Biafra from a Yoruba perspective

By Ishola Taiwo . . .

In spite of belated efforts by some more PR savvy persons to amend the connotations of the brand, the fact that biafranism is to Ibo what the nazi ideology was once to Germans remains stubbornly apparent.

Ever since the invention of the ‘chosen people’ narrative by ones in the periphery of ancient Kemet, supremacist ideologies that justify their tenets by casting adherents as superior beings who are oppressed by an inferior species have been used to justify all manner of acquisitive aggression.

Recognising biafranism to be an ideology of this sort – i.e. one that could be as disruptive as the current incarnation of fascistic Arabism that some describe as Islam – similarities between the routes travelled by middle eastern people’s targeted for chaos implementation by resource hungry western powers and what has been unfolding in Nigeria has been noted. The hostility expressed in reaction to the activities of today’s ‘Biafra’ movement is therefore explained as an exercise in sensitisation.

These ‘Biafra’ organisations are recognised as being of the same species as Islamic State/Boko Haram type fascistic organisations that are manned by psychopaths who are too imbecilic to notice (or care about) how they are actually performing a service for foreigners who want to see mini-statelets ruled over by absurd warlords established in all parts of the world where natural resources can be exploited under conditions that are most amenable to foreign capital.

Recognising also the fact that plural identities (i.e. multiculturalism) is untenable in regions riven with political/cultural instability – especially when one of the identities is based on a supremacist mind-set – the primary aim of the Yoruba opponent of biafranism is not to deny Ibo people the right to have their own sovereign country. Rather, this opposition is predicated upon the premise of ensuring that no persons sympathetic to the ideology of biafranism is given any space to flourish in Yoruba territory.

For some Ibo backers of the ongoing ‘Biafra’ agitation, an over inflated sense of self-importance (and delusions about the indispensability of Ibo) have led to a mistaken view about the reasons why such Yoruba are hostile to their activities.

These deluded would-be ‘biafrans’, on becoming aware of read unsympathetic Yoruba commentary, egotistically ascribe non-existent reasons as being the causes of such comments. Explanations about how ones are hostile to the idea of ‘Biafra’ because they do not want Ibo to leave Nigeria are put forward – a proposition that could only be true if the Ibo presence in Nigeria is actually responsible for unprecedented benefits that have been bestowed upon Yoruba; something that is so far from being true that it would be ridiculous even as fiction.

Ibo in our territories are not (and have never played the roles of) pioneering educators, providers of vital labour, sources of critical investment capital, manufacturers of indispensable goods or, administrators of some (never before experienced) genius. The truth of it, which while being harsh is necessary, is that 90% or more of Ibo resident (past and present) in Yorubaland are peddlers of cheap/shoddy foreign made products and, artisans/service industry workers whose skills are actually surplus to requirement. Nor is Iboland the source of irreplaceable imports in the form of natural resources. In short, Ibo presence in Yorubaland has added no value to the lives of ordinary Yoruba and as such, there is no reason why Yoruba would view their non-presence as a loss.

In truth, the fraudulent claims that these Biafra agitations are based on are actually indelible components of what it means to participate in what passes for politics in this Nigeria. Therefore, in order that regular practice be disrupted, explicit hostility is deliberately expressed to the concept of ‘Biafra’ with the intent of permanently eradicating one stratagem from the playbook of those who benefit from engineered chaos.

Wars against bad ideas are won not with bullets or bombs but by exposing the shoddy foundations upon which they rest to the elements. In this case, forensic dissections of the fascistic/neo-colonialist inspired underpinnings of native ideologies biafranism is what will rob them of all credibility and eventually make them less effective in their purpose.

Read also: What is an Igbo man ‘s own with Jonathan?

Biafra-type agitations are a constant of the Nigerian political reality but they depend on ones who are on the opposite end exerting just enough opposing force to ensure that nothing moves – i.e. while those currently playing the role of ‘agitators’ push the ship of state in one direction, ones whose turn it is to support the status quo do just enough to ensure that the ship remains firmly beached.

However, if while the agitators push, others who find themselves on the other side pull with equal fervour, then the ship might actually move off the beach. Thus defeating the purpose intended by those shadowy backers of this current ‘agitation’ who, just a few months ago, were on the other side working hard to ensure that the vampire entity ‘One Nigeria’ continues to serve the detrimental purposes that it was manufactured for.

The intent therefore is to ensure that when (not if) ‘Biafra’ actually does become realised, ‘biafrans’ will not be able to have their cake and eat it in the form of having their own sovereign country while still maintaining a presence (as a minority with the rights of citizens) in Yoruba territory. A presence which will enable them, at some point down the line, to constitute themselves into a fresh bloc of ‘agitators’ who are at odds with the majority over yet more claims of ‘marginalisation’. Again: while the aim is to enhance the hostility of the Yoruba masses to the idea of ‘Biafra’, the reason for doing so is not because there is a desire to have ‘biafrans’ remain in ‘one Nigeria’ but, in order to ensure that once ‘Biafra’ is realised, the prevailing wind will also compel all ‘biafrans’ to leave Yoruba territories.

In other words, the objective is to ensure that once a sovereign Ibo State ruled by ‘biafrans’ is established to the east, all ‘biafrans’ leave our lands. This, and this only, is the reason why ones like me will continue to maintain an implacable hostility to all manifestations of ‘Biafra’. This is what is required now if we are to make our nation an inhospitable environment for the fascism that is screaming its way into existence under the cover of biafranism.

RipplesNigeria …without borders, without fears

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now