This Big Joke Called BIAFRA Must Be Stopped Now

Nnamdi Kanu’s Biafra Project Must Be Stopped by Joe Igbokwe
Ever since former President Goodluck Jonathan lost the presidential election on March 28, 2015 which some of us knew he would never win based on the facts that we all knew and the statistics available, a majority of the Igbo have been unhappy and angry. They have been cursing and abusing the President and the All Progressives Congress leaders wishing that President Buhari never existed and the APC never formed. Many of them have been so frustrated after the election that they are now looking for a way to get back to the APC-controlled Federal Government.

Now, one Nnamdi Kanu who has been dreaming about the State of Biafra has provided a space for them to vent their anger. Some of them have joined him to begin to wish for the State of Biafra. Suddenly, the so-called Radio Biafra has created a momentum for them.

On Facebook, I have watched with keen interest what these guys dish out on a daily basis in the name of fighting for Biafra. They tell blatant lies, create havoc, make terrible noise, they abuse other Nigerians, and they preach unimaginable propaganda and hate that at once put Igboland in potential danger. I have been waiting for the South-East governors to speak up but they have maintained a deafening silence that suggests complicity. I have also waited for our elders to caution this young man but nothing has happened. 

With the so-called Radio Biafra, Kanu has unleashed an unimaginable trailer-load of lies and potentially dangerous propaganda that have put the Igbo nation in danger. It is now 45 years after the Nigeria-Biafra Civil War and I think that Igbo must rise up to stop this man who apparently never saw the 1967-1970 Civil War and who may not know the implications of what he is doing. He has never consulted anybody to seek his opinion. He has been speaking to the gullible and not too educated people in Igboland, and very soon these uneducated people will take a dangerous decision that may decimate and destroy Igboland. Soon, our people will start complaining that they were not consulted. To be fore-warned is to be fore-armed.

Last week, I saw a photo of a group of people that gave the impression that they are getting a military training somewhere in Igboland. Later, I saw another photograph on Facebook with some youths bearing guns and Kanu standing with them. I may not know where these pictures came from and what they are planning to do but this is the time to speak out and I urge anybody who is anybody who understands where we are coming from to stand up now to be counted. Woe betides a nation whose leaders are children. If we elders do not talk about this evil, posterity will never forgive us. Let us speak out and if these children do not hear us, then it should be on record that we spoke. About a month ago, the barrage of lies and uncontrolled propaganda Radio Biafra dished out everyday drew the attention of the National Broadcasting Commission which asked Nigerians to stop listening to the pirate radio station.

Now, here are compelling reasons why the Igbo must remain in Nigeria in their own interest:

The Igbo fought a civil war of self-determination between 1967 and 1970 and lost about one million people. This should be taken as a huge price for the unity of this country. Having made this monumental supreme price, I think the Igbo should work for the unity of this country based on social justice, equity and fair play.

Nigeria has three major ethnic groups: Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo. The Hausa/Fulani Empire has Hausa people stretching all through the Sahel to the Sudan. They are mostly Muslims and they have contact with the Arab world. The Yoruba nation has Togo, Benin Republic, Sierra Leone and even up to Brazil and Cuba to run to where their kinsmen are. The Igbo nation has no outlet anywhere in the world where the language is spoken. Therefore, they must see Nigeria as where they belong and work for its survival.

Nigeria provided a big space for the Igbo to spread their tentacles, explore, excel and blossom. The South-East is too small for this highly mobile and dynamic people to thrive.

The world pays attention to Nigeria today because of our size and population. If Nigeria splits into smaller countries, the world will pack their bag and baggage and leave. Population and size make a nation a destination.

Ndigbo control between 60 and 70 per cent of all the imports in Nigeria and other Nigerians, Yoruba, Hausa/Fulani, Ijaw, Efik, Birom, Tiv, Idoma etc provide a huge market for Igbo mobile and big-time traders.

Monumental inter-marriages between the Igbo and Yoruba and other ethnic groups have thrived for close to 70 years now that we cannot just dismiss all these with a wave of the hand.

Ndigbo own huge and massive investments in property in Lagos and Abuja, and other state capitals in Nigeria. Now, are you going to wish all this away?

Other Nigerian cities have provided safe havens for the Igbo as places to run to cool off whenever self-inflicted crises arise or other problems. When kidnapping became a way of life in the South-East, our people moved to other parts of Nigeria to settle. Now, where will the Igbo go when confronted with these problems in Biafra?

How can the Igbo thrive without their Lagos and Abuja or Port Harcourt? What happens to all their connections and relationships in these places?

We have been so intermarried, interwoven, intertwined, inter-related that the idea of separation may not be encouraged. I do not want to lose my friends from the other parts of Nigeria for anything.

I can go on but there is no need to continue to do so. We must be strong enough to stop this world’s old problems of looking down on people who are different from us. This is the problem of Nigeria. Nigeria’s diversity is a big plus for all of us to excel. United we stand, divided we fall. I confess that the Igbo have not played better politics in Nigeria since 1970 and that has been our bane. Anytime Nigeria wants to change a bad leadership in the country, the Igbo as a bloc will resist it. It happened in 1993 and we lost everything. In 2015, the Igbo were at it again but forces of history prevailed. The Igbo can do better than this.

However, I want Nigerian leaders to show leadership by carrying all Nigerians along in distributing power and resources. If there is no justice, there will be no peace. If there is no peace, there will be no progress. Let justice prevail.

Let us be fair to all concerned. If the truth must prevail and it must prevail, Nigeria has not been fair to Igbo since the end of the civil war. They tell us that there is no victor and no vanquished but in actions and deeds, the victors are still celebrating and enjoying the spoils of the war while the defeated are still languishing in abject neglect. For instance, of all the six zones in Nigeria, only the South-East zone has five states. We have found solace in all these because we have found out that those who are still oppressing the Igbo in Nigeria are not better. 

We also take solace in the findings of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council that all acts of indignity against human persons, against human society debase the perpetrators more than the victims. It is not that the offended cannot forgive but have the offenders repented? This injustice must stop now for the sake of unity of this country. I wrote Igbos: 25 Years After Biafra in 1995 thinking that the book will prick the conscience of other Nigerians but they have not paid any attention. It has been business as usual. Now, President Buhari must address this injustice. Case rested!

- Igbokwe is based in Lagos

3 Generations: Annie Idibia poses with her mum and daughter

Annie is currently abroad with her family. She's pictured above with her beautiful mum, and her daughter..

Dear Nigerian women: Etcetera explains why men cheat

Etcetera explains why Nigerian men cheat using Toke Makinwa's situation.

When you heard the news that Toke Makinwa’s husband impregnated his girlfriend, you all took to social media to rain insults on Nigerian men. Why men cheat on women they love became a topic for all female radio presenters in the country.

Aren’t you all tired of asking the same question over and over as if it is some perplexing unfathomable mystery? 

Your question is rhetorical, but since it keeps coming up again and again, let me provide some explanations to help you understand the reasons. I will simply tell it like it is, with
no bull, tact, or political correctness. 

It’s just that oftentimes; women do not accept the explanations. But in fact, one can understand it through common sense. Sometimes a man would cheat on his wife or girlfriend because he doesn’t love her anymore; he is bored with her, or even possibly unhappy with their relationship. 

In such scenarios, even women can become unfaithful as well. Women must understand that men are fundamentally different from them and wired differently too. We all know this but feminists try to suppress or deny this universal fact. A man craves variety and seeks novelty, while women prefer familiarity. Men will naturally desire variety when it comes to romantic/sexual partners more than women will. Men easily get bored by the same thing every day or a routine and we are sometimes afraid to voice this. 

Think about this. You ate your favourite eba and egusi soup, and on the second day that you ate it, the pleasure would be noticeably less than the first day. And after a week of eating it, you’d get tired of it and start to strongly desire to eat something else. Your desire for that eba will have diminished at that point. 

I know what you are thinking now, “You can’t compare food with people” right? That’s the typical female reaction to this analogy. However, I’m sorry to say that this analogy does apply because it’s one of the best and simplest ways that it can be explained. 

I am not trying to objectify people. But by accepting such an analogy, it will start making sense to you that men are more visually stimulated than women are. And when a man relies on visual stimulation for arousal, the stimulation wears off at some point, which then requires new stimulation from new women. Got the drift? In other words, visual stimulation is a sensual thing that is fleeting in nature and requires constant variety in order to maintain the stimulation. Thus, men who seek visual stimulation will require variety from more than one partner or lover. 

Women often argue that “true love” never gets old. But the notion of “true love” is indefinable, very personable, and highly subjective. And even for the sake of this argument, if we agree that “true love” never gets old and never wears out, that still doesn’t change what we’re talking about here. 

You see, even if a man has true everlasting unending love for his woman, he can STILL desire another woman he fancies. That’s what our women have to understand, rather than cling to naïve clichés of society. A woman’s heart tends to be able to love only one man at a time, a man’s heart is different and can truly love MORE THAN ONE woman at a time. This might be hard for you to accept, and unfathomable to your values and beliefs about “love.” But it is the truth. 

A man’s heart is molded differently with multiple chambers that enable him to love and desire multiple women. It’s like a tree with different branches, rather than just one. Men usually won’t admit it, because our society doesn’t accept this, but condemns it. 

Ladies, to understand this, think about all the different colours you love. You love pink and sky blue, or red, blue, black and purple. Now, can you like more than one colour at a time? Of course you can! You like the different colours in different ways, on different things, and for the different ambiance and mood that each colour accentuates, right? Likewise, you can like more than one type of cuisine right? Can you like Chinese and Italian foods at the same time? Of course you can. Even if society said you could only like one type of cuisine, it wouldn’t make a difference, would it? After all, society may attempt to create mutually exclusivities, but reality doesn’t. 

These are painfully obvious examples, and I am not arguing that people are like colours or food, but such simple analogies do describe what’s going on inside those who love more than one person or like having many lovers. Just because a man tells more than one woman that he “loves her,” desires her, or has feelings for her, does NOT make him a “playboy” or “liar.” 

He is not necessarily “playing” in terms of acting, nor does it mean he is using people in some sort of pretend “game” where he doesn’t care about their feelings. These are just false judgements by the society especially a feminist or female dominated society like Nigeria is fast becoming. 

To some women, it doesn’t make sense and doesn’t fit their definition of love and loyalty. But it’s the truth. That’s reality and you’ve got to accept it if you want to try to understand it. Not all men unequivocally attach loyalty to true love. Society might do so, but not all human beings do. What women have to understand is that being in a loving relationship does NOT automatically erase one’s desire for other people. 

Of course, men who have multiple partners often do have to lie to the women they romance, by telling them that they are the only one when confronted with the issue. So that is one area in which men commonly lie. However, it doesn’t make them dishonest people in general. It’s just that since most women cannot accept that their partner can pursue someone else beside them, demanding total monogamy in love; men with multiple desires for multiple women are FORCED to lie in order to prevent chaos and failure in courtship. There is no easy way around it. And that is the case even if they are generally honest men. (After all, who hasn’t lied? Everyone has at one time or another, so stop pretending to be an angel!) 

Loving or desiring multiple women has nothing to do with right or wrong, or being good or bad. It is simply a lifestyle and often these men are simply expressing who they are. Thus, infidelity does not make a man “bad” in a moral sense. Often, these men who romance multiple women are tender, caring, good-hearted, loving, nurturing people. Some are even deeply spiritual or religious. 

He doesn’t love you? My dear, the line between love and lust is blurry and subject to personal opinion. There is no universal objective measuring stick for differentiating between “love” (which has so many different meanings anyway) and “lust.”
 In reality, a man can find the perfect woman, who outshines the rest in his life, and can even have a perfect relationship with her, but still look at another woman he finds attractive and desires to court her, romance her, and experience the wonders and pleasures of her femininity as well. 

Some men get a “high” or adrenaline rush from courting, romancing, or seducing new women, in a way that nothing else can, and thus are addicted to it. 

My ladies, there are no perfect solutions or answers to everything. Just accept that some things in life are just meant to be endured, not fixed or solved like an equation. 

To be continued next week.

My 24-hour SSS ordeal was a witch hunt- Sambo Dasuki

The former National Security Adviser, Mr. Sambo Dasuki, yesterday raised an alarm over what he saw as a plot by the State Security Service (SSS) to implicate him in alleged security breaches.
He said Nigerians should know that the invasion of his house by the SSS was a sheer witch-hunt. He said it was sad that the operatives of the security agency broke into his ailing father’s house in Sokoto and broke his safe.

Dasuki, who spoke exclusively with the Nation correspondent on the phone yesterday, said he did not deserve such treatment because as the National Security Adviser he did not maltreat any Nigerian.
He said he was subjected to a 12-hour ordeal from 6pm on Thursday till 6am on Friday.
He said:

“The SSS operatives came in two trucks with a search warrant from a Magistrate Court. The warrant gave them the power to search for ‘illegal weapons and any incriminating item.’ You can imagine what that is supposed to mean.

“I left office on Tuesday and they got the warrant on Wednesday and executed it by 6pm on Thursday.

“From 6pm on Thursday, throughout the night till about 6am this morning (Friday), they were searching my house looking for incriminating items.

“They restricted my movement. I cannot go out and no one can visit me. All those who attempted to see me were stopped from doing so.

“In fact, my son was blocked from entering my residence. My two cooks, who used to come from their homes to prepare my meals, were also disallowed from leaving my house.

“The only person allowed was the man who feeds my dogs. And he only related with the dogs.

“By Friday morning, they packed away all the nine cars in my residence. I could not go out to perform the Eid-el-Fitr prayer because of the restriction.

Even when I sought permission to go to Eid Praying Ground, they promised to provide a vehicle but they never did.”
He added:

“This is just a witch-hunt; they are desperately looking for something to implicate me.

“They went to my father’s house including breaking into the ceiling to look for incriminating documents. They broke a safe in my father’s house.

“Also, my sister kept a 20-year old box in my father’s house, they also forced it open. What has my father got to do with this?

“And the old man is in hospital in London. He was shocked to hear that they broke into his house. The good thing is that they did not find anything.

“They brought the photocopy of a 2007 draft by my brother, Ahmed, and asked me to comment on it. Was I in office in 2007 as NSA? You can see the extent to which they are ready to go to implicate me,” he said.

The State Security operatives yesterday also confiscated his international passport and $40,000 cash found in his house.
They retrieved 3 rifles which were being used by members of the protective team while in office.
The disengagement of the Protective team was yet to be completed yesterday but the SSS asked him to explain how he came about the rifles.
However, at about 6 pm yesterday, SSS operatives were withdrawn from his residence.

Dasuki’s movement remains however restricted to within the country as his traveling documents are now with the SSS.
According to findings, the SSS team obtained statement from him from about 1 hour.

A source said:

“They seized the ex-NSA passport and raised issues on how he came about the $40,000 in his house. They went to the extent of asking him to give the details of how he came about the cash.

“On the rifles, they repeatedly questioned him on what he was doing with them. He took time to explain that they belong to members of the Protective Team guarding him. They became excited as if they had found an evidence against him.

“I think by the time the case gets to a court, Nigerians will know the truth or otherwise of their findings.

In regards to the allegations against him, about the purchase of arms, funds for counter-insurgency and the seized $15million in South Africa , Dasuki said:

“I read some of these allegations in The Nation but nobody has asked me some of these things they are saying. I was not even in charge of some of these things. How do I account for all?

“And if you want me to respond to these issues, you have to give me access to relevant documents. You do not need to restrict my movement. You can see that they are just out to set me up. Even if they find a knife in my house, they will say it is incriminating.”

“There are some who should account 10 times for some of these allegations they are raising but they are walking about freely, ” he added.

Dasuki, who sounded confident on the phone, said as a retired senior military officer and ex-NSA, he ought to be better treated.

“Everybody should know what is happening. They sent some low-level officers, looking for something to implicate me.

“It is just a witch-hunt. If you want me to make clarifications on any issue, in the spirit of democracy and the rule of Law, have the courtesy to invite me and as a gentleman, I will honour the invitation. Sending two trucks to lay siege on my house and restrict my movement is just abysmal.

“For a man who left office on Tuesday, where will I run to? I have nothing to fear.”

The former NSA said he was unfairly treated by the SSS because when he was in charge of the nation’s security, he was “cautious, careful and fair" in his approach.
He added:

“I was fair to all as NSA. Even when I had security cause to act on some issues, inflammatory comments and actions against the government of the day by those in the opposition, I exercised restraint. I did not restrict anyone’s movement, I never asked security agents to occupy anybody’s house.

“But that is the new change we have, this is our own definition of democracy. All I know is that everything has a beginning and an end in a democracy. I gave my best for this transition, which led to the victory of the opposition over the ruling party.

The Nation

Wizkid and Phyno travel in style on a private jet for MAMAs

Wizkid and Phyno travelled from Jo'Burg to Durban on a private jet for the 2015 MTV Africa Music Awards that will hold tomorrow in Durban, South Africa...enjoyment. Another photo after the cut...

PDP: We won’t accept election results under Buhari's daughter

The Peoples Democratic Party has said that it would reject any election conducted by the Acting Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mrs. Amina Zakari.

Funny enough, the PDP they would only reject results of elections in which the party is defeated.

“It will be very difficult to accept any result of the election conducted by Amina Zakari. It will be difficult for the PDP to accept result of election if we lose under Zakari,” 

the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Olisa Metuh, said.

This is even as the party told the international community to caution President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress, APC, over what the opposition PDP described as “draconian and authoritarian rule by the present government.”

Metuh spoke at the office of the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute in Abuja. The visit was not unconnected to the planned visit of Buhari to the US on Sunday.

Speaking during the visits, Metuh alleged that the INEC acting chairman was a ‘daughter’ to Buhari; hence she would not be fair in the discharge of her responsibilities as the nation’s electoral umpire.

But the woman, Mrs. Zakari, was appointed into INEC five years ago as a national commissioner by former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Sister sister... Kendall and Kylie Jenner both step out for lunch in style

19 year old Kendall and her 17 year old sister Kylie Jenner were spotted arriving at Joan's On Third restaurant in Los Angeles a day after their father Caitlyn Jenner was honored at the ESPY Awards.

On their way to the eatery, the 17-year-old reality star shared numerous videos on her Snapchat account showing her big sister behind the wheel singing along to a French Montana featured single. More photos after the cut..

Caitlyn Jenner turns heads at Del Mar Racetrack Opening Day

65-year-old Caitlyn Jenner was out again after the ESPYS, this time to attend the Del Mar Racetrack Opening Day.

Caitlyn, who is relishing the chance to finally be in the spotlight as her true self, was dressed appropriately for a day at the races. Caitlyn was seen cheering from the sidelines alongside a group of friends as she watched the horse racing. She was seen with the owner of the club, Joe Harper. More photos after the cut..

Face of the man who shot dead four marines in terror attack in Tennessee

This is the man who shot dead 4 US marines in Chattanooga, Tennessee today with a high powered rifle. He also injured a soldier and a police officer. His name is Muhammod Youssuf Abdulazeez and he's 24 years old. He is a naturalized US citizen from Kuwait. He was shot dead after he engaged law enforcement. It is believed he acted alone...and the attack is being treated as a terrorist attack. 

DSS operatives invade Ex-NSA’s residences

On Thursday, operatives of the Department of State Services invaded the Asokoro, Abuja residence of the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.

 

It was learnt that the operation which was said to have been authorized by the top shot of DSS, was in connection with the secret probe into how billions of naira allocated for the war against terrorism was allegedly looted.

It is not certain if Dasuki was arrested or detained overnight by his unexpected gun-wielding visitors who searched the house and left after some time. However, security sources said that he may have been whisked away or invited subsequently for interrogation on how he administered the billions that was released for prosecution of the terrorism war in the North-East.

 

Sources say this is the “fore-taste of what would likely happen to senior officials in the past administration who were suspected to have embezzled or mismanaged public funds.”

 

The former NSA coordinated the war against terrorism and his office received billions of naira to prosecute the counter-insurgency operations against the violent Boko Haram sect.

 

Dasuki who was appointed as NSA by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012, was relieved of his duties by President Muhammadu Buhari a few days ago.

 

It was gathered that the operation against Dasuki was two-pronged as a team of DSS operatives was also deployed to his family house in Sokoto.

 

The source said,

“The invasion of Dasuki’s residence is not unconnected with the determination of the current administration to recover all looted funds by senior officials of the past government, so no one should read any political motives to it."