Biafra: ‘What can we do to make Igbo feel they belong,not alienated – Soyinka [With Rich List of Comments]
Bode
Igbos have long been assimilated.. But biafrauders never desire to be."
I agree with Soyinka. And would even go further, we had a referendum for Southern Cameroon, why can't we have one for the Igbos, as i stated months ago, in 10 years? However, my concern is that if not properly conceived, managed, and articulated, the agitation may end up leaving the East in a bad position if the secession is not realized; they would have to face the kind of sentiment expressed in the twit above over again within one generation. If the options narrow as they seem to be at the moment, it leaves very little room for retreat and we may soon cross the line of no return, yet again....
...Biafra: ‘What can we do to make Igbo feel they belong,not alienated – Soyinka
on December 09, 2015 / in News 8:43 am / Comments
By Our Reporter
Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has urged the Federal Government to employ more diplomacy in handling the agitation for the Republic of Biafra.
SOYINKA
Soyinka said statements like “Nigeria is indivisible”, “This won’t happen under my watch,” “Nigeria’s unity is non-negotiable” would not help matters.
The Nobel laureate spoke in an interview on Channels Television programme, Channels Books’ Club.
Agitation for the Republic of Biafra gained more traction recently following the arrest of Director of outlawed Biafra Radio,Nnamdi Kanu.
The protesters had taken over the Niger Bridge, Onitsha, Anambra State blocking traffic and it took the intervention of security agents before they could be dislodged, leaving some persons dead in its wake.
Soyinka asked President Muhammadu Buhari to approach the agitation in a more diplomatic way, pointing out that he had said earlier that Biafra cannot be defeated.
According to him, ”Once an idea has taken off, you may defeat those behind it in a war but that does not mean the end of the idea.”
But he lamented that he had been misunderstood at the time.
He said the attitude of the government should be to sit down with the those leading the renewed agitation and ask: “What can we do to make the Igbo feel part of the country, what can we do to make them to feel that they belong and not alienated.
“This is what we are ready to push for in the overall governance content of the country. It is not to be carrying on that this will not happen under my watch; Nigeria is indivisible, Nigeria’s unity is non-negotiable, he stated”
Selections below from more than a 1,000 comments-
THE LION OF BIAFRA8 minutes agoLikeReplyBIAFRA RE-ACTIVATING -NIGER/DELTA -DOWNLOADING 2016 - THE ONLY THING THAT CAN SAVE NIGERIA IS UNLESS AMNESTY FOR OUR PEOPLE CONTINUE IN NIGER/DELTA- BIAFRA/NIGERDELTA REPUBLIC ALL THE WAY
Chimobi P Ebenezer from Facebook10 minutes agoLikeReplyplz wia in this country can u live peacefully if it's nt in igbo land?
Jamiu Imam from Facebook12 minutes agoLikeReplyIgbos have long been assimilated.. But biafrauders never desire to be.
Tayo Akinleye from Facebook16 minutes agoLikeReplySir, this comment is not too good in the spirit of one Nigeria..We all have our good and bad side as far as each tribe is concern. ..may God help us to understand ourselves n our differences.
Joseph Freeman from Facebook16 minutes agoLikeReplyProf., but has Nigeria survived now? Right now, Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder that is about exploding. No job, unpaid salaries everywhere, no life, no future, miseries and gnashing of teeth everywhere, people are dying everyday; hunger, abject poverty and hopelessness killing more people than Boko Haram. Indeed, Nigeria is obnoxiously and dangerously pregnant!
Chukwujekwu Uzokwe from Facebook21 minutes agoLikeReplyGen elias u need to understd d article every well.
IloabuekeH @IloabuekeHfrom Twitter27mLikeReply@vanguardngrnews @Justicenwaogu1 ALLOW WE BIAFRANS TO GO.
Kalu Evarestus from Facebook28 minutes agoLikeReplyNOTHING SIR ITS TOO LATE NOW JUST BIAFRA AND OUR LEADER NNAMDI KANU
Maluchukwu Emmanuel from Facebook34 minutes agoLikeReplySoyinka or wat ever u kol ur self at the god of igbos
[Message clipped]
Olayinka Agbetuyi
I agree with Prof. Soyinka's comments but will pre-empt him by asking that the first question to be given to indigenes of Igbo states is whether as an immediate palliative a referendum should not be staged among Igbos on the desirability of naming one of the existing Igbo states Biafra ( that ensures that the idea indeed can never die) and ask the Igbos to determine which of the current states will be so called, within the democratic framework of Nigeria, they can carry out the organizing principles and priorities of Biafrans. Other residents of other igbo states will be free to emigrate there if they so desire (as would other residents of other non-Igbo states; with right of return to their former states if it does not work out). It will be but a short step to confederacy I concede but not outrightly so. If they are able to build an eldorado they wave in the face of other Nigerians, not only would they have earned their gambit, they would have provided a 'control' blueprint in an experiment for other Nigerian states to emulate in state governance, in a non rancorous atmosphere.
Olayinka Agbetuyi
Sent: 09 December 2015 18:51
To: 'Ikhide' via USA Africa Dialogue Series
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Biafra: ‘What can we do to make Igbo feel they belong,not alienated – Soyinka [With Rich List of Comments]
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Bode
Anunoby, Ogugua
Why does it take Wole Soyinka to state the obvious for some in this Forum to acknowledge the obvious. The Igbo are not an unreasonable people. No people are I might add. Their problem has never been that they could not compete. Nigerians know that they can and do compete. It has been that they believe the dice has been loaded against them. This belief does not have to be true. If that is the feeling, it should be addressed and all resentment assuaged. The smart thing to do therefore, is to talk, not berate, threaten, or ignore the indignation as some in this forum seem to be doing.
I would say the same for any other groups that are disaffected. The Yoruba were, some say rightly, after the Abiola case. They believed they were hard done by. Nigerians shared their pain. The Yoruba got the Obasanjo presidency in recompense. That was okay. Obasanjo in fact had Olu Falae, another Yoruba as his only opponent in the presidential election. The Hausa/Fulani (arguably on behalf of Northern Nigeria) claimed they were entitled to eight years of the Yar ’Adua presidency. Let us not worry about why they were sure Yar’Adua will have been elected to a second term if he ran. Nigerians conceded the presidency to them after President Jonathan. That is how fissured countries work until they are no longer so. Thank goodness for Soyinka. Will the country listen to him? That is the question.
oa
Bode
Anunoby, Ogugua
What is your point Bode? Must one speak if the one has nothing of true value to add to a conversation of great moment. True is true just as untrue is untrue. Soyinka’s validation is neither required nor necessary for the above to be the case. He knows what is expected of him. Did you notice he did not volunteer his opinion and counsel. He was asked for it.
I appreciate that Soyinka at this time, said by some to be a time of unreason, is still the constructive, rational human being that many others in this forum, in government, and elsewhere choose not to be. I remind you I am not in a contest for Soyinka’s validation of my or indeed any point of view. He will be first to say he has no interest in the politics of opinion validation. On this issue, all who want Nigeria to work for all Nigerians have Soyinka in their company. The corollary is true. Those who want Nigeria to work for some Nigerians only, do not.
Bode
Anunoby, Ogugua
Sent from my iPhone
Moses Ebe Ochonu
Bode
Bode
Mensah, Edward K
Friends,
The African experiment at nation building has been very complicated and disastrous precisely because the various countries were cobbled together via the assemblages of various tribes that, under certain circumstances, may not even want to be together. In my mind, our major problem emanates from the behaviors of our corrupt and thieving, as well as murderous, politicians. These politicians have behaved as if the owned the citizens nothing. Their main job is to loot the national coffers for the benefit of their foreign and domestic friends. In the meantime the citizens have been stripped of all avenues to redress their problems. Those of us with the means run to the West to become economic exiles (oops, I know I am offending many elites who do not see themselves as economic exiles) do so leaving our unfortunate brethren at home. In desperation they agitate for their own states in the belief that, once they have their own unviable nation all issues will be addressed. And some of us sit in the West and shamefully support these aspirations without discussing the unintended consequences as if secession will deliver honey to all citizens.( I have not read a single post about the unintended consequences yet!)
The fact that there is not a single African country ( maybe Botswana is an exception but I am not sure) that can demonstrate that the leaders work to improve the standards of living of their citizens and do not simply loot the national coffers for the benefit of the elite 0.1 suggests to me that all our leaders have no social conscience. They are in the business of governance for their own benefit. Note that when I say ALL LEADERS I am also including most of the individuals.
The examples our elites quote for secession referenda in Canada and Scotland are disingenuous because the groups within these countries ( Canada and Scotland or Catalan in Spain) who agitate for independence have very clear boundaries and are monolingual. Take an African country with about 20 tribes cobbled together to form a country. Any secession, to be successful, must be carefully throughout. Which tribes are in and which are out? And where are the legitimate boundaries? And who decides where a tribe’s boundaries begin and end? One major legacy of the current nation states, like Nigeria or Ghana is that our thieving politicians have created huge national debts in the name of all citizens. When a group of tribes secedes, in addition to the issue of settling legitimate boundaries, what proportion of the national debt should be allocated to the new nations? So not only do we have issues with legitimate boundaries we also have economic issues to address, bills to pay. In all honesty you can’t leave and expect to not pay your share of the national debt. How is the debt apportioned? And assuming the debt is apportioned fairly, for example, in proportion to the share of the national population, the new nation will start off with a huge national debt.
I am neither a political scientist nor a historian. I am an economist who dabbles in politics here and there. And I believe that these agitations for secession have not been well thought-out. There are no perfect countries, just as there are no perfect marriages. We Africans must all understand that our issues are with the corrupt politicians, and they come in all tribes. These politicians will not cease to be corrupt the moment they become leaders of another geopolitical entity. Hell no!! We will simply end up creating new set of corrupt and thieving leaders. Where is the evidence? Show me a single African country with leaders who behave otherwise. We should listen to the legitimate cries of our citizens and work out models of coexistence, unitary governance with powers devolved to groups within the country, real federations, ect.. Secession, if you ask me, should be the very last option.
Best
Kwaku
P/S
Given the historical and current behaviors of Chicago police and City Hall, I will vote for Hyde Park to secede. But Chicago could forbid us from driving on Lakeshore Drive to work by increasing the toll astronomically!! There are no perfect options.
kenneth harrow
i have only one small thought on this. we have always heard about the failures of the colonialists to draw reasonable border lines for african states. the logic goes that the lines should reflect the ethnic divisions.
i don't particularly share that view. the cobbling together of different peoples is entirely the project of the nation-state, and just about everywhere. i see national identities as different from, not commensurate with, and certainly/absolutely not congruent with other forms of identity.
and lastly, even if it were congruent with ethnic identities, give it enough time and the same divisions of interest, e.g. class, would arise anyway. the same mixage of peoples would arise anyway.
in deed, look closely enough at already existent ethnic identities, look at them over time, and what do you find? the same mixing, the same sorting out, the same dividing of groups and peoples, as is found among national entities.
more or less.
ken
-- kenneth w. harrow professor of english michigan state university department of english 619 red cedar road room C-614 wells hall east lansing, mi 48824 ph. 517 803 8839 har...@msu.edu
Moses Ebe Ochonu
Moses Ebe Ochonu
Bode
John Mbaku
J.D. (Law), Ph.D. (Economics)
Graduate Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law
Nonresident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
Attorney & Counselor at Law (Licensed in Utah)
Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor of Economics & John S. Hinckley Fellow
Department of Economics
Weber State University
1337 Edvalson Street, Dept. 3807
Ogden, UT 84408-3807, USA
(801) 626-7442 Phone
(801) 626-7423 Fax
kenneth harrow
an oddity is the u.s., where the former slaveowning states enjoy a disproportionate weight at the electoral college--and the senate--due to the great compromise of union.
we are paying for that now.
and urban centers are de-valued as a result
ken
-- kenneth w. harrow professor of english michigan state university department of english 619 red cedar road room C-614 wells hall east lansing, mi 48824 ph. 517 803 8839 har...@msu.edu
kenneth harrow
what you write about is EXACTLY what geschiere writes about in his book Perils of Belonging. where people from the west of cameroon, bamileke (regarded often as being like your igbo in nigeria when migrating to other parts of the country) come to douala and are regarded as outsiders, as not being allowed to vote there; as belonging only where they were born, and needing to prove this w birth certificates, before being allowed to vote; and finally, most importantly, being indigenous only to the place where they will be buried. and if your father determines where you are from, you'd better be prepared to show a photo of his grave in the location you are claiming to be your home.
this is autochthony's insanity.
but you know, it is recent, all of it. it dates to the 1980s when this sea change away from national identity slowly began. and it was the same sstory in cote d'ivoire, and i suspect in many many other countries in the world, not just africa.
so you are right about michigan and utah. but maybe it is less a question of the good working structures of the govt, but of a social fabric where a vast percentage of our children are finding jobs in locations outside of the city and the state in which they were born; and where immigration still figures in the shaping of our national profile.
if the national service in nigeria were to help create a new culture for the children, that might be a start in the direction you are favoring
ken
-- kenneth w. harrow professor of english michigan state university department of english 619 red cedar road room C-614 wells hall east lansing, mi 48824 ph. 517 803 8839 har...@msu.edu
Bode
kenneth harrow
they both did win, however.
nowadays we have snobirds--older people who have moved to the south, to the point where florida has become a beacon for millions of old folks.
ken
-- kenneth w. harrow professor of english michigan state university department of english 619 red cedar road room C-614 wells hall east lansing, mi 48824 ph. 517 803 8839 har...@msu.edu
Bode
John Mbaku
Anunoby, Ogugua
Sent from my iPhone
--
Bode
it is not inscribed in law, foreignness as a legal status is not what we are discussing here, but the attitude, the politics that sometimes works to give advantage, that is what your candidate in Utah was seeking, advantage over the opponent. of course, it doesn't work all the time, that is what those categories of "foreign" etc mean in reality. they represent a particular mode of politicking. not the best , not one i would engage in or endorse but one that exists everywhere, admittedly in varying degrees....
kenneth harrow
as i said, even in ny
ken