QUEST FOR BIAFRA , THE VARIEGATED EFFORTS?

Icheoku says provided the end game is the same; the ultimate objective the same; the realization of an independent state of Biafra, it should not matter the different roads traveled to get there. It should not matter that several actors are participating in the effort, each using whatever peculiar tools of cohesion available to push forward the agenda. It should not be a cause for concern that there are several frontal thrusts, from different people, directed at pushing forward the objective.  Every mention of Biafra, regardless of the source, successfully keeps the issue of Biafra alive and in the public domain. Therefore, accomplishing the objective or mission statement, is what is and should always remain paramount in the minds of these seemingly competing personalities and not necessarily by whom or whose effort it is being done. 

As with every political struggle throughout recorded history and continuing till date in several parts of the world, several actors are always involved in helping orchestrate an end result. It is like a soccer game or any other sports for that matter, where team members are saddled with just only one objective - to win the game. It therefore does not matter to them who the eventual match-maker, who scored the winning goal, is. The team is the winner as the collective efforts of each member made the winning possible. Each member of a team played a distinct role, which collectively together, ultimately culminated in the win. This should be the mantra, the guiding philosophy of every Biafran currently engaged in the struggle for Biafra emancipation from Nigeria. They should each see themselves as a team and not rivals; all of them just members of Team Biafra, acting in concert to realize their common objective, the independent state of Biafra. Such awareness of a common purpose would drastically reduce unnecessary competitiveness, which leads to envy and backstabbing, and thus make the task at hand much easier  to accomplish.

This analysis has become imperative because of the infighting currently brewing amongst the various Biafra activists groups, both in and outside Nigeria today. Icheoku says a situation where MASSOB was publicly denying Radio Biafra Nnamdi Kanu and similarly vilifying Biafra Zionist Movement, Indigenous Peoples of Biafra and other such Biafra pressure groups is neither healthy nor a good politics. Icheoku says MASSOB should have stayed out of the matter of Nnamdi Kanu's arrest instead of condemning or denying him. Better still they could have summed it up as evidence that the agitation for Biafra is a matter of great general importance to all the peoples of Biafra, hence the enthusiastic apostleship of everyone including Nnamdi Kanu. 

As at now, there is nothing at stake to warrant any infighting amongst these various Biafra groups, especially  when Biafra State has not been achieved, which will of course create various offices and perks that might interest many people. Therefore, those various groups of actors must keep their eyes on the ball and not be distracted by the presence of other interested activists, who are equally honed in the Project Biafra. As Jesus said, 'he who is not against us is probably for us' and so should these activists. Everyone of them is preaching the same gospel of an independent state of Biafra, admittedly in different tones, hence they should see themselves as comrades in the same struggle and not any perceived threat, enemy or competitor against each other. 

Icheoku says such onerous task as agitating for an independent state is not an assignment usually left just for one man. It is so huge and very demanding a challenge that it requires a multitude of actors, acting in concert, in a  multi-faceted fashion to be able to overwhelm the resistance. It is a practice very well known to many decorated war generals who are given to winning many battles. It was the same tactic brought down to bear against then British colonial masters and occupiers of Nigeria in Nigeria's struggle for independence. The Zikists, the Awolowos, the Sarduanas as well as the Maculays; these founding fathers of Nigeria did not act alone to achieve Nigeria's independence. 

They collectively acted to achieve Nigeria's independence from Britain and this should be the code of conduct for those Biafra agitators currently engaged in the struggle for Biafra.  They should see themselves as complimenting one another but not as competing against each other. At least, not now; and of course after the battle is won, any aspirant to any office will then seek the mandate of the people to enable him or her govern or preside over their affairs. Icheoku says these various Biafra activist groups should also be mindful that a house divided against itself is bound to fall; as their collective enemy might exploit the apparent cracks in their walls to sip in and sabotage their effort from within. 

Icheoku prefers and would rather a united one Nigeria continues to exist as an intact country, where every Nigerian will proudly call home; but a situation where some bona fides of the country are continuously being discriminated and marginalized against, does not bode well for such under one roof existence. It begs the question, if these people are Nigerians, why continue to carry out these segregated practices that otherwise suggests and depicts them as either inferior or not Nigerian enough? Icheoku says a united Nigeria cannot be purchased at the expense of only some people or on the backs of some people only. 

It cannot be just a convenient phrase or tool used only when it suits a certain agenda or purpose; and then to refuse to adhere to the tenets or show the same united front when it concerns matters they do not care about. Icheoku says if these internal colonialists are truly and indeed enamored in their professed unity, why are they not treating other components members of the Nigeria state with some dignity. Why are they not treating them as their co-equals and fellow stake holders of Nigeria state, instead of their ingrained arrogance of 'we are the rulers and you are the ruled'. 

Icheoku laments that unfortunately these apparent injustices have helped to keep Biafra on the spotlight, despite the over forty years since the last hostile fires were exchanged. Some Nigerians are constantly made to feel unwanted in their supposed country or that they don't belong therein and at best belong at a lower tier. This is happening despite the declared "no victor, no vanquished" at the end of the civil war. It is the desire to be treated with some dignity that fuels the present crave of  demanding to be treated fairly which manifests as a separatist agitation to be let go. Icheoku maintains that if only these other Nigerians would hearken to the cries to do equity, do the needful to accommodate and array the fears of those marginalized and oppressed peoples of Nigeria, all these agitations would simply melt away. 

Icheoku prays that these people do not linger on for too long before recognizing and treating these complaints as both genuine and legitimate; because forcing another shooting wars on the country barring an amicable balkanization might not be a too distant imposition, admitted not the best option. Icheoku is also at a loss whether these people are unknowingly playing into the hands of those foreign vultures who do not wish nor mean well for Nigeria; people who would readily come rushing to redraw the map of Nigeria at the first salvo. Therefore Icheoku encourages the various participants in this cause for equity and fairness for all Nigerians, to accept their unity in diversity and continue to march on as an army of one, with themselves individually, constituting the foot soldiers. 

Icheoku salutes the courage of all those activists currently engaged in bravely stepping out to make their demand for a more equitable Nigeria; or in the alternative, to let the people of Biafra peacefully step aside and out from Nigeria. Icheoku says to these activists, may you never falter nor tire and may the Gods of Igboland including Amadioha be your guide and protect you. May they facilitate the quick resolution of all the problems causing this agitation in order for a more united wholesome Nigeria to thrive; failing which, they should midwife the peaceful rising of the eastern sun if it becomes inevitable. 

Icheoku says either way, life will go on; but a united Nigeria is always to be preferred, provided it is a Nigeria that works for everyone, and not just a few privileged 'born to rule' Miyetti Allahs and some of their minions in the Southwest. 'Give me freedom or give me death' and 'those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable' are both time-tested quotes and Icheoku says to concur. Icheoku prays it does not ever reach to that point of no return, because it is not the best option and also the stakes are simply too high to gamble with that zero-some apocalyptic option.