Umahi and the Biafra question: a caveat to skeptics
From Emmanuel Uzor, Awka
Every Igbo man or daughter bears the mark of the agitation. This age long agitation in all intents and purposes has assumed a different posture. Various agents or proponents of this Biafra agitation has led with their own understanding of the type of Biafra they fought or fighting for.
From the time of Dim Chukwuemeka Odiegwu Ojukwu down to other persons who presented themselves as arrowheads for this agitation, only a discerning mind will understand that agitation for Biafra was never and will never be wrapped around an individual.
The struggle for a sovereign state of Biafra can be divided into many parts, but I choose to leave it at two due to space and my desire to make this write up very concise. I divide it into Biafra of Form and Biafra of Physical, with all pointing to one agenda and arriving at the final end point which goes beyond a separate state, rather, a state in a state where everyone deserves to be treated fairly and equally.
In the Biafra of form, it poses a jigsaw in the treatment of Ndigbo in a Nigerian state and the cause of the agitation as not only tool to addressing these ills but also to self determination if these ill treatments are not stopped. It therefore lies in two aspects, that if you address the marginalization and other concerns we are raising, the Biafra of form takes stage, but if they are not addressed, then the Biafra agitation of physical becomes an option.
It therefore presented a veritable opportunity to Ndigbo to seek a better Nigeria, an all inclusive federation where everyone is given opportunity to thrive, where everyone is called to the banquet in the time of sharing the mouth watering inheritance of the nation to every child.
To actualize the dream of the forebears in ensuring that Nigeria remains one and fair to all especially to the South East, agitation became the only tool to seek redress to various discrimination and exclusion of the people of the zone in Nigeria project by successive administrations.
The Honourbale Minister of Works and former governor of Ebonyi State, Senator David Umahi seems to understand the progression and importance of the agitation for a Biafra of form where the South East is treated equally with the rest of the geopolitical zones better than the agitators.
His latest statement about Biafra captures the essence of this write up. It presupposes the fact that there was nothing absolutely wrong with the agitation for Biafra ab-nitio as protest against exclusion and marginalization of the zone in Nigeria in the past.
Yes, from his statement, he emphatically spoke the minds of many intellectuals from the zone that what gave birth to Biafra agitation was nothing less than criminal and deliberate inconsistencies in treatment of every federating units in the country especially the South East.
Umahi in his sermon on the Mount during inspection of barrage of road projects across the country especially in Enugu State was very courageous to address his people by bringing to their doorsteps, moves already being made by the present administration under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in addressing this age long question of inclusivity of Ndigbo in Nigerian project.
His words were not ambiguous because he was deliberate to affirm that the agitation for Biafra was to address the marginalization of Ndigbo in various areas by previous administrations.
In appraising Umahi’s statement only from its positive perspective, it appears that the Honourbale Minister called for an end to the physical agitation for a sovereign state of Biafra following the present approach by President Tinubu to reintegrate and include Ndigbo into the mainstream of Nigerian project.
The appointment of the Honourbale Minister of Works by President Tinubu to a very large extent took a very deep dive into the hearts of the South East who has stayed many years without such important position in Nigeria history. In fact, the last time South East came close to the Nigeria third seat was the era of Senator Ken Nnamani as the Senate President .
The seemingly noticable but deliberate exclusion of Ndigbo in the top echelon in Nigerian politics had remained until the last appointment of Umahi as minister of works. His appointment did not only break a jinx but opened a floodgate for more development in the zone which had remained elusive since return of democracy.
Umahi while addressing the people of the zone reeled out various road projects going on in the zone simultaneously under his watch as Minister of Works. The essence was to remind the people of South East that the agitation for a Biafra of form did not go unnoticed but also a time to remind them that a physical agitation for Biafra should be abolished.
Ndigbo cannot afford not to take their rightful positions in the comite of other tribes now that a ray of light and hope has shone on them. His argument is that the agitation for a physical Biafra should wait while Ndigbo leverage on the love and disposition of President Tinubu to include them fully into the mainstream politics of the country.
For him, it will be better to be together and for Ndigbo to fight for whatever is their right and not chicken out and resort to needless agitation since the reason for the agitation is already being addressed which the appointment of the Minister of Works was and remains one of the major reasons to believe that President Tinubu is ready to address every discrimination against Ndigbo in Nigeria.
For Senator Umahi, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has already given Ndigbo what they sought for decades, not through secession, but through unprecedented inclusion in the national grid of governance and development and abaondoning this milestone achievement for agitation will be unstratagic.
In further examining Umahi’s postulation on the right agitation and time to cease fire, the historical push for Biafran secession was born out of years of neglect, exclusion, and underrepresentation at the federal level.
But today, that narrative has shifted dramatically under President Tinubu.
He is also right when he said that President Tinubu has bridged the long-standing gaps by deliberately opening the doors of national development to the Southeast. He said this while reeling out various roads that are ongoing in south East especially the Enugu-Awka-Onitsha Expressway, the Enugu Port Harcourt road, the signature project of Renewed Hope, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway that also passed through South East among others.
The second Niger bridge and access road thereof, the dualization of Enugu-Abakaliki expressway and the Dualization and bridge across Ndibe beach in Afikpo to Benue and Cross River States to mention but a few. We are all witnesses to the reconstruction of the collapsed Arthisan bridge in Enugu and the germination of a very beautiful and long flyover at Eke Obinagu-Emene Enugu to decongest the road and make tragic flow with ease.
No doubt, every sector in Nigeria now carries a visible imprint of Igbo interest, be it in the area of appointments, policy inputs, and infrastructural priorities, they now reflect true federal balance with Ndigbo as beneficiaries.
This also highlights a true position that the Southeast has received its full quota in national appointments, with Umahi’s emergence as Minister of Works, along with several other strategic and “juicy” positions given to Igbo sons and daughters in the current administration under President Tinubu.
Another reason Umahi is preaching for a United Nigeria where Ndigbo should fight for what belongs to them rather than running away is because they are also part of the nation building and will not cow out when it is time for them to start benefiting.
These developments, according to him, explain why leaders like Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State and others have found alignment with the APC-led federal government.
“When a people are fully integrated, respected, and empowered within the structure of the nation, then the dream they once chased through agitation has already been achieved through cooperation.”
In the words of Umahi which I consider very educative and intellectually sound, his argument was pure and true: “Biafra was never about breaking Nigeria; it was about being counted in Nigeria. And today, through inclusion, equity, and concrete development, Ndi-Igbo are no longer spectators in the Nigerian project, they are co-authors of its future.
“When justice finds a people, agitation loses its voice. When the road is finally built and the home is secured, no one needs to flee the house, then everything owned by all is shared equitably for all, then the agitation is solved since the essence of it in the first place is to use it to correct the ills and bring justice to the marginalized. Indeed Umahi is a genius.
Emmanuel Uzor, a Public Affairs Analyst writes from Awka, Anambra State.
