When Biafra lives in the zoo

The latest fad in town is the word "zoo". We all have an idea of what a zoo is supposed to mean. But there's another version down the eastern part of Nigeria. There is a certain Nnamdi Kanu, who has permeated the souls and minds of the people.

He was a disciple of the founder of MASSOB, Ralph Uwazurike. But he lives in the United Kingdom. In order to legitimise his message, he devised the use of radio both on the internet and terrestrial; so it is on that pirate station that the word "zoo" has taken another meaning. It is there that "zoo" is used as replacement for the word "Nigeria". On Radio Biafra, Nigeria is called "zoo", and its sinking in. Majority of Kanu's adherents of hate no longer refer to Nigeria by its name, they call Nigeria "zoo"! Why? I can only hazard a guess, because for them probably, a zoo is a house for animals that tear themselves without restraint. Put differently, Nigeria is an animal farm where the rule of the thumb is prevalent.

While it is true that Kanu's message has got him a lot of adherents, what is not in doubt however is the quality of the messages he spews under the title "director" of Radio Biafra. He preaches hate, pure and simple. And that is my problem with him and his group. Never mind that as of today, the areas he considers to be Biafra is still part of the zoo he loves to loathe, what an irony, but the level of bigotry he preaches is enough to earn him an invitation by the ICC. But more importantly, the level of his hate is enough for men and women of goodwill in Nigeria to get up and stop him. It is insane and no society can make progress with that level of bile. We cannot keep quiet thinking that the misery will blow away, no, that is a wrong-footed strategy. We must tell the other side of the story. We must reject the preaching of hate from Biafra through Nnamdi Kanu. Secondly, we must tell those young but heavily radicalised folks who have taken these messages to heart that Biafra is a dream, which became a nightmare for which no sane person should contemplate…at all.

Biafra was created by General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu in 1967, following what he and his lieutenants at the time believed were injustice perpetuated by the Nigerian state against the people of former eastern Nigeria at the time. I share some of those concerns and I remember with sadness the sufferings of our people in those years. Till date, there are still injustices in various forms in this land, but it's not restricted to the Igbo. When the Igbo cry, I just pity smaller ethnic groups and wonder how they will be feeling? I just wonder why little groups don't cry like the Igbos cry these days. But that is the problem with history, it never has a beginning. History starts from the middle, most often because when you probe further you will realise that every reaction has a preceding action and vice versa. The old Biafra, there were mistakes on the part of the promoters. First, you had Ojukwu include in the war folks that were unwilling, especially those from the parts known today as the South-South. So it was easy therefore for those ones to be labelled as "saboteurs" when the war got dreadful and messy; because they jumped out of the war. They sided with Nigeria and the war was brought to an end but not before more than 1 million children, women and men had been killed and starved to death. Many more millions were ferried overseas just to be fed. Over 90 percent of those never returned!

Today, it is worse. More than 70 percent of Igbos lives outside Igbo land. Nnamdi Kanu, the upstart who wants to wage a war against the "zoo" has no political power. He has no administrative attachment. He has no military experience. I am not sure if he hears a "banger" sound he will not dock. Thus he has already lost before he starts. So he does not possess the foundation to even launch a war. The Biafra that even attracted some form of legitimacy among a handful of foreign countries was the one that was rich in hydro-carbon. Today, most of the hydro-carbon is not part of Igbo land. So what's the attraction for a future foreign support? None! In the old Biafra, Ojukwu was not only a first class Oxford trained mind, he was a Colonel in the Nigerian Army, who was governor of an area, which today has become nine states. Today, I am very sure that if push comes to shove, Kanu, who is from Abia State will not get the support of anybody from Anambra, Imo, Enugu, Ebonyi, not to talk of Delta or Rivers states. Reason why this whole project is a scam!

By asking his hapless followers to donate money in order for him to acquire arms and ammunition to the tune of $50 million shows how dumb he is and how more dumb his followers are. His photo circulating on the internet where he is seen standing amidst some disgruntled fellows with wooden shoot and fallow shakabula is a reminder of the mass suicide the man is committing his young thugs into. What do they smoke these days? The photo in question could be mistaken for a rehearsal scene of a low-budget Nollywood movie. It is that bad. For me, all the noise is simply to rip-off these thugs of their hard earned money while they hope for a war with the zoo that will NEVER happen. Donate to Kanu, and Kanu will collate your widow's mite into a $50 million war-chest, which will end up in his war-pocket, thereafter, the guns and bullets will be reported seized by the zoo Custom service or Navy. After this, Kanu will initiate another phony venture and another scam will start all over again.

My concern is on the young folks who are led by mostly half-educated, ill-educated, and un-educated "freedom fighters" who prefer the luxury of London to the patched soils of Igbo land. The trouble with the Igbo is allowing these sorts of people seize the narrative. Kanu and co are the ones controlling the minds and souls of our people at this time. The danger is not about a pipe dream called Biafra; the danger is on a people whose heart is filled with hatred for other Nigerians. It is that foundation of hatred that has formed the basis for interaction with others. That's a faulty foundation. Our people always talk about how other Nigerians hate them, but never talk about how deep they hate other Nigerians. Radio Biafra is therefore a platform that should not be allowed to survive. It is dangerous to the minds of the youth and dangerous to humanity in general. It will set Igbo land back 100 years. We have a country Nigeria to build, enough of the distractions.

#uppercrust