State Emissary, November 2017. Issue 1 2017 Edition | Page 43

SM | DEVELOPMENT
THE BIAFRAN
QUESTION
BY WALE OBAIJOKO
The Authority of Abuja is beginning question in the
south-east region of the country, premised on neglect
and maginalisation of the Ibos, the same ethnic group
that went to war with the entire country in 1970, they
wanted "self determination" from Nigeria ,the project
however failed ,but something remain, the idea .
The different generation of Ibos has been able to pass
on the Biafran
idea through oral traditions and writers like Professor
Chinua Achebe re-register the idea to the academia in
his book Their was a country, Nmamdi Kanu could
have possibly drawn inspirations from it and others
like the chimamanda adichie have not failed in this
regards or what could the title of her novel half of a
yellow sun depict?
I am one of the few who believe that the unity of this
country is not settled. Though the rhythm of its unity
has always been in our national consciousness as
reflected in the last line of the first stanza of the Nigeria
National Anthem, however the question of its unity is
being raised and one must not deny the legitimacy of
these questions and agitation.
Article 1 of the charter of the United Nation states
expressly "All people have the right of self-
determination , by virtue of this right they freely
determine their political status and freely pursue their
economic , social and cultural developments" . but I am
a firm believer in One Nigeria but this project can only
be done by appealing to reason , the Federal
Government must realize that one can only approach
this kind of questions diplomatically.
the idea of Self-determination is both exciting and
deadly , Wolfgang Danspeckgruber put it better "No
other concept is as powerful ,visceral, emotional ,
unruly ,as steep in creating aspirations and hopes as
Self-determination " It is an idea capable of creating
hallucinations for the vulnerable and exaggerates the
reflexes of the "Nationalists”
The authority of the Government is currently being
question in the South-east region and the Nigerian
Army has responded with a security operation code-
name "Operation Python Dance" to check mate the
Secessionist excesses .constitutionally speaking ,the
Nigerian Military have the responsibility of
suppressing insurrection and act in aid if civil
authorities to restore order when called upon by the
president as enshrined in section 217 of the 1999
constitution of Nigeria.
Handling internal crisis like this is not new to Nigeria
NOV. 2017 | 41