BIAFRA | Sunday, April 30, 2017 |  5:47 PM CET

The Supreme Unity of Biafrans as Prophecised by Nnamdi Kanu

Pro-Biafra agitators gathered in a massive "Free Nnam Kanu" Protest

By Agha Egwu

Comrade Zulu Ofoelue is a Facebook friend I cherish.  He is a strong Biafran, so what I have written below IS NOT a personal attack, but to question some ideas he is promoting.  He believes Biafrans must vote for politicians who believe in Biafra.  He says, “The struggle must be brain-based, not emotional … Go and register … Let's take over the politics of Biafra.”

It seems to make sense but let us get the context right.  Please compare the exchanges below, between me and Zulu.  Decide for yourself.

Comrade Zulu Ofoelue: “The state of Igbo political unity is shameful.  Governor Ayo Fayose, Femi Fani-Kayode and former Governor Rabiu Kwakwanso were at the Federal High Court to felicitate with Nnamdi Kanu ... The highest South East political personality was Osita Chidoka, former Aviation Minister.”  However, it was the South East Senate Caucus led by Senator Abaribe, that bailed out Nnamdi Kanu.  At heart, most Igbos are now Biafrans.  There is more unity than meets the eye.

Nnamdi’s method is working…

Zulu continues:  “We are led by slavish second and third rate politicians who do not have the courage to defend our people.  A people with a better organised, political class could have secured this bail immediately.”  Igbo leaders did it in 48 hours showing that Nnamdi Kanu is mobilising many Igbos behind the Biafra struggle.  When he started, most of us were laughing.  Today, even his worst enemies are no longer scoffing.

Nnamdi’s method is working…

Zulu concludes and declares his mission:  “How wonderful it would have been if 5 South East governors, etc, had been in court … This is the effort of the Movement of Biafrans in Nigeria (MOBIN).  Take over the political fate of Biafrans … to restore Biafra as a sovereign state.”  Frankly it’s a matter of opinion.  I loved the individual power of Nnamdi Kanu, alone against the Nigerian State, with the masses, without the need for any political leaders.  Even his jailers loved and respected him so much.  It was awesome.

Nnamdi’s method is working…

Agha Egwu replied:  “Comrade Zulu Ofoelue, there are things which are obvious but not really the things that work, even though commonsense suggests it would.  There are people who are gifted in certain ways and when they do things that challenge the orthodoxy, one wonders whether they are normal or not.  Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mandela were all uncommon warriors.  They fought in ways we did not expect.  Gandhi used no weapons.  One day he told his people to stop buying British salt and just went by the ocean to manufacture his own salt by himself.  It was such a harmless action.  Nobody could arrest him for making salt. Soon others followed his example and Salt was manufactured all over India and crashed the British salt trade.

It taught Indians a very big lesson in self-reliance.  It was one of the big steps in driving the British out of India.  My only concern is whether Nnamdi Kanu asked us to boycott elections.  It does not make sense to me but people like Nnamdi Kanu are not ordinary.  They have something we don't have.  I don't want to be the person dividing the struggle.  A UNITED struggle is more important than the specific dictates of the struggle.  My instinct is to follow whatever Nnamdi Kanu feels we should do.  Is the boycott from Nnamdi or some other person?  That is alI I need to know to decide.”

Comrade Zulu Ofoelue replied:  “Agha Egwu leaving the struggle for any individual no matter how divine would be our worst mistake.  Some of us have made it a duty to correct the wrong impression already created.  Great respect to Nnamdi Kanu.  But truth remains that Nnamdi is not Biafra.  We are all Biafrans.”

Agha Egwu replied:  “Comrade Zulu Ofoelue, I will urge you to read about Gandhi and Martin Luther King. They were not the struggle but led the struggle.  Nnamdi Kanu is like them.  He sees things you can't see and knows things you can't know.  His leadership is intuitive.  That is why some people think he is divine.  The most important thing is to follow one route.  One leader.  Do not divide the struggle.  Unite behind one leader like we did with Ojukwu.  In that lies power.  A divided struggle never works.”

Comrade Zulu Ofoelue:  “Many have led before him Agha Egwu.  With different levels of success.  The first was Ojukwu.  Even the Palestinian struggle does not have one leader.  Just one outstanding leader AT A TIME.  Who would know the next?” (Not totally true as we also had Zik, Ibiam, Okpara before Ojukwu.)

Agha Egwu replied:  “Perhaps the Palestinian struggle is such a mess because they have too many leaders.”

The next post from Comrade Zulu Ofoelue quoted Onyema Uche:  "Let me repeat it.  One Biafran in Government House is better than a million protests.  If Biafrans could be aroused to this extent, by Fayose's presence, then, it behoves on them to … craft how to install their own in Awka Government House by November.  Sense before slogan."  However, this statement is not true.  The IPOB demonstrations got us some recognition, much more than most politicians.  Though it was Kanu’s imprisonment that made it go global.

Agha Egwu asked again:  “What does Nnamdi Kanu say?  That we vote or we don't vote.  Whatever he says is what I will follow.  I vote for total unity under one leader.”

Comrade Zulu Ofoelue wrote:  “Boycott?  Biafrans who insist that Biafrans should boycott voters registration and desist from voting during elections are happy that Enyinnaya Abaribe, signed Nnamdi Kanu's bail bond.  Let's just assume that because we didn't vote, there was no pro-Biafran Senator like Abaribe.”

Agha Egwu replied: “Comrade Zulu Ofoelue every successful political movement must have one leader.  If Nnamdi tells us to boycott, we must boycott no matter how nonsensical it seems to us.  We must trust his judgement.  If Nnamdi and IPOB tell us to vote and who to vote, we must also do that.  Please spend your energy trying to persuade IPOB to adopt your views rather than putting forward your own ideas that divide the IPOB position.  If we must succeed, we must have one leader, one action, at this stage.

Comrade Zulu Ofoelue replied: “My brother Agha Egwu, I will patiently wait for you to change your opinion on this.  It's wrong for us to deify anyone in this struggle.  I think we must focus on Biafra rather than the Biafran leader.  No one is perfect and infallible.  We need to be very, very careful.”

Then Comrade Zulu Ofoelue dropped his bombshell that got my antennae waving and my adrenalin raging:  “Moreso, some of us knew Nnamdi much more closely from the beginning of IPOB and we understand the history of IPOB beyond the views of the public.”

In other words, he knows “things” about Nnamdi when he was nobody.  I can smell a whiff of understandable jealousy here, when former equals leave us behind.  I thought about this, and said to myself, even crooks that reform can lead their people.  One of the most respected ladies in Afikpo today, became a politician and defeated the PDP all by herself.  Some people from her past say she is unsuitable, but her love and achievements for her people, turned her into an unassailable, beloved politician popularly known as Nwayi Afikpo.

Then I read more about Comrade Zulu Ofoelue.  He is a director with MOBIN (Movement of Biafrans in Nigeria), supposedly endorsed by all Pro-Biafra groups to support United Progressive Party (UPP), led by Chekwas Okorie.  We all remember Chekwas and his legal battles with APGA.  Whether, rightly or wrongly, APGA was damaged because of the disunity those court wrangles caused and never recovered.  I called Paul Achalla and asked if IPOB endorsed MOBIN.  He said we are observing them at a distance.  MOBIN’s blurb says they will now take the Biafra struggle to the next level.  Higher than Nnamdi Kanu level?

Nnamdi’s vision is working …
Kanu’s mission is rocking …

Chekwas Okorie created UPP after APGA, which he says Igbos should vote for because it is Pro Biafra.  We know his past of Party conflicts.  Nnamdi Kanu created a world-wide Radio Biafra; organised the disciplined IPOB, the single largest Independence movement in the world; deliberately sacrificed himself in prison to challenge Nigeria, yet ran this global empire from prison and turned himself and IPOB into an international legend.  Who do we follow?  Chekwas or Nnamdi?

Nnamdi’s vision is working …
Kanu’s mission is rocking …

Gandhi had his detractors.  They always thought they knew more than Gandhi.  Sometimes Gandhi will direct boycott of elections and they would insist that Gandhi was wrong and yet the people followed Gandhi and he liberated them.  I remember Chief Buthelezi, who always thought he knew better than Mandela, yet the people in all their glorious foolishness, chose to follow the strange ways of Mandela and won their freedom.  Martin Luther King was the same.  He asked the people not to fight.  Malcolm X and the black panthers said he was wrong but they boycotted buses and elections and won.  Nnamdi has mobilised the biggest demonstrations ever in Nigeria.  If he calls a boycott who will oppose?

Nnamdi’s vision is working …
Kanu’s mission is rocking …

Now let me make it clear that I believe personally, that I think we should vote in all elections except the Presidential, for the same reasons as Comrade Zulu Ofoelue.  However, I will direct my debate to IPOB and argue for what I think is best but will do what IPOB decides.  For Comrade Zulu Ofoelue to argue that voting must happen, irrespective of what IPOB says will divide the Igbo struggle.  When we act we must act together.  Sometimes we will be stupid together.  Most times we will be wise together, but enemies will admire us for our strength of purpose and togetherness.  Nnamdi Kanu has shown that he has uncommon wisdom and foresight and more than others, can get us to our destination.

Nnamdi’s vision is working …
Kanu’s mission is rocking …

At this point I want to call upon all Biafrans to focus and follow one leader, one course, one direction.  There are enough talented people in IPOB that know what they are doing and we need to unify behind them.  Sometimes they may get it wrong, but they have shown they are resilient, responsible and reliable.  I call upon all Biafrans to focus on IPOB and forget all these multiple competitors that will surely divide us – some born out of ego, some out of jealousy and some out of greed.  If IPOB says we vote, and MOBIN says no voting, it will just divide us. That is NOT acceptable.

Nnamdi’s vision is working …
Kanu’s mission is rocking …

With Nnamdi’s achievements and his long sufferings and sacrifices for us, we can clearly now say we know who we must stand with.  All the others, MASSOB, MOBIN, UPP should stop dividing our attention, drop their egos or political business deals and line up behind IPOB.  Those who are trading with us politically to line their pockets should be called to order.  If IPOB wants to place people in Nigerian politics, it is very easy for them at this point.  They do not need a divisive Chekwas Okorie to confuse us.  From their antecedents we know them.  We have seen Uwazurike, we have seen Chekwas, we have seen Nnamdi.  We know who to follow.

Nnamdi’s vision is working …
Kanu’s mission is rocking …

Yes I want us to vote the people that will truly represent us, but do not be deceived.  That is not the only way.  There is NOTHING as powerful as a total boycott.  Nothing will send a more powerful message that we are not interested in Nigeria or its Presidency and politics, as would a total boycott.  If NO Igbo turns out to vote on that day - all streets, totally empty.  All Igbo shops totally shut.  Nationwide.  That will be the News, not the Nigerian elections.  It would be the absolute referendum if everyone complied.  For IPOB and Nnamdi, that may be the better way forward, just like he realized that sitting down in prison will crash the walls of the Nigerian zoo and give us global outreach, when I thought he was finished.  A total election boycott will also arm us with a great moral power, locally and internationally.

Nnamdi’s vision is working …
Kanu’s mission is rocking …

The bottom line, however, is that no matter what we think or argue, once the decision is made by IPOB, we line up behind it.  If you don’t trust their decision, go and join, and influence their thinking.  I will take this advice myself and go and register with IPOB, pay my dues and concentrate on working on an economic vision for Biafra through IPOB.  The number one priority for Biafra is Unity.  Biafran Unity is Supreme.

Nnamdi’s vision is working …
Kanu’s mission is rocking …

All hail Biafra!

Published by IPOB Writers
Twitter: @ipob_writers


Axact

Axact

Vestibulum bibendum felis sit amet dolor auctor molestie. In dignissim eget nibh id dapibus. Fusce et suscipit orci. Aliquam sit amet urna lorem. Duis eu imperdiet nunc, non imperdiet libero.

Post A Comment:

0 comments:

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.