Biafra Referendum: Why The Deadly Wait?

To me the man Barr. Ben Onwuka is more dangerous than Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. He believes in action whether rational or not, he uses violence.

Remember in 2014, he led about 10 men and stormed government House, Enugu. They subdued the soldiers and police men stationed at the government house. They held the government house for four hours before military reinforcements came and they were arrested. Do you know their weapons? Local intelligence, cutlasses, knives and wooden mortars and soldiers ran away! They were released late last year.

He has now announced Biafra cabinet and as funny as it sounds, there are take aways from his actions. While some ridicule him and the issue of Biafra, a movement, a force may appear that is not interested in the niceties of diplomacy and non-violence. The movement may become uncontrollable and deadly and then Nigeria will regret not giving dates for referendum in 2017.

Today it is Uwazuruike, Barrister Ben. Onwuka, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, tomorrow it may be someone who does not want to hear “wait let us talk”, like Abubakar Shekau of the Boko Haram or worse. I shudder at the Igno version of Abubakar Shekau! Evans the accused kidnapper beat all kidnapping records according to reports for years so much so that he became or known as the “billionaire kidnapper”. “Igbo Shekau” may not have base in the East.

Referendum date is just the way out. Did you hear what some Biafra youths did to Governor Obiano in a church few days ago? They did not fight but were chanting “No election”, “give us Biafra” and the Governor was sneaked out from the church!

Have you counted the millions that follow Mazi Nnamdi Kanu? Sit down imagine if Nnamdi Kanu announces a Biafra government and the IPOB structures as government officials and decide to go the violent way? Remember that IPOB and Biafran supporters are not only in the East, there are US and European branches.

At that shopping center near Lekki round about Lagos two years ago, when this Biafra agitation was not in full swing, a young man said he is willing to do worse than Boko Haram. That statement by an Igbo shocked me, it shocked as I recollected the Boko Haram style of agitation. What came to my mind was suicide bombing and I remembered that southerners nay Igbos were believed never to think of killing themselves either due to suffering or for protests until recently when we started seeing and hearing of suicides.

Why not avoid worst crisis and bloodshed and fix a date for a referendum peacefully than doing it after everyone would have lost a lot?

What shocked me by the young man’s words was when he said, ” if I want to do suicide bombing it will not be just 60 people like those Boko haram, I know where to go and it will be in thousands!” Do you read that? Then I thought it was a drunk or smoker talking but now I know better than waving it as a drunk talk. I have refrained from recollecting these biafra-related encounters including the one I would have been beaten silly when I said I do not want Biafra some years back in Ijesha, Lagos during Uwazuruike era.

Just think of those boys who boldly and fearlessly confronted soldiers and police men begging them to shoot when the security forces attempted to block IPOB from going into Ebonyi state as threatened and directed by the governor, tell me if they were not suicide squad waiting to happen? Like I said, stay in Lagos, Abuja and your cozy sitting room and office and scream “no Biafra” like me year ago, the clock is ticking, when it gets out of control, you and may I may be the ones trying to talk peace while those Buhari, Saraki, Tinumbu, and other elites would have gone with their family private and presidential jets while you run to internally displaced camp in Ghana or you join any of the forces.