want. They are not aware that even a hundred years ago an Igbo man didn’t call himself a Biafran, he only referred to himself by his town or village name, same as Yorubas.
Igbos should stop talking about marginalisation because it’s a concept based on non truth. Same as Yoruba people talking of marginalisation within Nigeria. The only people who are marginalised in Nigeria are the poor and the general masses, either they are Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba or Igbo. The privileged Igbo, Yoruba or Tiv will use hausa and Fulani as slaves as their gatemen, they use them to polish their shoes, these same Fulani and Hausa we say are oppressing us they hire as community vigilante, they are farming for them.
The most oppressed people in Nigeria in actual fact are the Hausa and Fulani because of their lack of education which led to their poor state in life. If the truth be told it is southerners who hire most of these herdsmen to manage their herds. Igbos and Yorubas use these poor Fulani people to clean their sock aways, toilets and drainages. Igbos and Yorubas believe they are more educated then Hausa and Fulani, so who then is marginalised? If the Igbos are marginalised will they be in every single local governments in Nigeria, living freely raising their families? Unfortunately ordinary Igbos and Yorubas are being manipulated and used for political gains by the few elites who control the narrative among them.
Let’s have a quick look at some people groups that are agitating for their recognition or independence in our world today. I want you to go study their grievances and compare their complaints to those of Igbo or Oduduwa agitations. Yes despite their pains, fights and struggles these countries are still finding it difficult to break away from their oppressors. Because it’s not so easy to break away from an existing country. There are over a thousand people groups all over the world currently engaged in such a struggle without success. When you get to know what is marginalisation, you’ll be grateful for the country God gave us in Nigeria.
In Ukraine where I live, the eastern part of the country is agitating for independence with countless thousands of casualties already.
In Russia, the Chechen people, have been involved in two wars, yet they can’t get away.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban wants to build their own caliphate of Islamic state.
In Armenia, the Nagorno-karabakh people want their own recognition.
In Cameroon, the English speaking people have been struggling for years to have the same equal rights as the French speaking people. Some of them have been forced into exile, yet it has not been possible.
In Kenya, tribes have fought and spilled blood, yet no country has sided with any one of them to become independent.
In Great Britain, Northern Ireland has waged guerrilla war for years and still they could not get their full independence.
In Congo, part of the nation wanted to control their mineral resources, other foreign governments have only exploited them.
In Cyprus, the northern part of the country has been struggling for years, still they are not recognized as an independent nation.
In France, Guadeloupe and Basque have been fighting for years to be free and yet it is not easy to get their full independence.
In the Philippines, the Filipino guerillas have been living in the jungle for ages and they have not been able to build either their Marxist or Muslim nation.
In Sri Lanka, the Tamil Tigers have dreamt about independence but it has not been easy coming.
In Turkey, the Kurdish people have dreamt of building Kurdistan. They have fought for it, yet to no avail.
In Spain, the Basque nation has fought for their independence for years, still it is not coming.
In Mauritania, the minorities have been complaining of oppression, but no help and understanding has come from the bigger nations of the world.
I will therefore like to appeal to my Igbo and Yoruba brethren who are dreaming of seceding from Nigeria to have a rethink. Let’s rather build a strong and prosperous country together, it’s much easier to do that than going the way of secession. The price you’ll find is just too high, it’s a mission impossible.
What more can I say? A word is enough for the wise…
For The Love Of God, Church And Nation,
Dr. Sunday Adelaja.
