This is the News Analysis segment of the Voice of Biafra International (VOBI) broadcasts
For May 24th, 2003
You have heard the news, now, the analysis…
Fellow Biafrans:
May 30 is Biafra Day. On this day in 1967, Biafra came to be. Since then, Biafra has remained, albeit “with the body weak and asleep,” while the Spirit, with eternal patience and with great compassion and understanding, has remained watchful over us, waiting for the right time to awaken this nation of Biafra , blessed by God, in more ways than one. We say, Hail Biafra! Go out and say, Hail Biafra! because the time is here to wake up; the place is now to be awakened.
It has been thirty and six long years since then. In that time, we have learned to blame ourselves for the presumed loss of the war for our Independence , against the combined forces of the rest of the world—not just Nigeria . As if one ever loses a war of independence: never! You can lose a battle or two, but in the end, you shall succeed; and with each battle, you get stronger. As if one ever loses a war of self-defense: never; for the only one who loses a war of self-defense is that person who fails to put up a fight because of any reason or any excuse. It is only when, in the face of a determined malicious and aggressive enemy, you fail to defend yourself because, as some shallow thinkers have stated, you are not armed enough, you have not mustered enough support, you have not spent time thinking up a strategy, or because your self-defense effort looks like it is not going to work—it is only then that you have failed. We Biafrans did not fail because we stood up against, and fought back, our enemies who were determined to wipe us all out. We are here today because of such act and such courage and bravery. How can you say we lost?
It has been thirty-six years since we decided on Biafra . In all those years, the enemies of Biafra have spent all their time and energy still trying to suppress Biafra : how can you say Nigeria won, or that Biafra lost? Can’t you see how bad it is for Nigeria ? Because they are spending all their energy trying to hold Biafra back, realizing that if they let go, Biafra will spring up and overwhelm them, our enemies—Nigeria—do not have time to do anything else. To hold us down, Nigeria has to stay down herself. Nigeria does not have energy to do anything else. Nigeria is one of a handful of countries that have actually marched backwards with respect to progress. We all know that Nigeria does not work, and will never work. Nigeria shall never work as long as Nigeria tries to suppress Biafra actualization. For those who believe that Nigeria ’s problems lie elsewhere, they are mistaken, or they have no clue of what’s really wrong with Nigeria . What do our people say about he who pins a tiger by the tiger’s tail? Although he cannot afford to let go, by and by, slowly but steadily, his grip weakens, and the tiger is then free to maul him. That’s exactly where Nigeria finds herself: Biafra shall overcome Nigeria . That time is now.
Fellow Biafrans: let us make no mistakes about this: there is no better “Nigerian” than the Igbo-Biafran; nobody works harder to integrate with, and integrate, Nigeria than Igbo-Biafrans. No body is prouder to be called Nigerian than the Igbo-Biafran. We have gone to every enclave of Nigeria, ever so far from Igbo-Biafran heartland, settled there, and provided our services to these communities, developed such communities, and contributed to their upliftment—even to the visible and obvious neglect of our own Igbo-Biafraland. We have accepted, at the insistence of Nigeria , to start way behind the starter-blocks in the race of life in Nigeria in the interest of peace; yet we catch up with the rest of Nigeria , pass them, and lap them—time and time again. We have allowed Nigeria to make the playing field uneven, to the calculated and deliberate disadvantage of Igbo-Biafrans, with Nigeria openly hoping that this would cripple Igbo-Biafrans; but in the end, we prevail; we succeed, we shine and we overwhelm the rest of Nigeria —we are still the number one. So whoever is thinking that we are leaving Nigeria because we cannot compete is obviously ignorant of the facts. All he or she has to do is to recall that in 1970, after the Biafran War, Nigeria punished the so-called “no-victors-no-vanquished” Igbo-Biafrans by limiting to only £20 the amount of money Igbo-Biafrans could get from their savings account accumulated in Nigerian Banks prior to and during the war, no matter how much money they had in the account. Yet, from such “subterranean leveling” see how far Igbo-Biafrans have come since them?
Fellow Biafrans: nobody can rightly accuse us of not trying hard enough to be in, and to work for, and in, Nigeria . Such an accuser would have to be blind and deaf, as well as dumb; worse still, he or she could be pretending to be ignorant. The fact is that for all our effort, we have been “rewarded” with lethal malice and mockery by the rest of Nigeria . The Northerners have been killing Igbo-Biafrans out of sheer envy and jealousy, pure hatred, unadulterated malice, at every opportunity, with any excuse, with regularity, without remorse, and without accountability. And, there’s nothing anybody, including Ndigbo-Biafrans themselves, can do about it. Now the Northerners justify such atrocities with their Muslim religion. The Yoruba are doing their share of killing Ndigbo-Biafrans, but to a much less extent; however, what they have perfected is the systematic dispossession of Ndigbo-Biafrans; and the undue denial of Ndigbo-Biafrans what is due them by merit or by right. Their hatred and distrust for Ndigbo-Biafran is just as strong as the lust for Igbo-Biafran blood by the Northerners. It is so bad now that Ndigbo-Biafrans cannot feel safe anywhere in Nigeria; and hopefully you won’t be surprised to hear that this lack of safety extends to even Igbo-Biafraland where armed Nigerian security agents routinely kill our people at any time, in broad daylight, in singles, by the dozen, and even by the hundreds at a time; all this, without accountability, and without challenge by even our own people. And do you know what? These murderers regularly brag about it. Did they not just kill hundreds of MASSOB members and injure many more? Have you heard about any government inquiry or any expression of concern by anybody else in Nigeria ?
So, why should it surprise anybody that we have had enough? Who out there, in the face of what we have suffered at the hands of Nigeria , still wants us to stay in Nigeria ? Please, raise your hand, and step forward and tell the people why. Who out there believes that the lot of Ndigbo-Biafra will change for the better in Nigeria ? Let him or her stand up and tell us what and why—and how. Even if you are dense enough, and are in such denial as to believe such nonsense, the rest of Nigeria means business, and their business is pointedly anti-Igbo-Biafran in every sense of it: physically, emotionally, psychically, and spiritually. Do we need a reminder? We do not think so. We do not need anybody to tell us what we have suffered in Nigeria . We do not need anybody to “convince” us about any of this. We do not need anybody to “enlighten us” about what Nigeria has in stock for Ndigbo-Biafrans, because Nigeria has never made any secret of all that. If anything, it is Igbo-Biafrans that like to pretend that this awful stuff is not there; it is Igbo-Biafrans that refuse to even as much as mention it, or acknowledge it—never mind challenge it. How long are we going to be in denial? How long is this major crime going to remain an “Igbo-Biafran secret” when and while Nigeria openly brags about such a crime? Well, not for much longer—by the grace of God!
Fellow Biafrans: that is why May 30 2003 is quite important. This May 30 falls in a year of great significance, and it falls at a time ripe with opportunity and full of deep symbolism, all in favor of Biafra . We must celebrate it.
On the eve of the 30th—the 29th—Obasanjo is poised to formalize the crime he committed with PDP and INEC—the crime of stealing the elections. Whether he succeeds or not on this particular day, in the long run, he will fail. The events of that day shall usher in the beginning of Biafra actualization. We want you to remember May the 29th too, as part of of the 30th—the same way December 24th goes with Christmas Day. Biafra owns May 29th and May 30th. On those days, we shall celebrate Biafra , and we shall do it because of, and also in spite of, whatever else is happening on the 29th.. We shall honor Biafra on those days.
We suggest that you pray for Biafra . We suggest that you reflect on Biafra . We recommend that you reflect on yourself as a Biafran, and on others who have contributed to Biafra with their deeds and with their words and with their lives. We advise that you meditate on the blessings which Biafra already has—which includes you—and see how untapped such blessings and such potential are. We want you to realize that even though Nigeria has stolen and usurped them thus far, the best of God’s blessings for Biafra, including even the ones that Nigeria has commandeered at this time—these blessings are still ours, even now, and waiting for when we can use them fully. The wait is about to be over!
Celebrate Biafra on May 29th and May 30th. Do so with humility. Biafrans are not a perfect people—far from it. They are not without faults, small and huge. We are not without frailties and vulnerabilities, either. We practice our share of every known human vice. We are not descendants of a perfect ancestry; rather, we are the children of men and women who persevered to live the best they could in an imperfect world with imperfect acts and unperfected tools and skills. We inherit from these men and women who had a love and reverence for life, enough that they wanted to be all that anybody could be—and then, some more. It is in this that we pride ourselves. It is for this that we must regain control of our own space so that we can fulfill our potential and advance the work and that love of our fore-parents.
Fellow Biafrans: let us celebrate May 29th and May 30th as Biafrans—as a united nation in solidarity, a unity which we express as solid support for APGA and Ojukwu. Let us celebrate Biafra Day together—as one people, under one God.
Biafra lives, because God lives. So may we live Biafra , in Biafra , as Biafra , and so may Biafra live in us.
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) broadcasts continues (http://www.biafraland.com/vobi.htm). Thank you.