By Onumajuru Onyekachi Macsantos
Edited by Livingrich Ezeikpe
The Eastern Consultative Assembly meeting slated for February 27, 2018 has come and gone. The meeting which was held in Universal hotel, Enugu, Enugu state started around 10:20 am with an opening prayer. Dignitaries from different parts of old Eastern region were in attendance, among whom are; few old Igbo politicians; former secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo- professor Ben Nwabueze; former minister Mbazuruike Amaechi; wife of late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe- Dr Uche Azikiwe; pastor Michael Agbaibe; representatives from many clans in the old Eastern region, (Mr Douglas from Kalabari, the leader of Ikwere delegates Mr Nwaoru Ohunda and also the leader of Akwa Ibom chief Anikon Akakpan); the of press and other people attended the meeting.
The meeting discussed among other things the pains of the people of the region and what it is going through in the hands of Nigerian Government. The moderator of the meeting pointed out that the region was no longer interested in “One Nigeria” business again. According to him past Nigerian leaders like Gen Gowon; Gen. Ojukwu; Gen Sani Abacha; Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo; Goodluck Jonathan and others had fought forcefully to keep Nigeria “One indivisible entity” but all efforts to achieve that proved abortive. The meeting recounted some of the ordeals the region has been through in Nigeria, in the name of “One Indivisible Nigeria”.
Pastor Michael Agbaibe briefly analyzed how his wife was killed and beheaded in Kano on 2nd June 2016 by Islamic youths; destroyed his five months old car; his properties; how he and his family were smuggled out of Kano state to East just because he is a Christian and also an Igbo Biafran, and that up till date, both the police and Kano state government have not done anything to help him.
Chief Anikon Akakpan and his colleagues practically explained how Nigerian government in scheme of things is marginalizing the old Eastern region. They boldly told the public that the old Eastern region is one people. They insisted that the Tag “South-South and South-East” is fake and a deliberate attempt to divide the region the more, and that unfortunately for Nigeria “the formula of divide and rule system has expired and it can never work again”.
A former minister Mr. Mbazuruike Amaechi, lamented on the maltreatments, sufferings, marginalization and killing and uncountable crimes and genocide committed against the people of the region by the Nigerian government. He recounted how Igbo college girls in the north were forcefully taken away from their school hostels by Nigerian soldiers to a leprosy centre in northern Nigeria, where they were brutally forced to have sex with lepers during 1967-1970 genocidal war against Biafrans; how unfairly the Northern military denied the Easterners their chance of being the next president.
The agreement according to him was that after Shehu shagari's tenure, the next president would come from the old Eastern region, but Mohammadu Buhari of Nigeria, overthrew Shagari's government in 1983. He further narrated how the northern military destroyed the constitution of 1966, and Nigeria stayed for 38years without constitution. Later in 1979, constitution was drafted and given to the military to glance through unfortunately they frustrated and edited the part of that constitution that didn't favour their dictatorship.
The former minister elaborated further that the 1999 constitution suffered similar fate. According to him, he was among those that fought for Nigeria’s independence in 1960 when he was 22years old. He revealed that the true one “Nigerianists” were the old Easterners; that why his name is “ASIKA” which literally means in Igbo Biafran language, ASIKA KA ABURU KA ABURU MA NA ASIKA AGBASA KA AGBASA, is that, “IF YOU WANT UNITY LET'S UNITE, BUT IF YOU DON'T WANT UNITY LET'S GO OUR SEPARATE WAYS”.
The former minister said that the old Eastern region has contributed more than enough in the unworkable “One Nigeria”, without gaining anything from it, rather what she receives in return are artificial sufferings, pains and undeserved agony from Nigeria. He disclosed that the activities of Fulani herdsmen are in accordance with Islamic agenda, which Usman Danfodo piloted in 1804. He concluded that Nigeria is an illegal entity.
On his part, Professor Ben Nwabueze, hammered on restructuring; recognized the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe as the only Igbo leader he knows, and could address everyone as Igbo. His partisan speeches generated uncontrollable noise from the crowd, who jumped up from that point on and throughout the next stage titled “award stage”, shouting on top of their voices, screaming and roaring “we need Biafra not restructuring”; this resulted in the moderator taking the Microphone away from the professor and forced him to stay away, but that was coming rather too late as the crowd had moved from shouting, screaming and beating the desks to singing with the name of the IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. They sang songs like “Holy, holy, holy Nnamdi Kanu is another savior”, the Biafran flags went up by this time. That was how the assembly ended the day’s meeting. In Biafra we stand
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