This is the News Analysis segment of the Voice of Biafra International (VOBI) broadcasts  

For May 10th, 2003  

You have heard the news; now, the analysis…  

Fellow Biafrans:  

For those of us who were previously asleep and oblivious of the mistreatment that Igbo Biafrans are receiving at the hands of Nigeria and her murderous, fraudulent and arrogant sociopolitical machinery, we are glad that the recent electoral events have woken you up You are now awake: rub the sleep out of your eyes so that you can see and sense, in disbelief, what you have been subjugated to for over 30 years, and what you are currently being buried in. now. There is no further time to waste; you have to gather your loincloth about you and get busy.  

We do not have to tell you that there is a crisis Nigeria. The 0basanjo-PDP-one-Nigeria machinery has conspired to rob you of your will and your rights. In the past, they have subjugated, imprisoned, suppressed and discounted you as a people, as a nation of Biafra, using all the trickery of power and of government. They largely got away with it thus far.  Now, they want to use the vehicle of a fraudulent election to formalize and legitimize this awful treatment and relegation of Igbo and other Biafrans. Ahead of time and the event, they already fixed the results of the elections in their own favor.  They had tried buying and bribing you, but knew that would not dissuade you. Then, they tried to intimidate you, but you refused to be intimidated. They killed some of you, and threw many in prison. Yet, that did not stop you. Then, they prevented you from voting. Having done all that to you, and knowing that you still were intent on making your will known using the vote, they stuffed the ballot boxes. That was not enough to stop you. So, they did the only thing left to do for a criminal-bent organization and fraudsters. They actually wrote in their own figures as the final results of the elections, with INEC’s cooperation and incompetence. They robbed you of the result of the expression of your collective political will. How else can you explain the fact that INEC certified election results in places where no elections took place, as was clearly noted by independent observers including international organizations?  

We know that a large majority of you, heeding our call for unity and solidarity, and our plan to support APGA and Ojukwu fully, and to vote en masse for APGA and Ojukwu, did brave the weather, brave armed intimidation, to get out there and do precisely what we planned: vote for APGA and Ojukwu, as a show of Igbo-Biafran unity and solidarity. That is your collective will: you empowered APGA and Ojukwu to be your political proxy and representation. You gave them authority through suffrage to be your mouthpiece and your contribution and input, your presence and your mark in the governance of the Igbo-Biafran nation and people.  That’s what you did, and that’s what your votes represented. But lo, when you got up after the elections, the published result was quite different. Obasanjo and PDP had rigged their way, as predicted, into what they now call "electoral victory"! Yes, they robbed you. But they also insulted you, they assaulted you as a people and as a nation of Biafra . They made a mockery of you. They are laughing at you and they think that they have gotten away with it. But, little do they realize that this time around, they have gone too far! They will not get away with this—not this time, not any longer. We are going to tell them so. We are going to redeem our will and our intent. We shall work with APGA and Ojukwu, continuing to show them our fullest support, and going with the plan and the program.  

We have a word or two for those who are not only willing to accept, but are actually working feverishly to make these fraudulent election results stick. They do this for various reasons and excuses. We understand a large number of them are only doing so because they hope to gain something from this criminal and immoral situation (if it is allowed to stand). They are the same groups who have participated in the raping of the people, in the stealing of the people’s wages and pensions, and in the denial of the people’s dues and rights. It is the same individuals and organizations who have systematically exploited the people.  

For those who say they do not want to “truncate democracy” in Nigeria , do they really understand what democracy means? Do they understand that democracy means the implementation of the will of the people by the representatives chosen by same people? We—they—know fully well that Obasanjo, PDP and INEC deliberately overrode the will of the people by fraudulently fixing the results of the elections, thereby criminally supplanting the will of the people with Obasanjo and PDP's own selfish desires. If this is allowed to stand, then we mock democracy. Stopping Obasanjo and PDP and INEC now is actually the responsible and correct thing to do if we are ever to have any hopes of preserving democracy.  

But then, we must also ask: Democracy in Nigeria ? Whom are we trying to deceive? We all know that what truly exist and reign in Nigerian are ethnicity /tribalism, regionalism, nepotism, and religion. Those are the natural order and boundaries in the sociology and politics, the governance and administration, and the workings of Nigeria . To think that it is democracy rather than these other innate elements that are operative in the affairs of Nigeria is to express profound ignorance and at best, wishful thinking.  

Let us re-paint this picture and assume the unthinkable. If, let’s say, this charade and sham of an electoral process is allowed to stand, then, can you see any future election conducted differently? Will the foundation (rotten) not have been laid to continue to make a mockery of elections, and to continue to legitimize fraud on a large scale in Nigerian, in the name of democratic elections? Now, look at who have grabbed all the power: PDP and Obasanjo. Do you see them relinquishing the power in four years, in 24 years—for ever? Unless there is an America who decides to do to Nigeria what America did for Iraq —but don’t count on that; we are not going to be that lucky!  

In this picture, recall that Obasanjo and PDP ruled and ruined Nigeria for four years prior to now, with nothing to show for it, except more misery, more poverty, more poor health, more despair, more despondency and more bad things for the peoples living in Nigeria. Even now, as we speak, Obasanjo’s main pre-occupation is procuring money from Nigeria's coffers to purchase a presidential jet plane! Imagine that! What a shame! When Obasanjo and PDP can perform so poorly and still manage to fraudulently engineer themselves into absolute power with these rigged elections, who and what is to stop them any time in the future? What would happen, in effect, is a one-party system run by incompetent, underachieving, greedy, arrogant and criminal persons and machinery with no accountability to the peoples living in Nigeria , or to the rest of the world. It is quite in their character and would then certainly be within their power, to change the so-called constitution of Nigeria in order to keep the egomaniac, Obasanjo, in power for life, and themselves, there forever!  

Fellow Biafrans: let’s just make certain that you understand what is at stake. Obasanjo, in the name of campaigning prior to the fraud called Nigerian elections, came to Owerri, Igbo-Biafran heartland, and basically told the Igbo-Biafran people something to the effect that if they thought the last four years were hell, that the next four under him will be even more hellish for the Igbo-Biafrans. In case you missed it, THIS IS A THREAT! In any civilized country, this could never happen. And, just in case you missed it, Obasanjo was standing in your collective compound and was thus cheeking and insulting your entire collective household in this incident. This was unprovoked. Now, having stolen the elections, he stands to deliver on his threat, BUT ONLY IF YOU DO NOTHING. We, therefore, must all now rally behind APGA and Ojukwu in challenging the results of the elections, and we must join all other groups fighting this fraud, and we must make an oath to ourselves individually and collectively that Igbo-Biafrans shall never again be ruled by any Nigerian, least of all, Obasanjo, who has been so arrogant as to issue unprovoked threats and insult to our nation. We shall accomplish this through leaving Nigeria by the actualization of Biafra .  

It is not enough to protest the results of the elections in court, because we know that the courts are under the control of Obasanjo and PDP and their juggernaut. Predictably, the courts will only legitimize this evil. What needs to happen now is the introduction and promotion of Sovereign National Conference (SNC), starting by selling it to our people; then to the opposition parties and their constituencies, then to the rest of Nigeria . The peoples living in Nigeria shall not accept INEC’s published election results; therefore, the government shall be vacated. The peoples living in Nigeria do not need another election to correct the previous fraudulent election. What we all need is a Sovereign National Conference where we can all sit down together and recognize our own independent and sovereign nations, and then determine how to divide up the international obligations of erstwhile Nigeria, among these new sovereign states, and then negotiate issues of mutual concern and interest to all the nations.  

The Sovereign National Conference is a mechanism to ratify and recognize the sovereign independent nations of Biafra , Arewa, Odua and others. Then, we can discuss all other issues.  

Fellow Biafrans: we must take the first step now! Complete unity and solidarity of all Igbo-Biafrans (this means total integration and accommodation of MASSOB); full, unflagging support of / for APGA and Ojukwu. Total rejection of the election results in Igbo-Biafra region; total rejection of the Nigerian election results in their entirety. We shall express this rejection using whatever means recommended by APGA and Ojukwu, always keeping in mind that our only goal is Biafra actualization--nothing more, nothing less. We shall push for and support SNC with the full understanding that SNC means Biafra Actualization.  

Biafra lives, so let us choose to live in Biafra , as Biafrans and with Biafra , because God has ordained it.  

That’s the news analysis for the week; thank you.  


God bless and keep Biafra, and you, until our next broadcast. Voice of Biafra International (VOBI) broadcast continues. (http://www.biafraland.com; follow "Voice of Biafra" link). Thank you.