BIAFRA: ANALYSIS OF THE JOURNEY OF BIAFRA RESTORATION SINCE 1967

It is an established fact that the agitation for Biafra freedom fully commenced after the counter coup d'etat of 29th July 1966 that led to the gruesome killing of General Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi, thereby fronting General Yakubu Gowon as the new Nigerian Military Head of State. This unethical elevation of General Yakubu Gowon who was then a junior in rank, was objected to by late General Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu. This coupled primarily with the spate of relentless and unwarranted killing of Biafrans particularly across the Northern region, precipitated serious crises within the military hierarchy that led them to Aburi in Ghana to try to resolve the issues. Late Lieutenant-General J.A. Ankrah, the then Ghanian Military Head of State acted as the chairman, with the meeting scheduled for 24th and 25th January 1967, respectively.

The Nigerian military delegates were drawn from the membership of the then Supreme Military Council which included:

• Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu Gowon
   
• Joseph Akinwale Wey (Military Vice President)
   
• Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Katsina (Governor, Northern Region)
   
• Late Lieutenant Colonel David Ejoor (Governor, Mid-Western Region)
   
• Late Major Mobolaji Johnson (Governor, Lagos State)
   
• Late Colonel Robert Adedayo (Governor, Western Region)
   
• Late Alhaji Kam Salem
   
• Late Mr. T. Omo-Bare
   
• Late Ali Akilu (Secretary to the Military Governor of Northern Region)
   
• Late D. Lawani (Secretary to the Military Governor of the Mid-Western Region)
   
• Late P. Odumsu (Secretary to the Military Governor of Western Region).
   
•  Late Lieutenant-General J.A. Ankrah who then was the Chairman of Ghana National Liberation Council (GNLC), chairmaned the reconciliation committee.

BIAFRA or the old Eastern region was represented by:

• Late Colonel Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu (Leader).
   
• Late N. Akpan (Secretary to the Military Governor of the Eastern Region).
   
• Late S. Akenzua.

The meeting agenda included:

• Re-organisation of the Army
   
• Constitutional Agreement
   
• Displaced people (Biafrans) in the country due to various upheavals
   
• Biafra Independence, etcetera. The meeting was scheduled for Aburi, a town in Akuapim, South municipal district of the Eastern region of Southern Ghana. This location was primarily chosen because of the safety of the delegates from the  Eastern region of Nigeria which was led by late Colonel Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu. His safety could not be guaranteed anywhere else either within the Western or Northern regions respectively.

NIGERIA GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSE TO THE ACCORD

The eventual response by the Federal military government of Nigeria was the promulgation of decree 8 which embodied the Aburi Accord. The agreement however subsequently broke down due to diverse and malicious interpretation of the federal government as a result of the Northern region's power consciousness, greed and arrogance. This crave jolted the chiefs and council of elders of Biafra extraction, to advise late Colonel Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu to declare the Biafra Independence on the 30th of May 1967. Nigeria and her foreign allies brought war to Biafra and this lasted for a period of three years from 1967 to 1970. Well over 3.5 million Biafrans including children, women, men and the elderly, were gruesomely killed and properties estimated to about twenty trillion naira were wantonly destroyed. The lofty objectives of Biafrans were truncated and the people were forced to remain trapped in Nigeria. What a humiliation as darkness engulfed the Biafran environment and the road to Biafra restoration, closed!

MAZI RAPHAEL UWAZURIKE

To God Almighty be all the glory that after about thirty years or more, following the end of the war in 1970, Mazi Raphael Uwazurike came to the scene, reviving the Biafra freedom consciousness once again. Though he was unfortunately compromised by the Nigerian government, blatantly betraying the restoration cause. That chapter in the agitation was thereby closed, throwing up yet again, another wave of darkness over Biafraland.

THE GLORIOUS EMERGENCE OF MAZI NNAMDI KANU

The highly intelligent, disciplined, resilient, trusted, honest, dependable and courageous leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the Joshua of our time, painstakingly took off from the scratch, where the Mazi Raphael Uwazurike abandoned the freedom struggle. He fully took over the mantle on the 14th of October 2015, when he boldly returned back to Nigeria from his base in London. Though he was arrested and detained extra-judicially under the most dehumanizing conditions, yet he remained unruffled. His consistency, persistency, trustworthiness and discipline even in the face enticing offers of compromise in prison custody. He had a close shave with death on the 14th of September 2017 when the Nigerian military criminally invaded his residence at Afara-ukwu Ibeku in Umuahia, Abia State.

That murderous expedition however, claimed the lives of over twenty eight (28) able bodied Biafrans. For over a year, nobody heard from him nor knew his whereabouts until he resurfaced in Israel. IPOB family members were practically killed in their numbers at Nkpor community, National High School in Aba, Port Harcourt (Igweocha), Asaba, Afara-ukwu-Umuahia, Onitsha, etcetera. Many were variously kidnapped, victimized, maimed and incarcerated. Above all, he has remained strong, focused and determined.

The great lion of the tribe of Biafra by his courage, discipline and tenacity, was invited by the European Union and the United Nations on 10th and 18th September 2019 respectively, for meetings.

In summary therefore, it is expedient to state here that Biafrans have so far:

1. Spent fifty three (53) good years from 1966 to 2019, in the agitation for Biafra independence.
    
2. Have lost five million citizens or more all together, both at home and in the diaspora.
    
3. Have lost properties worth about thirty trillion naira both home and abroad.
    
4. About two million family members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), have been arrested and extra-judicially incarcerated.
    
5. Biafrans have achieved over 90℅ freedom in the agitation.
    
6. Biafra restoration agitation/awareness, presently command sympathy and acceptability in virtually every civilised society around the world.

In the light of the above encouraging developments, we hereby pray/request that:

• The United Nations should strictly warn South African government to desist forthwith from further killing of Biafrans and the destruction of their properties.
   
• The United Nations should stop the Nigerian government from further arrest, killing, torture and detention of Biafrans.

Various International Organisations and countries like the United Nations, European Union, United States of America, Israel, France, Russia, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, Italy, Turkey, Portugal, Greece, Austria, Australia, etcetera, are hereby deeply appreciated for their enormous support and encouragement. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the amiable, humane, dogged, dependable, fearless and focused IPOB leader as well as all the hardcore family members of this global movement, for their consistency and discipline. Above all, to God Almighty be all the glory and honor for His mercy, protection and loving kindness towards Biafrans.

Written by Deacon Sam Izodinma
IPOB Igweocha Elders Council Chairman

Edited by Peter Oshagwu
For Family Writers Press International