My Thoughts on the Resurgence of the Biafran Struggle

Dear Compatriots,

The recent resurgence of the struggle for the realization of a Biafran state which began with the extension of Radio Biafra's transmission to different parts of the country and culminated with the arrest of the Radio's director, coupled with the massive demonstrations across the land, says so much about the condition of the Nigerian state. As expected, the agitations have met with stiff opposition from the government which sees the demonstrators as "miscreants", "enemies of the 'nation'" and "undesirable elements" that must be stopped.

My real grouse with this country is not so much that we are beset with so many problems as that we have refused to confront these problems squarely. Nigeria is not the only country on the planet, and there is nothing peculiar about our problems which has not been encountered and resolved by other peoples elsewhere in the world. But instead of learning from the experiences of others and changing the course of this country for good, different regimes have chosen to gloss over our many problems because they do not want Nigerians to learn the truth of their real intent of coming to power.

As far as the demonstrations of the past few days are concerned, I do not agree with the verdict of the government. The real miscreants and enemies of the Nigerian state are those who have continued to misuse political power for personal gain. They are those in high places who still preach and believe in the ideal of a "Nigerian Project" as long as it provides them safe cover to continue looting and plundering our national wealth!

(First published on my Facebook wall, January 15, 2015)