Alaigho Development Foundation (ADF) says Biafra symbolises the Igbo people’s longing for freedom, underlining their predicament from the Amalgamation in 1914 to the Biafra Declaration on May 30, 1967.
This is coming as the Buhari administration has reportedly reported the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, to the United Kingdom (UK) for allegedly inciting violence through a viral audio record.
The administration is blaming the audio for the violence, looting and killings in Lagos and other states in Eastern Nigeria amid the EndSARS protests. The IPOB leader lives in the UK.
In an alleged viral audio message on Tuesday, Kanu allegedly called on EndSARS protesters to ambush and kill all governors, soldiers, policemen and destroy properties belonging to the government and Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
While Kanu has since denied the audio, the authorities say an independent verification has been conducted and the result allegedly showed that the voice was Kanu’s.
In a statement, the IPOB leader claimed that he did not order the attack and destruction of economic assets of Yoruba people in Lagos. He is insisting that the enemies of Igbo-Yoruba alliance were spreading false information to cause disaffection and war between the two major ethnic groups.
The verification of the said audio has been passed on to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which in turn is petitioning the UK government over the matter.
ADF is, however, a non-governmental organisation concerned with bringing together Igbo intelligentsia, elders, clergy, patriotic public figures, women and youths, both at home and in the Diaspora to protect and ensure the survival of Ndigbo, their culture and civilisation as well as development of Igboland.
It was established following the International Colloquium on the Igbo Question in Nigeria held in Enugu in March 11-14, 2014.
ADF Secretary, Professor Nathaniel Aniekwu, who made this public says 60 years after Nigeria’s independence and 50 years after the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970), the growing threats and frequent attacks by Northern ethnic groups and deepening pitfalls in the federal governance system have negatively affected the overall development of Biafra, and other regions in the country.
According to the Igbo group, ‘’ever since then, Biafrans have been confronting a continuous state of estrangement, brutal attacks and punitive measures against their spiritual, economic and political survival.
‘’The world community continuously watches the large-scale atrocities committed in the country. As long as these wars are going on, Nigeria cannot have peace, and therefore, there would be no real significant progress.
‘’All economic indices show that despite the war against them, marginalisation and exclusion from participation in the governance of Nigeria, the Biafra states continue to be very competitive and are far from being worse off among the 36 states.’’
Continuing, Aniekwu argues that though Nigeria is richly endowed with natural and human resources, ‘’it has quickly lost all its shine advantages. Moreover, whatever remained in the past has been squandered, especially as they seek to exclude Biafrans from participation in political governance.
‘’They failed to deploy the appropriate resources, especially human resources, and broad-minded people who can guide and manage the development of the country, simply because most of them come from the Biafra states.
‘’National integration is an obvious possibility, especially for the Biafra States. It is the only hope, not only that internal cohesion is imperative but also integrating into a union of the agreed that is paramount.
‘’Leadership must be looked from the point of view of the governed, at the micro-level of the society. This has to be positioned as a guarantor of the preservation of the multi-secular state in Nigeria.’’
Not yet done, Aniekwu points out that the Igbo group holds the view that the federal system of government is not working in Nigeria given the unique nature of the Nigerian political space.
‘’We must, therefore, return to the solution domain, seek long-term solutions, first by reviewing the constitution. By taking this step, it could make it more receptive to further peace initiatives, offer political opportunities and creating ground for representations instead of depriving them of participating in state management.
‘’Without all-inclusive Federal Government and its related public institutions, efforts to maintain the status quo will result in sharp differences and disintegration. The political division along ethnic lines and the slow peace process will harm development’’, the ADF scribe explains.
